sample reflective writing pieces

sample reflective writing pieces

The Importance of Reflective Writing

1. Introduction

Reflective writing is an activity that is often given too little credit. Despite the fact that it is something that many individuals will be required to do at some point in their life, it is not something that is extensively rehearsed. It involves returning to the writing and exploring the experiences at which the writing is based on, through the providing of the new insights and understandings about what has been written (Boyd & Fales, 1983). This can be done through the means of both personal and general writing, and is an essential element to the learning process.

For many avid writers, the act of writing serves as a means of self-exploration. As a result, many writers often engage in the activity as a way to better understand the events that have transpired in one’s life or the emotions and feelings one has experienced. However, many individuals will be dissuaded from writing as a result of deeming the activity as insignificant, or through the loss of motivation of the task. Often it is because of the lack of immediate outcome from the act of writing that causes it to be disregarded. This is where the concept of reflective writing comes in.

2. Benefits of Reflective Writing

It is widely acknowledged that reflective writing aids in understanding, formulating, and improving thoughts and actions. At the same time, reflective writing serves as a vehicle for students to communicate about what they know and what they are learning, enabling them to take ownership of their learning. Such an approach to learning and development has implications for the quality of intellect. When students take time to reflect on an event or concept and to clarify their understanding of it, they gain a better understanding of it. A key idea generating data on the efficacy of reflective writing is that this type of writing enhances metacognition – that is, it helps students be cogent about how they think and learn, and as a result, to generalize about what they have learned and how they learned it. By writing down any new understanding, a permanent record is formed that is frequently revisited to reflect upon and consolidate learning. Data gathered by Barrett et al. (2005) suggests that it is not just the method of reflection that improves learning, but the quality of reflection. Cognitive engagement is advanced when students make inferences, use prior knowledge to interpret new experiences, connect theory to practice, and weigh the consequences of decisions. Such higher order thinking may be evident in the increased interest and depth in students’ writing over time. Students who are able to express thoughts and ideas in a free and unrestricted manner without the worry of backlash find themselves more likely to engage in deeper personal reflection. Research conducted by S. Therese and Dyment (2008) on journal writing in an environmental education class has shown that students were able to connect class material with real-life situations and personal values, beliefs, and feelings. This emotional and intellectual development allowed students to deepen their understanding about the environment and how it is taught and learned in society. Its impact on critical thinking, problem-solving, and participation in class discussions demonstrated that they had developed a sense of self-efficacy towards positive change in their own learning and the learning of others. Depth is key for reflective writing to have lasting effects, and maintaining interest in the act of reflection can be fueled by the integration of reflection into socially interactive environments.

3. Techniques for Effective Reflective Writing

The term reflective writing is used to cover many different types of writing in your assessment tasks. You might have been asked to write a reflective piece of writing because this is a crucial learning tool. The same reflection can be put into different formats such as posters, blog posts or a verbal presentation. Whichever format your reflection takes, there are important issues that you should cover, which we asked you about in the table of common features. The table acts as a checklist, ensuring that you’ve discussed every important aspect of your experience. Your writing must be neat, clear and fully justified. This means that you should include a title that will grab the reader’s attention, for example, “A Day to Remember”; this will help to involve the reader right from the start of your reflection. After doing this, you should divide your work with sub-headings, making it easier for the marker to follow your thoughts and also to ensure you don’t miss anything from the checklist table. Always check your spelling, punctuation, and grammar. This is an important formal piece of writing, it must be the best you can do so you get the best marks you can. Effective Reflective Journal An effective way to start the reflecting process is to keep a journal. An ideal reflective journal will serve to help you internalize what you have learned, and it will also provide a venue for self-assessment, using the concepts of theory in practical situations. To ensure that the reflections are thoughtful and include as much learning as possible, following each learning event, take a few minutes to jot down your responses to the following questions:

4. Examples of Reflective Writing Pieces

Pieces of reflective writing can be categorized with respect to the field they belong to. Student’s reflective writing is quite common. Some examples of reflective writing pieces include: – School projects that may ask you to talk about what you have learned from your research. – Work placements or internships writing a diary so that you may be required to write weekly entries. – Posters for applications to academic courses or for a post in a relevant field. – Essays of this type will give advanced students an opportunity to think. At a higher level of education, the form of reflective writing can take on a more serious reflection. A student of education examining ways in which theories of learning can be linked to practice, personal and professional development working with a more structured reflective model across a period of time for a teaching qualification. Examples from the medical field, such as scenario or clinical case reflection. These can be written reference to a lay case or a more scientific clinical case. These types of cases are quite specific and require both a deep understanding of the topic and critical thinking. Support groups and group reflective sessions for people with an ailment/injury or their caregivers. These can be both verbal and written examples. A verbal example could be a reflective conversation with a friend or family member. Written reflection is more common and can take the form of a diary or journal.

5. Conclusion

However, it cannot be said that all the students that have been exposed to reflective writing have the skills and the attitude that are necessary to deliver good reflective writing. Just like other skills, it can be developed through time and experience. The learning process is an unending cycle. The more we dig, the more we find. The more we find, the more we realize that it actually has a wider context. And that’s why it is important for educators to instill the sense of lifelong learning because reflective writing is like a formal way to seize the learning. And it could happen to anybody, anytime, and anywhere. In the class, cases like Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in UKM Medical Centre and teaching Comparative Anatomy between different faculties have shown that the students are more aware of the learning process. The CQI case has shown that the learning process is indeed long and winding. There are lots of challenges they need to tackle. By writing reflective writing, it will be a good tool for them to trace what they have recently learned. It is crucial to refresh what they have learned so the knowledge does not evaporate from their memory. On the other hand, the Botany lecturer was quite surprised when the students who were not his own learned something ahead just to keep up with the discussion so there would be no communication barrier when they conducted a mixed group discussion. The students say that it is a really good experience since they can learn something interesting from others and it really contributes to their own self-development. But yet, reflective writing is still always a subjective matter. Each person has their own way to interpret the event and it could differ from others. It is still related to life experience and different experiences from different people could lead to different perceptions. But still, they can be improved by constant learning and by observing others’ reflective writing. All in all, reflective writing is a good tool to enhance self-learning where in the end it will produce a good quality person and have a competitive edge. It is hoped that reflective writing can be implemented throughout learning institutions since the earlier the better and it can provide a smoother transition to the real working world.