Samples of reflective writing

Accounts 1-3 on the next page show different levels of reflection. They are based on a critical
event that happened to a 22 year old in the workplace, after graduating. There are three
accounts of the same event: giving a presentation at a team meeting.

Each account is written with three different levels of reflection:

Descriptive writing: a description of events. There is no discussion beyond
description and there is no evidence of reflection.
Descriptive reflection: there is a basic description of events as well as evidence of
deeper consideration in relatively descriptive language. There is no real evidence of
the notion of alternative viewpoints in use.
Critical reflection: there is a stepping back from the events, with an exploration of
the role of self in events and actions. There is consideration of possible alternatives
for explaining and hypothesising, and it links factors and perspectives.

When producing your own critical writing you could compare it against these different
accounts:
Which account do you think youve written like?
Do you need to be more critically reflective?
Account 1: descriptive writing
I had to talk about the project that I am on. I was confident but I did spend quite a bit of
time preparing. During the presentation I became nervous when I realised they were all
waiting for me to speak and my nerves made my voice wobble. Afterwards I was
disappointed that my presentation did not seem to have gone well. My boss suggested that I
do a presentation to the team next week to improve my performance.

Comments:
This account is only descriptive writing. The author does not consider how previous
experiences could have had an impact on preparing for the presentation.
When writing about the presentation, the author does not talk through their
feelings, for example why did they have nerves? How did they realise colleagues
were waiting? How did this make them feel? There is also no consideration of
different perspectives, such as whether colleagues thought the presenter came
across as nervous.
After the presentation, the author has not stepped back from the event and
considered how they felt, why they felt the presentation did not go well and why it
had such an impact on them.
Finally, though the boss suggests another presentation, there is no discussion about
the impact this has on them. There is no evidence of learning from the previous
presentation and how they would do things differently the next time.
Account 2: descriptive reflection
I was scared about not saying the right things and not being able to answer questions
properly. I did a presentation in my course at university and had felt the same about it
initially.

During the presentation I realise that I was desperately trying to prove that I could present
as well as my colleague. I wanted to impress everyone. Early on it went wrong and I began to
panic. Trying to pretend I was confident made the situation worse because I did not admit I
needed help. The more I spoke, the more my voice wobbled.

Following on from the presentation, my self esteem is low at work now. However, partly
through talking over the presentation and the things that went wrong, I can see several
areas that I could get better. I am hoping to have a chance to practice with some of the
team.

Comments:
This account is descriptive reflection as there is some evidence of reflection. At the
start the author is referring to a past incident their presentation at university.
However, they do not consider how other prior experiences (such as watching other
presentations) could have had an impact on the event.
When reflecting on the presentation, the author shows some reflection (how they
felt), but havent included any alternative viewpoints (such as what the audience
thought of the presentation).
The author talks about how they felt after the presentation and identified the impact
it had on their self esteem at work, but not in a wider setting. Also, they missed the
opportunity to hypothesise why the presentation has had such an effect on them.
Finally, though the author engaged with others to discuss the presentation, there is
no evidence of recognising that their views may change after the next presentation.
Account 3: critical reflection
I had to talk about the project that I am on. I spent quite a bit of time preparing it in the way
that I have seen others make similar presentations.

When it came to the presentation, I really wanted to do it well as well as the presentations
were done the week before. Maybe I wanted too much to do well? My efforts to be calm
failed and my voice went wobbly thats how it felt to me anyway. My colleague said
afterwards that I looked quite calm despite what I was feeling.

In the event, the session was a disaster and has left me feeling uncomfortable in my work
and I even worry about it at home. I need to think about why a simple presentation could
have such an effect on me.

I am feeling more positive generally and I can begin to analyse what I could do better in the
presentation. It is interesting to see the change in my attitude after a week. I need to think
from the beginning about the process of giving a good presentation.

Comments:
This account is critically reflective. At the start, the author describes the event,
reflects on the whole process (preparation) and recognises that interaction with
others (colleagues presentations) can have an impact on their behaviour.
They have written about how they felt during the presentation (engaging in an
internal dialogue) and also reflected deeper by looking at different perspectives e.g.
how their colleague thought the presentation went.
They have reflected on how the incident has made them feel in a wider context
(home and work) and have also considered why such an event has had an impact on
them trying to hypothesise reasons for this.
Finally, the author has stood back from the event and considered what they could do
differently next time. They demonstrate the concept that reflection can change over
time (talking about next week), by taking on new ideas and trying again.
Examples of Reflective Writing
Types of reflective writing assignments
Journal: requires you to write weekly entries throughout a semester. May require you to base your
reflection on course content.
Learning diary: similar to a journal, but may require group participation. The diary then becomes a
place for you to communicate in writing with other group members.
Log book: often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as science. You note down or
log what you have done. A log gives you an accurate record of a process and helps you reflect on
past actions and make better decisions for future actions.
Reflective note: often used in law. A reflective note encourages you to think about your personal
reaction to a legal issue raised in a course.
Essay diary: can take the form of an annotated bibliography (where you examine sources of
evidence you might include in your essay) and a critique (where you reflect on your own writing and
research processes).
Peer review: usually involves students showing their work to their peers for feedback.
Self-assessment: requires you to to comment on your own work.

Some examples of reflective writing

Social Science fieldwork report (methods section)

The field notes were written by hand on lined paper. They consisted of jotted notes and
1.Description/
mental triggers (personal notes that would remind me of specific things when it came to
explanation of
writing the notes up). I took some direct observational notes recording what I saw where this
method.
was relevant to the research questions and, as I was aiming to get a sense of the culture and
working environment, I also made researcher inference notes [1] [2].
[3] I found the notetaking process itself helpful, as it ensured that I listened 2. Includes
carefully and decoded information. Not all the information I recorded was discipline-specific
relevant, but noting what I found informative contributed to my ability to language
form an overview on re-reading. However, the reliability of jotted notes alone
can be questionable. For example, the notes were not a direct transcription of
what the subjects said but consisted of pertinent or interesting information. 3. Critical
evaluation of
method
Rarely did I have time to transcribe a direct quotation, so relied on my own fairly rapid
paraphrasing, which risks changing the meaning. Some technical information was difficult to
note down accurately [3]. A tape recorder would have been a better, more accurate method. 4.Conclusion and
However, one student brought a tape recorder and was asked to switch it off by a participant recommendation
who was uneasy about her comments being directly recorded. It seems that subjects feel based on the
differently about being recorded or photographed (as opposed to observers taking notes), so writers experience
specific consent should be sought before using these technologies [4].

Engineering Design Report

Question: Discuss at least two things you learnt or discovered for example about design, 1. Addresses the
or working in groups or the physical world through participating in the Impromptu
Design activities. assignment question

Firstly, the most obvious thing that I discovered was the advantage of working as part of a 2. Reflects on direct
group [1]. I learned that good teamwork is the key to success in design activities when time experiences
and resources are limited. As everyone had their own point of view, many different ideas 3. Direct reference
could be produced and I found the energy of group participation made me feel more to the course
energetic about contributing something [2]. activity
4.The style is
Secondly I discovered that even the simplest things on earth could be turned into something relatively informal,
amazing if we put enough creativity and effort into working on them [1]. With the yet still uses full
Impromptu Design activities [3] we used some simple materials such as straws, string, and sentences.
balloons, but were still able to create some 'cool stuff' [4]. I learned that every design has its
weaknesses and strengths and working with a group can help discover what they are. We 5. Relating what
challenged each others preconceptions about what would and would not work. We could was learnt.
also see the reality of the way changing a design actually affected its performance [5].

Learning Journal (weekly reflection)

Last weeks lecture presented the idea that science is the most powerful form of
evidence [1]. My position as a student studying both physics and law makes this an 1. Description of
important issue for me [2] and one I was thinking about while watching the The New topic encountered in
Inventors television program last Tuesday [3]. The two inventors (an odd name the course
considering that, as Smith (2002) says, nobody thinks of things in a vacuum) were
accompanied by their marketing people. The conversations were quite contrived, but also 2. The authors
funny and enlightening. I realised that the marketing people used a certain form of evidence voice is clear
to persuade the viewers (us?) of the value of the inventions [4]. To them, this value was 3. Introduces
determined solely by whether something could be bought or soldin other words, whether everyday life
something was marketable. In contrast, the inventors seemed quite shy and reluctant to experience
use anything more than technical language, almost as if this was the only evidence required 4. The style is
as if no further explanation was needed. relatively informal,
yet still uses full
sentences
This difference forced me to reflect on the aims of this coursehow communication skills 5. Makes an explicit
are not generic, but differ according to time and place. Like in the Research Methodology link between
textbook discussed in the first lecture, these communication skills are the result of a form of everyday life and
triangulation, [5] which I have made into the following diagram: the topic
...

References
Brookfield, S 1987, Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of
thinking and acting, Open University Press, Milton Keynes.
Mezirow, J 1990, Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to transformative and emancipatory
learning, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Schn, DA 1987, Educating the reflective practitioner, Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.
The Learning Centre thanks the students who permitted us to feature examples of their writing.
Prepared by The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales 2008. This guide may be
distributed or adapted for educational purposes. Full and proper acknowledgement is required.
Email:learningcentre@unsw.edu.au