Reflective Writing

Reflective Writing

Figure 1: The Thinking Process (adapted from Mezirow 1990, Schon 1987, Brookfield 1987)
Reflective writing is:

documenting your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information

communicating your response to thoughts and feelings

a way of exploring your learning

an opportunity to gain self-knowledge

a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning

a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills

a way of making meaning out of what you study

Reflective writing is not:

just conveying information, instruction or argument

pure description, though there may be descriptive elements

straightforward decision or judgement, e.g. about whether something is right or wrong, good or bad

simple problem-solving

a summary of course notes

a standard university essay.

How Do I Write Reflectively?

Writing Style

Because it concerns your thoughts, reflective writing is mostly subjective. Therefore, in addition to being reflective and logical, you can be personal, hypothetical, critical and creative. You can comment about your experiences, rather than solely drawing on academic evidence.
Reflective writing is an activity that includes description (what, when, who) and analysis (how, why, what if). It is an explorative tool often resulting in more questions than answers.
A reflective task may allow you to use different modes of writing and language:

Use full sentences and complete paragraphs for your reflections. Reflective writing is often less formal—you can usually use personal pronouns like 'I', 'my' or 'we' - but keep colloquial “street” language to a minimum, e.g. terms like kid, bloke, stuff.

What can I discuss/write about?

Your perceptions of the course and the content.

Any questions you have.

Experiences, ideas and observations you have had, and how they relate to the course or topic.

What you found confusing, inspiring, difficult, interesting and why.

Possibilities, speculations, hypotheses or solutions.

Alternative interpretations or different perspectives on what you have read or done in your course.

How new ideas challenge what you already know.

What you need to explore next in terms of thoughts and actions.

You can also discuss how you:

solved a problem

reached a conclusion

found an answer

reached a point of understanding.

It's also helpful to make comparisons and connections between what you are learning and your prior knowledge and experience and your prior assumptions.

Getting started

Be clear about your task
Reflective writing assignments can take many forms, so check what is needed , ask questions or uncertainties with your lecturer or tutor.
Clarify the practical aspects
Find out what form your task should take. You may need to submit a book or folder or complete an online component. In addition to writing, you may be able to include pictures, diagrams, media clippings etc.
Gather your ideas
Before you write, you need to think and reflect. Start by drawing a mind map.
Mind mapping is a technique that can help you expand your thinking, structure your ideas, and make connections. You can use a mind map to plan your assignment and arrange items to create the structure of your writing.

Write your topic in the centre of a blank page. This will be your focus point to branch off.

Draw related ideas on 'branches' that radiate from the central topic. When you get a new idea, start a new branch from the centre. Include any ideas, topics, authors, theories, experiences associated with your topic.

Map quickly, without pausing, to maintain a flow of ideas. Associate freely and do not self-edit; at this stage anything and everything is OK.

Highlight the key points or ideas. Look at each item and consider how it relates to others, and to the topic as a whole.

Map the relationships between the ideas or key points using lines, arrows, colours. Use words or phrases to link them.

What does a good essay need?

An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence.

An academic essay should answer a question or task.

It should have a thesis statement (answer to the question) and an argument.

It should try to present or discuss something: develop a thesis via a set of closely related points by reasoning and evidence.

An academic essay should include relevant examples, supporting evidence and information from academic texts or credible sources.

Basic steps in writing an essay

Although there are some basic steps to writing an assignment, essay writing is not a linear process. You might work through the different stages a number of times in the course of writing an essay. For example, you may go back to the reading and notetaking stage if you find another useful text, or perhaps to reread to locate specific information.
Essay and Assignment Planning
Getting started: the essay planning process.

Answering Assignment Questions

In order to decide how to answer an essay question, you need to identify what the question requires in terms of content and genre. This guide outlines some methods to help you analyse essay questions.

Analyse the question using key words

Assignment questions can be broken down into parts so that you can better understand what you are being asked to do. It is important to identify key words and phrases in the topic.

What are key words?

Key words are the words in an assignment question that tell you the approaches to take when you answer.
Make sure you understand the meaning of key words in an essay question, especially task words. As Task words are verbs that direct you and tell you how to go about answering a question, understanding the meaning helps you know exactly what you to do.
Content words tell you what the topic area(s) of your assignment are and take you halfway towards narrowing down your material and selecting your answer. Content words help you to focus your research and reading on the correct area.
Limiting words make a broad topic workable. They focus the topic area further by indicating aspects you should narrowly concentrate on.
If you're not sure about any aspect of the question, ask your tutor/lecturer for clarification. Never start any assignment until you know and understand exactly what you are being asked to do.

How to use key words

Look for the keywords in your essay question.

Underline them.

Spend a little time working out what they mean.

Example Question

Computers have had a significant impact on education in the 20th century. Discuss the changes they have made.

Editing Checklist

Listed below are some of the questions you should ask yourself when revising and editing your assignment.

Have I answered the question or task as fully as possible?

What is my thesis/ central proposition/ main assertion?

Do I make a clear argument or take a position about the topic? Do I state that position in my introduction?

Does my introduction or opening paragraph prepare the reader for what follows?

Is my essay clearly structured?

Does my assignment have a clear introduction, a body and a definite conclusion?

Does the assignment advance in logical stages?

Are the major points connected? Are the relationships between them expressed clearly?

Do the major points all relate to the topic and contribute to answering the task or question?

Are my paragraphs clearly connected and coherent?

Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence?

Do the sentences flow smoothly and logically from point to point?

Does each sentence clearly follow on from the one before?

Does each paragraph state its case clearly and completely, or should there be more evidence/ detail?

Are there adequate transitions between sentences and paragraphs? Are transitions varied or are they all the same kind?

Are all examples and quotes relevant to and supportive of my answer?

Are facts and opinions supported with examples or explanations where necessary?

Is my written expression appropriate?

Have I used direct and clear language?

Have I explained my ideas clearly and explicitly?

Have I kept my audience in mind? Have I said all I need to say so that my reader can understand, or am I assuming they will 'know what I mean'?

Have I written complete, grammatically correct sentences?

In long sentences, have I separated related ideas with commas or semicolons for easier understanding?

Is my use of tenses correct?

Have I used non-discriminatory language?

Have I fully referenced my sources of information?

Have I referenced all the words, ideas and information sources I have used in my assignment?

Have I used a consistent referencing style?

Is there a clear distinction between my thoughts and words and those of the author(s) I've read and cited?

Are quotations properly introduced?

Are they accurate?

Are they formatted correctly?

Do the quotations add evidence or provide an authoritative voice, or am I letting the author(s) speak for me? Would writing it in my own words be more effective?

Have I remained within or exceeded the set word limit?

I don't have enough words:

Have I fully answered the question or task?

Do I need to read more? Should I include more information or discussion?

Have I provided enough evidence to support my argument/s?

I have too many words:

Have I included only relevant information?

Is there any unnecessary repetition in my assignment?

Is my written expression as clear and concise as possible, or is it too 'wordy'?

Have I proofread and revised my assignment for errors?

Have I checked my spelling? Have I read through my assignment and not just relied on a computer spell checker?

Is all my bibliographical information correct?

Have I used correct punctuation? Have I ended every sentence with a full stop?

Is my assignment well presented?

Does the presentation follow any guidelines set by my lecturer or school?

Have I included a cover sheet, if applicable?

Have I made sure my assignment is legible? Is it typed or written neatly?

Have I used double-line spacing, preferable if allowed?

Have I numbered pages and used wide margins?

Have I kept an extra copy?

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Writing a Critical Review

The advice in this brochure is a general guide only. We strongly recommend that you also follow your assignment instructions and seek clarification from your lecturer/tutor if needed.

Purpose of a critical review

The critical review is a writing task that asks you to summarise and evaluate a text. The critical review can be of a book, a chapter, or a journal article. Writing the critical review usually requires you to read the selected text in detail and to read other related texts so you can present a fair and reasonable evaluation of the selected text.

What is meant by critical?

At university, to be critical does not mean to criticise in a negative manner. Rather, it requires you to question the information and opinions in a text and present your evaluation or judgement of the text. To do this well, you should attempt to understand the topic from different perspectives (i.e. read related texts), and in relation to the theories, approaches and frameworks in your course.

What is meant by evaluation or judgement?

This is where you decide the strengths and weaknesses of a text. This is usually based on specific criteria. Evaluating requires an understanding of not just the content of the text, but also an understanding of a text’s purpose, the intended audience, and why it is structured the way it is.

What is meant by analysis?

Analysis requires separating the content and concepts of a text into their main components and then understanding how these interrelate, connect and possibly influence each other.

Introduction

The length of an introduction is usually one paragraph for a journal article review and two or three paragraphs for a longer book review. Include a few opening sentences that announce the author(s) and the title, and briefly explain the topic of the text. Present the aim of the text and summarise the main finding or key argument. Conclude the introduction with a brief statement of your evaluation of the text. This can be a positive or negative evaluation or, as is usually the case, a mixed response.

Summarising and paraphrasing for the critical review
Summarising and paraphrasing are essential skills for academic writing and in particular, the critical review. To summarise means to reduce a text to its main points and its most important ideas. The length of your summary for a critical review should only be about one quarter to one third of the whole critical review.
The best way to summarise

Scan the text. Look for information that can be deduced from the introduction, conclusion, title, and headings. What do these tell you about the main points of the article?

Locate the topic sentences and highlight the main points as you read.

Reread the text and make separate notes of the main points. Examples and evidence do not need to be included at this stage. Usually they are used selectively in your critique.

Paraphrasing means putting it into your own words. Paraphrasing offers an alternative to using direct quotations in your summary (and the critique) and can be an efficient way to integrate your summary notes.
The best way to paraphrase

Review your summary notes

Rewrite them in your own words and in complete sentences

Use reporting verbs and phrases, e.g. 'The author describes…', 'Smith argues that …'.

Use quotation marks if If you include unique or specialist phrases from the text.

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Reflective thinking
Reflection is:

a form of personal response to experiences, situations, events or new information.

a 'processing' phase where thinking and learning take place.

There is neither a right nor a wrong way of reflective thinking, there are just questions to explore.
Before you can begin to assess the words and ideas of others, you need to pause and identify and examine your own thoughts.
Doing this involves revisiting your prior experience and knowledge of the topic you are exploring. It also involves considering how and why you think the way you do. The examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions forms the foundation of your understanding.
Reflective thinking demands that you recognise that you bring valuable knowledge to every experience. It helps you therefore to recognise and clarify the important connections between what you already know and what you are learning. It is a way of helping you to become an active, aware and critical learner.