CC1H01N1 – Study Skills for Computing/Multimedia Week 2 – Lecture – Reflective Writing

Week 2 Lecture coverage: – What is reflective writing? – Example of reflective writing – Possible Structure

Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking. In an academic context, reflective thinking usually involves: 1. Looking back at something 2. Analysing the event or idea 3. Thinking carefully about what the event or idea means

What isn’t reflective writing? Just conveying information Pure description Straight forward decision or judgement A summary of course notes A standard university essay

Why are we asked to do this type of assignment To make connections To examine your learning processes To clarify what you are learning To reflect on mistakes and successes To become an active and aware learner To become an reflective practitioner

Example of basic reflective writing Specific tasks were shared out amongst members of my team. Initially, however, the tasks were not seen as equally difficult by all team members. Cooperation between group members was at risk because of this perception of unfairness. Social interdependence theory recognizes a type of group interaction called ‘positive interdependence’, meaning cooperation (Johnson & Johnson, 1993, cited by Maughan & Webb, 2001), and many studies have demonstrated that “cooperative learning experiences encourage higher achievement” (Maughan & Webb, 2001). Ultimately, our group achieved a successful outcome, but to improve the process, we perhaps needed a chairperson to help encourage cooperation when tasks were being shared out. In future group work, on the course and at work, I would probably suggest this.

Reflective thinking – especially if done in discussion with others – can be very ‘free’ and unstructured and still be very useful. Even reflective writing can be unstructured, for example when it is done in a personal diary. The example of basic reflective writing on the previous page can be broken down into three parts: description, interpretation and outcome. 1. Description 2. Interpretation 3. Outcome

What happened? What is being examined? Specific tasks were shared out amongst members of my team. Initially, however, the tasks were not seen as equally difficult by all team members.

What is most important / interesting / useful / relevant about the object, event or idea? How can it be explained e.g. with theory? How is it similar to and different from others? Cooperation between group members was at risk because of this perception of unfairness. Social interdependence theory recognizes a type of group interaction called ‘positive interdependence’, meaning cooperation (Johnson & Johnson, 1993, cited by Maughan & Webb, 2001), and many studies have demonstrated that “cooperative learning experiences encourage higher achievement” (Maughan & Webb, 2001).

What have I learned from this? What does this mean for my future? Ultimately, our group achieved a successful outcome, but to improve our achievement, we perhaps needed a chairperson to help encourage cooperation when tasks were being shared out. In future group work (on the course and at work), I would probably suggest this.

Need to explain what happened Some background information Tell the reader who was involved Don’t discuss your feelings yet

Discuss your feelings and thoughts about the incident in this section. How did you feel at the time? What about afterwards? What did you think at the time? What did you think about the incident afterwards? Can discuss your emotions honestly in this section, but make sure to remember at all times that this is an academic piece of writing. Be careful not to be offensive

Looking at how well things went. How did you react to the situation, and how did other people react? What was good and what was bad about the experience? If you are writing about a difficult incident, did you feel that the situation was resolved afterwards? Why / why not? You will probably need some theory and the work of other authors in this section.

Will look in greater depth at what might have helped or hindered the situation How or why the incident came about in the first place. Importantly, you will need to bring theory and other authors’ work in here. NOTE: The most common reason why students get poor marks for reflective assignments is that they don’t bring the theory and experience together in this section.

Think about whether you could have done anything else during the incident What you have learned from it. Could you have responded in a different way? If you are talking about a positive experience, will you do the same again to ensure a positive outcome, or is there anything you could change to improve things even further? If the incident was negative, how could you have avoided it happening or how can you make sure it doesn’t happen again?

Sums up anything you need to do in order to improve things for next time. Do you perhaps need to learn about something or attend some training? Could you ask your tutor or placement supervisor for some advice? What can you do which means that, if the situation arises again, you will be better equipped to cope with it?

Reflection is an exploration and an explanation of events – not just a description of them. Genuinely reflective writing often involves ‘revealing’ anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well as strengths and successes. This is fine (in fact it’s often essential!), as long as you show some understanding of possible causes, and explain how you plan to improve (DCQE, n.d).

It is normally necessary to select just the most significant parts of the event or idea on which you’re reflecting. It is often useful to ‘reflect forward’ to the future as well as ‘reflecting back’ on the past (DCQE, n.d).

Cooper, P.T. (2001) Managing situations at work. London: Rufus Publications. Daynes, J. and Farris, M.M. (2003) The Manager-Employee Relationship. Oxford: Oxfordian Books Ltd. Department Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (DCQE) University of Portsmouth (n.d), Reflective writing: a basic introduction Greene, F. (2006) Teacher Trainees: The Truth. York: Education Press.