Introduction to Reflection
An academic reflection is different to a personal reflection as it’s likely it will be read by someone else and presented for grading as a part of a module assignment. As academic reflections have to make sense to other people, they need to follow a structure and use language that a reader can follow without you being there to explain it.
Academic reflections share certain characteristics with academic essays, in that they require further reading, evidence and referencing. However, in some aspects they differ, such as using both the 1st and 3rd person.
Description involves Who, When, What, Where. What also includes thoughts, feelings and emotions.
The pointers below are a guide to writing Academic Reflections.
Helpful phrases are “I saw…”, “I noticed…”, “I/they said…”, "I had…", "I/they did…", "I heard…"
From: McCabe, G. and Thejll-Madsen, T. (2018) “Language of Academic Reflections”. Reflection Toolkit. Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/producing-reflections/academic-reflections/language (Accessed: 16th March 2022)
Ryan, M. (2011) "Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective." Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1). Pp. 99-111.
University of Portsmouth, Department for Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (no date). Reflective Writing: a basic introduction [online]. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth. Available at: https://capstone.unst.pdx.edu/sites/default/files/Reflective-writing---a-basic-intro_0.pdf. (Accessed: 22nd March 2022)
Queen Margaret University, Effective Learning Service (no date). Reflection. [online]. Edinburgh: Queen Margaret University. Available at: https://www.qmu.ac.uk/study-here/student-services/effective-learning-service-els/reflection/. (Accessed: 22nd March 2022)
Adapted from: AUT Library (no date) Reflective Writing.
Available at: https://library.aut.ac.nz/doing-assignments/reflective-writing
(Accessed: 16th March 2022)
For academic reflection it’s important to identify areas of your experiences that connect to theory you’ve learned on your course or from your further reading. This type of academic reflection is similar to writing a case study, where a specific experience becomes the framework for more generalised learning.
Firstly, identify elements of the experience that may have been experienced by other people before, e.g. nerves on your first day of placement.
Consider how you might find literature about different aspects of this experience e.g. by searching for “placement anxiety” on LibrarySearch
Reading around the subject will help you discover whether this phenomenon has been researched and whether there are relevant theories that can offer a different perspective on the original experience.
When you come to write your reflection, you need to integrate personal experience with impersonal theory and draw conclusions. There are 2 main ways to do this:
Experience > Link > Theory
Theory > Link > Experience
This example relates to a memory of joining a school sports team as a 10 year old.
Theory |
… relating to Ericksons (1968) Psychosocial Theory, children in the middle-years life stage begin to contend with the crisis of Industry versus Inferiority. The crisis involves conflict in relation to emotional development, and, in particular, the development of a child's self-confidence as they strive for approval from others (Erikson, 1968). Issues related to approval and acceptance are illustrated in my experience of school sport as a 10 year old. I joined my primary school’s football team despite not personally enjoying the sport. I joined because my friends were passionate about football. They did not pressure me into playing, but I received approval from them when I did. Despite my feelings, I felt unable to stop playing football, as I feared disapproval and viewed quitting as wrong. This experience of emotional conflict also relates to Kohlberg’s (1984) theorisation of morality development. His research highlights how children in this age range base their actions on the responses of others and ... |
Link |
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Experience |
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Link | |
Theory |
Roger’s (1983) theory of the Unitary Human relates to my experience …
Insight into the challenges I experienced can be gained from Roger’s (1983) Unitary Human theory...
Judy’s case can be analysed using Leininger’s (1985) Culture Care theory…
Leininger’s work in transcultural nursing, particularly her Culture Care theory, can help explain Judy’s experiences...