Reflective writing:

preparing for assignment 3

 Assignment 3:
Reflective review (750 words)
Your review must cover:

• Term 1:
presentation & research skills
• Term 2:
academic writing & debating skills
• Term 3:
exam preparation skills

…see document from Anika in teams.

Deadline: 19th April.

WE LOOKED AT REFLECTIVE WRITING IN TERM 1. WHAT CAN YOU REMEMBER?
 Recap:
What’s the point of reflective practices?

Used to ensure that we

learn and improve

Used in both academic and

professional contexts

May form part of

assignments/assessed work
 Recap:
What’s the point of reflective practices?

What is reflective writing for?

a) It’s a persuasive piece of writing which

shows how successful you were.

b) It’s an opportunity to explain your

mistakes and your feelings.

c) It shows you have a growth mindset

and can evaluate your progress.
 True or false?

F • Reflective writing is entirely about past experiences.

F • Reflective writing should mainly focus on negative aspects.
F • Reflective writing does not need to be formal. Different, but NOT informal
T • Reflective writing can include emotions and subjective comments.
T • Reflective writing should use I, me etc.
F • Reflective writing should contain a lot of background details.
T • Reflective writing should be analytical/include evaluation.
F • The Reflective Review is personal, so references are optional. - Task criteria
T • You should consider evidence/feedback from other people as well as yourself.
 3
key features of good reflective writing:

It is It is It is
personal analytical balanced
 How to: reflective writing

This is one framework you could use to structure your writing. It is not the only possible
way/ modify it as necessary (e.g. combine elements to keep to the wordcount – using 6
paragraphs per section is not recommended!).
 Which stage do you think it’s from?
• We had about six weeks to work on our product, which seemed
Description
like more than enough time.

• I have found a useful online resource for pronunciation, which I

plan to use weekly to help me improve. Feelings

• Looking back, I should have been more proactive about

messaging my teammates.
Evaluation
• If I had practised more, I wouldn’t have needed my notes.

• Unfortunately, in the end, I only had five days to research and Analysis
do the competitor analysis. This meant I couldn’t get feedback.

• While I was doing the presentation, there was a fire alarm.

Conclusion
• I am usually a highly organised person, but this was my first
group project and that made it considerably harder.

• Another time, I would try to set myself smaller goals. Action plan
 Think about your grammar!
We had about six weeks to
I have found a useful work on our product…
online resource…
While I was doing the
presentation…
Another time, I would try to…

Looking back, I should have Unfortunately, in the

been more proactive… end, I only had…
If I had practised more, …

I am usually a highly organised person, but…

 ORIGINAL EXPECTATIONS/FEELINGS

It seemed I expected
I felt slightly I was looking forward to
Useful language WHAT HAPPENED
Unfortunately, In the end,
While I was …ing During the …

CONSEQUENCES
This meant that This made it
As a result, Consequently,

REFLECTION & ANALYSIS

Looking back, I should have

If I had(n’t) …, I would(n’t) have ...
I now realise that
On reflection,
I was very pleased with … /that …
I’m proud of …

ACTION PLAN
In future, I plan to Another time, I would try to
My aim is I can achieve this by
Task 3:
BEFORE YOU START WRITING

1. Put your appendices together (see help document in

channel for what to include)
2. Read through the feedback and other evidence to remind
yourself what they say.
3. Identify any themes you should discuss in your work/
decide one action point for each skill.
4. Research the action points. Find a suitable source with
advice/help for each one.

… if you have not received all the feedback yet (e.g. from the
debate), start with the other sections.