Types of Reflective Writing Assignments

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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 comment on your own work.
Some examples of reflective writing

Social Science fieldwork report (methods section)
1. Description/
The field notes were written by hand on lined paper. They consisted of jotted notes and explanation of
mental triggers (personal notes that would remind me of specific things when it came to method.
writing the notes up). I took some direct observational notes recording what I saw where this
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] .
2. Includes
[3] I found the notetaking process itself helpful, as it ensured that I listened carefully and discipline-specifi
decoded information. Not all the information I recorded was relevant, but noting what I found language
informative contributed to my ability to 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
Rarely did I have time to transcribe a direct quotation, so relied on my own fairly rapid evaluation of me
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.
However, one student brought a tape recorder and was asked to switch it off by a participant
who was uneasy about her comments being directly recorded. It seems that subjects feel 4. Conclusion a
differently about being recorded or photographed (as opposed to observers taking notes), so recommendation
specific consent should be sought before using these technologies [4] . based on the writ
experience
Engineering Design Report

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

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

2019. This guide may be distributed or adapted for educational purposes. Full
and proper acknowledgement is required. Contact us
here: learningcentre@unsw.edu.au
https://student.unsw.edu.au/examples-reflective-writing

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Examples of Reflective Writing

Log book: often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as

Self-assessment: requires you to comment on your own work.

Some examples of reflective writing

Engineering Design Report

Learning Journal (weekly reflection)

Mezirow, J 1990, Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to

The Learning Centre thanks the students who permitted us to feature

Prepared by The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales ©

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