Professional Documents
Culture Documents
HowDoIWriteReflectively?|UNSWCurrentStudents
HowDoIWriteReflectively?
WhatcanIdiscuss?
Yourperceptionsofthecourseandthecontent.
Experiences,ideasandobservationsyouhavehad,andhowtheyrelatetothecourseortopic.
Whatyoufoundconfusing,inspiring,difficult,interestingandwhy.
Questionsyouhave
Howyou:
solvedaproblem
reachedaconclusion
foundananswer
reachedapointofunderstanding.
Possibilities,speculations,hypothesesorsolutions.
Alternativeinterpretationsordifferentperspectivesonwhatyouhavereadordoneinyourcourse.
Comparisonsandconnectionsbetweenwhatyourarelearningand:
yourpriorknowledgeandexperience
yourpriorassumptionsandpreconceptions
whatyouknowfromothercoursesordisciplines.
Hownewideaschallengewhatyoualreadyknow.
Whatyouneedtoexplorenextintermsofthoughtsandactions.
Gettingstarted
Clarifyyourtask
Reflectivewritingassignmentscantakemanyforms,sochecktheguidelinesinyourcourseoutlinebeforeyoubegin.
Clarifyanyquestionsoruncertaintieswithyourlecturerortutor.
Clarifythepracticalaspects
Findoutwhatformyourtaskshouldtake.Youmayneedtosubmitabookorfolderorcompleteanonlinecomponent.In
additiontowriting,youmaybeabletoincludepictures,diagrams,mediaclippingsetc.
Gatheryourideas
Beforeyouwrite,youneedtothinkandreflect.StartbydrawingupaMindmap.
Mindmappingisatechniquethatcanhelpyouexpandyourthinking,structureyourideasandmakeconnections.Youcanuse
aMindmaptoplanyourassignmentandarrangeitemstocreatethestructureofyourwriting.
Writeyourtopicinthecentreofablankpage.
Drawrelatedideason'branches'thatradiatefromthecentraltopic.Whenyougetanewidea,startanewbranchfromthe
centre.Includeanyideas,topics,authors,theories,experiencesassociatedwithyourtopic.
https://student.unsw.edu.au/howdoiwritereflectively
1/3
8/2/2016
HowDoIWriteReflectively?|UNSWCurrentStudents
Mapquickly,withoutpausing,tomaintainaflowofideas.Associatefreelyanddonotselfeditatthisstageanythingand
everythingisOK.
Circlethekeypointsorideas.Lookateachitemandconsiderhowitrelatestoothers,andtothetopicasawhole.
Maptherelationshipsbetweentheideasorkeypointsusinglines,arrows,colours.Usewordsorphrasestolinkthem.
ResourcesonMindMapping
MindMapGalleryTheBuzanCentreAustralia/NZ
BrainstormingandmindmappingforassignmentsLanguageandLearningOnline,MonashUniversity
ConceptormindmappingStudyGuidesandStrategieswebsite
Writingstyle
Asitconcernsyourthoughts,reflectivewritingismostlysubjective.Thereforeinadditiontobeingreflectiveandlogical,you
canbepersonal,hypothetical,criticalandcreative.Youcancommentbasedonyourexperience,ratherthanlimitingyourself
toacademicevidence.
Reflectivewritingisanactivitythatincludesdescription(what,when,who)andanalysis(how,why,whatif).Itisan
explorativetooloftenresultinginmorequestionsthananswers.
Areflectivetaskmayallowyoutousedifferentmodesofwritingandlanguage:
descriptive(outliningwhatsomethingisorhowsomethingwasdone)
explanatory(explainingwhyorhowitislikethat)
expressive(Ithink,Ifeel,Ibelieve)
Usefullsentencesandcompleteparagraphs
Youcanusuallyusepersonalpronounslike'I','my'or'we'
Keepcolloquiallanguagetoaminimum(eg,kid,bloke,stuff)
Tipstohelpyouinyourreflectivewritingprocess
Thinkofaninteraction,eventorepisodeyouexperiencedthatcanbeconnectedtothetopic
Describewhathappened
Whatwasyourrole?
Whatfeelingsandperceptionssurroundedtheexperience?
Howwouldyouexplainthesituationtosomeoneelse?
Whatmightthisexperiencemeaninthecontextofyourcourse?
Whatotherperspectives,theoriesorconceptscouldbeappliedtothesituation?
Seenext:Examplesofreflectivewriting
UNSWSydneyNSW2052Australia
AuthorisedbyDeputyViceChancellorEducation
UNSWCRICOSProviderCode:00098G
ABN:57195873179
https://student.unsw.edu.au/howdoiwritereflectively
2/3
8/2/2016
HowDoIWriteReflectively?|UNSWCurrentStudents
Pagelastupdated:Tuesday10November2015
https://student.unsw.edu.au/howdoiwritereflectively
3/3