Why reflect?
Reflection is critical to learning how to learn (metacognition) and being a successful self-directed learner. Being a 'learning worker' keeps us relevant and valuable in the 21st century workplace, as Jacob Morgan argues.
4 steps to self-directed learning:
Being ready to learn
Setting learning goals (your purpose)
Engaging in the learning process
Evaluating learning
Reflection Models
Choose from one of the 4 models below to help you move to the higher levels of reflection. An insightful reflection avoids vague or superficial statements at these higher levels. They should also take up a substantial part of your reflection; they shouldn't be just a throwaway line or two at the end!
A. Holmes:
What did I do?
How do I think/feel about this?
What did I think about but not say (or what did I want to say but did not)?
How well (or badly) did it go?
What did I learn?
What will I do differently next time?
How will I do it differently next time?
What have I achieved?
What have I learnt about myself?
How have I put any theory into practice?
How does what I have been doing lead to me becoming better at a skill?
How can I use this to plan for the future?
(How) can I use this to plan new learning experiences?
B. Peter Pappas:
Take a look at this annotated reflection written by Hsiao-yun for one of her assignments, using Pappas's model.
C. Driscoll's model:
What? - So what? - Now what?
Here's an example written by Hsiao-yun.
Hampe's (2013) vocabulary aid may be useful when using this model.
How does reflection work?
Watch the videos below.