Reflecting on You and Your Practice Aims and

Reflecting on You and Your Practice

Aims and Objectives • • • Consider what reflection and reflecting mean Why do we reflect? How do we reflect? What helps us to reflect? Approaching your assignment

Definition: Reflection In an academic context, reflection is a process of examining and interpreting experience to gain new understanding by: Looking back over past experiences and events, actions and feelings; • Analysing what happened: – What went well and why; – What did not go well and why? Considering the present – What have you learned, as a result, about you; – What have learned about your practice? Then as a result of these, looking forward: – What will you do differently in the future and why.

Please take a few moments to think about the answer to this question: Why do we reflect?

Why do we reflect? • • To think about our experiences To learn from those experiences To remember better what we learned To avoid repeating mistakes To develop more quickly and effectively To inform our development plans and keep us moving forward To help us to build our self confidence • I hope this Power. Point will help you to see how to achieve your best in this assignment.

How do we reflect? Models provide useful frameworks to help us to examine our experiences and develop ourselves and our practice. Models can help provide a structure for written reflection.

Kolb (1984)

Gibbs (1988)

Rolfe et al (2001)

Theories and Academic Sources help us: • To understand provide evidence about clinical expertise including: – appropriate techniques – safe practice in the field – best practice in relation to a patient centred-approach – productive inter-professional working • To support clinical reasoning and judgements • To inform us regarding legal, ethical and professional issues in the field and how to manage these

Critical analysis and Critical Thinking help You need to dig deeper…investigate… and think more. Ask the questions: • What really happened? • Why did this happen? • What should have happened? • What did I do correctly? • What could I have done differently? • How do I know this? • Could any theories or other academic sources help me understand make decisions for the future? • What is considered best practice in this situation? • Do my experiences support a theory? Why or why not? Differences in context or data?

Writing Reflections • Despite being allowed to use ‘I, me, my’ (some), it is necessary to maintain an academic style. • The writing requires a clear structure. • As you are creating an academic essay you need to: express opinions and explanations about an event or situation, but base your interpretations and reasoning on theories and academic resources. • Avoid just describing what happened or what was done. Indicate how this experience was useful or not useful and how it will affect your future practice.

Start with Thinking and Planning Deconstruct the assignment instructions and learning outcomes Make notes of the different areas to be covered What questions are stated or implied that need to be answered? Link those areas with experiences or tasks done as recorded, possibly in your portfolio • Link those experiences with theories and academic resources • Which reflective model best suits your situation? • Consider the logical order of the essay • •

Research will be necessary • Use the information offered in your course to help guide you • Use reliable sources from reliable search engines and your module reading list • Use the most recent information available • Keep record of any sources used, noting the information necessary for referencing, including page numbers in case you need to find the information again

Consider past feedback on your writing • This is a part of continuous reflection. • This can help you avoid repeating mistakes. • Be sure to write clearly and concisely.

Writing takes time • Remember that you are writing a maximum number of words, check your assignment brief. • Most people need thinking space. • Most people need to make a basic plan/outline. • Everyone needs to improve the way they say things. • Everyone needs to proof-read their work. • Managing your time well can make a significant and positive difference in your marks.

Some key points to remember • You need to address all of the learning outcomes and complete all of the assignment instructions. • You must refer throughout to actual experiences/tasks done. • You should not copy and paste sections from a portfolio, if one is used. • The use of a reflective model needs to be explicit. • In-text citations or the reference list must be presented correctly according to the School Referencing Guide. • Links between your experience, theory and what was learned as a result of reflection should be clearly explained. • The reflection needs to show critical thinking and analysis.

The ASA website includes some useful links: • http: //academic-skills. health. herts. ac. uk/improving-your-writing/ • Reflective writing – Monash University • http: //academic-skills. health. herts. ac. uk/academic-writing-explained/ • Level 6 writing examples – Critical Reflection there • http: //academic-skills. health. herts. ac. uk/understanding-academic-terms/ • Short vimeos explaining key words for evidencing critical thinking and analysis • http: //academic-skills. health. herts. ac. uk/critical-reflection/ • Examples of written reflection

Any questions? Please email me your questions or if you need a one-to-one session, please complete a Self-Referral form which is on the ASA website and send it to Valerie Brossier (v. brossier@herts. ac. uk). • My name is Helen Stamps, Academic Skills Tutor h. stamps@herts. ac. uk • For additional Academic Skills Advice See our ASA Website: http: //academic-skills. health. herts. ac. uk/