When completing a piece of reflective work it is important that you strike a balance between writing about your own experience and including academic evidence to support your points.
If academic evidence does not support your points it can be difficult to move on from being descriptive to producing critical writing that incorporates evidenced recommendations for the future.
It may be useful to use a table when considering reflecting on a topic. The table could record information such as experiences and evidence that compares and contrasts with this in addition to recording referencing information.
It can be useful to think of reflective writing as a process towards understanding your task and to improve future experiences.
Why not test your knowledge of what you have learned about reflection in the quiz below?
When writing it is important to ensure that your writing is academic, not too colloquial or informal.
It may be useful to look at the Manchester Academic Phrasebank, a tool that includes alternative ways of introducing points in your academic writing.
Discover more by visiting the website and watch the tutorial below.
Why not follow these top tips to improve your reflection?
Avoid:
If you would like to ask a question or discuss reflection or any other study skills further, you can book an appointment with a Study Skills Adviser or log into the library skills drop in which takes place each weekday on the library website. We also hold regular study skills masterclasses both online and in person, feel free to book onto them on the library website.
University of Manchester (ND) Academic Phrasebank. Available at: https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/ (Accessed: 4 August 2023).