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How to Write a Reflection Paper

Last Updated: July 8, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alicia Cook . Alicia Cook is a Professional Writer based in Newark, New Jersey. With over 12 years of experience, Alicia specializes in poetry and uses her platform to advocate for families affected by addiction and to fight for breaking the stigma against addiction and mental illness. She holds a BA in English and Journalism from Georgian Court University and an MBA from Saint Peter’s University. Alicia is a bestselling poet with Andrews McMeel Publishing and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including the NY Post, CNN, USA Today, the HuffPost, the LA Times, American Songwriter Magazine, and Bustle. She was named by Teen Vogue as one of the 10 social media poets to know and her poetry mixtape, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately” was a finalist in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,782,009 times.

Reflection papers allow you to communicate with your instructor about how a specific article, lesson, lecture, or experience shapes your understanding of class-related material. Reflection papers are personal and subjective [1] X Research source , but they must still maintain a somewhat academic tone and must still be thoroughly and cohesively organized. Here's what you need to know about writing an effective reflection.

Things You Should Know

  • Write an introduction that outlines the expectations you had and provide a thesis statement in the last sentence.
  • State your conclusions in the body paragraphs of the paper. Explain how you arrived at your conclusions using logic and concrete details.
  • Conclude the paper with a concise summary of your overall experience.

Sample Outline and Paper

reflection paper template

Brainstorming

Step 1 Identify the main themes.

  • These sentences should be both descriptive yet straight to the point.

Step 2 Jot down material that stands out in your mind.

  • For lectures or readings, you can write down specific quotations or summarize passages.
  • For experiences, make a note of specific portions of your experience. You could even write a small summary or story of an event that happened during the experience that stands out. Images, sounds, or other sensory portions of your experience work, as well.

Alicia Cook

  • In the first column, list the main points or key experiences. These points can include anything that the author or speaker treated with importance as well as any specific details you found to be important. Divide each point into its own separate row.
  • In the second column, list your personal response to the points you brought up in the first column. Mention how your subjective values, experiences, and beliefs influence your response.
  • In the third and last column, describe how much of your personal response to share in your reflection paper.

Step 4 Ask yourself questions to guide your response.

  • Does the reading, lecture, or experience challenge you socially, culturally, emotionally, or theologically? If so, where and how? Why does it bother you or catch your attention?
  • Has the reading, lecture, or experience changed your way of thinking? Did it conflict with beliefs you held previously, and what evidence did it provide you with in order to change your thought process on the topic?
  • Does the reading, lecture, or experience leave you with any questions? Were these questions ones you had previously or ones you developed only after finishing?
  • Did the author, speaker, or those involved in the experience fail to address any important issues? Could a certain fact or idea have dramatically changed the impact or conclusion of the reading, lecture, or experience?
  • How do the issues or ideas brought up in this reading, lecture, or experience mesh with past experiences or readings? Do the ideas contradict or support each other?

Organizing a Reflection Paper

Step 1 Keep it short and sweet.

  • Verify whether or not your instructor specified a word count for the paper instead of merely following this average.
  • If your instructor demands a word count outside of this range, meet your instructor's requirements.

Step 2 Introduce your expectations.

  • For a reading or lecture, indicate what you expected based on the title, abstract, or introduction.
  • For an experience, indicate what you expected based on prior knowledge provided by similar experiences or information from others.

Step 3 Develop a thesis statement.

  • This is essentially a brief explanation of whether or not your expectations were met.
  • A thesis provides focus and cohesion for your reflection paper.
  • You could structure a reflection thesis along the following lines: “From this reading/experience, I learned...”

Step 4 Explain your conclusions in the body.

  • Your conclusions must be explained. You should provide details on how you arrived at those conclusions using logic and concrete details.
  • The focus of the paper is not a summary of the text, but you still need to draw concrete, specific details from the text or experience in order to provide context for your conclusions.
  • Write a separate paragraph for each conclusion or idea you developed.
  • Each paragraph should have its own topic sentence. This topic sentence should clearly identify your major points, conclusions, or understandings.

Step 5 Conclude with a summary.

  • The conclusions or understandings explained in your body paragraphs should support your overall conclusion. One or two may conflict, but the majority should support your final conclusion.

As You Write

Step 1 Reveal information wisely.

  • If you feel uncomfortable about a personal issue that affects the conclusions you reached, it is wisest not to include personal details about it.
  • If a certain issue is unavoidable but you feel uncomfortable revealing your personal experiences or feelings regarding it, write about the issue in more general terms. Identify the issue itself and indicate concerns you have professionally or academically.

Step 2 Maintain a professional or academic tone.

  • Avoid dragging someone else down in your writing. If a particular person made the experience you are reflecting on difficult, unpleasant, or uncomfortable, you must still maintain a level of detachment as you describe that person's influence. Instead of stating something like, “Bob was such a rude jerk,” say something more along the lines of, “One man was abrupt and spoke harshly, making me feel as though I was not welcome there.” Describe the actions, not the person, and frame those actions within the context of how they influenced your conclusions.
  • A reflection paper is one of the few pieces of academic writing in which you can get away with using the first person pronoun “I.” That said, you should still relate your subjective feelings and opinions using specific evidence to explain them. [8] X Research source
  • Avoid slang and always use correct spelling and grammar. Internet abbreviations like “LOL” or “OMG” are fine to use personally among friends and family, but this is still an academic paper, so you need to treat it with the grammatical respect it deserves. Do not treat it as a personal journal entry.
  • Check and double-check your spelling and grammar after you finish your paper.

Step 3 Review your reflection paper at the sentence level.

  • Keep your sentences focused. Avoid squeezing multiple ideas into one sentence.
  • Avoid sentence fragments. Make sure that each sentence has a subject and a verb.
  • Vary your sentence length. Include both simple sentences with a single subject and verb and complex sentences with multiple clauses. Doing so makes your paper sound more conversational and natural, and prevents the writing from becoming too wooden. [9] X Research source

Step 4 Use transitions.

  • Common transitional phrases include "for example," "for instance," "as a result," "an opposite view is," and "a different perspective is."

Step 5 Relate relevant classroom information to the experience or reading.

  • For instance, if reflecting on a piece of literary criticism, you could mention how your beliefs and ideas about the literary theory addressed in the article relate to what your instructor taught you about it or how it applies to prose and poetry read in class.
  • As another example, if reflecting on a new social experience for a sociology class, you could relate that experience to specific ideas or social patterns discussed in class.

Expert Q&A

Alicia Cook

You Might Also Like

Write an Essay

  • ↑ https://www.csuohio.edu/writing-center/reflection-papers
  • ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments/reflectionpaper
  • ↑ Alicia Cook. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 11 December 2020.
  • ↑ https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/how-write-reflection-paper
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
  • ↑ https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/writing-assessment/reflective-writing/reflective-essays
  • ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarlyvoice/sentencestructure

About This Article

Alicia Cook

To write a reflection paper, start with an introduction where you state any expectations you had for the reading, lesson, or experience you're reflecting on. At the end of your intro, include a thesis statement that explains how your views have changed. In the body of your essay, explain the conclusions you reached after the reading, lesson, or experience and discuss how you arrived at them. Finally, finish your paper with a succinct conclusion that explains what you've learned. To learn how to brainstorm for your paper, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Reflection Paper: Example & Tips

Want to know how to write a reflection paper for college or school? To do that, you need to connect your personal experiences with theoretical knowledge. Usually, students are asked to reflect on a documentary, a text, or their experience. Sometimes one needs to write a paper about a lesson or a movie.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

This assignment tests your critical thinking rather than your summarizing skills.

Struggling with a reflection paper? This article by our custom-writing experts will help you ace this task. Here you’ll find:

  • A guide on how to write a reflection paper;
  • Outlining and formatting tips;
  • Reflection paper example & a template.

🤔 What Is a Reflection Paper?

  • ✅ Reflection Paper Types
  • ✍️ Step-by-Step Guide
  • 📃 Examples & Formatting Tips

A reflection essay is a type of academic assignment in which you connect theories learned in class with your personal experience and knowledge. Additionally, you analyze your feelings and attitudes towards the subject. It helps you understand how to put theory into practice. 

The picture shows the definition of a reflection paper: a description, analysis, and evaluation of an experience.

For this assignment, the ability to use reflective thinking is vital. What does it mean? It means that you should be able to look back at and analyze:

  • what you did;
  • how and why you did it;
  • how it made you feel ;
  • what you could have done differently .

Consequently, your reflection essay should include the following components: 

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So, let’s make clear what a reflection paper is and what it’s not. Have a look at this comparison:

When it comes to topics, a reflexive paper may be about many things, such as:

  • an analysis of your work;
  • your impressions from attending a class or a speech;
  • an experience that has influenced your worldview;
  • a solution to a problem;
  • the steps to improve your academic progress.

Once you have a topic idea, the next step is to prepare for writing.

✅ How to Write a Reflection Paper: Tips for Various Types

Before your start working on your essay, let’s find out what exactly you should deal with. There are several different types of reflexive essays. Make sure to choose the one that suits you best.

We have prepared three classifications, depending on when, how, and what you will reflect.

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Depending on time, reflection papers can be:

  • Reflection-in-action. You study your actions under certain circumstances. Usually, it’s a patient-therapist interaction. In this case, you observe, feel, and analyze the situation you are engaged in.
  • Reflection-on-action. You study your actions after the situation has already occurred. It’s crucial to use your critical thinking here as well. 

Depending on the manner, reflexive essays can be:

  • Experimental. You make connections between theory and practice by conducting an experiment. It’s suitable for sociology, education, business, psychology, forensics, and nursing.
  • Reading. You connect the ideas from the texts and your interpretations to show your comprehension. 

Depending on the content, reflective writing can be:

  • a journal (to reflect on your learning in the course)
  • a learning diary (to evaluate group work)
  • a logbook (to reflect on your experiments, analyze past actions, and plan future ones)
  • a reflective note (to express your attitudes towards an issue)
  • an essay diary (to write an annotated bibliography, to analyze and critique the sources)
  • a peer review (to present your feedback on other students’ work or teamwork)
  • a self-reflection essay (to examine and comment on your working process).

Personal Reflection Paper: Writing Tips

In a personal reflection paper, you need to present your attitudes, emotions, feelings, and experiences. How do you do it? 

Here is the answer:

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

  • Think about an experience that evokes particular emotions.
  • Describe what happened: mention the participants and their actions.
  • Demonstrate your emotions and feelings. It’s important to show them rather than just tell. The trick is to make the reader feel the same. You can do it by using imagery and various descriptive techniques.
  • Analyze your experiences and make connections with your present-day life. You can relate them to your study material or relevant theories and concepts.
  • Conclude with your plans. Tell the readers how you’re going to implement this knowledge. 

These reflective writing examples should give you an idea of what your writing should be like and what to avoid. First, let’s have a look at a poor example :

I wanted to become a painter. I liked to paint very much. Once I saw a painting of Claude Monet and decided to become like him. I bought paints and a canvas. My first work was not very good, but I didn’t give up. My future pictures were much better.

As you can see, it’s not very informative. There’s no analysis of an experience, and connections are not made. It also lacks interesting descriptions.

Now, check out this good example :

Critical Reflection Paper: Writing Tips

In a critical reflection essay, you assess how theories can be applied in practice, examine causes and consequences, and find solutions to problems. It’s all about evaluating and changing your attitude towards an issue rather than summarizing events and details.

The critical reflection process consists of two stages:

  • Analysis . Ask critical questions to find the core of the issue and your role in it. 
  • Articulation . Organize your ideas into a structured essay.

How exactly can you make an analysis?

Have a look at the following three-stage model. All you should do is answer the following questions:

  • What? During the first stage, you describe the details of the issue.
  • So what? The second stage requires you to relate your theoretical knowledge to the situation you discuss. The way you do it depends on the questions you are going to ask yourself while writing. There are three major perspectives to choose from:
  • Now what? At this stage, you think about the future outcomes. Ponder on how this situation will shape your further experiences. 

As soon as the analysis stage is over, you’re ready to relate your thoughts and ideas in written form.

How to Write a Reflection Paper on a Book

Now, let’s see what strategies can help you write an excellent reflective essay on a book. First of all, remember that this assignment is not about summarizing the plot. It’s about analyzing and connecting the ideas presented in the text with your knowledge. 

To write a perfect reflective paper on a book, take the following steps:

  • Analyze the text. Explore the ideas, purpose, and theoretical framework of the book. State its main point clearly and concisely. Then, discuss the information that interested you the most. Mention what emotions it evoked, and say whether the ideas in the book are new to you. 
  • Expand on your ideas. Describe how this information shapes your understanding of the subject. Also, state whether you agree with the author’s arguments. 
  • Establish connections. Show how the book helped to broaden your knowledge. Mention whether it had challenged your assumptions.

The following sample will help you see how you can structure your ideas:

How to Write a Reflection Paper on an Article

Usually, a reflection paper on an article is concerned with critiquing a written text or a speech. These strategies will help you write it:

  • Focus on your attitudes and feelings towards the article. You may mention your expectations and whether they were met.

I believed this book would help me understand the difference between traditional and radical forgiveness. I thought these two types had a lot in common. However, it turned out they are entirely different.

  • Refer to the passages that interested you the most: quote directly, paraphrase , or summarize them.
  • Include your subjective opinion: it’s important not to overdo it.
  • Combine formal and informal vocabulary to make your writing more expressive.

✍️ How to Write a Reflection Paper: Step-by-Step Guide

Want to know what exactly you should do to get an excellent reflexive essay? Read the following tips. They will help you write any type of reflection essay .

Reflection Paper Writing: Before You Start

Let’s start with some pre-writing strategies. Here are the main steps:

Step 1: Brainstorm ideas . Identify your central theme and write a summary of essential points.

Main theme:  Psychological reasons for eating a lot of sweets

  • Usually, I eat sweets when I’m sad or upset.
  • I have read that people who lack love and positive emotions and feelings try to substitute it with food.
  • Watching a documentary has evoked my interest in this topic.
  • My attitude towards sweets has changed after research.

Step 2: Analyze your ideas. Then, connect your experiences with theoretical knowledge.

The following list of questions will help you navigate your response.

Step 3: Organize your reflection essay . This list will make it clear what the writer does and doesn’t do in a reflective essay. Keep it in mind while planning what to include in your paper.

Here’s a bonus tip: to structure your reflection process, use the 4Rs model :

  • Report on the topic and its relation to the course.
  • Relate it with your personal experiences.
  • Reason out connections between your practical and theoretical knowledge.
  • Reconstruct the initial idea to make a conclusion.

Reflection Paper Template: What to Include

Now, let’s have a look at your essay’s structure. Your paper should consist of an introduction, main body, and conclusion:

The picture shows a template for a reflection paper with the main elements included in introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Want to know how to write each part? Keep reading!

Reflection Paper Outline: How to Start

The introductory part of your essay should be catchy, informative, and well-organized. How can you do it? Follow these strategies:

  • It should be specific: try not to include general and well-known information.
  • Make this sentence catchy. This will get your readers interested in the rest of your paper.
  • major facts or details related to the situation or issue;
  • general themes covered in the text, interview, or video under analysis;
  • aspects of teamwork or an individual assignment;
  • your biases, expectations, and possible challenges.
  • cover observations or conclusions made by you;
  • reveal a clear position on an issue;
  • include a plan on how to defend your opinions throughout the paper.

Don’t forget to reread your introduction each time before writing a new body paragraph. Make sure that all of them match the ideas covered in your introductory part and thesis statement.

Reflection Paper Outline: Body Paragraphs

So, what’s the next part? After you’ve presented your ideas in the introduction, you expand on them in the body paragraphs. The main point here is to cover one idea per paragraph and provide necessary supporting evidence. That’s why it is better to have no more than 3 body paragraphs.

Here’s what to include in this essay part:

Reflection Paper Outline: Conclusion

Finally, any academic paper needs a conclusion. Don’t know how to write it? Check out the following helpful tips:

📃 Reflection Paper Examples & Formatting Tips

The moment when you stop writing your essay is really amazing. But then comes the final part: you need to format your paper appropriately. Don’t know how to do it? Look no further: we have prepared some formatting tips for you.

You only need to know which citation style to use. APA and MLA are the most popular citation styles. That’s why we have gathered the most helpful information on them. Check it out!

APA Reflection Paper Formatting

American Psychological Association (APA) format is mostly used in sciences, psychology, and education. Consider the following tips if you need to write an APA reflection essay.

Below you’ll find a downloadable reflection paper example in APA format.

Reflection Papers Format: MLA

Modern Language Association (MLA) formatting is widespread in the humanities. Do you need to write an MLA reflexive essay? Have a look at some essential formatting tips about this citation style below.

If you want to know more about MLA formatting, check out this free reflection essay sample. You can download the full version below.

Reflection Paper Example

The COVID-19 pandemic raised the need for educational means that will not potentially endanger the students’ health. As a result, the need for online classes sharply rose worldwide. However, it is difficult to conclude whether such practices have been successful so far, especially in regions that are considered least developed. According to my personal observations, online classes may represent a negative educational experience that will hinder its primary role as the means of passing on the knowledge.

Make sure to check out these reflection paper samples to get more ideas for your essay.

  • Personal Philosophy of Nursing Reflection Paper
  • Application of Research in Social Sciences Reflection Paper
  • Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Reflection Paper
  • Reflections on Aging
  • Reflection on the Book of Psalms
  • Epidemiology Course Topics Reflection
  • Personal Nursing Practice Reflection
  • Relational Practice: Reflections on Family Nursing
  • Reflection on “The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein
  • Martin Luther King Speech Reflection

Reflection Paper Topics

  • Personal response to Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. 
  • Reflection on importance of leadership in healthcare .  
  • Globalization of Missions by Kgatle: personal reflections.  
  • Personal reflection on social work policy and its values.  
  • Racism as an example of social injustice : reflection paper.  
  • Reflection on the immigration policy based on Paul Vitello’s article Kiss me, I’m Illegal . 
  • Personal response to William Shakespeare ’s quotation, “For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so.” 
  • Reflection and evaluation of Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper . 
  • Importance of realization the policy of diversity: reflection paper. 
  • Analyze your personal response to the sports industry cowboysization. 
  • What, in your opinion, is leadership and professionalism?  
  • Reflect on the significance of the International Women’s Day celebration.  
  • Analyze the survey on nursing ethics and give your evaluation of its results.  
  • Personal reflection on French Revolution and value of liberty. 
  • Values and beliefs of nursing as a multifaceted healthcare area: personal evaluation. 
  • Brief analysis and personal evaluation of Christianity framework .  
  • Reflection on your personal nursing philosophy and beliefs. 
  • How does media affect friendship ?  
  • Reflections on the portrayal of family in Homer’s Odyssey . 
  • Personal evaluation of Gary Smalley’s Hidden Keys to Loving Relationships .  
  • Reflect on the historical and literary significance of Chronicles of the Indies . 
  • What does the leadership skills mean: reflection paper. 
  • Reflection on John Hume’s Nobel Prize speech and lecture about reaching agreement. 
  • Personal response to Soderbergh’s film Contagion .   
  • Reflect on visiting the website Virtual American Revolution, Boston and its role in teaching history. 
  • Describe your impressions of The Love Suicides at Amijima by Chikamatsu Monzameon. 
  • Reflect on the meaning of art using the installation My Bed by Emin as an example.  
  • Analyze your thoughts and feelings evoked by Epic of Gilgamesh .  
  • Is photography a true art?  
  • Does the idea presented in a series of stories The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien correlate with your personal beliefs?   
  • Bachelor of Science in social work : reflection paper. 
  • Discuss the problems reflected in the documentary Autism: Insight From Inside . 
  • Present your reflections on the single-parent families .  
  • How do you understand ethics ?  
  • Consider the crucial points of Cheleyem : An Experimental of Mapuche Film Program.   
  • The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic : personal reflections.    
  • Present personal evaluation of the film Mi Familia directed by Gregory Nava. 
  • Bill of Rights : reflective essay. 
  • Describe the impression of the film Rampant: How a City Stopped a Plague by Victoria Midwinter-Pitt.  
  • Evaluate staging of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.    

We hope that this article on a reflection paper has made things clear for you. In a nutshell, here are the main steps:

  • analyze the situation;
  • reflect on your feelings and experiences;
  • connect them to your theoretical knowledge.

We wish you the best of luck with your assignments. Don’t hesitate to share this article with your friends!

Further reading:

  • How to Write a Lab Report: Format, Tips, & Example
  • What Is a Master’s Thesis & How to Write It: Best Tips
  • Literature Review Outline: Examples, Approaches, & Templates
  • How to Write an Annotated Bibliography: Tips, Format, & Samples
  • 10 Research Paper Hacks: Tips for Writing a Research Paper

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

A reflection is a combination of critical thinking and learning. It’s a way of responding to one’s experiences, issues, and acquired knowledge. There’s no right or wrong in reflection writing, as every person reacts uniquely.

It’s better to discuss the essay’s length with your instructor. However, if there are no specific instructions regarding word count, your reflective essay should contain between 300- 500 words (approximately 1-2 pages.)

To write an effective reflexive essay about a lesson, you need to:

1. describe the lesson’s contents; 2. express your ideas and feelings related to the class; 3. mention what you’ve learned and how it affected you.

To write a reflection paper on a movie, follow the template below:

1. reflect on your emotions before, during, and after watching the film; 2. analyze your observations; 3. draw connections with the information learned in class.

🔍 References

  • Reflective Writing: UNSW Sydney
  • Models of Reflection: LibGuides at La Trobe University
  • Reflective Writing: Deakin University
  • The Reflection Paper: University of Toronto
  • Reflection Papers: Cleveland State University
  • The 4Rs Model of Reflective Thinking: Queensland University of Technology
  • Keys to Writing a Reflection Paper: Seattle PI
  • How to Write a Reflection Paper: Trent University
  • Reflection Template: University of South Florida
  • Critical Reflection: University of Waterloo
  • Critical Reflection: Texas A&M University
  • A Short Guide to Reflective Writing: University of Birmingham
  • The Structure of Reflective Writing: Monash University
  • General Format: APA Style: Purdue University
  • Using MLA Format: MLA Style Format
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Hi custom-writing.org admin, You always provide practical solutions and recommendations.

Custom Writing

Thanks for the feedback, Julian! Much appreciated.

This information on reflective writing has been very helpful. Thank you so much. Linda Grayson Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, TN

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How to Write a Reflection Paper

Why reflective writing, experiential reflection, reading reflection.

  • A note on mechanics

Reflection offers you the opportunity to consider how your personal experiences and observations shape your thinking and your acceptance of new ideas.  Professors often ask students to write reading reflections.  They do this to encourage you to explore your own ideas about a text, to express your opinion rather than summarize the opinions of others.  Reflective writing can help you to improve your analytical skills because it requires you to express what you think, and more significantly, how and why you think that way.  In addition, reflective analysis asks you to acknowledge that your thoughts are shaped by your assumptions and preconceived ideas; in doing so, you can appreciate the ideas of others, notice how their assumptions and preconceived ideas may have shaped their thoughts, and perhaps recognize how your ideas support or oppose what you read.

Types of Reflective Writing

Popular in professional programs, like business, nursing, social work, forensics and education, reflection is an important part of making connections between theory and practice.  When you are asked to reflect upon experience in a placement, you do not only describe your experience, but you evaluate it based on ideas from class.  You can assess a theory or approach based on your observations and practice and evaluate your own knowledge and skills within your professional field.   This opportunity to take the time to think about your choices, your actions, your successes and your failures is best done within a specific framework, like course themes or work placement objectives.  Abstract concepts can become concrete and real to you when considered within your own experiences, and reflection on your experiences allows you to make plans for improvement.

To encourage thoughtful and balanced assessment of readings, many interdisciplinary courses may ask you to submit a reading reflection.  Often instructors will indicate to students what they expect of a reflection, but the general purpose is to elicit your informed opinions about ideas presented in the text and to consider how they affect your interpretation.   Reading reflections offer an opportunity to recognize – and perhaps break down – your assumptions which may be challenged by the text(s). 

Approaches to Reflective Inquiry

You may wonder how your professors assess your reflective writing.  What are they looking for? How can my experiences or ideas be right or wrong?  Your instructors expect you to critically engage with concepts from your course by making connections between your observations, experiences, and opinions.   They expect you to explain and analyse these concepts from your own point of view, eliciting original ideas and encouraging active interest in the course material.

It can be difficult to know where to begin when writing a critical reflection.  First, know that – like any other academic piece of writing – a reflection requires a narrow focus and strong analysis.  The best approach for identifying a focus and for reflective analysis is interrogation.   The following offers suggestions for your line of inquiry when developing a reflective response.

It is best to discuss your experiences in a work placement or practicum within the context of personal or organizational goals; doing so provides important insights and perspective for your own growth in the profession. For reflective writing, it is important to balance reporting or descriptive writing with critical reflection and analysis.

Consider these questions:

  • Contextualize your reflection:  What are your learning goals? What are the objectives of the organization?  How do these goals fit with the themes or concepts from the course?
  • Provide important information: What is the name of the host organization? What is their mission? Who do they serve? What was your role? What did you do?
  • Analytical Reflection: What did you learn from this experience? About yourself? About working in the field? About society?
  • Lessons from reflection: Did your experience fit with the goals or concepts of the course or organization?  Why or why not? What are your lessons for the future? What was successful? Why? What would you do differently? Why? How will you prepare for a future experience in the field?

Consider the purpose of reflection: to demonstrate your learning in the course.  It is important to actively and directly connect concepts from class to your personal or experiential reflection.  The following example shows how a student’s observations from a classroom can be analysed using a theoretical concept and how the experience can help a student to evaluate this concept.

For Example My observations from the classroom demonstrate that the hierarchical structure of Bloom’s Taxonomy is problematic, a concept also explored by Paul (1993).  The students often combined activities like application and synthesis or analysis and evaluation to build their knowledge and comprehension of unfamiliar concepts.  This challenges my understanding of traditional teaching methods where knowledge is the basis for inquiry.  Perhaps higher-order learning strategies like inquiry and evaluation can also be the basis for knowledge and comprehension, which are classified as lower-order skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Critical reflection requires thoughtful and persistent inquiry.  Although basic questions like “what is the thesis?” and “what is the evidence?” are important to demonstrate your understanding, you need to interrogate your own assumptions and knowledge to deepen your analysis and focus your assessment of the text.

Assess the text(s):

  • What is the main point? How is it developed? Identify the purpose, impact and/or theoretical framework of the text.
  • What ideas stood out to me? Why? Were they new or in opposition to existing scholarship?

Develop your ideas:

  • What do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge come from? What are the observations or experiences that shape my understanding?
  • Do I agree or disagree with this argument?  Why?

Make connections:

  • How does this text reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How does this text challenge my existing ideas or assumptions?
  • How does this text help me to better understand this topic or explore this field of study/discipline?

A Note on Mechanics

As with all written assignments or reports, it is important to have a clear focus for your writing.  You do not need to discuss every experience or element of your placement.  Pick a few that you can explore within the context of your learning.  For reflective responses, identify the main arguments or important elements of the text to develop a stronger analysis which integrates relevant ideas from course materials.

Furthermore, your writing must be organized.  Introduce your topic and the point you plan to make about your experience and learning.  Develop your point through body paragraph(s), and conclude your paper by exploring the meaning you derive from your reflection. You may find the questions listed above can help you to develop an outline before you write your paper.

You should maintain a formal tone, but it is acceptable to write in the first person and to use personal pronouns.  Note, however, that it is important that you maintain confidentiality and anonymity of clients, patients or students from work or volunteer placements by using pseudonyms and masking identifying factors. 

The value of reflection: Critical reflection is a meaningful exercise which can require as much time and work as traditional essays and reports because it asks students to be purposeful and engaged participants, readers, and thinkers.

reflection paper template

How to Write a Reflective Essay: Easy Guide with Pro Tips

reflection paper template

Defining What is a Reflective Essay: Purpose + Importance

Being present is a cornerstone of mindfulness and meditation. You must have often heard that staying in the moment helps you appreciate your surroundings, connects you with people and nature, and allows you to feel whatever emotions you must feel without anxiety. While this is helpful advice as you become more focused and avoid getting lost in thought, how can you truly appreciate the present without reflecting on your past experiences that have led you to the current moment?

We don't say that you should dwell on the past and get carried away with a constant thought process, but hey, hear us out - practice reflective thinking! Think back on your previous life events, paint a true picture of history, and make connections to your present self. This requires you to get a bit analytical and creative. So you might as well document your critical reflection on a piece of paper and give direction to your personal observations. That's when the need for reflective essays steps in!

In a reflective essay, you open up about your thoughts and emotions to uncover your mindset, personality, traits of character, and background. Your reflective essay should include a description of the experience/literature piece as well as explanations of your thoughts, feelings, and reactions. In this article, our essay writer service will share our ultimate guide on how to write a reflective essay with a clear format and reflective essay examples that will inspire you.

How to Write a Reflective Essay with a Proper Reflective Essay Outline

To give you a clear idea of structuring a reflective essay template, we broke down the essential steps below. Primarily, the organization of a reflective essay is very similar to other types of papers. However, our custom writers got more specific with the reflective essay outline to ease your writing process.

Reflective Essay Introduction

When wondering how to start a reflective essay, it is no surprise that you should begin writing your paper with an introductory paragraph. So, what's new and different with the reflection essay introduction? Let's dissect:

  • Open your intro with an attention-seizing hook that engages your audience into reflective thinking with you. It can be something like: 'As I was sitting on my bed with my notebook placed on my shaky lap waiting for the letter of acceptance, I could not help but reflect, was enrolling in college the path I wanted to take in the future?'
  • Provide context with a quick overview of the reflective essay topic. Don't reveal too much information at the start to prevent your audience from becoming discouraged to continue reading.
  • Make a claim with a strong reflective essay thesis statement. It should be a simple explanation of the essay's main point, in this example, a specific event that had a big impact on you.

Reflective Essay Body Paragraphs

The next step is to develop the body of your essay. This section of the paper may be the most challenging because it's simple to ramble and replicate yourself both in the outline and the actual writing. Planning the body properly requires a lot of time and work, and the following advice can assist you in doing this effectively:

  • Consider using a sequential strategy. This entails reviewing everything you wish to discuss in the order it occurred. This method ensures that your work is structured and cohesive.
  • Make sure the body paragraph is well-rounded and employs the right amount of analysis. The body should go into the effects of the event on your life and the insights you've gained as a consequence.
  • Prioritize reflecting rather than summarizing your points. In addition to giving readers insight into your personal experience, a reflective stance will also show off your personality and demonstrate your ability to handle certain challenges.

Reflective Essay Conclusion

The goal of your reflective essay conclusion should be to tie everything together by summarizing the key ideas raised throughout, as well as the lessons you were able to take away from experience.

  • Don't forget to include the reasons for and the methods used to improve your beliefs and actions. Think about how your personality and skills have changed as well.
  • What conclusions can you draw about your behavior in particular circumstances? What could you do differently if the conditions were the same in the future?

Remember that your instructor will be searching for clear signs of reflection.

Understanding a Reflection Paper Format

The format of reflective essay greatly differs from an argumentative or research paper. A reflective essay is more of a well-structured story or a diary entry rife with insight and reflection. You might be required to arrange your essay using the APA style or the MLA format.

And the typical reflection paper length varies between 300 and 700 words, but ask your instructor about the word length if it was assigned to you. Even though this essay is about you, try to avoid too much informal language.

If your instructor asks you to use an APA or MLA style format for reflective essay, here are a few shortcuts:

Reflective Essay in MLA Format

  • Times New Roman 12pt font double spaced;
  • 1" margins;
  • The top right includes the last name and page number on every page;
  • Titles are centered;
  • The header should include your name, your professor's name, course number, and the date (dd/mm/yy);
  • The last page includes a Works Cited.

Reflective Essay in APA Style

  • Include a page header on the top of every page;
  • Insert page number on the right;
  • Your reflective essay should be divided into four parts: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Reflective Essay Writing Tips

You may think we've armed you with enough tips and pointers for reflective writing, but it doesn't stop here. Below we gathered some expert-approved tips for constructing uncontested reflection papers.

tips reflective essay

  • Be as detailed as possible while writing. To make your reflective essay writing come to life, you should employ several tactics such as symbolism, sentence patterns, etc.
  • Keep your audience in mind. The reader will become frustrated if you continue writing in the first person without taking a moment to convey something more important, even though you will likely speak about something from your own perspective.
  • Put forth the effort to allow the reader to feel the situation or emotion you are attempting to explain.
  • Don't preach; demonstrate. Instead of just reporting what happened, use description appropriately to paint a clear picture of the event or sensation.
  • Plan the wording and structure of your reflective essay around a central emotion or subject, such as joy, pleasure, fear, or grief.
  • Avoid adding dull elements that can lessen the effect of your work. Why include it if it won't enhance the emotion or understanding you wish to convey?
  • There must be a constant sense of progression. Consider whether the event has transformed you or others around you.
  • Remember to double-check your grammar, syntax, and spelling.

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Reflective Essay Topic Ideas

As a reflective essay should be about your own views and experiences, you generally can't use someone else's ideas. But to help you get started, here are some suggestions for writing topics:

  • An experience you will never forget.
  • The moment you overcame a fear.
  • The most difficult choice you had to make.
  • A time your beliefs were challenged.
  • A time something changed your life.
  • The happiest or most frightening moment of your life so far.
  • Ways you think you or people can make the world a better place.
  • A time you felt lost.
  • An introspective look at your choices or a time you made the wrong choice.
  • A moment in your life you would like to relive.

You may find it convenient to create a chart or table to keep track of your ideas. Split your chart into three parts:

Reflective Essay Topic Ideas

  • In the first column, write key experiences or your main points. You can arrange them from most important to least important.
  • In the second column, list your response to the points you stated in the first column.
  • In the third column, write what, from your response, you would like to share in the essay.

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Reflective Essay Sample

Referring to reflective essay examples can help you a lot. A reflective essay sample can provide you with useful insight into how your essay should look like. You can also buy an essay online if you need one customized to your specific requirements.

How to Conclude a Reflective Essay

As we come to an end, it's only logical to reflect on the main points discussed above in the article. By now, you should clearly understand what is a reflective essay and that the key to writing a reflective essay is demonstrating what lessons you have taken away from your experiences and why and how these lessons have shaped you. It should also have a clear reflective essay format, with an opening, development of ideas, and resolution.

Now that you have the tools to create a thorough and accurate reflective paper, you might want to hand over other tasks like writing definition essay examples to our experienced writers. In this case, feel free to buy an essay online on our platform and reflect on your past events without worrying about future assignments!

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Critical Reflection

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Writing Critical Reflection

Reflective writing is a common genre in classrooms across disciplines. Reflections often take the form of narrative essays that summarize an experience or express changes in thinking over time. Initially, reflective writing may seem pretty straightforward; but since reflective writing summarizes personal experience, reflections can easily lose their structure and resemble stream-of-consciousness journals capturing disjointed musings focused on only the self or the past.   

Critical reflection still requires a writer to consider the self and the past but adopts an argumentative structure supported by readings, theories, discussions, demonstrated changes in material conditions, and resources like post-collaboration assessments, testimonial evidence, or other data recorded during the collaboration . Common arguments in critical reflections present evidence to demonstrate learning, contextualize an experience, and evaluate impact. While critical reflections still require authors to reflect inwardly, critical reflection go es beyond the self and examine s any relevant contexts that informed the experience. Then, writers should determine how effectively their project addressed these contexts. In other words, critical reflection considers the “impact” of their project: How did it impact the writer? How did it impact others? Why is the project meaningful on a local, historical, global, and/or societal level? H ow can that impact be assessed?  

In short: reflection and critical reflection both identify the facts of an experience and consider how it impacts the self. Critical reflection goes beyond this to conceive of the project’s impact at numerous levels and establish an argument for the project’s efficacy. In addition, critical reflection encourages self-assessment—we critically reflect to change our actions, strategies, and approaches and potentially consider these alternative methods.  

Collecting Your Data: Double-Entry Journaling

Double-entry journaling is a helpful strategy for you to document data, observations, and analysis throughout the entire course of a community-based project. It is a useful practice for projects involving primary research, secondary research, or a combination of both. In its most basic form, a double-entry journal is a form of notetaking where a writer can keep track of any useful sources, notes on those sources, observations, thoughts, and feelings—all in one place.  

For community-based projects, this might involve:  

  • Recording your observations during or after a community partner meeting in one column of the journal.  
  • Recording any of your thoughts or reactions about those observations in a second column.   
  • Writing any connections you make between your observations, thoughts, and relevant readings from class in a third column.  

This allows you to document both your data and your analysis of that data throughout the life of the project. This activity can act as a blueprint for your critical reflection by providing you with a thorough account of how your thinking developed throughout the life of a project.   

The format of a double-entry journal is meant to be flexible, tailored to both your unique notetaking practice and your specific project. It can be used to analyze readings from class, observations from research, or even quantitative data relevant to your project.  

Just the Facts, Please: What, So What, Now What

Getting started is often the hardest part in writing. To get your critical reflection started, you can identify the What , So What , and Now What? of your project. The table below presents questions that can guide your inquiry . If you’re currently drafting, we have a freewriting activity below to help you develop content.  

Freewrite your answers to these questions; that is, respond to these questions without worrying about grammar, sentence structure, or even the quality of your ideas. At this stage, your primary concern is getting something on the page. Once you’re ready to begin drafting your critical reflection, you can return to these ideas and refine them.  

Below are some additional prompts you can use to begin your freewriting. These reflection stems can organize the ideas that you developed while freewriting and place them in a more formal context.  

  • I observed that...  
  • My understanding of the problem changed when...  
  • I became aware of (x) when....  
  • I struggled to...  
  • The project's biggest weakness was…  
  • The project's greatest strength was…   I learned the most when...  
  • I couldn't understand...  
  • I looked for assistance from...  
  • I accounted for (x) by...  
  • I connected (concept/theory) to...  
  • (Specific skill gained) will be useful in a professional setting through…  

Analyzing Your Experience: A Reflective Spectrum

Y our critical reflection is a space to make an argument about the impact of your project . This means your primary objective is to determine what kind of impact your project had on you and the world around you. Impact can be defined as the material changes, either positive or negative, that result from an intervention , program , or initiative . Impact can be considered at three different reflective levels: inward, outward, and exploratory.

Image portraying types of reflection (inward, outward, exploratory)

Inward reflection requires the writer to examine how the project affected the self. Outward reflection explores the impact the project had on others. Additionally, you can conceptualize your project’s impact in relation to a specific organization or society overall, depending on the project’s scope. Finally, exploratory reflection asks writers to consider how impact is measured and assessed in the context of their project to ultimately determine: What does impact look like for the work that I’m doing? How do I evaluate this? How do we store, archive, or catalog this work for institutional memory? And what are the next steps?  

This process is cyclical in nature; in other words, it’s unlikely you will start with inward reflection, move to outward reflection, and finish with exploratory reflection. As you conceptualize impact and consider it at each level, you will find areas of overlap between each reflective level.   

Finally, if you’re having trouble conceptualizing impact or determining how your project impacted you and the world around you, ask yourself:   

  • What metrics did I use to assess the "impact" of this project? Qualitative? Quantitative? Mixed-methods? How do those metrics illustrate meaningful impact?  
  • How did the intended purpose of this project affect the types of impact that were feasible, possible, or recognized?  
  • At what scope (personal, individual, organizational, local, societal) did my outcomes have the most "impact"?  

These questions can guide additional freewriting about your project. Once you’ve finished freewriting responses to these questions, spend some time away from the document and return to it later. Then, analyze your freewriting for useful pieces of information that could be incorporated into a draft.  

Drafting Your Critical Reflection

Now that you have determined the “What, So What, Now What” of your project and explored its impact at different reflective levels, you are ready to begin drafting your critical reflection.  

If you’re stuck or find yourself struggling to structure your critical reflection, the OWL’s “ Writing Process ” [embe ded link ] resource may offer additional places to start. That said, another drafting strategy is centering the argument you intend to make.  

Your critical reflection is an argument for the impact your project has made at multiple levels; as such, much of your critical reflections will include pieces of evidence to support this argument. To begin identifying these pieces of evidence, return to your “reflection stem” responses . Your evidence might include :  

  • H ow a particular reading or theory informed the actions during your partnership ;  
  • How the skills, experiences, or actions taken during this partnerhsip will transfer to new contexts and situations;  
  • Findings from y our evaluation of the project;  
  • Demonstrated changes in thoughts, beliefs, and values, both internally and externally;  
  • And, of course, specific ways your project impacted you, other individuals, your local community, or any other community relevant to the scope of your work.  

As you compile this evidence, you will ulti mately be compiling ways to support an argument about your project’s efficacy and impact .  

Sharing Your Critical Reflection

Reflective writing and critical reflections are academic genres that offer value to the discourse of any field. Oftentimes, these reflective texts are composed for the classroom, but there are other venues for your critical reflections, too.  

For example, Purdue University is home to the Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement ( PJSL ) which publishes student reflective texts and reflections with research components. Although PJSL only accepts submissions from Purdue students, other journals like this one may exist at your campus. Other venues like the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Impact publish reflective essays from scholars across institutions, and journals in your chosen discipline may also have interest in reflective writing.  

Document explaining the theories, concepts, literature, strategies that informed the creation of this content page.  

How To Write A Critical Reflection Assignment

29 April, 2022

13 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

The act of discovering, examining, and evaluating our deep-seated beliefs and writing about these is known as critical reflection (also known as reflective essay). The assignment can concern our knowledge, our perceptions of events and issues, and our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. When you critically reflect, you utilize study material (lectures, books, discussions, etc.) to […]

How To Write a Critical Reflection Paper

The act of discovering, examining, and evaluating our deep-seated beliefs and writing about these is known as critical reflection (also known as reflective essay). The assignment can concern our knowledge, our perceptions of events and issues, and our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors.

When you critically reflect, you utilize study material (lectures, books, discussions, etc.) to analyze the prejudices, compare theories with present behaviors, seek reasons and triggers, and discover underlying problems.

A critical reflection essay is neither a reading assignment, a description of events, nor an outlet for emotions. Rather, the goal is to alter people’s perceptions of the issue and, as a result, their behavior.

Why Are Critical Reflection Assignments So Popular?

Critical thinking writing is frequent in student assignments, although it can take several forms. Your teacher may require you to submit a common essay, make weekly blog updates, or respond to a series of questions in a limited amount of time.

Together with the tasks, you’ll have to do during your college and university courses, and this activity allows you to express yourself the most. It motivates you to see things from many angles and discuss your perspectives with others.

Without exaggeration, it is useful for both academic advancement and your journey of self-knowledge. So, let’s see how to create a paper that would amaze everyone.

The Main Purposes Of Critical Reflection

Rather than merely providing information, a critical reflection essay allows you to take a personal perspective and voice your ideas on the subject. It might be about anything, from your favorite movie to touring the Grand Canyon and debating evolution theories. An educational, professional, or personal critical reflection paper is possible.

They all have somewhat different styles:

  • Answer to a previously studied book, video, or lecture is educational.
  • Professional – a typical duty for teachers and social workers, focuses on analyzing a person’s conduct.
  • Personal one shows how you feel about a more personal topic.

Which to select is determined by the subject. If you’re having trouble with this, talk to your supervisor.

How To Write A Critical Reflection Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

There are two steps to writing a good critical reflection essay:

  • Analyze the situation and your involvement in it by asking critical questions. Freewriting is a great approach to coming up with new ideas. Don’t bother about paragraph organization or grammar at this point.
  • To correctly formulate, use your analysis to clarify what you’ve learned in the second phase. Organize your thoughts so that the reader can understand them.

To help you, we’ll provide you with a general guide on how to choose a topic.

Come Up With the Topic

As a beginning point, consider any major moments in life that have significantly impacted you, either favorably or badly.

Real-life experience, imagined experience, a remarkable object or location, a person who has inspired you, or something you have ever seen or read are all common critical reflection essay topics.

If you’re writing a critical reflection essay for college, your professor will probably want you to focus on a certain incident. It’s also worth noting that in a critical reflection essay, the event’s impacts are vital. If you don’t include them, you’ll just be telling stories.

Uncover The Topic

It may seem self-evident, but the act of reflection is the foundation for writing such a paper. Therefore you must get it right from the start. It would be best to consider how the experience you have chosen to focus on has affected or changed you. Determine the effects for you individually using your recollections and experiences.

Once you’ve decided on an essay topic, start researching it thoroughly and devote a significant amount of time thinking about it. Make a list of everything you remember about the experience, explaining it as clearly and completely as possible.

Remember your sentiments and utilize terms to describe the experience when doing so. You can write notes using brief words at the start of writing, but you must ensure that you are capturing all responses, views, and experiences.

Make The Analysis Of Main Ideas And Problems Of The Critical Reflection Assignment Topic

It would help if you began thinking to evaluate your memory’s contents effectively. Picking a few questions to consider is a good way to start. They will assist you in delving deeper into your experiences. Here are some good questions to think about:

  • What did your experience or event analysis teach you?
  • Did you change as a result of it? How?
  • Has it influenced your life positively or negatively?
  • What would you do if you could go back in time?
  • Why do you believe you made the decision you did? Do you believe it was the best decision you could have made?
  • What did you think of the whole experience? Has it been beneficial for you? What specific talents or views have you gained?

These starter questions should assist you in beginning your reflective process. Remember that the key to thinking thoroughly and critically about your experiences is to ask yourself many questions. It is a crucial talent for creating a fantastic critical reflection essay.

Develop Logical Chains Between Research Stages

The creation of logical chains helps to remember and comprehend a large amount of information to identify the pattern of any events or phenomena. Logical chains are necessary for developing critical thinking and the ability to think logically.

A logical chain is a chain of sequential judgments and conclusions leading from the initial factors to the conclusion of logical construction.

The logical chain in the critical reflection essay is always present. Always, even if the judgment seems illogical. A judgment may come from incorrect factors, erroneous information – and therefore be incorrect, but there should be logic in any judgment and conclusion of a critical reflection essay.

Create a Critical Reflection Assignment Checklist

It is worth analyzing your article on three levels to produce a decent checklist.

Level of criticality

  • Is there any relevant theory or professional references in the text?
  • Are you able to back up the claims with evidence?
  • Has the event touched your professional experience?

Level of description

  • Is your professional experience consistent with your personal experiences?
  • Is it accurate in its information?
  • Is it a problem or an opportunity to solve it?
  • Is it a description of one or two solutions to a problem?

Level of analysis

  • Is your text able to describe both the immediate and deeper causes?
  • Is it an issue or an opportunity for other people to solve it?
  • Do you have any immediate concerns about your career progress due to the experience?

Try to figure out the aim of your reflective writing. Different goals necessitate different materials, organization, and styles.

The necessity to show proof of learning based on experience is common in all varieties of critical reflection papers.

Aim for a mix of descriptive, analytical, and critical reflective writing aspects.

Template For Critical Reflection Essay

Traditional and creative (which are quite useful but hazardous) techniques for writing critical reflection essays are available:

  • In a traditional way, the thesis should state the key concept, develop it throughout the main paragraphs with supporting reasons, and finish with the facts confirming the thesis.
  • If you want to use creative options, begin a discussion on the subject and imply a conclusion. Assume where the discussion will lead, but leave some uncertainty. Make and write the personal analysis. Consider a conclusion that differs marginally or totally from what the audience expected at the start.

You will be able to write your critical reflections without problems if you use this or that option. By choosing one of the options, you can easily start writing a template for your paper.

Introduction Of Critical Reflection Paper

The most significant aspect of writing a critical reflection essay is expressing your views about a topic. Just don’t get too worked up over it. Instead of being emotional, you should convey your ideas logically. 

Give the reader a sense of what to expect in the next few paragraphs. Create a compelling concept: encapsulate the important statement in one sentence to draw attention.

It is when you delve deeper into the thesis. In a few paragraphs, you must describe the essential. Use a three-paragraph structure. Tell the audience more about your experience and how it influenced you. 

Compare and contrast other people’s experiences. Then tell the audience what you’ve discovered as a result of it.

The conclusion must be comprehensive and persuasive. The document’s conclusion demonstrates that your thoughts are completely developed. 

Strong accents are used to bring the conversation to an end. To offer readers food for thought, make a creative image of your experience.

Correct Formatting Of Critical Reflection Paper

The essay writer primarily discusses life experiences. The objective of writing such a paper is to allow the authors to explore how they have changed or learned from a particular life experience and how that experience has changed them.

You can present the critical reflection assignment in various ways, but learning logs or diary entries are the most common. Diary entries, in particular, are utilized to show how the author’s thoughts changed over time.

Everyone who has written at least one scientific paper in the past is familiar with the reflection paper format.

  • A4 paper is the most popular.
  • Each side of the field is 1 inch.
  • The material is divided into 12 paragraphs.
  • The font is easy to read (Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.)
  • Two spaces separate the lines.
  • Citations in APA, Chicago, and other styles are available (determined by the supervisor).
  • The word count ranges from 250 to 750.

Depending on the intended audience, the format might change. The critical reflection essay can be scientific or given more general meaning, such as as a component of a larger work. Although the presentation structure may alter, the goal remains the same. Teachers hope to encourage students to think thoroughly and critically about a specific learning experience or series of events.

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13 Self Reflection Worksheets & Templates to Use in Therapy

The art of self-reflection

While valuable for clients and students, it is equally vital for therapists, coaches, and mental health professionals.

Literature across multiple disciplines confirms that reflection serves therapists by improving “learning and performance in essential competencies” (Aronson, 2011, p. 200). In therapy, it helps the client “manage personal feelings, such as anxiety and inadequacy, and their impact on others” (Fisher, Chew, & Leow, 2015, p. 736).

This article introduces the basics behind reflection along with questions and worksheets that encourage and support the reflective process and maximize the benefits for therapists, clients, and students.

Before you continue, you might like to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free . These creative, science-based exercises will help you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals and will give you the tools to inspire a sense of meaning in the lives of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

Fostering reflection skills: the basics, 50+ questions to ask your clients or students, 5 helpful reflection worksheets & tools, journaling & diaries: 2 useful templates, top 3 activities for practicing reflection, 3 fun games to inspire clients, positivepsychology.com’s reflection resources, a take-home message.

While reflection has no single, universal definition, Aronson (2011, p. 200) frames it as the “process of analyzing, questioning, and reframing an experience in order to make an assessment of it for the purposes of learning (reflective learning) and/or improve practice (reflective practice).” It has multiple uses in various contexts.

Reflection is central to most therapies. Indeed, Socratic questioning (using open yet focused questions) is widely used in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to encourage reflection and unpack deeply held beliefs (Bennett-Levy, Thwaites, Chaddock, & Davis, 2009).

Within therapy , Bennett-Levy et al. (2009) recognized that reflection can be beneficial for both the therapist and the client, and can be considered from several perspectives.

  • Reflective practices Reflection as part of the clinical experience, using journals, video, and group activities.
  • Reflective skills The ability to reflect on oneself through therapeutic interaction and self-awareness of feelings and thoughts.
  • Reflective systems Reflection results from the interaction of several processes, including the individual’s memory, skills, and reflective system.
  • Reflective processes Reflection involves the ability to observe (possibly via visualization) and then reflect or conceptualize to engage in further processing, including elaboration, problem solving, and self-questioning.

Bennett-Levy et al. (2009, p. 121) offer the following helpful definition of reflection:

“Reflection is the process of intentionally focusing one’s attention on a particular content; observing and clarifying this focus; and using other knowledge and cognitive processes (such as self-questioning, logical analysis and problem-solving) to make meaningful links.”

The benefits of reflection carry across to the learning process found within educational environments. It forms the second of the following four-stage model used by coaches engaging with students to understand the learning process (Adams, 2016):

  • Attending to and focusing on the relevant features of their experience
  • Actively reflecting on their experience
  • Extracting learning from that experience
  • Planning how to create new ways of behaving in response to the learning

Reflection and learning are also highly applicable outside of school.

While reflection is vital to self-awareness and healing for clients, it is also a powerful and insightful tool for therapists.

Mental health professionals must be self-aware and cognizant of the skills they are using, because “in no other profession does the personality and behavior of the professional make such difference as it does in counseling” (Meier & Davis, 1997).

The following questions can be helpful for new and existing counselors and their clients to increase self-awareness and knowledge of counseling techniques (modified from Bennett-Levy et al., 2009):

  • Observe the experience (such as the session or intervention). How did I feel? What did I notice?
  • Clarify the experience. What did I learn? Was it helpful? What did not change?

The following two points are more applicable for therapists:

  • Implications of the experience for clinical practice What are the implications for and impacts on one-to-one therapy, supervision, consultation, etc.?
  • Implications of the experience for how I see myself as a therapist What are the implications of this experience for my understanding of cognitive therapy and theory?

Considering each question in turn can provide insights that encourage greater knowledge of the therapeutic process and promote lessons to take forward to future sessions.

Self-reflection skills

Asking appropriate questions is a crucial aspect of reflection and central to deeper, long-lasting learning (Aronson, 2011; Adams, 2016).

Reflection questions for students

The following three sets of questions promote reflection in students by considering academic performance (modified from ones used by the Colorado Department of Education ):

Reflective Questions for personal academic performance

These Reflective Questions  prompt the student to think about what they are learning, why they are learning, and how they can improve the overall process.

The student answers the first question regarding what they have been learning and then selects a sample of other questions to prompt reflection.

They then complete the last column with their thoughts for later review by themselves or a therapist, coach, or counselor.

A sample of the questions includes:

What have you been learning about (today, this week, or this semester)? Why do you think these objectives and this subject are important? Did you give your best effort on your most recent assignment?

Reflective Metacognition Questions for students

Reflective Metacognition Questions help students reflect on how and what they think .

The questions are grouped under the following subsections and can be answered individually, in pairs, or as a group exercise, with a summary of the answers placed in the final column.

  • Reflection and collaboration
  • Self-reflection

Example questions include:

What are your thoughts about what was said? Are there any other similar answers or alternative answers? Why do you think this answer is true?

Reflection Questions in Therapy

Reflection is an essential part of therapy.

Using the Reflective Questions in Therapy worksheet, the therapist can encourage and facilitate the process of reflection in the client, such as (Bennett-Levy et al., 2009):

What do I wish people better understood about me? What behaviors and beliefs do I want to let go of? Have I been receiving enough support this year?

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During CBT and other therapies, the client is often given a workbook or journal to capture reflections on the practice or skills they develop as they progress through treatment.

Reflection reinforces learning within the sessions and, more importantly, leads to deeper insights between sessions (Bennett-Levy et al., 2009).

Learning From My Past

The Reflections on Learning From My Past worksheet helps the client capture and reflect on an event from their past and consider how different behavior may have led to an alternate outcome.

The client is asked a series of questions about the incident, such as:

What happened or what was the event? How did it make you feel? How did you handle it?

Self-Reflection Behavior Review

At the end of the year or looking back on the client’s life, it can help to look for patterns in behavior.

The Self-Reflection Behavior Review worksheet is a valuable way to summarize events and see the recurring traps into which the client falls.

The summary provides a valuable talking point during therapy sessions and can be referred to later in order to assess how behavior has changed and improved.

It asks the client to consider:

Do you see a pattern in your behavior? How could you act differently in the future? What situations should you try to avoid?

Who Am I Self-Reflection

In life, we are often so busy with everyday tasks that we forget to take stock of who we are, what we are good at, and what is important to us.

Clients or students can use the Who Am I Self-Reflection worksheet to think about what they are good at, what significant challenges they have been confronted with, and what inspires them.

Some questions to consider include:

Think of something significant that went wrong. What did I learn from it? What am I passionate about? What do I love most about myself?

Student Work Reflection

Students can help their existing and future learning by thinking about how they are approaching their work and using metacognitive skills to drive future improvements (Adams, 2016).

The Student Work Reflection is a set of simple repeating questions to consider how they approach each task in school.

It asks the student to consider:

How could I improve? What am I still working on? What am I most proud of?

Reflection on Group Activities

Reflection is equally important in group tasks as in individual tasks. The Reflection on Group Activities  is for an educational or therapy setting to assess the success and learnings from a group activity.

Working individually or in groups, students can answer questions such as:

What went well? What did not go well? What could we try next time?

Reflection journal

As an intervention, it is a creative way to engage clients in a therapeutic activity, increasing self-awareness  and personal growth.

It can be helpful to capture some of the key events of the day. The act of writing what happened and reviewing it later can be insightful and help you recognize positive and negative patterns in your behavior.

Daily Reflection of Feelings

Use the Daily Reflection of Feelings journal with the client to record how their day went and capture the feelings they experienced.

Questions include:

What was the best part of the day? What would you change about the day if you could? What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

Daily Reflection of Behavior

Clients and therapists can benefit from reviewing significant events that occurred between sessions.

Use the Daily Reflection of Behavior  journal with clients to capture daily behaviors that were unexpected or parts of habits that the client wishes to change.

What happened? How did I behave? Why did it happen?

How to start a creative journal – Johanna Clough

Several techniques can encourage the process of reflection in clients and students.

  • DARN The DARN acronym forms an important aspect of motivational interviewing . With the use of evocative change questions, the client is invited to engage in reflection to consider the change, including:

Desire questions – What I would like, wish, or want to do? Ability questions – Capturing the idea that change is possible. Reasons questions – Recognizing the reasons for change. Need questions – Identifying the urgency of the change.

  • OARS OARS is another acronym important to the process of motivational interviewing to elicit change talk through the use of the following:

Open questions encourage the client to talk. Affirmations include statements of understanding and offers of support. Reflections  capture and rephrase what the client has said Summarizing provides a check-in with the client by summarizing what has been said.

OARS encourages reflection in both the therapist and the client.

  • Socratic questioning Observing and taking part in Socratic questioning can be a valuable opportunity to learn about the process of encouraging reflection in others and in oneself.

Consider the five questions:

What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen? How did it happen?

Your life as a play

Try out the following three activities with clients or students.

Your life as a play

You can carry out this reflective exercise in small groups of three or four people.

Ask each person to describe their ideal life in three acts, as though it were a play.

What past dreams were achieved? What is the present (good and bad)? What is your ideal future?

Share with the group, discussing each of the acts, adding humorous insights along the way. End with your positive view of how the future might look.

Shield of honor

This activity is ideal for reflection in multiple small groups.

Ask each group to create a shield out of a large piece of paper.

Divide the paper into four equal rectangles, representing:

  • Skills and abilities they offer
  • Skills and abilities they need to improve
  • Frustrations
  • What they are proud of

Tell the group they are only allowed to use drawings and pictures – no words.

After 20 minutes, ask each group to share what they have created.

Reflection on communication

Individuals are grouped into pairs and asked to sit back-to-back.

One person is given either a pen and paper or building blocks and asked to create a novel design.

Ask them to describe what it looks like, while the other person attempts to recreate the design on their side.

Once finished, the two can compare what they have created and discuss the communication process.

Throughout this post, we’ve discussed the importance of clarifying wants, behavior patterns, and forces of motivation to better understand what brings meaning throughout one’s life. To this end, we invite you to check out our free Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

This pack features three of our top tools from the Positive Psychology ToolkitŠ, all of which center on the theme of values-based living:

  • The Top 5 Values This exercise draws on key principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients begin brainstorming their values. Following this, clients will then prioritize these values in a list to identify those most central to who they are.
  • Self-Eulogy This exercise invites clients to consider how they’d like to be remembered at their funeral as a means to identify and clarify values. Based on this, they can then consider how well they are living in alignment with these values.
  • The Scoreboard Metaphor This exercise helps clients recognize how to enact their values through goal-setting. In particular, it draws on the metaphor of a basketball game to illustrate how living into one’s values is an ongoing process and that the paths by which we pursue our goals are opportunities to enact our values in daily life.

You can access all three exercises for free by downloading our Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

Additionally, if you’re looking for further reading on the topic of self-reflection, be sure to check out our blog post featuring ten book recommendations .

Reflection engages clients and students in the process of analyzing, questioning, and reframing an experience. It encourages individuals or groups to learn and improve, and promotes deeper, longer lasting learning (Aronson, 2011).

Within therapy and coaching, reflection can help individuals manage their feelings (such as anxiety or self-doubt) and recognize how their behavior affects others (Fisher et al., 2015).

In an educational setting, research shows that questions and exercises prompt learners to improve core competencies (Aronson, 2011).

In any environment, reflection involves metacognition. Individuals must step outside of their existing cognition to think about their thinking . It is a skill that is best learned through practice.

Therapists, coaches, counselors, and teachers can help by prompting the client or class to consider what they have learned, what has gone well (and hasn’t), and what they could have done differently.

The takeaways from reflection can change a person’s view of what has already happened and influence how they behave in the future.

The exercises and questions within this article will engage others, promoting the reflective process and offering deeper understanding and tools for future learning.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free .

  • Adams, M. (2016). Coaching psychology in schools: Enhancing performance, development and wellbeing . Routledge.
  • Aronson, L. (2011). Twelve tips for teaching reflection at all levels of medical education. Medical Teacher , 33 (3), 200–205.
  • Bennett-Levy, J., Thwaites, R., Chaddock, A., & Davis, M. (2009). Reflective practice in cognitive behavioural therapy: The engine of lifelong learning. In J. Stedmon & R. Dallos (Eds.), Reflective practice in psychotherapy and counselling (pp. 115–35). Open University Press.
  • Fisher, P., Chew, K., & Leow, Y. J. (2015). Clinical psychologists’ use of reflection and reflective practice within clinical work. Reflective Practice , 16 (6), 731–743.
  • Hayman, B., Wilkes, L., & Jackson, D. (2012). Journaling: Identification of challenges and reflection on strategies. Nurse Researcher , 19 (3), 27–31.
  • Meier, S., & Davis, S. (1997). The Elements of Counselling . Brooks/Cole.

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Internship Reflection Paper: The Best Guideline & Tips

Internship reflection paper

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An internship reflection paper is a written piece where an intern conveys their experiences, learnings, and observations from their internship period. It typically involves evaluating their skills, professional development and challenges faced. This task is assignmend to see how the experience aligns with intern's academic knowledge and future career goals. This reflective exercise is intended to promote introspection and personal growth.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how to write a reflection paper. Our paper writing service will also provide our readers with templates and examples to help them with their writing.

What Is an Internship Reflection Paper: Definition

Before we discuss what an internship reflection paper is, let's first define what a reflection paper is. While there are many ways and methods a professor can check if their students have learned something, a reflection paper is still one of the most effective ways to see if certain lessons are learned without spoon-feeding an idea to their students. An internship reflection paper is a type of reflection paper that focuses on a student's thoughts and analysis specific to an internship they've gone through. It also sheds light on how some student has adjusted and processed the difference between a classroom and a real job. Professors usually expect their students to write about some lessons they've picked up from working during their internships. They can relate it to their personal lifestyle. They want to check if there is anything that their students still should understand.

Internship Reflection Paper Outline: Main Rules for Writing

Any reflection paper has three main parts: an introduction, body, and conclusion. Internship reflection papers also follow this guideline. These three parts should support the main thesis statement of your paper. 

How to Start My Internship Reflection Paper

A lot of people find an introduction paragraph for internship reflection paper a bit tricky. Since this is the first part of your paper, you should say something that reflects the rest of your essay without. But don't give out too much. Sometimes, however, you can simply write details about an internship. You can even start a reflection paper with your expectations in an internship before proceeding to how it actually went down. There is one thing you should remember. An introduction is not the part where you should be writing your analysis. Save that for the body of your paper. An introduction can be a bit tricky to write, and sometimes, people often write them last. That is perfectly fine, as long as you know that you've written a good introduction. And that it seamlessly leads to the next paragraphs.

How to Create My Internship Reflection Essay Body Paragraphs

After setting an introduction as your paper's foundation, it's time to delve into some paper outline details. Each paragraph in your reflection paper should support a central idea followed by supporting statements. By following this rule, you're making it easier for readers to comprehend your thoughts. While a reflection paper is mostly about what you are thinking, remember to not stray off from the main idea of your entire paper. Instead, use each paragraph to reinforce an idea of your paper's main paragraph.

How to End My Internship Reflection Paper

Creating a conclusion is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of writing any reflection paper. You should tie everything up to create a thorough and comprehensive reflection paper. In this part, you can be a bit more creative compared to a very restricting introduction. Write most of your analysis in the body of your paper. Then, you can expound on some reflections at a conclusion. Sometimes, people simply conclude a paper with lessons they've learned. And how they will apply them to their jobs in the future.

How to Write an Internship Reflection Paper

While you can be good at your field, writing an internship reflection paper can still be a bit hard. Lucky for you, we've compiled 5 basic steps to help you with crafting an analysis and interpretation of your experience during your internship.

Step 1. Start With Internship in Your Introduction

For your introduction, give a concise but comprehensive detail about an internship. This gives your professor insight into how an internship worked for you. Thus, it sets a foundation for your succeeding paragraphs. Here are a few questions you can answer in your introduction.

  • What is your internship all about?
  • What is the company you worked for?
  • What are the common tasks that are assigned to you?

Step 2. Describe Your Goals in the Internship Reflection Paper Questions

Remember that during your internship, you're not just another person doing a job. You are there to learn about how everything works in real life. All the things you've learned in the classroom should be put to test. Answer some questions that will help better understand your goals:

  • What is your overall goal in life and how is it connected with your internship?
  • What is your primary goal during the internship?
  • Have you achieved your goal? Why or why not?
  • Are there factors that contributed to achieving your goals?

Step 3. Reflect on How Your Internship Has Contributed to the Company

Aside from your internal reflection about how your internship might have helped you, you should also think about how you've contributed to a company. Whether it's a paid internship or not, you should remember that you are part of the team. There are certain expectations that come with it.

  • What was expected of you?
  • Have you accomplished the tasks given to you?
  • Have you done anything that impressed your superiors?

Step 4. Conclude Your Internship Reflection

To finish your reflection paper, you should remember to conclude with an overall analysis of how an internship has affected both you and a company. You can also add other details that don't necessarily fit in the previous paragraphs. Such as your plans after an internship. Some companies offer their interns a job after they graduate. They do so if they have impressive work ethics and made an impact in the company. These questions may help you writing a conclusion:

  • What is your main takeaway from this experience?
  • Are you looking forward to anything after your internship?
  • How are you going to use the things you've learned in the future?

Step 5. Proofread Your Internship Experience Paper

Of course, the final step is to make sure that there is no mistake in your paper. As a responsible student, you should never submit the first draft of what you've written. Even if you've written a comprehensive reflection paper, it will do you no good if it has a lot of grammar errors. Have you ever wondered who could do my homework for me ?

Standard Internship Reflection Paper Template

Here is a quick example of what an internship reflection paper looks like. Remember that you can edit contents and insert your own anecdotes about your internship that you think have helped you achieve your goals of being ready for a real job.

Example of internship reflection paper

Internship Reflection Paper Example

Here is another example of an internship reflection paper that can help you get an idea of what you can write in your own paper. This is an example of a reflection paper written by a computer programmer who applied for an internship.

Example of a reflection paper written by a computer programmer who applied for an internship

Intern Essay: Bottom Line

There might be a lot of technicalities when writing a good reflection paper. Remember that in the end, it should still be all about your experience during an internship. You don't have to necessarily overcomplicate things. Just be true to what you've been through and you can start a great internship reflection paper. If you wonder, who can do my assignment , then go no further, we can help!

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Now you know how to write an internship reflection paper. But if you face any challenges handling it, feel free to send our experts requirements and details. Our professional essay writers will help you deal with your work. They will write a quality reflection paper in time.

Frequently Asked Questions About Internship Reflection Paper

1. what is the difference between an internship reflection paper and a critical reflection paper.

When people hear "reflection paper," they are most likely thinking about critical reflection paper. This is a type of essay wherein someone analyzes something. While giving thoughts about how their personal thoughts are in the process. In a way, an internship reflection paper is very similar to a critical reflection paper aside from a major difference: an internship reflection paper directly analyzes your personal experience in an internship work.

2. How long should an internship reflection paper be?

Since an internship reflection paper is most commonly handed out as an additional task or project to increase your grades, it's important that you know all task requirements. If your professor failed to mention any word or page count, you can always reach out and ask. If, however, your professor gives you freedom to write as many words as you can, an internship reflection paper generally has around 750 words. Of course, you can exceed this word limit, but do not go overboard. Especially if your professor has a lot of reflection papers they should grade. 

3. What format for internship reflection paper can be?

Depending on your professor's requirements, you can write in MLA, APA, or Chicago style paper format. These are three most common formats but there are also other formats that your professor might suggest. The formats are a little different for each page, depending on what style you are using. However, you should focus more on the title page as they differ a lot. Typically, reflection papers do not need sources. So you don't have to overthink about a References page. However, if you should cite, make sure that you are using the right in-text citations and reference citations.

4. How do you start a school counseling internship reflection paper?

You can start your school counseling internship reflection paper with a general overview of your role. You can proceed with the name of your school where you completed an internship. State your purpose or goal for completing an internship. You can save the detailed explanation in the body of your reflection paper. Focus on the details in the beginning, so that professor will have enough information about your internship before proceeding to what you've learned.

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  1. How to Write a Reflection Paper in 5 Steps (plus Template and Sample

    Learn how to write a reflection paper in 5 steps, with a template and a sample essay. A reflection paper is a type of essay that requires you to reflect, or give your thoughts and opinions, on a certain subject or material. It can be assigned for academic, personal, or professional purposes.

  2. How to Write a Reflection Paper: Guide with Examples

    January 16, 2023 10 min read Share the article Table of Contents A reflection paper is a very common type of paper among college students. Almost any subject you enroll in requires you to express your opinion on certain matters.

  3. 50 Best Reflective Essay Examples (+Topic Samples)

    Download 302 KB #09 What is a reflective essay? A reflective essay is a type of written work which reflects your own self. Since it's about yourself, you already have a topic to write about. For reflective essay examples, readers expect you to evaluate a specific part of your life.

  4. How to Write a Reflection Paper: 14 Steps (with Pictures)

    1. Keep it short and sweet. A typical reflection paper is between 300 and 700 words long. Verify whether or not your instructor specified a word count for the paper instead of merely following this average. If your instructor demands a word count outside of this range, meet your instructor's requirements. 2.

  5. How To Write a Reflection Paper (Components and Examples)

    Key takeaways: A reflection paper is an introspective piece of writing that shares your thoughts and/or reactions to an experience or topic. There are two main types of reflection papers: experiential and reading (or textual). Starting a reflection paper begins by asking questions and noting your ideas or thoughts on the subject matter.

  6. How to Write a Reflection Paper (With Steps and Examples)

    Here are steps you can follow: 1. Understand and summarize the material. It's important that you review the material before writing the reflection paper. You can review similar texts and authorities to help you understand the content of the text. Some reflection papers may require you to review a particular event.

  7. How to Write a Reflection Paper: Example & Tips

    Reflection paper example & a template. Contents 🤔 What Is a Reflection Paper? Reflection Paper Types ️ Step-by-Step Guide 📃 Examples & Formatting Tips FAQs 🤔 What Is a Reflection Paper? A reflection essay is a type of academic assignment in which you connect theories learned in class with your personal experience and knowledge.

  8. How to Write a Reflective Essay

    By definition, a reflective essay is an essay where the writer describes an event or experience (or series of events or experiences) and then discusses and analyzes the lessons they derived from their experience.

  9. How to Write a Reflection Paper

    A reflection paper is a type of academic writing that requires you to consider how your personal experiences and observations shape your thinking and acceptance of new ideas. Learn the purpose, types, and approaches of reflective writing, as well as the mechanics of writing a reflection paper with examples and tips.

  10. How to Write a Reflective Essay: Format, Tips and Examples

    To give you a clear idea of structuring a reflective essay template, we broke down the essential steps below. Primarily, the organization of a reflective essay is very similar to other types of papers. However, our custom writers got more specific with the reflective essay outline to ease your writing process. Reflective Essay Introduction

  11. Critical Reflection

    Writing Critical Reflection. Reflective writing is a common genre in classrooms across disciplines. Reflections often take the form of narrative essays that summarize an experience or express changes in thinking over time. Initially, reflective writing may seem pretty straightforward; but since reflective writing summarizes personal experience, reflections can easily lose their structure and ...

  12. PDF Reflection Template

    Reflection Template DEAL Model for Critical Reflection Use the following prompts to create a comprehensive reflection piece detailing your civic engagement experience and what you learned from it. Step 1: Describe Describe your experience objectively. Answer the following prompts: What did you do? Where did you do it?

  13. Use This Reflective Essay Outline to Get Your Paper Started

    Below, I'll show you how to create a killer reflective essay outline, and I'll even give you a downloadable template you can use to make your own outline. What Is a Reflective Essay and How Is It Different from Other Essays? So you may be asking yourself what a reflective essay is exactly.

  14. A complete guide to writing a reflective essay

    Here's a recap of the contents of this article, which also serves as a way to create a mind map: 1. Identify the topic you will be writing on. 2. Note down any ideas that are related to the topic and if you want to, try drawing a diagram to link together any topics, theories, and ideas. 3.

  15. Writing a Reflection Paper: Definition, Steps & Examples

    What Is a Reflection Paper: A Detailed Definition. Reflection paper refers to a type of academic writing where you should analyze your personal life, and explore specific ideas of how your changes, development, or growth turned out. Consider this piece like diary entries. Except that others will be reading them.

  16. How To Write a Critical Reflection Paper

    Template For Critical Reflection Essay. Traditional and creative (which are quite useful but hazardous) techniques for writing critical reflection essays are available: In a traditional way, the thesis should state the key concept, develop it throughout the main paragraphs with supporting reasons, and finish with the facts confirming the thesis

  17. How to write a reflection paper

    To begin your reflection paper, you must first decide on the topic you want to write about. Once you have done this, write a short summary about what you have learned from your experience with the topic. This can include memorable information or specific quotes, pre-existing thoughts and feelings and ways in which it has influenced you.

  18. How to Write a Reflection Paper

    Welcome to Homework joy Today we'll discuss how to write a #reflection paper. So let's get started.Before moving ahead, understand what a reflection paper is...

  19. Reflective practice template

    Reflective practice template Reflective practice template This template is intended to help you guide your own activities Remember, there is no set way to reflect and you can adapt these activities to suit your learning style and your role. Download - Reflective Practice Template Reflective Practice Template Adobe PDF Document 150Kb

  20. 13 Self Reflection Worksheets & Templates to Use in Therapy

    13 Self Reflection Worksheets & Templates to Use in Therapy. 1 May 2021 by Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. Scientifically reviewed by Tiffany Sauber Millacci, Ph.D. The art of reflection is an essential element of learning, both inside and outside therapy. While valuable for clients and students, it is equally vital for therapists, coaches, and mental ...

  21. Sample papers

    The annotations draw attention to content and formatting and provide the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information. Student sample paper with annotations (PDF, 4.95MB) Professional sample paper with annotations (PDF, 3MB)

  22. Reflection Paper

    A free customizable reflection paper template is provided to download and print. Quickly get a head-start when creating your own reflection paper. Fully editable, you can change the background color, text box number, and text box position according to your specific needs. Download Template: Get EdrawMax Now! Free Download Share Template: Popular

  23. Internship Reflection Paper: Full Guide & Free Examples

    An internship reflection paper is a written piece where an intern conveys their experiences, learnings, and observations from their internship period. It typically involves evaluating their skills, professional development and challenges faced. This task is assignmend to see how the experience aligns with intern's academic knowledge and future career goals.