reflective essay on customer service

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The impact of community service – a deep dive into the power of giving back to society.

Community service essays serve as a powerful tool for individuals to reflect on their experiences, values, and impact on the world around them. Through the process of writing about their volunteer work, students are able to articulate the positive changes they have made in their communities and explore the lessons they have learned along the way.

Community service essays also play a crucial role in highlighting the importance of giving back to society and fostering a sense of empathy and compassion in individuals. By sharing personal stories of service, students can inspire others to get involved and make a difference in their own communities.

Moreover, community service essays can help students gain valuable skills such as critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving, as they reflect on the challenges and successes of their volunteer experiences. By documenting their service work, students can also showcase their commitment to social responsibility and community engagement to colleges, scholarship committees, and potential employers.

Why Community Service Essays Matter

In today’s society, the importance of community service essays cannot be overstated. These essays serve as a platform for individuals to showcase their dedication to helping others and making a positive impact on their communities. Through these essays, individuals can share their experiences, insights, and perspectives on the value of giving back to society.

Community service essays also play a crucial role in raising awareness about different social issues and encouraging others to get involved in volunteer work. By sharing personal stories and reflections, individuals can inspire and motivate others to take action and contribute to the betterment of society.

Furthermore, community service essays provide an opportunity for individuals to reflect on their own values, beliefs, and goals. Through the process of writing these essays, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world, leading to personal growth and development.

In conclusion, community service essays matter because they have the power to inspire change, raise awareness, and promote personal growth. By sharing their stories and insights, individuals can make a difference in their communities and create a more compassionate and giving society.

The Impact of Community Service Essays

Community service essays have a profound impact on both the individuals writing them and the communities they serve. These essays serve as a platform for students to reflect on their experiences and articulate the lessons they have learned through their service work.

One of the primary impacts of community service essays is the opportunity for self-reflection. Students are encouraged to critically analyze their experiences, challenges, and accomplishments during their community service activities. This reflection helps students develop a deeper understanding of themselves, their values, and their role in the community.

Another significant impact of community service essays is the awareness they raise about social issues and community needs. By sharing their stories and insights, students can shed light on important issues and inspire others to get involved in community service. These essays can also help community organizations and stakeholders better understand the needs of their communities and how they can address them effectively.

Overall, community service essays play a vital role in promoting social responsibility, empathy, and civic engagement. They empower students to make a positive impact in their communities and contribute to creating a more compassionate and inclusive society.

Guidelines for Writing Community Service Essays

When writing a community service essay, it is important to follow certain guidelines to ensure that your message is clear and impactful. Here are some tips to help you craft a powerful and compelling essay:

• Start by brainstorming ideas and reflecting on your community service experiences.
• Clearly define the purpose of your essay and what you hope to convey to your readers.
• Organize your essay with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
• Use specific examples and anecdotes to support your points and showcase your personal growth.
• Highlight the impact of your community service activities on both yourself and others.
• Showcase your passion and dedication to serving your community.
• Be authentic and honest in your writing, and avoid exaggerating or embellishing your experiences.
• Edit and proofread your essay carefully to ensure clarity, coherence, and proper grammar.

Examples of Effective Community Service Essays

Community service essays can have a powerful impact on the reader when they are well-written and thoughtful. Here are a few examples to inspire you:

1. A Well-Structured Essay:

This essay begins with a compelling introduction that clearly articulates the author’s motivation for engaging in community service. The body paragraphs provide specific examples of the author’s experiences and the impact they had on both the community and themselves. The conclusion ties everything together, reflecting on the lessons learned and the importance of giving back.

2. Personal Reflection:

This essay delves deep into the author’s personal experiences during their community service work. It explores the challenges they faced, the emotions they encountered, and the growth they underwent. By sharing vulnerable moments and candid reflections, the author creates a connection with the reader and demonstrates the transformational power of service.

3. Future Goals and Impact:

This essay not only discusses past community service experiences but also looks toward the future. The author shares their aspirations for continued service and outlines how they plan to make a difference in the world. By showcasing a sense of purpose and vision, this essay inspires the reader to consider their own potential for impact.

These examples illustrate how community service essays can be effective tools for conveying meaningful stories, inspiring others, and showcasing personal growth. By crafting a compelling narrative and reflecting on the significance of service, you can create an essay that leaves a lasting impression.

How Community Service Essays Empower Individuals

Community service essays provide individuals with a platform to express their thoughts, share their experiences, and make a meaningful impact on society. By writing about their volunteer work and the lessons they have learned, individuals can empower themselves to create positive change and inspire others to do the same.

• Through community service essays, individuals can reflect on the importance of giving back to their communities and the value of helping those in need.
• These essays can serve as a source of motivation and inspiration for individuals to continue their philanthropic efforts and make a difference in the world.
• By sharing their stories through community service essays, individuals can raise awareness about social issues and promote greater empathy and understanding among their peers.

Overall, community service essays empower individuals to take action, advocate for change, and contribute to building a more compassionate and equitable society.

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Customer Experience Reflection Report

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Negative experience, positive experience, compare and contrast.

This week, I experienced a few events with software packages I have been using for quite some time. It has caused me to reflect on how critical it is for a Customer Experience to be practical, not only to reinforce the Product’s effectiveness but also to make clients reconsider their choices and decisions when one, or even more dramatically both, falter (Nobar & Rostamzadeh, 2018). In essence, this essay reflects the negative and positive Customer Experience experiences and how they can significantly impact customer retention and fidelity.

For the past two years, I have been utilizing Adobe products. I have seen how their product experiences have evolved and developed over time and how their product portfolio has morphed and refined itself. I have also taught Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Dreamweaver, and the now-defunct Director classes on using and building digital solutions. As a daily user of the Creative Cloud, I have developed a long-standing relationship with the product offering, even though every product solution is flawed and has its fair share of flaws and faults. However, something happened to me last week that has happened several times (Zhang & Chang, 2021).

While working on a digital illustration, Photoshop and Illustrator may suddenly and unexpectedly display the message “You have been signed out of Your Account” and quit, sometimes even refusing to save the file I am working on.

As I previously stated, this has happened several times, with productivity crashing due to all the products closing and me having to log in to my Creative Cloud account again to get them to resume. To better understand this problem, I have triaged it, making sure there is nothing wrong with my billing statement, my hardware, or my internet connection and go over all the possible causes for such severe behavior. There are none, except that it tends to correspond with times when Adobe releases a batch of upgrades to their tools. This time, though, I decided to seek assistance with the issues at hand. This was a horrible event in and of itself. Their Help experience is littered with Dark UX themes (including Sneaking, Obstruction, Forced Action, Social Proof, Scarcity, Urgency, and the one applicable to this case, Misdirection).

Wanting to get some advice on this, I went to their FAQ section, where I could not discover anything relevant to my problem. After a good 5 minutes of browsing around, I eventually started a “dialogue” with a chatbot, who couldn’t understand the issue I was presenting and sent me to a human HelpDesk assistant after a series of queries yielded no solution. This individual took a long time to react to my questions, and after waiting 10 minutes for a response to my last query, she stated that my problem was more technical than account-related and that I would need to be referred to a technical help desk. I was put on hold once again, and no one responded to my inquiries on that chat service for the next 15 minutes, so I gave up.

The Mac OS Big Sur is the second product experience worth mentioning. Apple is, of course, known for its flawless hardware, but its software is a mixed bag in terms of quality. This is especially true in Big Sur’s case, especially in the system conversation Windows (Wächter, 2016). Every time one of those windows shows, whether on the Finder or as part of another application, due to the need for awareness, I inevitably have to expand it to understand the labels linked with whatever is on the window.

By default, the size of that window crops most of the strings and labels that identify either the items on the computer or, more often, the hard disks attached to the device. This begs the question: for whom is this being constructed? We are living in a time of great challenge and difficulty. Still, now, more than ever, it is critical that we adopt attitudes of inclusivity, accessibility, and consideration of users who are not limited to specific demographics. Research is more crucial than ever before because it forces Product Design teams to consider how diverse audiences react to what they are creating. However, based on my experience with the Big Sur public beta, I ran on my M1-based MacBook Air, and now that I have updated to a 2020 27-inch iMac, Big Sur appears to be steady and predictable.

When organizations make an effort to keep their employees happy and feel like they are a part of the team, they are also more likely to provide exceptional customer service. Customer service is also essential in the aviation business. The Mac OS Big Sur fosters a positive work environment that allows its staff to be happy and comfortable. They established a positive working atmosphere based on teamwork, work ideals, and motivation.

When organizations make an effort to keep their employees happy and feel like they are a part of the team, they are also more likely to provide exceptional customer service. Good client experiences are also crucial in the corporate world (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). The Mac OS Big Sur for fostering a positive work environment that allows its staff to be happy and comfortable. They established a positive working atmosphere based on teamwork, work ideals, and motivation. However, despite Adobe’s attempts to create a healthy environment, it still stores personal customer data, which is always a target for malicious attackers.

Additionally, malicious hackers are regularly creating new malicious software for use on devices. These are potential security breaches that Adobe must solve to safeguard its brand reputation (Imbug, Ambad, & Bujang, 2018). As a result, Adobe should never overlook employee training sessions as an essential aspect of the business culture. Their products will be more effective in the market due to this, and customers will have a positive experience.

Customer loyalty is best built through excellent customer service. Interpersonal skills training, such as active listening and using nice words, should be part of your customer experience framework (Imbug et al., 2018). Listening to customers like The Mac OS Big Sur can help you grasp their needs and worries. It makes it easier to match your offerings to their needs. The same is true for food and beverage brands. To stand out, they must first identify their target audience. Adobe’s products and services are up against stiff competition worldwide, and they should put more effort into having feedbacks on their products from customers, which is rare for them.

The product experience is also part of the customer experience and some goods have onboarding experiences for new users. When major modifications to a digital product are made, they usually include a mechanism that alerts users of what to expect as a novelty. However, when providing new paradigms or when the solution itself needs to evolve and bring creative positions, Product experiences can become a difficulty, especially for users who have been using goods for a long time. This is an apparent difficulty, but usability testing and research in general play critical roles in informing some of the decisions being made.

Imbug, N., Ambad, S. N. A., & Bujang, I. (2018). The influence of customer experience on customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences , 8 (3), 103-116.

Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing , 80 (6), 69-96.

Nobar, H. B. K., & Rostamzadeh, R. (2018). The impact of customer satisfaction, customer experience and customer loyalty on brand power: empirical evidence from hotel industry. Journal of Business Economics and Management , 19 (2), 417-430.

Sundt, A., & Davis, E. (2017). User personas as a shared lens for library UX. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience , 1 (6).

Wächter, M. (2016). Mobile Strategy . Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Zhang, J. Z., & Chang, C. W. (2021). Consumer dynamics: Theories, methods, and emerging directions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 49 (1), 166-196.

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IvyPanda. (2022, August 17). Customer Experience Reflection. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-experience-reflection/

"Customer Experience Reflection." IvyPanda , 17 Aug. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/customer-experience-reflection/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Customer Experience Reflection'. 17 August.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Customer Experience Reflection." August 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-experience-reflection/.

1. IvyPanda . "Customer Experience Reflection." August 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-experience-reflection/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Customer Experience Reflection." August 17, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-experience-reflection/.

How to Write a Reflective Essay

Writing a reflective essay is like deep diving into your experiences and thoughts and sharing what you've learned. 

It's not your typical academic paper – it's more about exploring your personal growth and understanding. Reflective essays are about looking back on moments in your life, analyzing how they've shaped you, and expressing those insights clearly and meaningfully. 

From how to start a reflective essay to what kinds of stylistic devices to use, this article will teach you how to offer readers a glimpse into the complexities of your human experience as a human being.

What Is a Reflective Essay

A reflective essay is a type of personal writing where the author delves into their thoughts, emotions, and experiences regarding a particular topic, event, or aspect of their life. 

Unlike other forms of academic writing, it focuses on the writer's introspection and self-analysis, often exploring how they have been affected or changed by their experiences. 

Reflective essays typically involve a structured approach in which the writer examines the significance of their experiences, considers lessons learned, and considers how they might apply these insights in the future.

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What Is the Purpose of Writing a Reflective Essay

Composing a reflective essay provides a platform for individuals to explore and analyze their experiences, thoughts, and emotions in a structured manner. Through reflection, writers can gain deeper insights into themselves, their beliefs, and their actions. 

Reflective essays provide opportunities for self-discovery, growth, and learning. They encourage individuals to critically examine their experiences, identify patterns, and understand how they have been shaped by various factors. 

Additionally, reflective essays allow custom writers to communicate their insights and perspectives to others, fostering empathy, understanding, and connection. 

Types of Reflective Essays

Reflective essays can take various forms depending on the purpose, audience, and context. Some common types include:

How to Start a Reflective Essay

Starting a reflective essay can be approached in various ways, but here are a few effective strategies to consider:

• Begin with an Engaging Anecdote

Capture your reader's attention by sharing a brief, compelling story or anecdote related to the topic you'll be reflecting on. This can set the tone for your essay and draw readers in from the start.

• Pose a Thought-Provoking Question

Start with a question that prompts readers to think deeply about the topic you'll explore in your reflection. This can create curiosity and encourage engagement right from the beginning.

• Provide Context

Offer some background information or context about the experience or topic you'll reflect on. This will help orient your readers and give them a foundation for understanding your reflection.

• State Your Thesis or Main Idea

Clearly state your reflective essay's main idea or thesis in the introduction. This gives readers a preview of what to expect and directs your reflection.

• Use a Quotation

Begin with a relevant quotation that sets the tone for your reflection and encapsulates what you'll discuss in your essay. Make sure the quotation is meaningful and resonates with your topic.

• Start with a Strong Statement

Open with a bold statement or assertion that captures the essence of your reflection. This can be a striking observation, a personal revelation, or a philosophical insight related to your topic.

Recommended for reading: Academic Essay Guide.

Writing a reflective essay involves several key steps:

Select a Meaningful Topic

Choosing a meaningful topic is pivotal as it sets the foundation for your reflective essay. Consider moments that have left a profound impact or triggered significant growth. These can range from personal experiences and academic achievements to challenges overcome. 

Selecting a topic involves considering personal experiences that have significantly impacted you. Here's how to choose a topic before writing a reflective essay:

• Reflect on Personal Experiences – Think about moments that have left a lasting impression or provoked deep thought and introspection. Consider experiences that have shaped your beliefs, values, or outlook on life.
• Identify Key Events or Challenges – Look for specific events, challenges, or milestones that stand out in your memory. These could be achievements, failures, conflicts, transitions, or moments of self-discovery.
• Consider Emotional Significance – Reflect on experiences that have evoked strong emotions, whether positive or negative. Emotional depth often leads to rich reflection and meaningful insights.
• Focus on Growth or Learning – Choose a topic that highlights personal growth, learning, or transformation. Reflective essays are most compelling when they explore how experiences have influenced your development.
• Think about Relevance and Universality – Consider topics that are not only personally significant but also have broader relevance or universal themes. Reflecting on experiences that others can relate to can make your essay more engaging and impactful.
• Brainstorm Ideas – Brainstorm potential topics, jotting down any experiences or moments that come to mind. Don't censor yourself at this stage; let your thoughts flow freely.
• Narrow Down Your Options – Review your list of potential topics and consider which ones resonate with you the most. Choose a topic you feel passionate about and eager to explore in depth.
• Ensure Personal Connection – Choose a topic that feels authentic and meaningful to you. Your passion and genuine interest in the topic will shine through in your writing, making your reflective essay more compelling and engaging for readers.

Outline Your Essay

An organized outline is a blueprint for your reflective essay, ensuring a structured and coherent narrative flow. Begin by outlining the main points you intend to explore in each section, including the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. 

Structure your outline logically, allowing for smooth transitions between ideas and reflections. Consider the overarching themes and insights you wish to convey, ensuring they are seamlessly integrated into your essay's framework. 

Through outlining, you streamline the writing process and maintain a cohesive narrative that captivates your audience and effectively communicates your reflections.

Reflect and Brainstorm

Reflection and brainstorming are the cornerstones of a reflective essay, allowing you to delve deep into your thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Take the time to introspect on your chosen topic, exploring the nuances of your feelings, reactions, and lessons learned. 

Embrace moments of vulnerability and introspection, as they can lead to genuine insights and self-awareness. Through brainstorming, jot down key moments, reflections, and realizations that have shaped your perspective. 

This process enriches your writing and fosters personal growth and understanding as you navigate through the complexities of your experiences.

Come up with a Thesis Statement

Crafting a compelling thesis statement is essential as it encapsulates your reflective essay's core message or insight. 

Your thesis serves as a roadmap, guiding both you and your readers through the narrative journey ahead. It should concisely summarize your reflection's central theme or purpose, offering a glimpse into the key aspects of your experience and its significance. 

A well-crafted thesis statement provides clarity and focus and sets the tone for the rest of your essay. It acts as a beacon, directing your efforts toward articulating your reflections cohesively while inviting readers to delve deeper into the complexities of your narrative.

Write, Reflect, and Revise

Writing, reflecting, and revising are iterative processes culminating in a polished reflective essay. 

Draft your essay, beginning with a compelling introduction that sets the stage for your reflection. Dive into the body paragraphs, exploring specific aspects of your experience and their implications. Incorporate personal anecdotes, observations, and reflections to enrich your narrative, fostering a deeper connection with your readers. Alternatively, you can buy an essay online to avoid having to do everything on your own.

As you write, reflect on your journey, acknowledging the growth and insights gained along the way. Finally, revise your essay for clarity, coherence, and impact, ensuring that your reflections are articulated effectively and leave a lasting impression on your audience. 

Through this process, you refine your writing and deepen your understanding of yourself and others.

Reflective Essay Outline

Before you start writing any content for your essay, it would be wise to draw up an outline of your document:

Tips for Writing a Reflective Essay

As we know, a reflective essay involves examining your experiences and expressing how they influenced you. Here are seven useful and practical tips to help you write an effective essay about self-reflection:

Focus on a Specific Moment

Choose a specific incident or moment that had a profound impact on you. Narrowing your focus to a single event or series of related events can make your reflection deeper and more meaningful.

Ask Guiding Questions

Use questions to guide your reflection. For example:

• What happened?
• How did it make me feel?
• Why did I feel that way?
• What did I learn from this experience?
• How has this experience changed me?

Answering these questions can help you explore your thoughts and emotions more thoroughly.

Use the 'What, So What, Now What' Framework

• What: Describe the experience or event.
• So What: Analyze why the experience was significant.
• Now What: Reflect on how the experience will influence your future actions or perspectives. This structure ensures your essay has depth and direction.

Integrate Theory and Practice

If relevant, connect your personal experiences with theoretical concepts or lessons you've learned in your studies or professional life. This can add a layer of intellectual reflection to your reflective essays and demonstrate your ability to apply theory to practice.

Include Dialogue and Thoughts

Incorporate direct quotes or internal monologue from the experience. This adds authenticity and gives readers insight into your immediate reactions and thoughts during the event.

Use Reflective Language

Employ phrases that indicate reflection, such as "I realized," "I learned," "This made me think," "I understood that," etc. This helps convey your introspective process to the reader.

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Reflective Essay Examples

Recommended for reading: Definition Essay Examples .

Reflective essays are super important for students because they help you think about what you've learned and how you've grown. They make you reflect on your experiences, figure out what went well and what didn't, and understand how it fits into your life. 

By doing this, you don't just memorize stuff for a test – you get why it matters and how it applies to real life. Plus, reflecting like this helps you improve at thinking things through, understanding yourself, and solving problems. 

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How to Write a Reflective Essay?

What are the parts of a typical reflective essay, what is a reflective essay format.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

• Content updated.
• Added 2 tables.
• Reflective essays | Australian National University. (2023, November 14). https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/writing-assessment/reflective-writing/reflective-essays
• Reflective Essays. (n.d.). The Writing Center. https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/reflective-essays
• https://westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1082779/Reflective_writing_Structure.pdf

Reflective Essay Guide

Writing Reflective Essay

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

A Step by Step Guide to Writing a Reflective Essay

By: John K.

Reviewed By: Jacklyn H.

Published on: May 11, 2021

If you have been assigned the task of writing a reflective essay, it will be an excellent opportunity to polish your creativity and writing skills.

A reflective essay is slightly different from other essays as it requires a personal point of view of a chosen subject. Thus, you need to analyze a particular subject with your personal experience, understanding, and knowledge.

The only key to write a reflective paper is that you need to be more expressive. The more expressive you are, the merrier it will be for your essay. Feel free to talk about life experiences that are valid to your topic. Writing your reflections can actually be a strength in this kind of essay.

If this sounds like something that interests or concerns you, then keep reading! This blog contains every detail necessary to produce an impressive reflective essay.

On this Page

What Is a Reflective Essay?

A reflective essay describes an experience or event and analyzes the meaning of that particular experience and the lessons it delivers. One thing that makes it a reflective essay is that the writer analyzes an event of the past from the present.

When writing a reflective essay, you are required to open up about your emotions and thoughts to paint a clear picture of your personality, history, and individual traits.

It is required that you include a description and a vivid summary of the experience; it will make the reader feel that he has experienced it as well. Moreover, you need to explain your reactions, thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

A good reflective paper should be creative, insightful, and authentic. It needs to express your opinions on a specific topic interestingly so that the reader wants to follow what you're saying without getting bored or leaving it before reading.

Reflective Essay Format

REFLECTIVE ESSAY FORMAT AND TEMPLATE

How to Start a Reflective Essay?

Writing a great reflective essay is a chance to polish your skills of writing and enhance your creativity. However, sometimes, it gets difficult and confusing to write it. There are many high schools as well as college students who get confused thinking where to start.

So, we have compiled some steps that will help you to write a perfect essay.

Let’s discuss them in detail.

1. Choose Your Topic Carefully

If you are given the freedom to choose a topic and don’t have any idea regarding it, the best way is to brainstorm and research some trending and good topic ideas. Unfortunately, a common mistake when writing a reflective essay is to choose a topic that is too broad or too narrow.

2. Research About Your Subject

Make sure you do thorough research on your topic first. Close your eyes and start imagining or remembering. Then, watch, listen, and read the information regarding your topic.

3. Brainstorm

Before you even start writing, brainstorm your ideas first. It is always a wise step to take before writing anything.

4. Choose Reflection Questions

Take a look at the questions below to get a better idea:

• What did I notice?
• What do I feel about it?
• Why am I feeling this way?

5. Answer the Questions You Have Chosen

After selecting your questions, you need to give their answers. Start from one essay question; make sure you answer it properly. After that, head on to the next one.

6. Recognize Your Experience Meaning

Before you even start writing, you need to choose the most significant lesson you have learned from your experience. This “most significant lesson or thing” is going to be the thesis of your essay.

7. Follow the Structure

Like all the other essays, the reflective essay also has the same format, which comprises the introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph.

Therefore, follow these steps and makes your essay writing process easy.

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How to Write a Reflective Essay?

Here are some steps that you should follow when you start writing your reflective paper.

1. Write the Introduction

To understand and know how to start a reflective essay introduction, you must first understand that an introduction is a piece of brief information about the main topic and its background.

In the reflective essay introduction, you will recognize the subject and provide the reader with an overview of the impression you have taken from it. Therefore, the introductory paragraph of your reflective essay needs to include a thesis statement that will act as a focal point of your paper.

2. Body Paragraphs

The first body paragraph should mention the impactful impression your subject has made on you. Then, provide relevant facts to support your thesis statement.

Moreover, the body of your essay will also describe most of the ideas you touched on in your introduction.

3. Write a Conclusion

Restate your thesis statement and summarize all the reasons you have mentioned in the essay’s body paragraphs. After that, sum up your essay with your final thoughts on the subject; close your essay with some reflective thoughts.

4. Proofread and Edit

Never submit your essay without editing or proofreading. Even though you have spent hours of effort and put a lot of hard work in doing your essay, your essay will have no worth if you haven’t proofread and edited it.

Here is the reflective essay outline sample for your ease.

Reflective Essay Outline

REFLECTIVE ESSAY OUTLINE

Reflective Essay Examples

We have compiled some perfect reflective essay examples below to help you get started on your paper.

Personal Reflective Essay Examples

PERSONAL REFLECTIVE ESSAY EXAMPLES

ENGLISH REFLECTIVE ESSAY EXAMPLES

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Reflective Essay Topics

Check out these reflective essay ideas on the most common subjects you can write about:

• Something from your imagination
• Something you have experienced in real
• A special object
• Something you have seen, heard, read, watched, touched, or smelled.

We are sure these subjects must have sparked your imagination, but here are a few essay topics that will help you get the bigger picture. In addition, these topics will help you understand the kind of topics teachers like to assign.

• The desert, mountains, countryside, or beach
• A special room or hideaway
• The house you grew up
• Home of some relative
• A person that taught me how to improve reflective writing skills
• New Experiences
• When your piece of writing published
• Important conversation
• The older man line of thought
• The time you overcame your fears

A list of topics will help you get a picture of what good ideas are like and how to come up with one of your own.

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Your essays are assigned to highly qualified essay writers who have years of experience and education. They make sure to provide you with mind-blowing, error-free, and on-time essays. They don’t just cater to the reflective essay but help with all types of essays.

So, contact us now and get the best write my essay for me? service at affordable rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is a reflective essay.

The reflective essay should be between 300 and 500 words. However, it will vary according to the chosen topic.

What is the purpose of a reflective essay?

A reflective essay is a great opportunity for the author to explore what has happened in their life and show how this specific event may have changed them.

PhD Essay, Literature

John K. is a professional writer and author with many publications to his name. He has a Ph.D. in the field of management sciences, making him an expert on the subject matter. John is highly sought after for his insights and knowledge, and he regularly delivers keynote speeches and conducts workshops on various topics related to writing and publishing. He is also a regular contributor to various online publications.

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How to write a reflective essay

Published September 27, 2020. Updated May 19, 2022.

Reflective Essay Definition

A reflective essay is a type of writing that examines an experience from the past by looking through the lens of the present.

Overview of reflective Essay

The purpose of a reflective essay is to explore an impression you had, looking into the reasons for that impression.  A reflective essay is not writing about an experience. It is writing about your reaction to that experience. A reflective essay is not learning from doing. It is about learning from thinking about what you did. A reflective essay is not about trying to influence anyone of anything. It is about drawing the meaning from your own experience. A reflective essay is not about being correct. It is about being honest. A reflective essay is actually designed to help you improve how you think and learn.

Key takeaways

• A reflective essay examines an experience from the past looking through the lens of the present.
• The purpose of a reflective essay is to explore an impression you had, looking into reasons for that impression.
• A reflective essay is very personal: the topic isn’t so much the experience but how YOU felt ABOUT the experience.

What is a reflective essay?

Sometimes it’s easier to explain what something is NOT.

• A reflective essay is not writing about an experience. It’s writing about your reaction to that experience.
• A reflective essay is not learning from doing. It’s about learning from thinking about what you did.
• A reflective essay is not about trying to convince anyone of anything. It’s about drawing meaning from your own experience.
• A reflective essay is not about being correct. It’s about being honest.

Think about the word “reflection.” What you see in the mirror is not you; it is a reflection of you.

Do you realize that you can never really see yourself? You can only see a reflection of yourself.

Every life experience is like that. You never really see the experience as it’s happening. You only see it and learn from it when you see it through reflection.

Also, you cannot see your reflection if you are too close to the mirror. You need to step back in order to see yourself clearly.

Reflective writing is like that.

A reflective essay is a way of writing where you, as the writer, take a step back from your experience and write about it with some distance.

It is a way of writing about the past from the perspective of the present.

You are no longer going through an experience. Rather, you are reflecting on it to see it more clearly.

Worried about your writing? Submit your paper for a Chegg Writing essay check , or for an Expert Check proofreading . Both can help you find and fix potential writing issues.

Purpose of a reflective essay

Regardless of how you feel about writing essays, most essays are designed to help you improve how you write. A reflective essay is actually designed to help you improve how you think and learn.

The reflective essay can be very helpful because writing it helps you process whatever you are writing about. That act of processing leads to deeper understanding.

John Dewey, an American scholar, said: “We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”

Difference between a personal essay and a reflective essay

More than other essays, a reflection is about YOU. Unlike a personal essay, however, a reflective essay requires you to take a step back from an experience and write about it from a distance.

Where a personal essay might say, “Here is something I did,” a reflective essay would try to answer, “Why did I do what I did?”

A reflective essay is a good place to explore questions like, “How did I feel before and after I did that?”, “If I encountered a similar experience, would I do the same thing again?”, and “What did I learn from this experience?”

As you can see, all of the questions are personal: they are not asking about the experience itself, they are asking how YOU felt ABOUT the experience.

Don’t worry about finding the “right” answer. There is no such thing. Every person’s experience and interpretation is unique, and you are writing about your own. You don’t need to compare it to anyone else’s.

Make sure you write the essay in the first person.

Possible topics for a reflective essay

When choosing your topic for a reflective essay, think about whether it caused an impression on you.  Remember that the topic you write about isn’t the focus – the focus is your interpretation of it.

• A teacher who believed in you
• A friend who betrayed you
• A family member
• A place in nature where you feel most comfortable
• The house you grew up in
• A place you visited for the first time, that felt “familiar”
• Going somewhere very foreign
• A new experience
• Failing or succeeding at something
• Learning something new
• Something you’ve done before, but this time something was different

Questions to ask about your topic

Since you want to go deeper with your understanding of the topic, the questions that you ask yourself as you write are important.

• How did I feel, and why did I feel this way?
• How did I react, and why did I react like this?
• Did this change me? Why or why not?
• Would I do something differently next time?
• Was this experience positive or negative for me?
• What does this mean in my life?
• What did I learn from this experience?

Parts of an essay

Every essay you write, including reflective essays, should have three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The reflective essay should have those parts as well.

However, the way a reflective essay is organized might be a little different.

Let’s go through each of those parts for a reflective essay. Each part will include a sample.

Introduction

You want to begin your essay with a hook. A hook is an interesting opening that “catches” your readers and makes them want to read more. Your hook is usually the first sentence.

After you’ve hooked the readers, you want to give some context, or background information. In a reflective essay, use the introduction to mention the experience that you will be writing about. Think of each sentence in your intro as a stepping point. Each sentence brings you closer to your thesis statement.

Once you’ve given some context, write a thesis statement, which tells the readers exactly what they’re going to read about. For a reflective essay, the thesis statement should give the readers an idea of the impression the experience made on you. Think of it like a map to the rest of your essay.

Sample introduction

Can you identify the hook, background information, and thesis statement in this sample?

I had seen pictures of the Mona Lisa my whole life. Last summer, I went to Paris and got to see the original painting in the Louvre Museum. As I stood looking at the Mona Lisa, I really was seeing her for the first time. What I found surprising is that I felt the woman in the painting was seeing me as well. I actually felt a connection to the painting.

A typical essay will have from one to three body paragraphs, though you can write as many as you need (or as many as your teacher assigns you). Regardless of how many body paragraphs you have, they will all be organized in a similar manner.

Start with a topic sentence to show your reader what is coming up. This is a general sentence that gives an overview of that paragraph. Since your thesis statement should be about the impression your experience made on you, each topic sentence should be a reason for that impression.

The body paragraph should explain the reason for your impression in depth.

End a body paragraph with a sentence that summarizes what you wrote or that leads into the next paragraph.

Sample body paragraphs

Can you identify the topic sentences? Do the body paragraphs discuss the reasons in depth

I first felt a connection because of the Mona Lisa’s expression. Her face looks calm and seems to give nothing away. Every time I had seen the picture before, I felt like her expression was empty, with nothing behind it. As if the subject was a rich, carefree woman who was just sitting to have her portrait painted. When I stood in front of the original masterpiece, though, her expression opened up. At the time, all I knew was that I was seeing something I hadn’t seen before. Now I know that I saw a woman trying to get through life while feeling like she didn’t know what she was doing. I have often felt the same way. I may look calm to the outside world, but I am trying to hide anxiety. Now I recognize that the Mona Lisa was doing the same thing.

The second reason I felt a connection was because of the Mona Lisa’s posture. The subject looks like she’s sitting in a chair. Her body is facing to the left, but her face is looking at the viewer. It seems as if she wants to go in one direction but is forced to face another. I have felt that way. Like when my parents suggest which future would be better for me. Like when my friends want to do something I’m not comfortable doing. Like when I want to stay home and read but my boyfriend wants us to go to a party. Which way should I go?

Lastly, I felt a connection to the background in the painting. Behind the Mona Lisa is a natural vista with a road and mountains and a lake. The landscape itself seems improbable. Why is there a road when there is no other sign of life? There are no buildings or people in the background. Having the Mona Lisa placed in such a strange background adds to the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty. Again, it seems like the Mona Lisa is talking to me: “Do you ever feel like you don’t know where you are? Or where you belong?” Yes, I feel that way a lot.

Before you turn in that paper, don’t forget to cite your sources in APA format , MLA format , or a style of your choice.

This is how your essay ends and includes the last impression your reader takes away.

In a reflective essay, you may use your conclusion to give closure to the experience you’re writing about.

Add any insights to explain your reasons for your impression.

Finally, remember that a reflection is a way to write about the past from the perspective of the present. Make a clear connection from the past to the present.

Sample conclusion

Does this conclusion give a sense of closure? Does it add any insights? Does it make a connection between past and present?

That summer in Paris was supposed to be an exciting trip for me, but it was actually a difficult time in my life. I was trying to decide what university to go to, what major I should choose, and whether my boyfriend and I should break up or try a long-distance relationship. I had questions brewing in my head and it was difficult to appreciate the beauty of Paris. Seeing the Mona Lisa at that time in my life made me feel at peace. Now I understand what I saw in her that made me feel connected: I saw someone else with doubt and uncertainty, but I knew she would be okay in the end, and so will I. 

Example reflective essay on the Mona Lisa

Example reflective essay on environmental troubles.

By Halina Stolar. Halina has a master’s degree in teaching and taught English as a second language and writing for almost 15 years overseas. She now works as a freelance writer, and geeks out over grammar for fun.

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How to Write a Reflective Essay?

07 August, 2020

17 minutes read

Author:  Elizabeth Brown

A reflective essay is a personal perspective on an issue or topic. This article will look at how to write an excellent reflexive account of your experience, provide you with reflexive essay framework to help you plan and organize your essay and give you a good grounding of what good reflective writing looks like.

What is a Reflective Essay?

A reflective essay requires the writer to examine his experiences and explore how these experiences have helped him develop and shaped him as a person.  It is essentially an analysis of your own experience focusing on what you’ve learned.

Don’t confuse reflexive analysis with the rhetorical one. If you need assistance figuring out how to write a rhetorical analysis , give our guide a read!

Based on the reflective essay definition, this paper will follow a logical and thought-through plan . It will be a discussion that centers around a topic or issue. The essay should strive to achieve a balance between description and personal feelings.

It requires a clear line of thought, evidence, and examples to help you discuss your reflections. Moreover, a proper paper requires an analytical approach . There are three main types of a reflective essay: theory-based, a case study or an essay based on one’s personal experience.

Unlike most academic forms of writing, this writing is based on personal experiences and thoughts. As such, first-person writing position where the writer can refer to his own thoughts and feelings is essential. If the writer talks about psychology or medicine, it is best to use the first-person reference as little as possible to keep the tone objective and science-backed.

To write this paper, you need to recollect and share personal experience . However, there is still a chance that you’ll be asked to talk about a more complex topic.

By the way, if you are looking for good ideas on how to choose a good argumentative essay topic , check out our latest guide to help you out!

The Criteria for a Good Reflective Essay

The convention of an academic reflective essay writing will vary slightly depending on your area of study. A good reflective essay will be written geared towards its intended audience. These are the general criteria that form the core of a well-written piece:

• A developed perspective and line of reasoning on the subject.
• A well-informed discussion that is based on literature and sources relevant to your reflection.
• An understanding of the complex nuance of situations and the tributary effects that prevent them from being simple and clear-cut.
• Ability to stand back and analyze your own decision-making process to see if there is a better solution to the problem.
• A clear understanding of h ow the experience has influenced you.
• A good understanding of the principles and theories of your subject area.
• Ability to frame a problem before implementing a solution.

These seven criteria form the principles of writing an excellent reflective essay.

Still need help with your essay? Handmade Writing is here to assist you!

What is the Purpose of Writing a Reflective Essay?

The purpose of a reflective essay is for a writer to reflect upon experience and learn from it . Reflection is a useful process that helps you make sense of things and gain valuable lessons from your experience. Reflective essay writing allows you to demonstrate that you can think critically about your own skills or practice strategies implementations to learn and improve without outside guidance.

Another purpose is to analyze the event or topic you are describing and emphasize how you’ll apply what you’ve learned.

How to Create a Reflective Essay Outline

• Analyze the task you’ve received
• Read through and understand the marking criteria
• Keep a reflective journal during the experience
• Use a reflective framework (Schon, Driscoll, Gibbs, and Kolb) to help you analyze the experience
• Create a referencing system to keep institutions and people anonymous to avoid breaking their confidentiality
• Set the scene by using the five W’s (What, Where, When, Who and Why) to describe it
• Choose the events or the experiences you’re going to reflect on
• Identify the issues of the event or experience you want to focus on
• Use literature and documents to help you discuss these issues in a wider context
• Reflect on how these issues changed your position regarding the issue
• Compare and contrast theory with practice
• Identify and discuss your learning needs both professionally and personally

Don’t forget to adjust the formatting of your essay. There are four main format styles of any academic piece. Discover all of them from our essay format guide!

Related Posts: Essay outline | Essay format Guide

Using Reflective Frameworks

A good way to develop a reflective essay plan is by using a framework that exists. A framework will let help you break the experience down logical and make the answer easier to organize. Popular frameworks include: Schon’s (1983) Reflection in action and reflection on action .

Schon wrote ‘The Reflective Practitioner’ in 1983 in which he describes reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action as tools for learning how to meet challenges that do not conform to formulas learned in school through improvisation.  He mentioned two types of reflection : one during and one after. By being aware of these processes while on a work-experience trail or clinical assignment you have to write a reflective account for, you get to understand the process better. So good questions to ask in a reflective journal could be:

<td “200”>Reflection-pre-action <td “200”>Reflection-in-action <td “200”>Reflection-on-Action<td “200”>What might happen? <td “200”>What is happening in the situation? <td “200”>What were your insights after?<td “200”>What possible challenges will you face? <td “200”>Is it working out as you expected? <td “200”>How did it go in retrospect?<td “200”>How will you prepare for the situation? <td “200”>What are the challenges you are dealing with? <td “200”>What did you value and why?<td “200”>  <td “200”>What can you do to make the experience a successful one? <td “200”>What would you do differently before or during a similar situation?<td “200”>  <td “200”>What are you learning? <td “200”>What have you learned?

This will give you a good frame for your paper and help you analyze your experience.

Kolb’s (1984) Learning Cycle

Kolb’s reflective framework works in four stages:

• Concrete experience. This is an event or experience
• Reflective observation. This is reflecting upon the experience. What you did and why.
• Abstract conceptualization. This is the process of drawing conclusions from the experience. Did it confirm a theory or falsify something? And if so, what can you conclude from that?
• Active experimentation. Planning and trying out the thing you have learned from this interaction.

Gibb’s (1988) Reflection Cycle

Gibbs model is an extension of Kolb’s. Gibb’s reflection cycle is a popular model used in reflective writing. There are six stages in the cycle.

• Description. What happened? Describe the experience you are reflecting on and who is involved.
• Feelings. What were you thinking and feeling at the time? What were your thoughts and feelings afterward?
• Evaluation. What was good and bad about the experience? How did you react to the situation? How did other people react? Was the situation resolved? Why and how was it resolved or why wasn’t it resolved? Could the resolution have been better?
• Analysis. What sense can you make of the situation? What helped or hindered during the event? How does this compare to the literature on the subject?
• Conclusion. What else could you have done? What have you learned from the experience? Could you have responded differently? How would improve or repeat success? How can you avoid failure?
• Action plan. If it arose again what would you do? How can you better prepare yourself for next time?

Driscoll’s Method (1994) and Rolfe et al (2001) Reflexive Learning

The Driscoll Method break the process down into three questions. What (Description), So What (Analysis) and Now What (Proposed action). Rolf et al 2001 extended the model further by giving more in-depth and reflexive questions.

• What is the problem/ difficulty/reason for being stuck/reason for feeling bad?
• What was my role in the situation?
• What was I trying to achieve?
• What actions did I take?
• What was the response of others?
• What were the consequences for the patient / for myself / for others?
• What feeling did it evoke in the patient / in myself / in others?
• What was good and bad about the experience?
• So, what were your feelings at the time?
• So, what are your feelings now? Are there any differences? Why?
• So, what were the effects of what you did or did not do?
• So, what good emerged from the situation for yourself and others? Does anything trouble you about the experience or event?
• So, what were your experiences like in comparison to colleagues, patients, visitors, and others?
• So, what are the main reasons for feeling differently from your colleagues?
• Now, what are the implications for you, your colleagues and the patients?
• Now, what needs to happen to alter the situation?
• Now, what are you going to do about the situation?
• Now, what happens if you decide not to alter anything?
• Now, what will you do differently if faced with a similar situation?
• Now, what information would you need to deal with the situation again?
• Now, what methods would you use to go about getting that information?

This model is mostly used for clinical experiences in degrees related to medicine such as nursing or genetic counseling. It helps to get students comfortable thinking over each experience and adapting to situations.

This is just a selection of basic models of this type of writing. And there are more in-depth models out there if you’re writing a very advanced reflective essay. These models are good for beginner level essays. Each model has its strengths and weaknesses. So, it is best to use one that allows you to answer the set question fully.

This written piece can follow many different structures depending on the subject area . So, check your assignment to make sure you don’t have a specifically assigned structural breakdown. For example, an essay that follows Gibbs plan directly with six labeled paragraphs is typical in nursing assignments. A more typical piece will follow a standard structure of an introduction, main body, and conclusion. Now, let’s look into details on how to craft each of these essay parts.

How to Write an Introduction?

There are several good ways to start a reflective essay . Remember that an introduction to a reflective essay differs depending on upon what kind of reflection is involved. A science-based introduction should be brief and direct introducing the issue you plan on discussing and its context.

Related post: How to write an Essay Introduction

For example, a nursing student might want to discuss the overreliance on medical journals in the industry and why peer-reviewed journals led to mistaken information. In this case, one good way how to start a reflective essay introduction is by introducing a thesis statement. Help the reader see the real value of your work.

Do you need help with your thesis statement? Take a look at our recent guide explaining what is a thesis statement .

Let’s look at some reflective essay examples.

‘During my first month working at Hospital X, I became aware just how many doctors treated peer-views journal articles as a gospel act. This is a dangerous practice that because of (a), (b) and (c) could impact patients negatively.’

The reflective essay on English class would begin differently. In fact, it should be more personal and sound less bookish .

How to Write the Main Body Paragraphs?

The main body of the essay should focus on specific examples of the issue in question. A short description should be used for the opener. Each paragraph of this piece should begin with an argument supporting the thesis statement.

The most part of each paragraph should be a reflexive analysis of the situation and evaluation . Each paragraph should end with a concluding sentence that caps the argument. In a science-based essay, it is important to use theories, other studies from journals and source-based material to argue and support your position in an objective manner.

How to Write the Conclusion?

A conclusion should provide a summary of the issues explored, remind the reader of the purpose of the essay and suggest an appropriate course of action in relation to the needs identified in the body of the essay.

This is mostly an action plan for the future. However, if appropriate a writer can call readers to action or ask questions. Make sure that the conclusion is powerful enough for readers to remember it. In most cases, an introduction and a conclusion is the only thing your audience will remember.

Reflective Essay Topics

Here are some good topics for a reflective essay. We’ve decided to categorize them to help you find good titles for reflective essays that fit your requirement.

Medicine-related topics:

• Write a reflective essay on leadership in nursing
• How did a disease of your loved ones (or your own) change you?
• Write a reflection essay on infection control
• How dealing with peer-reviewed journals interrupts medical procedures?
• Write a reflection essay about community service
• Write a reflective essay on leadership and management in nursing

Topics on teamwork:

• Write a reflective essay on the group presentation
• What makes you a good team player and what stays in the way of improvement?
• Write a reflective essay on the presentation
• Write about the last lesson you learned from working in a team
• A reflective essay on career development: How teamwork can help you succeed in your career?

Topics on personal experiences:

• Write a reflective essay on the pursuit of happiness: what it means to you and how you’re pursuing it?
• Write a reflective essay on human sexuality: it is overrated today? And are you a victim of stereotypes in this area?
• Write a reflective essay on growing up
• Reflective essay on death: How did losing a loved one change your world?
• Write a reflective essay about a choice you regret
• Write a reflective essay on the counseling session

Academic topics:

• A reflective essay on the writing process: How does writing help you process your emotions and learn from experiences?
• Write a reflective essay on language learning: How learning a new language changes your worldview
• A reflective essay about a choice I regret

Related Posts: Research Paper topics | Compare&Contrast Essay topics

Reflective Essay Example

Tips on writing a good reflective essay.

Some good general tips include the following:

As long as you use tips by HandMade Writing, you’ll end up having a great piece. Just stick to our recommendations. And should you need the help of a pro essay writer service, remember that we’re here to help!

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What Is a Customer Service Self-Evaluation? [+Examples]

Published: February 08, 2022

At work, a self-evaluation is a personal review of your job performance. While you'll probably receive feedback from a supervisor, most businesses encourage employees to complete their own evaluation so they can reflect on performance without third-party input.

The overall goal is that you'll be able to own your accomplishments, recognize areas for improvement, and create a path for further professional development. Employees in all industries write self-evaluations, including service representatives.

In this post, we'll explain what a self-evaluation looks like for customer service representatives, outline tips for writing one, and give you some examples you can refer to when creating your own.

What is a customer service self-evaluation?

A customer service self-evaluation is a way to intentionally analyze your job performance concerning how you serve your customers. While you may receive a separate review from your boss, a self-evaluation uses your perception and insight, as well as data and customer feedback.

The final result of your evaluation should be a valuable tool for reflection, holding productive conversations with team members and superiors, and a guide for future growth. It's also nice to look back on evaluations to see how much you've grown as you progress through various roles.

Below we'll go over critical considerations to keep in mind when writing your self-evaluation.

Tips For Writing An Effective Customer Service Self-Evaluation

As mentioned above, a self-evaluation is an opportunity to go in-depth in analyzing job performance, both in terms of accomplishments and areas for improvement. An effective evaluation goes beyond just yes or no answers and uses data, examples, and sets actionable goals for the future. Let's go over essential tips for writing a customer service self-evaluation.

1. Use performance data.

A strong self-evaluation uses performance data to support the words you're writing.

Every business collects different data points, but some stats to consider are customer feedback ratings, ticket response time, length of time spent on calls with customers, and general or team benchmarks for comparisons.

2. Use specific statements with supporting examples.

Vague statements don't help you do a true in-depth reflection on your job performance.

While you can undoubtedly detail strengths and weaknesses, they don't mean much as standalone words. For example, saying “I responded to customer inquiries in a timely manner and provided beneficial solutions” demonstrates job performance and achievements, but it doesn't really say much else.

That statement would be even more impactful if you include the data that proves your ability to provide beneficial solutions. A specific statement with supporting examples could look like this: “I responded to customer inquiries within the company-set target of 2 hours. I provided beneficial solutions, and customer feedback surveys showed that I had an average satisfaction rate of 90%.”

3. Explain performance.

Just as it's important to be specific and use examples, it's also essential to explain why you're performing the way you are. Aim to describe how you're able to do what you do on a day-to-day basis.

Continuing with the previous example, you can say that you've reached a satisfaction rate of 90% because you spend time listening to support calls from other successful employees and identifying how they connect with customers. You've worked to incorporate those strategies into your calls, and your satisfaction rate shows that it works.

4. Acknowledge weaknesses and set goals for the future.

Nobody is perfect, and it's important to acknowledge that, especially in self-evaluations. Take ownership of your weaknesses and use your evaluation as an opportunity to begin working on professional development. You can talk about how you hope to improve in certain areas, and set entirely new goals.

Following the specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely ( SMART ) goal structure is worth considering, as it'll help you create a roadmap for meeting your goals.

Self-Evaluation Examples for Customer Service

Once you understand the components of a self-evaluation, it's time to start writing your own.

Below is an example of a customer service self-evaluation that you can refer to throughout your process. It's important to note that this is a basic example, and you likely have business-specific performance metrics that you should include in your own.

“Over the past six months as a customer service representative, I have responded to customer inquiries within the company-wide target of 2 hours. I provided beneficial solutions, and my average satisfaction rating is 90%.

I achieved this result because I spent time learning about our product and what we have to offer, so I can quickly diagnose customer issues and provide actionable solutions. I ask for feedback from my teammates and managers, and I always make sure to implement their advice.

However, my satisfaction rate is lower than the team goal of 95%, so there is still an opportunity for improvement. Despite my ability to provide solutions, I need to spend more time explaining why solutions will work for customers. I'm more familiar with the product than they are, so I should be making sure that they leave our conversations with this understanding.

I want to improve upon this by experimenting with the product on my own, so I know how it works, and having mock calls with my teammates. I hope to work up to the 95% satisfaction rate by the end of Q4.

Although I am still working on improving my satisfaction rate, I also want to gain exposure to new business areas. I am hoping to spend time shadowing my peers in different departments and learning about their day to day tasks, and assisting on various projects.

Since I am still unsure about my career goals, I am hoping that this exposure will help me develop new skills and discover new areas of interest.”

This evaluation uses the four critical areas mentioned above to outline how an employee works to provide their customers with satisfactory experiences:

• Specific statements with supporting evidence : They provided a time period, stated their duties, and provided a percentage of the satisfaction rating they provided to customers as proof.
• Rationalizing job performance : Their result was reached by gaining knowledge of the product, quickly diagnosing customer needs, and providing solutions through the aid of teammates and managers.
• Acknowledging weaknesses : Their satisfaction rate is not as high as it could be, as they need to better explain solutions to customers.
• Creating a plan of action for improvement : They have a plan to shadow peers and have mock calls with teammates, and a goal of gaining exposure through assisting others in different departments and projects.

In case you wanted to see more statements that can cover these four areas, read on for more:

“From tracking my progress over the past 12 months, I exceeded sales targets by 110% in 2021.”

"In the second quarter, I achieved twice as many closed tickets than the previous quarter, tallied up in our management system."

“More than 33% of customers have left my interactions with them feeling informed and satisfied with my information delivery through detailed, positive reviews after our chats ended.”

“I expanded my reach by tackling three more regions than I started with, and worked harder to organically attract clients and meet them where they are.”

“I maintained customer relationships through carefully timed email messaging after the initial time of purchase.”

“My customer satisfaction rating improved from my fastened customer response time since being onboarded into the role.”

"Time management is one of my weaknesses. I delay the more difficult or least appealing tasks until the last minute, which in turn has caused the quality of my work to decline in comparison to how I operated six months ago."

“I have had difficulty learning how to use the new customer management software we implemented this past quarter, and have not been documenting data as accurately because of it.”

“I need to learn how to diffuse arguments more effectively. I still need to know how to pivot and adapt my language to each customer.”

“I will be brushing up on customer service terminology and best practices more in the next quarter to ensure I’m approaching customers in the correct manner.”

“When I find myself in future predicaments, I will actively engage with customers in a more understanding and calmer tone.”

“With the new updates to our management system, I will take extra time to learn how to fully navigate and utilize it to better help customers.”

Your Self-Evaluation Is For Your Personal Development

Overall, your self-evaluation is a way for you to reflect on your performance and understand how you can continue to go above and beyond to provide customers with exceptional service experiences.

You can use your final reflection as a roadmap for the future and also look back on it over time to see how far you've come.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

Reflective writing is a process of identifying, questioning, and critically evaluating course-based learning opportunities, integrated with your own observations, experiences, impressions, beliefs, assumptions, or biases, and which describes how this process stimulated new or creative understanding about the content of the course.

A reflective paper describes and explains in an introspective, first person narrative, your reactions and feelings about either a specific element of the class [e.g., a required reading; a film shown in class] or more generally how you experienced learning throughout the course. Reflective writing assignments can be in the form of a single paper, essays, portfolios, journals, diaries, or blogs. In some cases, your professor may include a reflective writing assignment as a way to obtain student feedback that helps improve the course, either in the moment or for when the class is taught again.

How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8.

Benefits of Reflective Writing Assignments

As the term implies, a reflective paper involves looking inward at oneself in contemplating and bringing meaning to the relationship between course content and the acquisition of new knowledge . Educational research [Bolton, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Tsingos-Lucas et al., 2017] demonstrates that assigning reflective writing tasks enhances learning because it challenges students to confront their own assumptions, biases, and belief systems around what is being taught in class and, in so doing, stimulate student’s decisions, actions, attitudes, and understanding about themselves as learners and in relation to having mastery over their learning. Reflection assignments are also an opportunity to write in a first person narrative about elements of the course, such as the required readings, separate from the exegetic and analytical prose of academic research papers.

Reflection writing often serves multiple purposes simultaneously. In no particular order, here are some of reasons why professors assign reflection papers:

• Enhances learning from previous knowledge and experience in order to improve future decision-making and reasoning in practice . Reflective writing in the applied social sciences enhances decision-making skills and academic performance in ways that can inform professional practice. The act of reflective writing creates self-awareness and understanding of others. This is particularly important in clinical and service-oriented professional settings.
• Allows students to make sense of classroom content and overall learning experiences in relation to oneself, others, and the conditions that shaped the content and classroom experiences . Reflective writing places you within the course content in ways that can deepen your understanding of the material. Because reflective thinking can help reveal hidden biases, it can help you critically interrogate moments when you do not like or agree with discussions, readings, or other aspects of the course.
• Increases awareness of one’s cognitive abilities and the evidence for these attributes . Reflective writing can break down personal doubts about yourself as a learner and highlight specific abilities that may have been hidden or suppressed due to prior assumptions about the strength of your academic abilities [e.g., reading comprehension; problem-solving skills]. Reflective writing, therefore, can have a positive affective [i.e., emotional] impact on your sense of self-worth.
• Applying theoretical knowledge and frameworks to real experiences . Reflective writing can help build a bridge of relevancy between theoretical knowledge and the real world. In so doing, this form of writing can lead to a better understanding of underlying theories and their analytical properties applied to professional practice.
• Reveals shortcomings that the reader will identify . Evidence suggests that reflective writing can uncover your own shortcomings as a learner, thereby, creating opportunities to anticipate the responses of your professor may have about the quality of your coursework. This can be particularly productive if the reflective paper is written before final submission of an assignment.
• Helps students identify their tacit [a.k.a., implicit] knowledge and possible gaps in that knowledge . Tacit knowledge refers to ways of knowing rooted in lived experience, insight, and intuition rather than formal, codified, categorical, or explicit knowledge. In so doing, reflective writing can stimulate students to question their beliefs about a research problem or an element of the course content beyond positivist modes of understanding and representation.
• Encourages students to actively monitor their learning processes over a period of time . On-going reflective writing in journals or blogs, for example, can help you maintain or adapt learning strategies in other contexts. The regular, purposeful act of reflection can facilitate continuous deep thinking about the course content as it evolves and changes throughout the term. This, in turn, can increase your overall confidence as a learner.
• Relates a student’s personal experience to a wider perspective . Reflection papers can help you see the big picture associated with the content of a course by forcing you to think about the connections between scholarly content and your lived experiences outside of school. It can provide a macro-level understanding of one’s own experiences in relation to the specifics of what is being taught.
• If reflective writing is shared, students can exchange stories about their learning experiences, thereby, creating an opportunity to reevaluate their original assumptions or perspectives . In most cases, reflective writing is only viewed by your professor in order to ensure candid feedback from students. However, occasionally, reflective writing is shared and openly discussed in class. During these discussions, new or different perspectives and alternative approaches to solving problems can be generated that would otherwise be hidden. Sharing student's reflections can also reveal collective patterns of thought and emotions about a particular element of the course.

Bolton, Gillie. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development . London: Sage, 2010; Chang, Bo. "Reflection in Learning." Online Learning 23 (2019), 95-110; Cavilla, Derek. "The Effects of Student Reflection on Academic Performance and Motivation." Sage Open 7 (July-September 2017): 1–13; Culbert, Patrick. “Better Teaching? You Can Write On It “ Liberal Education (February 2022); McCabe, Gavin and Tobias Thejll-Madsen. The Reflection Toolkit . University of Edinburgh; The Purpose of Reflection . Introductory Composition at Purdue University; Practice-based and Reflective Learning . Study Advice Study Guides, University of Reading; Ryan, Mary. "Improving Reflective Writing in Higher Education: A Social Semiotic Perspective." Teaching in Higher Education 16 (2011): 99-111; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8; What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse; Rykkje, Linda. "The Tacit Care Knowledge in Reflective Writing: A Practical Wisdom." International Practice Development Journal 7 (September 2017): Article 5; Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning . Center for Writing, University of Minnesota.

How to Approach Writing a Reflection Paper

Thinking About Reflective Thinking

Educational theorists have developed numerous models of reflective thinking that your professor may use to frame a reflective writing assignment. These models can help you systematically interpret your learning experiences, thereby ensuring that you ask the right questions and have a clear understanding of what should be covered. A model can also represent the overall structure of a reflective paper. Each model establishes a different approach to reflection and will require you to think about your writing differently. If you are unclear how to fit your writing within a particular reflective model, seek clarification from your professor. There are generally two types of reflective writing assignments, each approached in slightly different ways.

1.  Reflective Thinking about Course Readings

This type of reflective writing focuses on thoughtfully thinking about the course readings that underpin how most students acquire new knowledge and understanding about the subject of a course. Reflecting on course readings is often assigned in freshmen-level, interdisciplinary courses where the required readings examine topics viewed from multiple perspectives and, as such, provide different ways of analyzing a topic, issue, event, or phenomenon. The purpose of reflective thinking about course readings in the social and behavioral sciences is to elicit your opinions, beliefs, and feelings about the research and its significance. This type of writing can provide an opportunity to break down key assumptions you may have and, in so doing, reveal potential biases in how you interpret the scholarship.

If you are assigned to reflect on course readings, consider the following methods of analysis as prompts that can help you get started :

• Examine carefully the main introductory elements of the reading, including the purpose of the study, the theoretical framework being used to test assumptions, and the research questions being addressed. Think about what ideas stood out to you. Why did they? Were these ideas new to you or familiar in some way based on your own lived experiences or prior knowledge?
• Develop your ideas around the readings by asking yourself, what do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge about this topic come from? What are the observations or experiences in my life that influence my understanding of the topic? Do I agree or disagree with the main arguments, recommended course of actions, or conclusions made by the author(s)? Why do I feel this way and what is the basis of these feelings?
• Make connections between the text and your own beliefs, opinions, or feelings by considering questions like, how do the readings reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How the readings challenge these ideas or assumptions? How does this text help me to better understand this topic or research in ways that motivate me to learn more about this area of study?

2.  Reflective Thinking about Course Experiences

This type of reflective writing asks you to critically reflect on locating yourself at the conceptual intersection of theory and practice. The purpose of experiential reflection is to evaluate theories or disciplinary-based analytical models based on your introspective assessment of the relationship between hypothetical thinking and practical reality; it offers a way to consider how your own knowledge and skills fit within professional practice. This type of writing also provides an opportunity to evaluate your decisions and actions, as well as how you managed your subsequent successes and failures, within a specific theoretical framework. As a result, abstract concepts can crystallize and become more relevant to you when considered within your own experiences. This can help you formulate plans for self-improvement as you learn.

If you are assigned to reflect on your experiences, consider the following questions as prompts to help you get started :

• Contextualize your reflection in relation to the overarching purpose of the course by asking yourself, what did you hope to learn from this course? What were the learning objectives for the course and how did I fit within each of them? How did these goals relate to the main themes or concepts of the course?
• Analyze how you experienced the course by asking yourself, what did I learn from this experience? What did I learn about myself? About working in this area of research and study? About how the course relates to my place in society? What assumptions about the course were supported or refuted?
• Think introspectively about the ways you experienced learning during the course by asking yourself, did your learning experiences align with the goals or concepts of the course? Why or why do you not feel this way? What was successful and why do you believe this? What would you do differently and why is this important? How will you prepare for a future experience in this area of study?

NOTE: If you are assigned to write a journal or other type of on-going reflection exercise, a helpful approach is to reflect on your reflections by re-reading what you have already written. In other words, review your previous entries as a way to contextualize your feelings, opinions, or beliefs regarding your overall learning experiences. Over time, this can also help reveal hidden patterns or themes related to how you processed your learning experiences. Consider concluding your reflective journal with a summary of how you felt about your learning experiences at critical junctures throughout the course, then use these to write about how you grew as a student learner and how the act of reflecting helped you gain new understanding about the subject of the course and its content.

ANOTHER NOTE: Regardless of whether you write a reflection paper or a journal, do not focus your writing on the past. The act of reflection is intended to think introspectively about previous learning experiences. However, reflective thinking should document the ways in which you progressed in obtaining new insights and understandings about your growth as a learner that can be carried forward in subsequent coursework or in future professional practice. Your writing should reflect a furtherance of increasing personal autonomy and confidence gained from understanding more about yourself as a learner.

Structure and Writing Style

There are no strict academic rules for writing a reflective paper. Reflective writing may be assigned in any class taught in the social and behavioral sciences and, therefore, requirements for the assignment can vary depending on disciplinary-based models of inquiry and learning. The organization of content can also depend on what your professor wants you to write about or based on the type of reflective model used to frame the writing assignment. Despite these possible variations, below is a basic approach to organizing and writing a good reflective paper, followed by a list of problems to avoid.

Pre-flection

In most cases, it's helpful to begin by thinking about your learning experiences and outline what you want to focus on before you begin to write the paper. This can help you organize your thoughts around what was most important to you and what experiences [good or bad] had the most impact on your learning. As described by the University of Waterloo Writing and Communication Centre, preparing to write a reflective paper involves a process of self-analysis that can help organize your thoughts around significant moments of in-class knowledge discovery.

• Using a thesis statement as a guide, note what experiences or course content stood out to you , then place these within the context of your observations, reactions, feelings, and opinions. This will help you develop a rough outline of key moments during the course that reflect your growth as a learner. To identify these moments, pose these questions to yourself: What happened? What was my reaction? What were my expectations and how were they different from what transpired? What did I learn?
• Critically think about your learning experiences and the course content . This will help you develop a deeper, more nuanced understanding about why these moments were significant or relevant to you. Use the ideas you formulated during the first stage of reflecting to help you think through these moments from both an academic and personal perspective. From an academic perspective, contemplate how the experience enhanced your understanding of a concept, theory, or skill. Ask yourself, did the experience confirm my previous understanding or challenge it in some way. As a result, did this highlight strengths or gaps in your current knowledge? From a personal perspective, think introspectively about why these experiences mattered, if previous expectations or assumptions were confirmed or refuted, and if this surprised, confused, or unnerved you in some way.
• Analyze how these experiences and your reactions to them will shape your future thinking and behavior . Reflection implies looking back, but the most important act of reflective writing is considering how beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and feelings were transformed in ways that better prepare you as a learner in the future. Note how this reflective analysis can lead to actions you will take as a result of your experiences, what you will do differently, and how you will apply what you learned in other courses or in professional practice.

Basic Structure and Writing Style

Reflective Background and Context

The first part of your reflection paper should briefly provide background and context in relation to the content or experiences that stood out to you. Highlight the settings, summarize the key readings, or narrate the experiences in relation to the course objectives. Provide background that sets the stage for your reflection. You do not need to go into great detail, but you should provide enough information for the reader to understand what sources of learning you are writing about [e.g., course readings, field experience, guest lecture, class discussions] and why they were important. This section should end with an explanatory thesis statement that expresses the central ideas of your paper and what you want the readers to know, believe, or understand after they finish reading your paper.

Reflective Interpretation

Drawing from your reflective analysis, this is where you can be personal, critical, and creative in expressing how you felt about the course content and learning experiences and how they influenced or altered your feelings, beliefs, assumptions, or biases about the subject of the course. This section is also where you explore the meaning of these experiences in the context of the course and how you gained an awareness of the connections between these moments and your own prior knowledge.

Guided by your thesis statement, a helpful approach is to interpret your learning throughout the course with a series of specific examples drawn from the course content and your learning experiences. These examples should be arranged in sequential order that illustrate your growth as a learner. Reflecting on each example can be done by: 1)  introducing a theme or moment that was meaningful to you, 2) describing your previous position about the learning moment and what you thought about it, 3) explaining how your perspective was challenged and/or changed and why, and 4) introspectively stating your current or new feelings, opinions, or beliefs about that experience in class.

It is important to include specific examples drawn from the course and placed within the context of your assumptions, thoughts, opinions, and feelings. A reflective narrative without specific examples does not provide an effective way for the reader to understand the relationship between the course content and how you grew as a learner.

Reflective Conclusions

The conclusion of your reflective paper should provide a summary of your thoughts, feelings, or opinions regarding what you learned about yourself as a result of taking the course. Here are several ways you can frame your conclusions based on the examples you interpreted and reflected on what they meant to you. Each example would need to be tied to the basic theme [thesis statement] of your reflective background section.

• Your reflective conclusions can be described in relation to any expectations you had before taking the class [e.g., “I expected the readings to not be relevant to my own experiences growing up in a rural community, but the research actually helped me see that the challenges of developing my identity as a child of immigrants was not that unusual...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can explain how what you learned about yourself will change your actions in the future [e.g., “During a discussion in class about the challenges of helping homeless people, I realized that many of these people hate living on the street but lack the ability to see a way out. This made me realize that I wanted to take more classes in psychology...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can describe major insights you experienced a critical junctures during the course and how these moments enhanced how you see yourself as a student learner [e.g., "The guest speaker from the Head Start program made me realize why I wanted to pursue a career in elementary education..."].
• Your reflective conclusions can reconfigure or reframe how you will approach professional practice and your understanding of your future career aspirations [e.g.,, "The course changed my perceptions about seeking a career in business finance because it made me realize I want to be more engaged in customer service..."]
• Your reflective conclusions can explore any learning you derived from the act of reflecting itself [e.g., “Reflecting on the course readings that described how minority students perceive campus activities helped me identify my own biases about the benefits of those activities in acclimating to campus life...”].

NOTE: The length of a reflective paper in the social sciences is usually less than a traditional research paper. However, don’t assume that writing a reflective paper is easier than writing a research paper. A well-conceived critical reflection paper often requires as much time and effort as a research paper because you must purposeful engage in thinking about your learning in ways that you may not be comfortable with or used to. This is particular true while preparing to write because reflective papers are not as structured as a traditional research paper and, therefore, you have to think deliberately about how you want to organize the paper and what elements of the course you want to reflect upon.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not limit yourself to using only text in reflecting on your learning. If you believe it would be helpful, consider using creative modes of thought or expression such as, illustrations, photographs, or material objects that reflects an experience related to the subject of the course that was important to you [e.g., like a ticket stub to a renowned speaker on campus]. Whatever non-textual element you include, be sure to describe the object's relevance to your personal relationship to the course content.

Problems to Avoid

A reflective paper is not a “mind dump” . Reflective papers document your personal and emotional experiences and, therefore, they do not conform to rigid structures, or schema, to organize information. However, the paper should not be a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness narrative. Reflective papers are still academic pieces of writing that require organized thought, that use academic language and tone , and that apply intellectually-driven critical thinking to the course content and your learning experiences and their significance.

A reflective paper is not a research paper . If you are asked to reflect on a course reading, the reflection will obviously include some description of the research. However, the goal of reflective writing is not to present extraneous ideas to the reader or to "educate" them about the course. The goal is to share a story about your relationship with the learning objectives of the course. Therefore, unlike research papers, you are expected to write from a first person point of view which includes an introspective examination of your own opinions, feelings, and personal assumptions.

A reflection paper is not a book review . Descriptions of the course readings using your own words is not a reflective paper. Reflective writing should focus on how you understood the implications of and were challenged by the course in relation to your own lived experiences or personal assumptions, combined with explanations of how you grew as a student learner based on this internal dialogue. Remember that you are the central object of the paper, not the research materials.

A reflective paper is not an all-inclusive meditation. Do not try to cover everything. The scope of your paper should be well-defined and limited to your specific opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what you determine to be the most significant content of the course and in relation to the learning that took place. Reflections should be detailed enough to covey what you think is important, but your thoughts should be expressed concisely and coherently [as is true for any academic writing assignment].

Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Critical Reflection: Journals, Opinions, & Reactions . University Writing Center, Texas A&M University; Connor-Greene, Patricia A. “Making Connections: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Journal Writing in Enhancing Student Learning.” Teaching of Psychology 27 (2000): 44-46; Good vs. Bad Reflection Papers , Franklin University; Dyment, Janet E. and Timothy S. O’Connell. "The Quality of Reflection in Student Journals: A Review of Limiting and Enabling Factors." Innovative Higher Education 35 (2010): 233-244: How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Amelia TaraJane House. Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas; Ramlal, Alana, and Désirée S. Augustin. “Engaging Students in Reflective Writing: An Action Research Project.” Educational Action Research 28 (2020): 518-533; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; McGuire, Lisa, Kathy Lay, and Jon Peters. “Pedagogy of Reflective Writing in Professional Education.” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2009): 93-107; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; How Do I Write Reflectively? Academic Skills Toolkit, University of New South Wales Sydney; Reflective Writing . Skills@Library. University of Leeds; Walling, Anne, Johanna Shapiro, and Terry Ast. “What Makes a Good Reflective Paper?” Family Medicine 45 (2013): 7-12; Williams, Kate, Mary Woolliams, and Jane Spiro. Reflective Writing . 2nd edition. London: Red Globe Press, 2020; Yeh, Hui-Chin, Shih-hsien Yang, Jo Shan Fu, and Yen-Chen Shih. “Developing College Students’ Critical Thinking through Reflective Writing.” Higher Education Research and Development (2022): 1-16.

Writing Tip

Focus on Reflecting, Not on Describing

Minimal time and effort should be spent describing the course content you are asked to reflect upon. The purpose of a reflection assignment is to introspectively contemplate your reactions to and feeling about an element of the course. D eflecting the focus away from your own feelings by concentrating on describing the course content can happen particularly if "talking about yourself" [i.e., reflecting] makes you uncomfortable or it is intimidating. However, the intent of reflective writing is to overcome these inhibitions so as to maximize the benefits of introspectively assessing your learning experiences. Keep in mind that, if it is relevant, your feelings of discomfort could be a part of how you critically reflect on any challenges you had during the course [e.g., you realize this discomfort inhibited your willingness to ask questions during class, it fed into your propensity to procrastinate, or it made it difficult participating in groups].

Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas.

Another Writing Tip

Helpful Videos about Reflective Writing

These two short videos succinctly describe how to approach a reflective writing assignment. They are produced by the Academic Skills department at the University of Melbourne and the Skills Team of the University of Hull, respectively.

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