Students’ experiences of learning are recorded in reflective journals. Usually, these journals are given to the students by their instructors and they usually capture what was taught in class. This may involve thoughts about exams, assignments, class discussions or even course material. Such documents can be paper based or via the internet and submitted at specific times for comments.
Instructors can prompt students to use accurate vocabulary and make connections with other courses when writing formal entries although they may write informally. Students do well if there is a clear format to follow. Reflective journals help students master their thoughts and improve on their learning process that corresponds to teaching aims while developing critical thinking as well. Both writing and reviewing journals take up student and teacher time.
A Reflective Journal: What Is It?
A reflective note or journal is where you put your thoughts and what you have experienced. You can write about the events, both good and bad, their significance to you and what they taught you. Writing in a diary is an essential habit. Initially, you may need to keep pointing out yourself to write; however, with time it will come naturally. To allow for better reflection, attempt to jot down as soon as possible after things happen while the details are still fresh. Reflective journals make us understand our experiences, relationships, and personal development. They can expose your wellsprings of encouragement and offer a glimpse into your thinking style.
Different Types of Reflection
There are six main types of reflection that can be approached in different ways, each of which shed light on the experiences and learning that one has made. These types of reflection are as follows
Observations
Write down what you saw or experienced as is. For example, “I observed a large number of students drinking excessively at pre-game parties.”
Questions
Ask questions that will help you explore the situation more deeply. For example, “Why do these groups of students only seem to get along when they drink?”
Suggestions
Think about possible reasons and explanations. For example, “It could be that students drink to ease hanging out difficulties, or maybe they feel pressured into doing so because everyone else does.”
Self-awareness
Think upon your own feelings and thoughts about what happened. For example, “I don’t think I have to drink to enjoy being with my friends and I’m worried that if we drank like those other groups did we would run into problems.”
The use of theory and ideas
Combining the experience with theories or concepts you know. For example, “According to the social standard theory people in groups believe that others drink more than they do.”
Inspection
Evaluate the situation or how you behave yourself. For example, “When I think about my own drinking behaviours, I understand how pressure from other people affects me.”
Reflective Journal Reasons to Write
Reflective journal writing allows you to record and investigate your thoughts and experiences more deeply. This practice is useful for understanding events better as it entails providing really detailed descriptions of them, which can bring in new perspectives. It also provides a space for considering why things happened and exploring various perspectives that will enhance your ability to analyze too. Reflection on one’s experience and values can help bring future actions in line with changing opinions, meanwhile posts made on online journals encourage updating of thoughts over time.
Another benefit of maintaining a journal is that it helps to de-clutter one’s mind by putting down ideas in an ordered manner; it also enables one to focus on what matters most. During the process of sharing entries with others, this can be a process through which those who go through such entries may provide some feedback that will enable the person to make well informed choices about his or her life.
Reflective journal usage
Reflective journals, in especially those that are used in learning environments are important for discussing personal experiences. They allow students to judge themselves, explain the reasons why things happened and learn from their lessons.
- The reflexive technique of action defines the steps or activities that took place during the event in question. For example, you may recount your experience working on a team project.
- The action method researches inquiries into what caused such incidents. It might look into factors that influenced the outcome or investigate reasons behind particular acts.
- Thinking through your actions means asking yourself what can be learnt from the experience and how this knowledge can be applied in future life decisions. This helps you come up with better strategies and prepare for future decision-making.
Reflective journals promote self-awareness through research of past experiences as well as application of this awareness when faced with similar circumstances in future.
Bottom line
Reflective journals are beneficial in the recording and analyzing of personal learning experiences. Given by professors, these record thoughts on exams, assignments, and class discussions. Whether on paper or on the Web, students employ them to perfect their ideas and understand their experiences further during education. Students improve self-awareness and decision-making through describing events, questioning themselves and relating theories to their own life experiences. Personal and academic growth heavily outweighs the burden of time investment into writing and reviewing these journals.
