If your answer is ‘yes’

Reflection is the right match for your initiative. This page explores your next steps.

If you answered that reflection is beneficial for your initiative and is appropriate then you should actively work towards introducing reflection.

Choose the right form of reflective task

Your main job is to ensure that the reflective tasks fit your initiative optimally. There is no one way of doing this. It is a judgement call you will have to make once you have identified the learning outcomes (what you want participants to gain) of your course or initiative.

For instance, a reflective diary is valuable for tracking progress and development of study or professional skills gained from experiences. However, if you want to assess how your course has made a student become a better chemist or historian, a reflective essay might be better. Or you might even find that a group discussion guided by peers with question prompts will be most successful.

This will be at your discretion, and will also have to fit in with practical elements around your initiative such as number and length of assignments and whether it is a course or a workshop.

Find the right activities

To find the right way of incorporating reflection, it may be helpful to have a look at the ‘Components of reflective tasks’ page. Similarly, checking our case studies of reflective practice within the University can suggest a range of ways in which reflection has been used effectively.

You can also choose to be creative; as long as you make sure you work according to the principles of alignment and use only one definition of reflection you can design your own activities. This point is also highlighted on the ‘Components of reflective tasks’ page. For example, you may find a new creative way of having students ask each other reflective questions and capture their answers in a way that is helpful for exactly your initiative.

Components of reflective tasks (within the Facilitators’ Toolkit)

Case studies (within the Facilitators’ Toolkit)

Where to go next?

You can either see information about introducing reflection, which highlights general considerations, and/or review the discussion of whether or not you should assess the reflective assignment. You can do this before or after having found your specific reflective task.

How do I Introduce reflection? (within the Facilitators' Toolkit) 

Should I assess? (within the Facilitators' Toolkit)