self reflection research essay

2.6 SELF-REFLECTION: What Makes a Good Academic Research Essay?

Take a minute to think about what we have discussed in class and what you already know. Then write a paragraph to answer these questions:

What makes a good academic research essay? Describe it. What does it require?  What do you have to do? What is expected?

Synthesis Copyright © 2022 by Timothy Krause is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Don’t Underestimate the Power of Self-Reflection

• James R. Bailey
• Scheherazade Rehman

Focus on moments of surprise, failure, and frustration.

Research shows the habit of reflection can separate extraordinary professionals from mediocre ones. But how do you sort which experiences are most significant for your development?

• To answer this questions, the authors asked 442 executives to reflect on which experiences most advanced their professional development and had the most impact on making them better leaders.
• Three distinct themes arose through their analysis: surprise, frustration, and failure. Reflections that involved one or more or of these sentiments proved to be the most valuable in helping the leaders grow.
• Surprise, frustration, and failure. Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. These parts of you are constantly in motion and if you don’t give them time to rest and reflect upon what you learned from them, you will surely fatigue.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Empathy, communication, adaptability, emotional intelligence, compassion. These are all skills you need to thrive in the workplace and become a great leader. Time and again, we even hear that these capabilities are the key to making yourself indispensable — not just now but far into the future. Soft skills, after all, are what make us human, and as far as we know, can’t be performed well by technologies like artificial intelligence.

• James R. Bailey is professor and Hochberg Fellow of Leadership at George Washington University. The author of five books and more than 50 academic papers, he is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, The Hill, Fortune, Forbes, and Fast Company and appears on many national television and radio programs.
• Scheherazade Rehman is professor and Dean’s Professorial Fellow of International Finance. She is director of the European Union Research Center and former Director of World ExecMBA with Cybersecurity, has appeared in front of the U.S. House and Senate, and been a guest numerous times onPBS Newshour, the Colbert Report, BBC World News, CNBC, Voice of America, and C-Span.

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Self-reflection and academic performance: is there a relationship?

Magdeleine d. n. lew.

1 Republic Polytechnic, Woodlands, Singapore

Henk G. Schmidt

2 Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The purposes of the present study were two-fold: first, to evaluate whether reflection journal writing was effective in promoting self-reflection and learning, and whether students become better at self-reflection if they engage continuously in reflection journal writing. To that end, the reflection journals of 690 first-year applied science students at a local polytechnic were studied by means of an automated coding procedures using software. Data was collected twice, once at the beginning and again towards the end of an academic year. Outcomes of the textual content analyses revealed that students reflected on both the process and contents of their learning: critical review of past learning experiences, learning strategies and summaries of what was learned. Correlational analyses showed weak to moderate inter-relationships between the textual categories and their classroom and knowledge acquisition test grades. Taken together, the findings suggest that self-reflection on both how and what students have learned does lead to improvements in academic performance, although to a limited extent.

Introduction

The role of reflection in education has created an upsurge of interest amongst educators and researchers since Dewey’s ( 1991 ) ground-breaking work, which emphasized the positive roles that reflection might play in fostering students’ self-reflection, critical thinking, and in the demonstrable development of professional values or skills. Self-reflection (or simply, reflection) has received numerous definitions from different sources in the literature. In his work, Dewey had defined reflection as “active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends” (p. 9). According to Mann et al. ( 2009 ), they suggest that Dewey’s definition of reflection shares similarities with our understanding of critical thinking. Boud et al. ( 1985 ) aptly define reflection in the context of learning and focus more on one’s personal experience as the object of reflection, as referring to “those intellectual and affective activities that individuals engage into explore their experience, which leads to new understanding and appreciations” (p. 19). The definition of reflection by Moon ( 1999 ), on the other hand, focuses more on the role of reflection and learning, and embeds reflection into the learning process. She describes reflection as “a form of mental processing with a purpose and/or anticipated outcome that is applied to relatively complex or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution” (p. 23). All three definitions though focus on different contexts, share similarities in that they emphasize purposeful critical analysis of knowledge and experience so as to achieve deeper meaning and understanding.

The definitions of self-reflection, though heterogeneous, are united in their advocacy to improve student learning. In the present study, self-reflection is influenced by these interpretations. It refers to the processes that a learner undergoes to look back on his past learning experiences and what he did to enable learning to occur (i.e. self-reflection on how learning took place), and the exploration of connections between the knowledge that was taught and the learner’s own ideas about them (i.e. self-reflection on what was learned). It is contended that since processes such as these can lead to informed and thoughtful deliberations on one’s behaviours and actions, they are believed to assist learners to become better at self-reflection, which leads subsequently to better academic achievement.

Reflection and problem-based learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) tend to be characterized by students working collaboratively in small groups, with learning centred on problems relevant to the students’ domain of study and much time spent on self-directed learning. In PBL, students learn by solving problems and reflecting on their experiences (Hmelo-Silver 2004 ). Reflecting on the relationship between problem solving and learning is a critical component of PBL and is needed to support the construction of extensive and flexible knowledge (Salomon and Perkins 1989 ). According to Salomon and Perkins, self-reflection helps students to (a) review the group process and their own personal functioning in the group, (b) understand how their learning and problem-solving strategies might be reapplied, and (c) relate new knowledge to prior understanding (i.e. contents that were discussed and taught). PBL incorporates reflection several times throughout the learning process and when completing a problem. At the completion of a problem, students reflect on what they have learned, how well they collaborated with the group, and how effectively they directed their learning. As such, students learn self-reflection when they become proficient in assessing their own progression in learning.

In her work, Hmelo-Silver ( 2004 ) highlighted that while a tutor can support self-reflection in PBL, other techniques may also be helpful. One approach to improving self-reflection is through the use of reflection journals.

Reflection journals, self-reflection and academic achievement

Self-reflection’s currency as a topic of educational importance has resulted in the incorporation of reflection journals as learning tools that promote reflection into many curricula, including PBL (Mann et al. 2009 ). Reflection journal writing is believed to enable students to critically review processes of their own learning and behaviours, and to understand their ability to transform their own learning strategies (Gleaves et al. 2008 ). Reflection journals are variously referred to as “reflective journals” (e.g. Chirema 2007 ), “reflective learning journals” (e.g. Thorpe 2004 ) or “learning journals” (e.g. Moon 1999 ). Although used in a variety of courses, reflection journals are essentially written records that students create as they think about various concepts learned, about critical incidents involving their learning, or about interactions between students and teachers, over a period of time for the purpose of gaining insights into their own learning (Thorpe 2004 ). The purposes of reflection journal writing include: to critically review the behaviours (e.g. strengths and weaknesses; learning styles and strategies) (Weinstein and Mayer 1986 ); learning of self and others; setting or tracking learning goals (i.e. how learning took place) (Lew and Schmidt 2011 ); and exploring connections between knowledge that was learned and students’ own ideas about them (Moon 1999 ). It is hoped that through reflecting and writing about new information or ideas, learners can better understand and remember them. In addition, the articulation of connections between new information, ideas, prior or existing knowledge also deepens learning (O’Rourke 1998 ).

The literature reports of a positive association between journal keeping and learners’ cognitive skills. In their study, McCrindle and Christensen ( 1995 ) explored the impact of reflection journal writing on cognitive processes and academic performances of forty undergraduates in a first-year biology course. Students were randomly assigned to a learning journal (experimental) group or scientific report (control) group. Their findings demonstrate that students in the experimental group used more cognitive strategies during a learning task as compared to those in the control group. Students who kept learning journals also showed more sophisticated conceptions of learning, greater awareness of cognitive strategies, and demonstrated the construction of more complex and related knowledge structures when learning from text. They also performed significantly better on the final examination for the course. While the data from this study are suggestive, it is unclear as to the precise nature of the relationships between students’ conceptions of learning and their cognitive processes, and more research is required to explicate these links.

The literature offers evidence that students, regardless of their domains of study, show improvements in their learning, that is, students became better in self-reflection, through journal keeping, although students did not reportedly become better at earning higher test grades. For instance, Selfe et al. ( 1986 ) investigated the use of reflection journals in a college-level mathematics course. Their findings suggest that while reflection journals did not necessarily assist students with earning high grades on achievement tests, they did assist students in developing abstract thinking thereby enabling them to better conceptualize the meaning of technical definitions. Students appeared to develop better strategies in problem solving through writing as compared to mere memorizing of calculations. In addition, students also showed improvements in their reflective writing skills, for instance, they were able to develop personal conceptual definitions that were more understandable than technical definitions of the texts. The findings by Selfe and colleagues were mirrored in the study by Moon ( 1999 ), where she summarized a number of studies which examined the effects of reflection journal writing on student academic achievement across a variety of disciplines. She reported that some studies showed effects, whilst others did not. Like Selfe and colleagues, Moon’s work also demonstrated the influence of journal keeping on student academic performance was subtle and did not seem to assist students with achieving better achievement test grades. However, this conclusion which they drew could be due to small sample sizes and poor measurement of the content of students’ journal responses in the studies reported.

The evidence to support and inform the curricular intervention of reflection journal writing as a means to improve students’ self-reflection and thus academic achievement remains largely theoretical. In addition, most of the present studies in the literature involved only a limited number of participants where students’ reflection journals were usually rated by teachers and hence any conclusions derived may be overly subjective. To maximize the validity of our findings, we did not rely on the reflection journals of a selected, small group of students. Instead, we collected data from 690 first-year students of a polytechnic, and used an objective analysis by subjecting students’ journal responses to an automated coding procedure using software (Lew and Schmidt 2011 ).

Aims of the study

The students in our study repeatedly had to reflect on how and what they have learned as the semester unfolded, and received continuous feedback from their teachers on their performances. The purposes of the present study were two-fold: first, to evaluate whether reflection journal writing was effective in promoting self-reflection and learning, and whether students become better at self-reflection if they engage continuously in reflection journal writing. It was hypothesized that self-reflection and academic achievement influenced each other interactively , i.e. students by looking back on how and what they have learned results in them having better self-reflection skills, which subsequently lead them to perform better in the classroom or on knowledge acquisition tests. Second, we were interested to investigate which type of reflection (i.e. self-reflection on how learning took place and/or what was learned) was more effective in promoting learning and thus academic achievement. To that end, students’ reflection journals were compared with their classroom performance and academic test grades for an academic year.

Participants included 690 applied science students in their first year of studies at a polytechnic in Singapore in the academic year 2007–2008. They were enrolled in three-year science diploma courses such as Biomedical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology. Of these students, 426 (62%) were females and 264 (38%) were males, and their mean age was 17.21 years (SD = 1.28).

Educational context

Problem-based learning.

The polytechnic at which the research was carried out organizes its curriculum according principles of problem-based learning (Schmidt and Moust 2000 ). Students work collaboratively in teams of four to five, with learning centred on problems relevant to their domain of study. They work on one problem each day. The problem is initially discussed in the morning, followed by individual study. At the end of the day, information gathered is shared and elaborated upon. No didactic teaching takes place nor is there any form of direct instruction. One tutor supervises the student teams in a larger classroom. His or her role is to facilitate student learning (Alwis 2007 ). There are two semesters in an academic year, with each semester lasting 16 weeks. All the courses offered are part of a three-year curriculum.

Data collection versus assessment in the curriculum

The daily assessment approach consists of four elements: (1) a classroom performance grade awarded by the tutor based on how well a student has performed during the day (2) an activity in which a student assessed his or her own performance for the day, and (3) an activity in which a student assessed his or her team mates’ performances for the day, and (4) a reflection journal to be written by each student. The classroom performance grade is measured based on tutors’ observations of students’ processes of daily learning. The observations by the tutors include students’ self-directedness, level of participation inclusive of teamwork; students’ ability to reason, justify and defend opinions and ideas formulated in respond to problems, as well as their problem solving skills. Tutors will then award grades ranging from “A” to “F”, which are derived based on what they observe and the impression they have on each student during the duration of time they had with him/her. Tutors also take into consideration students’ individual reflection journals (short essays which document students’ reflections on daily learning) and their self and peer assessments when awarding grades. Furthermore, tutors will provide feedback to students on their learning outcomes and processes of daily learning.

The reflection journal records a student’s reflections of daily learning in response to a reflection journal question provided by the tutor. Each student is required to respond to one journal question per day. The student submits his/her reflection journal electronically by means of an online platform by the end of the day. Tutor-asked journal questions required students to be reflective about their learning and development. Some examples of reflection journal questions include “Discuss your effectiveness as a team player/leader in solving the problem today.”, “What insights did I gain today?”, “How can you apply some of the skills and knowledge that you have learned?”, “What strategies have I used to help me in my learning?” and so on. Students respond to a different reflection journal question each day during a 5-day workweek. The purpose of writing the reflection journal is to encourage and record self-reflection about how learning took place and what was learned. Some examples of students’ journal responses are contained in the appendix section.

Students also need to take four knowledge acquisition tests per module, which are taken at different points (i.e. after every 3–4 weeks) during the semester. The tests are conducted in a supervised environment, similar to an end-of-course examination and require students to answer at least three open-structured questions. Students are tested on their ability to understand and apply what they have learned. The knowledge acquisition test grades range from “A” to “F”.

The classroom performance and knowledge acquisition grades were first converted to scaled numerical values on a five-point scale. The averages of the knowledge acquisition grades for that of semesters 1 and 2 were computed and used for the analyses.

The tutor grades were first converted to scaled numerical values on a five-point scale. In seeking evidence of reflective activities through reflection journal writing, student journals were analyzed using the SPSS Text Analysis for Survey TM software (SPSS 2006 ). The software uses advanced linguistic theory technologies that extract and classify key concepts from student journal responses. These technologies analyze content as a set of phrases and sentences whose grammatical structure provides a context for the meaning of a response. The software enables the coding and categorization of journal responses in a fraction of the time required to do the job manually. Another benefit is that the categorization of responses is done consistently and reliably; the responses are analyzed in an iterative manner. Unlike human coders, the software classifies the same response in the same categories every time.

The first step in content analysis is to extract key terms and ideas from the journal responses. The engine uses linguistic algorithms and resources to identify relevant concepts. This means that extraction does not treat a response as a set of unrelated words, but it identifies key words, compound words, and patterns in the text. Pre-coded definitions were the linguistic resources used to extract terms from the journal responses.

The extracted terms were grouped into categories by the software. As used in content analysis, a category refers to a group of closely related concepts, opinions or attitudes. The software relies upon three linguistic-based techniques that take into account the root meanings of the extracted terms and their relationship between sets of similar objects or opinions: term derivation , term inclusion and semantic networks (SPSS 2006 , p. 101). Because these techniques are complementary to one another, all of them are used for categorizing the extracted terms.

The term derivation technique creates categories by taking a term and finding other terms that are related to it by analyzing whether any of the terms components are morphologically related. For instance, the term “opportunities for self-reflection” would be grouped with the term “self-reflection opportunities”. The term inclusion technique uses algorithms to create categories by taking a term and finding other terms that include it. When determining inclusion, word order and the presence of such words as “in” or “of” are ignored. As illustration, given the term “skill”, term inclusion will group terms such as “programming skills” and “a set of skills” in a skill category. The root term used to create the category (skill) can have words before it, after it, or both before and after (“programming skill set”).

The semantic networks technique creates categories using a semantic/lexical network based on WordNet ® , a linguistic project based in Princeton University (Miller 2006 ). WordNet ® is a reference system of “Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs grouped into sets of cognitive synonyms, each representing one underlying lexical concept.” This method begins by identifying extracted terms that are known synonyms and hyponyms (i.e. a word that is more specific than the category represented by a term, e.g. student, tutor and peer are hyponyms of the term “person”).

In order to analyze the journal responses in a more meaningful fashion, a custom library was created. This library contained domain-specific words and terms (with synonyms) that arose from the modules taken by all first-year students. In this particular institution, all students were required to take two mathematics and computer applications modules in their first year of studies. These modules consisted of several tasks which asked students to create spreadsheets and basic computer programs to perform simple numerical functions. Using these modules as an example, domain-specific words would include “visual basics programming”, “Microsoft excel graphs”, “spreadsheets” etc.

The categories that were automatically generated were also renamed to capture their essential meanings. The descriptions of the categories obtained are contained in Table  1 (see also Lew and Schmidt 2011 ).

Table 1

Description of categories generated by means of text analysis software

The outcomes of the text analyses suggest that students appeared to reflect on three general categories related to their learning in their reflection journals: critical review, learning strategies, and summaries of what was learned (see Table  1 for description).

Data used were for the analyses were student reflection journals for an entire week during Week 3 of the first semester and again during Week 14 of the second semester of the academic year 2007–2008. Data from Week 1 was not considered as it being the start of a new academic year, a steady state in the student enrolment had yet to be reached as students were still appealing to enter or change polytechnics. The student enrolment figures reached a steady state by the second week. Data from weeks 15 and 16 were not considered because the attendance of students in classes was poor for the last 2 weeks of the academic year; the number of reflection journals submitted in the last 2 weeks was significantly lower as compared to that for week 14.

Identical categories were generated for both sets of data. The number of instances which each category appeared in each student’s journal response was recorded and used for comparison against students’ performance in class (i.e. classroom performance grades) and on knowledge acquisition tests.

Table  2 contains the results of the correlational analyses between the frequency counts for coding categories present in students’ journal responses and their classroom performance grades for Week 3 of the first semester and Week 14 of the second semester in the academic year. Weak correlational values ( r ) were obtained ( r ranging from .02 to .27).

Table 2

Correlations between frequency counts for coding categories present in student journal responses and students’ classroom performance grades

Week 3 was in semester 1 at the beginning of academic year whereas Week 14 was in semester 2 towards the end of the academic year

Degrees of freedom = 689

* p  < .01, 2-tailed

The results of the correlational analyses between the frequency counts for coding categories present in student journal responses and students’ knowledge test grades are contained in Table  3 . Weak to moderately strong correlations were obtained ( r ranging from .02 to .34).

Table 3

Correlations between frequency counts for coding categories present in student journal responses and students’ knowledge acquisition grades

Mean values of students’ knowledge acquisition test grades for semesters 1 and 2 were used in the correlational analyses

Higher correlations for week 14 were reported as compared to those for week 3. A method that compares correlations drawn from the same sample as described by Cohen and Cohen, ( 1983 ) was used to test for significant differences between them (p. 57). Results of the analysis reveal that the differences in the correlations between the coding categories and classroom performance grades were not statistically significant. Similar findings were evident between the coding categories and knowledge acquisition test grades. The findings suggest that the type of reflection (i.e. self-reflection on how learning took place and/or what was learned) did not matter when it comes to promoting learning and hence academic achievement in students.

The present study was conducted to examine whether a relationship exists between students’ abilities to self-reflect and their academic achievement, and if their awareness of how and what they have learned would improve as they progressed through the course, engaging in continuous journal keeping. To that end, students’ reflection journals, which focus on self-reflection on the processes of learning and the knowledge taught, were coded in an objective fashion, by means of automated content analysis approach using software, and textual categories generated. Correlational analyses were performed on the textual categories and students’ classroom performance and knowledge test grades. Data used in the analyses was collected once at the beginning of the academic year, and again at the end of the academic year.

Weak correlations were reported between the learning categories generated from students’ journal responses and their classroom and knowledge acquisition test grades. The findings also indicate that the type of reflection, i.e. self-reflection on how learning took place and/or what was learned was no different terms of helping students become more effective at learning or academic achievement. Although the differences in the correlations between that of week 3 and week 14 were not statistically significant, one cannot conclude that no relationship exists between students’ abilities to self-reflect and their performances in classrooms and on knowledge acquisition tests. Increasing trends in the correlations were observed in Tables  2 and ​ and3, 3 , suggesting that self-reflection was effective to a small extent in improving student learning, and that students do demonstrate some growth in self-reflection (as indicated by the higher correlations between coding categories and academic grades), i.e. their abilities to self-reflect on how and what they have learned did improved through engaging continuously in reflection journal writing, although this influence is not manifested to a measureable effect resulting in improvements in academic performance.

What are some plausible explanations for these findings? First, there is this possibility that the weak relationship between self-reflection and academic performance is because students are generally poor at self-reflection. They simply are not able to reflect on their own performance and the subject matter taught effectively, for instance, because they have insufficient access to their own learning process. However, the study by McCrindle and Christensen ( 1995 ) reported that undergraduates in a first-year biology course who kept reflection journals showed more sophisticated conceptions of learning, greater awareness of cognitive strategies, and demonstrated the construction of more complex and related knowledge structures when learning from text, as compared to those who did not engage in journal keeping. Furthermore, they also performed significantly better on the final examination for the course. Hence, a general dismissal of the idea that students can be competent self-reflectors may be premature.

A second possibility is that the weak inter-relationship between self-reflection and academic performance is attributed by the fact students in this particular study who are somewhat lacking the experience of self-reflecting on how and what they have learned. Students who took part in the current study could be described as “inexperienced” to some extent, because they were first-year students in higher education, although they already had more than 10 years of education behind them. Although some authors (e.g. Mann et al. 2009 ; Moon 1999 ) have suggested that experienced students, i.e. those in their later years of studies were better at self-reflection as compared to those students in introductory programs, McCrindle and Christensen ( 1995 ) did demonstrate that first-year students in higher education already have the capacity for self-reflection. Nevertheless, one cannot exclude the plausibility that the beginning of a new study is not the best moment to investigate the relationship between self-reflection and academic performance and that the findings are time-dependent, that is, the results obtained would have been different if students’ journal responses and grades from other weeks of the academic year were used in the correlational analyses. Another possibility for the findings could be due to differences between responses in weeks 3 and 14 may be caused by differences in the tutor-asked journal questions.

To test of the findings reported are time-dependent, we examined post - hoc the data of students journal responses written in two other weeks, i.e. week 4 of the first semester and week 15 of the second semester, and their classroom performance and knowledge acquisition test grades for the second semester. Again, identical textual categories to those contained in Table  1 were generated. Similar to the results obtained from the data sets from weeks 3 and 14, test of differences between the mean categorical frequency counts by means of paired-samples t tests revealed no significant differences (for example, Critical review (self) =  t (689) = 1.54, p  < .01; Learning strategies (organization) =  t (689) = −2.75, p  < .01; Summaries of what was learned =  t (689) = 1.87, p  < .01, with degrees of freedom in parentheses). Furthermore, test of differences in the correlations between the learning categories and that of classroom performance grades (week 4: r ranging from .03 to .22; week 15: r ranging from .04 to .24) and knowledge test grades (week 4: r ranging from .03 to .30; week 15: r ranging from .05 to .29) revealed no significant differences when compared the data sets from weeks 3 and 14. This suggests the measurement stability of our findings, since the results from content analyses using data from other weeks of the academic year and the correlations between textual categories and academic grades were similar to those obtained from the data sets from weeks 3 and 14.

The reader may remember that students write reflection journals in response to a question by their tutor. These questions differ per day and they also differ between tutors. To test whether the difference in self-reflection as a function of time was influenced by the specific tutor-asked questions, we subjected all the questions asked in both weeks 3 and 14 to text analyses using the same content analysis approach of student journal responses. In total, more than 400 journal questions were asked by approximately 200 tutors involved in taking the first-year applied science students. Identical categories (e.g. learning strengths and weaknesses, skills, subject matter etc.) were generated for both data sets. Comparisons between the means of the frequency counts for the categories by means of paired sample t tests revealed that none of their differences were statistically significant. Therefore, the differences in the journal responses in weeks 3 and 14 were not due to differences in the tutor-asked journal questions.

A third possible explanation for our findings is that although a relationship exists between self-reflection and academic performance, this is not reflected as an improvement in students’ classroom performance and knowledge test grades. Moon ( 1999 ) and Selfe et al. ( 1986 ) contended that the influence of reflection journal keeping on student academic performance as being subtle, and did not seem to assist students in attaining better academic achievement. Instead, journal keeping seems to facilitate student learning in a number of other ways, among them synthesizing new knowledge about a domain subject with their prior knowledge and learning, recording of useful strategies in solving problems, and in enhancing students’ awareness of their cognitive processes and their control of these processes.

A final possible explanation for the fairly poor inter-relationship between self-reflection and academic performance not yet discussed here is that some students simply do not take the task of journal writing seriously while others perhaps do, leading to weak correlations between the coding categories and students’ grades. In an earlier study, Lew and Schmidt ( 2007 ) reported that polytechnic students, when presented with the task of journal writing, became “strategic” in their approach to completing the task. Some students reported that they wrote their reflection journals in a bid to impress their tutors, while others were sceptical about the need to reflect on how and what they have learned, citing reflection journals as “mechanical and meaningless” which were non-beneficial to their learning.

These deliberations lead us to the conclusion that, generally, students’ abilities to self-reflect on how and what they have learned did improved through engaging continuously in reflection journal writing, although this influence was not manifested to a measurable effect which leads to improvements in academic performance. Our study also suggests that self-reflection skill cannot be easily learned through extended experience and the provision of continuous feedback from their tutors. There is an underlying assumption in the literature that students who are better at self-reflection, perform better academically. To date, there is no finding to refute or support this assumption. Such a finding may suggest that curricular interventions to teach self-reflection are futile, and should be abandoned. However, the literature reveals that self-reflection does improve learning in other ways (see Mann et al. 2009 ; Moon 1999 ), although it cannot be measured using academic achievement. The findings from the present study are to a large extent, in agreement with what Moon ( 1999 ) and Selfe et al. ( 1986 ) argue about the positive effect of self-reflection as not necessarily measured by achievement test grades. However, the results from existing studies were more subjective, since they involved manual coding of student journal responses. Further, existing studies did not include comparison of findings over time, casting some doubts over the reliability and validity of their results.

The present study has sought ways in arriving at more reliable and valid measurements. We did not rely on single reflection journals of students and had adopted an automated coding procedure to analyse the responses. As such, the problem of inter-coder reliability was absent. Contrary to most studies in journal writing with limitations such as small sample size, non-continuous engagement in the task of writing journals or infrequent feedback given by teachers, we collected data from over 600 first-year applied science students. Furthermore, in this context, students engaged continuously in the task of journal writing and receive timely and regular feedback on their learning from their tutors. Though the provision of such continuous feedback may have created optimal conditions for enhancing students’ awareness of how and what they have learned, this is not translated into better achievement on classroom performance and knowledge test grades.

Limitations

Some limitations should however, be noted. A shortcoming of the present study is the partial overlap of the instruments used: reflection journal, tutor judgment and knowledge acquisition test, which may have produced, in part, the weak to moderate correlations between the coding categories and academic grades. A study employing identical instruments for should certainly be conducted to verify our findings.

The text analysis software is not a panacea, and although using software to perform content analysis removes inter-coder reliability as a concern, it is not without its shortcomings. In human coding, the coders read the responses and can capture all the nuances of a statement even if they face difficulties applying the coding categories. The software can apply the coding categories, but they need to be defined so that the nuances are captured. An implication arising from this is that the editing done by the researchers of the synonyms and excluded words in the various libraries must accurately capture the ideas of the respondents in the text. Another limitation of the software is that it will not capture all the information in the journal responses, although categories can be created easily without any intervention on the part of the researchers.

Further research

Based on the findings, two studies are suggested for future. First, given the range of students’ aptitude and ability to cope with, and respond to, the task of reflecting on their own learning and performance, the focus on individual students and their strengths and weaknesses should constitute the next stage of research in better understanding the nature and operation of self-reflection on academic performance in higher education. The gathering of detailed empirical evidence which may cast light on those characteristics and factors which could account for individual differences in student self-reflection skill is one key area for further research.

Second, further research should investigate if students’ self-reflection skills can be improved through formal training. Extended experience alone, as our study has demonstrated, is clearly not enough to affect change. Mann et al. ( 2009 ) recommend that as with other skills, learners may need a structure to guide the complex process of self-reflection on the content and process of their learning. They contend that guidance and supervision are vital to helping students become better at self-reflection. Through a more structured and closely guided process, students may become better aware of, and value their existing capability for, self-reflection, and its potential for development and application.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Republic Polytechnic, Singapore, which made the data collection and management possible.

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

See Table  4 .

Table 4

Examples of students’ reflection journals to illustrate the different textual categories generated by means of software

• Alwis, W. A. M. (2007). Pedagogical beliefs and institutional practices at Republic Polytechnic. Paper presented at the Keynote presentation at the 2nd international symposium on PBL: Reinventing PBL, Singapore.
• Boud D, Keogh R, Walker D. Reflection: Turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page; 1985. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chirema KD. The use of reflective journals in the promotion of reflection and learning in post-registration nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 2007; 27 (3):192–202. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2006.04.007. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cohen J, Cohen P. Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behaviorial sciences. 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1983. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dewey J. How we think. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books (Originally published: Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1910); 1991. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gleaves A, Walker C, Grey J. Using digital and paper diaries for assessment and learning purposes in higher education: A case of critical reflection or constrained compliance? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 2008; 33 (3):219–231. doi: 10.1080/02602930701292761. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hmelo-Silver CE. Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review. 2004; 16 (3):235–266. doi: 10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034022.16470.f3. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lew MDN, Schmidt HG. Reflection upon learning between theory and practice: A focus-group study of tutors’ and students’ perceptions. The Netherlands: Erasmus University Rotterdam; 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lew, M. D. N., & Schmidt, H. G. (2007). Reflecting on practice : The use of journals at a problem - based learning school in Singapore. Poster presented at the 2nd international symposium on PBL: Reinventing PBL , Singapore . Paper presented at the Reinventing PBL, Singapore.
• Lew, M. D. N., & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Writing to learn: Can reflection journals be used to promote self-reflection and learning? Higher Education Research and Development (in press).
• Mann K, Gordon J, et al. Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education: A systematic review. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2009; 14 (4):595–621. doi: 10.1007/s10459-007-9090-2. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McCombs BL, Whistler JS. The role of affective variables in autonomous learning. Educational Psychologist. 1989; 24 (3):277–306. doi: 10.1207/s15326985ep2403_4. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McCrindle AR, Christensen CA. The impact of learning journals on metacognitive and cognitive processes and learning performance. Learning and Instruction. 1995; 5 :167–185. doi: 10.1016/0959-4752(95)00010-Z. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Miller GA. WordNet: A lexical database for the English language (Version 3.0) NJ: Princeston University; 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Moon JA. A handbook of reflective and experiental learning. London: Routledge; 1999. [ Google Scholar ]
• O’Rourke R. The learning journal: From chaos to coherence. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 1998; 23 (4):403–413. doi: 10.1080/0260293980230407. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Salomon G, Perkins DN. Rocky roads to transfer: Rethinking mechanism of a neglected phenomenon. Journal of Educational Psychology. 1989; 24 :113–142. doi: 10.1207/s15326985ep2402_1. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schmidt HG, Moust JHC. Factors affecting small-group tutorial learning: A review of the literature. In: Hmelo DHECH, editor. Problem-based learning: A research perspective on learning interactions. NJ Lawrence Erlbaum: Mahwah; 2000. pp. 19–52. [ Google Scholar ]
• Selfe CL, Petersen BT, Nahrgang CL. Journal writing in mathematics. In: Fulwiler AYT, editor. Writing across the disciplines. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook; 1986. pp. 192–207. [ Google Scholar ]
• SPSS I. SPSS text analysis for SurveysTM 2.0 user guide. IL: Chicago; 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Thorpe K. Reflective learning journals: From concept to practice. Reflective Practice. 2004; 5 (3):327–343. doi: 10.1080/1462394042000270655. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Weinstein CE, Mayer RE. The teaching of learning strategies. In: Wittrock MC, editor. Handbook of research on teaching. 3. New York: Macmillan; 1986. pp. 315–327. [ Google Scholar ]

Guide on How to Write a Reflection Paper with Free Tips and Example

A reflection paper is a very common type of paper among college students. Almost any subject you enroll in requires you to express your opinion on certain matters. In this article, we will explain how to write a reflection paper and provide examples and useful tips to make the essay writing process easier.

Reflection papers should have an academic tone yet be personal and subjective. In this paper, you should analyze and reflect upon how an experience, academic task, article, or lecture shaped your perception and thoughts on a subject.

Here is what you need to know about writing an effective critical reflection paper. Stick around until the end of our guide to get some useful writing tips from the writing team at EssayPro — a research paper writing service

What Is a Reflection Paper

A reflection paper is a type of paper that requires you to write your opinion on a topic, supporting it with your observations and personal experiences. As opposed to presenting your reader with the views of other academics and writers, in this essay, you get an opportunity to write your point of view—and the best part is that there is no wrong answer. It is YOUR opinion, and it is your job to express your thoughts in a manner that will be understandable and clear for all readers that will read your paper. The topic range is endless. Here are some examples: whether or not you think aliens exist, your favorite TV show, or your opinion on the outcome of WWII. You can write about pretty much anything.

There are three types of reflection paper; depending on which one you end up with, the tone you write with can be slightly different. The first type is the educational reflective paper. Here your job is to write feedback about a book, movie, or seminar you attended—in a manner that teaches the reader about it. The second is the professional paper. Usually, it is written by people who study or work in education or psychology. For example, it can be a reflection of someone’s behavior. And the last is the personal type, which explores your thoughts and feelings about an individual subject.

However, reflection paper writing will stop eventually with one very important final paper to write - your resume. This is where you will need to reflect on your entire life leading up to that moment. To learn how to list education on resume perfectly, follow the link on our dissertation writing services .

Unlock the potential of your thoughts with EssayPro . Order a reflection paper and explore a range of other academic services tailored to your needs. Dive deep into your experiences, analyze them with expert guidance, and turn your insights into an impactful reflection paper.

Free Reflection Paper Example

Now that we went over all of the essentials about a reflection paper and how to approach it, we would like to show you some examples that will definitely help you with getting started on your paper.

Reflection Paper Format

Reflection papers typically do not follow any specific format. Since it is your opinion, professors usually let you handle them in any comfortable way. It is best to write your thoughts freely, without guideline constraints. If a personal reflection paper was assigned to you, the format of your paper might depend on the criteria set by your professor. College reflection papers (also known as reflection essays) can typically range from about 400-800 words in length.

Here’s how we can suggest you format your reflection paper:

How to Start a Reflection Paper

The first thing to do when beginning to work on a reflection essay is to read your article thoroughly while taking notes. Whether you are reflecting on, for example, an activity, book/newspaper, or academic essay, you want to highlight key ideas and concepts.

You can start writing your reflection paper by summarizing the main concept of your notes to see if your essay includes all the information needed for your readers. It is helpful to add charts, diagrams, and lists to deliver your ideas to the audience in a better fashion.

After you have finished reading your article, it’s time to brainstorm. We’ve got a simple brainstorming technique for writing reflection papers. Just answer some of the basic questions below:

• How did the article affect you?
• How does this article catch the reader’s attention (or does it all)?
• Has the article changed your mind about something? If so, explain how.
• Has the article left you with any questions?
• Were there any unaddressed critical issues that didn’t appear in the article?
• Does the article relate to anything from your past reading experiences?
• Does the article agree with any of your past reading experiences?

Here are some reflection paper topic examples for you to keep in mind before preparing to write your own:

• How my views on rap music have changed over time
• My reflection and interpretation of Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Why my theory about the size of the universe has changed over time
• How my observations for clinical psychological studies have developed in the last year

The result of your brainstorming should be a written outline of the contents of your future paper. Do not skip this step, as it will ensure that your essay will have a proper flow and appropriate organization.

Another good way to organize your ideas is to write them down in a 3-column chart or table.

Do you want your task look awesome?

If you would like your reflection paper to look professional, feel free to check out one of our articles on how to format MLA, APA or Chicago style

Writing a Reflection Paper Outline

Reflection paper should contain few key elements:

Introduction

Your introduction should specify what you’re reflecting upon. Make sure that your thesis informs your reader about your general position, or opinion, toward your subject.

• State what you are analyzing: a passage, a lecture, an academic article, an experience, etc...)
• Briefly summarize the work.
• Write a thesis statement stating how your subject has affected you.

One way you can start your thesis is to write:

Example: “After reading/experiencing (your chosen topic), I gained the knowledge of…”

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs should examine your ideas and experiences in context to your topic. Make sure each new body paragraph starts with a topic sentence.

Your reflection may include quotes and passages if you are writing about a book or an academic paper. They give your reader a point of reference to fully understand your feedback. Feel free to describe what you saw, what you heard, and how you felt.

Example: “I saw many people participating in our weight experiment. The atmosphere felt nervous yet inspiring. I was amazed by the excitement of the event.”

As with any conclusion, you should summarize what you’ve learned from the experience. Next, tell the reader how your newfound knowledge has affected your understanding of the subject in general. Finally, describe the feeling and overall lesson you had from the reading or experience.

There are a few good ways to conclude a reflection paper:

• Tie all the ideas from your body paragraphs together, and generalize the major insights you’ve experienced.
• Restate your thesis and summarize the content of your paper.

We have a separate blog post dedicated to writing a great conclusion. Be sure to check it out for an in-depth look at how to make a good final impression on your reader.

Need a hand? Get help from our writers. Edit, proofread or buy essay .

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

Step 1: create a main theme.

After you choose your topic, write a short summary about what you have learned about your experience with that topic. Then, let readers know how you feel about your case — and be honest. Chances are that your readers will likely be able to relate to your opinion or at least the way you form your perspective, which will help them better understand your reflection.

For example: After watching a TEDx episode on Wim Hof, I was able to reevaluate my preconceived notions about the negative effects of cold exposure.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas and Experiences You’ve Had Related to Your Topic

You can write down specific quotes, predispositions you have, things that influenced you, or anything memorable. Be personal and explain, in simple words, how you felt.

For example: • A lot of people think that even a small amount of carbohydrates will make people gain weight • A specific moment when I struggled with an excess weight where I avoided carbohydrates entirely • The consequences of my actions that gave rise to my research • The evidence and studies of nutritional science that claim carbohydrates alone are to blame for making people obese • My new experience with having a healthy diet with a well-balanced intake of nutrients • The influence of other people’s perceptions on the harm of carbohydrates, and the role their influence has had on me • New ideas I’ve created as a result of my shift in perspective

Step 3: Analyze How and Why These Ideas and Experiences Have Affected Your Interpretation of Your Theme

Pick an idea or experience you had from the last step, and analyze it further. Then, write your reasoning for agreeing or disagreeing with it.

For example, Idea: I was raised to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight.

Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of research to overcome my beliefs finally. Afterward, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key to a healthy lifestyle.

For example: Idea: I was brought up to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight. Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of my own research to finally overcome my beliefs. After, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key for having a healthy lifestyle.

Step 4: Make Connections Between Your Observations, Experiences, and Opinions

Try to connect your ideas and insights to form a cohesive picture for your theme. You can also try to recognize and break down your assumptions, which you may challenge in the future.

There are some subjects for reflection papers that are most commonly written about. They include:

• Book – Start by writing some information about the author’s biography and summarize the plot—without revealing the ending to keep your readers interested. Make sure to include the names of the characters, the main themes, and any issues mentioned in the book. Finally, express your thoughts and reflect on the book itself.
• Course – Including the course name and description is a good place to start. Then, you can write about the course flow, explain why you took this course, and tell readers what you learned from it. Since it is a reflection paper, express your opinion, supporting it with examples from the course.
• Project – The structure for a reflection paper about a project has identical guidelines to that of a course. One of the things you might want to add would be the pros and cons of the course. Also, mention some changes you might want to see, and evaluate how relevant the skills you acquired are to real life.
• Interview – First, introduce the person and briefly mention the discussion. Touch on the main points, controversies, and your opinion of that person.

Writing Tips

Everyone has their style of writing a reflective essay – and that's the beauty of it; you have plenty of leeway with this type of paper – but there are still a few tips everyone should incorporate.

Before you start your piece, read some examples of other papers; they will likely help you better understand what they are and how to approach yours. When picking your subject, try to write about something unusual and memorable — it is more likely to capture your readers' attention. Never write the whole essay at once. Space out the time slots when you work on your reflection paper to at least a day apart. This will allow your brain to generate new thoughts and reflections.

• Short and Sweet – Most reflection papers are between 250 and 750 words. Don't go off on tangents. Only include relevant information.
• Clear and Concise – Make your paper as clear and concise as possible. Use a strong thesis statement so your essay can follow it with the same strength.
• Maintain the Right Tone – Use a professional and academic tone—even though the writing is personal.
• Cite Your Sources – Try to cite authoritative sources and experts to back up your personal opinions.
• Proofreading – Not only should you proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, but you should proofread to focus on your organization as well. Answer the question presented in the introduction.

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The Importance of Self-Reflection: How Looking Inward Can Improve Your Mental Health

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor at Yeshiva University’s clinical psychology doctoral program.

Sunwoo Jung / Getty Images

Why Is Self-Reflection So Important?

When self-reflection becomes unhealthy, how to practice self-reflection, what to do if self-reflection makes you uncomfortable, incorporating self-reflection into your routine.

How well do you know yourself? Do you think about why you do the things you do? Self-reflection is a skill that can help you understand yourself better.

Self-reflection involves being present with yourself and intentionally focusing your attention inward to examine your thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations, says Angeleena Francis , LMHC, executive director for AMFM Healthcare.

Active self-reflection can help grow your understanding of who you are , what values you believe in, and why you think and act the way you do, says Kristin Wilson , MA, LPC, CCTP, RYT, chief experience officer for Newport Healthcare.

This article explores the benefits and importance of self-reflection, as well as some strategies to help you practice it and incorporate it into your daily life. We also discuss when self-reflection can become unhealthy and suggest some coping strategies.

Self-reflection is important because it helps you form a self-concept and contributes toward self-development.

Builds Your Self-Concept

Self-reflection is critical because it contributes to your self-concept, which is an important part of your identity.

Your self-concept includes your thoughts about your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, roles, and relationships. It plays an influential role in your mood, judgment, and behavioral patterns.

Reflecting inward allows you to know yourself and continue to get to know yourself as you change and develop as a person, says Francis. It helps you understand and strengthen your self-concept as you evolve with time.

Enables Self-Development

Self-reflection also plays a key role in self-development. “It is a required skill for personal growth ,” says Wilson.

Being able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, or what you did right or wrong, can help you identify areas for growth and improvement, so you can work on them.

For instance, say you gave a presentation at school or work that didn’t go well, despite putting in a lot of work on the project. Spending a little time on self-reflection can help you understand that even though you spent a lot of time working on the project and creating the presentation materials, you didn’t practice giving the presentation. Realizing the problem can help you correct it. So, the next time you have to give a presentation, you can practice it on your colleagues or loved ones first.

Or, say you’ve just broken up with your partner. While it’s easy to blame them for everything that went wrong, self-reflection can help you understand what behaviors of yours contributed to the split. Being mindful of these behaviors can be helpful in other relationships.

Without self-reflection, you would continue to do what you’ve always done and as a result, you may continue to face the same problems you’ve always faced.

Benefits of Self-Reflection

These are some of the benefits of self-reflection, according to the experts:

• Increased self-awareness: Spending time in self-reflection can help build greater self-awareness , says Wilson. Self-awareness is a key component of emotional intelligence. It helps you recognize and understand your own emotions, as well as the impact of your emotions on your thoughts and behaviors.
• Greater sense of control: Self-reflection involves practicing mindfulness and being present with yourself at the moment. This can help you feel more grounded and in control of yourself, says Francis.
• Improved communication skills: Self-reflection can help you improve your communication skills, which can benefit your relationships. Understanding what you’re feeling can help you express yourself clearly, honestly, and empathetically.
• Deeper alignment with core values: Self-reflection can help you understand what you believe in and why. This can help ensure that your words and actions are more aligned with your core values, Wilson explains. It can also help reduce cognitive dissonance , which is the discomfort you may experience when your behavior doesn’t align with your values, says Francis.
• Better decision-making skills: Self-reflection can help you make better decisions for yourself, says Wilson. Understanding yourself better can help you evaluate all your options and how they will impact you with more clarity. This can help you make sound decisions that you’re more comfortable with, says Francis.
• Greater accountability: Self-reflection can help you hold yourself accountable to yourself, says Francis. It can help you evaluate your actions and recognize personal responsibility. It can also help you hold yourself accountable for the goals you’re working toward.

Self-reflection is a healthy practice that is important for mental well-being. However, it can become harmful if it turns into rumination, self-criticism, self-judgment, negative self-talk , and comparison to others, says Wilson.

Here’s what that could look like:

• Rumination: Experiencing excessive and repetitive stressful or negative thoughts. Rumination is often obsessive and interferes with other types of mental activity.
• Self-judgment: Constantly judging yourself and often finding yourself lacking. 
• Negative self-talk: Allowing the voice inside your head to discourage you from doing things you want to do. Negative self-talk is often self-defeating.
• Self-criticism: Constantly criticizing your actions and decisions.
• Comparison: Endlessly comparing yourself to others and feeling inferior.

Kristin Wilson, LPC, CCTP

Looking inward may activate your inner critic, but true self-reflection comes from a place of neutrality and non-judgment.

When anxious thoughts and feelings come up in self-reflection, Wilson says it’s important to practice self-compassion and redirect your focus to actionable insights that can propel your life forward. “We all have faults and room for improvement. Reflect on the behaviors or actions you want to change and take steps to do so.”

It can help to think of what you would say to a friend in a similar situation. For instance, if your friend said they were worried about the status of their job after they gave a presentation that didn’t go well, you would probably be kind to them, tell them not to worry, and to focus on improving their presentation skills in the future. Apply the same compassion to yourself and focus on what you can control.

If you are unable to calm your mind of racing or negative thoughts, Francis recommends seeking support from a trusted person in your life or a mental health professional. “Patterns of negative self-talk, self-doubt , or criticism should be addressed through professional support, as negative cognitions of oneself can lead to symptoms of depression if not resolved.”

Wilson suggests some strategies that can help you practice self-reflection:

• Ask yourself open-ended questions: Start off by asking yourself open-ended questions that will prompt self-reflection, such as: “Am I doing what makes me happy?” “Are there things I’d like to improve about myself?” or “What could I have done differently today?” “Am I taking anything or anyone for granted?” Notice what thoughts and feelings arise within you for each question and then begin to think about why. Be curious about yourself and be open to whatever comes up.
• Keep a journal: Journaling your thoughts and responses to these questions is an excellent vehicle for self-expression. It can be helpful to look back at your responses, read how you handled things in the past, assess the outcome, and look for where you might make changes in the future.
• Try meditation: Meditation can also be a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal growth. Even if it’s only for five minutes, practice sitting in silence and paying attention to what comes up for you. Notice which thoughts are fleeting and which come up more often.
• Process major events and emotions: When something happens in your life that makes you feel especially good or bad, take the time to reflect on what occurred, how it made you feel, and either how you can get to that feeling again or what you might do differently the next time. Writing down your thoughts in a journal can help.
• Make a self-reflection board: Create a self-reflection board of positive attributes that you add to regularly. Celebrate your authentic self and the ways you stay true to who you are. Having a visual representation of self-reflection can be motivating.

You may avoid self-reflection if it brings up difficult emotions and makes you feel uncomfortable, says Francis. She recommends preparing yourself to get comfortable with the uncomfortable before you start.

Think of your time in self-reflection as a safe space within yourself. “Avoid judging yourself while you explore your inner thoughts, feelings, and motives of behavior,” says Francis. Simply notice what comes up and accept it. Instead of focusing on fears, worries, or regrets, try to look for areas of growth and improvement.

“Practice neutrality and self-compassion so that self-reflection is a positive experience that you will want to do regularly,” says Wilson.

Francis suggests some strategies that can help you incorporate self-reflection into your daily routine:

• Dedicate time to it: it’s important to dedicate time to self-reflection and build it into your routine. Find a slot that works for your schedule—it could be five minutes each morning while drinking coffee or 30 minutes sitting outside in nature once per week.
• Pick a quiet spot: It can be hard to focus inward if your environment is busy or chaotic. Choose a calm and quiet space that is free of distractions so you can hear your own thoughts.
• Pay attention to your senses: Pay attention to your senses. Sensory input is an important component of self-awareness.

Nowak A, Vallacher RR, Bartkowski W, Olson L. Integration and expression: The complementary functions of self-reflection . J Pers . 2022;10.1111/jopy.12730. doi:10.1111/jopy.12730

American Psychological Association. Self-concept .

Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J. The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context . Front Psychol . 2017;8:2034. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034

Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(5):45. doi:10.3390/bs8050045

American Psychological Association. Rumination .

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Myself — Self Reflection

Essays on Self Reflection

Self-reflection essay topic examples.

Step into the world of self-reflection essays! These essays are all about taking a closer look at yourself and your experiences. Whether you want to share your thoughts, compare the past to the present, describe significant moments, persuade others to try new self-improvement practices, or share personal stories of growth, we've got various topics for you. In these essays, you'll dive deep into your beliefs, values, and the things that have influenced you. Join us on this journey of self-discovery as we explore the importance of self-reflection and how it can lead to personal growth and positive changes. These essay examples will encourage you to reflect on your own life and experiences in a meaningful way, and it's all written in a down-to-earth style, just like a friend sharing their thoughts.

Argumentative Essays

Argumentative self-reflection essays involve presenting and defending a personal viewpoint or belief. Here are some topic examples:

• 1. Argue the significance of self-reflection in personal growth and development.
• 2. Defend your stance on the importance of self-compassion in overcoming life's challenges.

Example Introduction Paragraph for an Argumentative Self-Reflection Essay: Self-reflection is a journey of understanding oneself, a path that leads to personal growth and transformation. In this essay, I will argue that self-reflection plays a pivotal role in our development, helping us navigate the complexities of life and become the best versions of ourselves.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for an Argumentative Self-Reflection Essay: In conclusion, self-reflection is not merely a process; it is a valuable tool for self-improvement and emotional well-being. As I reflect on my own journey, I am reminded of the profound impact that self-compassion and introspection have had on my life, urging me to continue this lifelong practice.

Compare and Contrast Essays

Compare and contrast self-reflection essays involve analyzing the differences and similarities between past and present experiences. Consider these topics:

• 1. Compare and contrast your beliefs and values from your teenage years to your current ones.
• 2. Analyze the differences in your approach to handling stress now compared to five years ago.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Compare and Contrast Self-Reflection Essay: The journey of self-reflection allows us to compare our past selves to our present selves, highlighting the evolution of our beliefs and values. In this essay, I will explore the transformation in my own perspectives and coping mechanisms over the years.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Compare and Contrast Self-Reflection Essay: In conclusion, the comparison of my past and present self reveals the ever-changing nature of human growth and adaptation. As I embrace the differences and celebrate the similarities, I am reminded of the continuous learning that life offers.

Descriptive Essays

Descriptive self-reflection essays enable you to vividly depict a significant life event or personal experience. Here are some topic ideas:

• 1. Describe a moment of self-realization that transformed your perspective on life.
• 2. Paint a detailed portrait of a person who has had a profound influence on your personal growth.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Descriptive Self-Reflection Essay: Self-reflection often involves revisiting specific moments in life that have left an indelible mark on our souls. In this essay, I will immerse myself in the memory of a transformative experience, exploring the profound impact it had on my outlook and choices.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Descriptive Self-Reflection Essay: In conclusion, the descriptive exploration of my transformative experience reminds me of the power of self-awareness and the ability to change the course of one's life. As I look back on that pivotal moment, I am filled with gratitude for the lessons learned and the person I have become.

Persuasive Essays

Persuasive self-reflection essays involve convincing your audience of the importance of a particular self-improvement practice or mindset. Consider these persuasive topics:

• 1. Persuade your readers to embrace mindfulness meditation as a daily self-reflection practice.
• 2. Argue for the benefits of keeping a personal journal as a tool for self-discovery and growth.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Persuasive Self-Reflection Essay: Self-reflection is a deeply personal journey, and in this essay, I will endeavor to persuade you of the transformative power of mindfulness meditation. By sharing my own experiences, I hope to inspire you to embark on this introspective path.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Persuasive Self-Reflection Essay: In conclusion, the persuasive argument for mindfulness meditation as a self-reflection practice underscores its potential to bring inner peace and self-awareness. As we explore the benefits together, I invite you to consider incorporating this practice into your daily life.

Narrative Essays

Narrative self-reflection essays allow you to share a personal story or experience that shaped your self-awareness and growth. Explore these narrative essay topics:

• 1. Narrate a journey of overcoming a personal fear or limitation and how it transformed you.
• 2. Share a story of a life-changing conversation you had with someone that led to deep self-reflection.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Narrative Self-Reflection Essay: Self-reflection often emerges from the stories of our lives. In this narrative essay, I will recount a personal journey of conquering a fear that held me back for years. Through this narrative, I hope to convey the power of self-discovery in the face of adversity.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Narrative Self-Reflection Essay: In conclusion, the narrative of overcoming my fear is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. As I reflect on this journey, I am reminded that self-reflection can lead to the discovery of our inner strength and the ability to transcend our limitations.

The Importance of Work Self-reflection

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About My Room: Sanctuary of Tranquility

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Self-reflection and Unconscious Personal Bias

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The Factors that Have Shaped My Personal Life and Worldview

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Self Reflection Essay

What goes through your mind when you have to write a self reflection essay? Do you ponder on your life choices, the actions you take to get where you want to be or where you are now? If you answered yes and yes to both of the questions, you are on the right track and have some idea on what a reflection essay would look like. This article would help give you more ideas on how to write a self reflection essay , how it looks like, what to put in it and some examples for you to use. So what are you waiting for? Check these out now.

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10+ Self Reflection Essay Examples

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Defining Self

A person’s self that is different from the rest. On occasions it is considered as an object of a person’s view.

Defining Self Reflection

A self reflection is often described as taking a step back to reflect on your life. To take a break and observe how far you have become, the obstacles you have gone through and how they have affected your life, behavior and belief.

Defining Self Reflection Essay

A self- reflection essay is a type of essay that makes you express the experiences you have gone through in life based on a topic you have chosen to write about. It is a personal type of essay that you write about.  It makes you reflect on your life and journey to who you are today. The struggles, the fears, the triumphs and the actions you have taken to arrive at your current situation.

Tips on Writing a Self Reflection Essay

When writing a self reflection essay, there are some guidelines and formats to follow. But I am here to give you some tips to write a very good self reflection essay. These tips are easy to follow and they are not as complicated as some might believe them to be. Let’s begin. To write a good self reflection essay, one must first do:

• Think : Think about what you want to write. This is true for the title of your essay as well. Thinking about what to write first can save you a lot of time. After this tip, we move on to the next one which is:
• Drafting : As much as it sounds like a waste of time and effort, drafting what you are preparing to write is helpful. Just like in the first tip, drafting is a good way of writing down what you want and to add or take out what you will be writing later.
• State the purpose : Why are you writing this essay? State the purpose of the essay . As this is a self reflective essay, your purpose is to reflect on your life, the actions you did to reach this point of your life. The things you did to achieve it as well.
• Know your audience : Your self reflection essay may also depend on your audience. If you are planning on reading out loud your essay, your essay should fit your audience. If your audience is your team members, use the correct wording.
• Share your tips: This essay gives you the opportunity to share how you have achieved in life. Write down some tips for those who want to be able to achieve the same opportunity you are in right now.

How long or short can my self reflection essay be?

This depends on you. You may write a short self reflection essay, and you may also write a long one. The important thing there is stating the purpose of you writing your essay.

Writing a self reflection essay, am I allowed to write everything about my life?

The purpose of the self reflection essay is to reflect on a topic you choose and to talk about it.

Is there a limit of words to write this type of essay?

Yes, as much as possible stick to 300-700 words. But even if it may be this short, don’t forget to get creative and true in your essay.

A self reflective essay is a type of essay that people write to reflect on their lives. To reflect on a certain topic of their life and talk about it. Most of the time, this type of essay is short because this is merely to take a step back and watch your life throughout the beginning till the present time. Writing this type of essay may be a bit difficult for some as you have to dive deep into your life and remember the triumphs and the loss. The beauty of this essay though is the fact that you are able to see how far you have reached, how far you have overcome.

Self Reflection Essay Generator

Text prompt

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Write a Self Reflection Essay on a time you overcame a personal obstacle.

Reflect on your personal growth over the last year in your Self Reflection Essay.

55 Self-Reflection Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for good titles for self-reflection papers? Look no further! In this list, you will find the best hand-picked self-reflection essay topics for high school and college students. Get inspired with our titles for reflection papers and essay examples!

🏆 Best Self-Reflection Topic Ideas & Essay Examples

⭐ good title ideas for reflection paper, 👍 simple & easy self-reflection essay titles, ✅ how to choose a title for self-reflection essay.

• Self-Reflection in Nurses: 70-Year-Old Patient The paper provides a self-reflection analysis based on a case of an elderly patient who presented to the nursing home where I worked with the signs and symptoms of urinary retention.Mrs.
• Self-Reflection on Course Participation Active contribution to discussions is a reflection of competency of the skills I have gained in class. I stuck to the objectives of the course throughout the sessions.
• Child Development Observation and Self-Reflection She has a nanny to care for her in the absence of her parents, and her maternal grandparents also visit and stay with her most of the week.
• Self-Reflection: Community Health Nursing The three crucial objectives of this course are: analyzing the impact of lifestyle and environment on the public’s health and applying culturally competent health strategies to the care of communities, families, or individuals.
• Self-Reflection Pertinence in Understanding Oneself It is significant that there I found a lot of information on the possible education in psychology, and then, of course, I passed to the link Career, which made me quite satisfied, for there one […]
• Personal Identity & Self-Reflection In the reflection, Ivan examined his past life and the values that he had lived by in all of his life.
• Society’s Self-Reflection: “Shooting an Elephant” and “The Real Story of Ah Q” This paper endeavors to highlight some similarities and differences especially in the aims and the writing style of these two authors. The aim of these two pieces is to portray societies as notorious for curtailing […]
• Self-Reflection About Life Questions It made me realize the importance of stopping and reflecting on the causes of events, the reasons for our actions and the best way to proceed.
• Self-Reflection on Life Values, Goals, and Death I want my life to be full of genuine relationships despite how challenging it is to find and cultivate such bonds in modern society.
• Self-Reflection in Social Work Therefore, social workers experiencing vicarious trauma and burnout are likely to make invalid assumptions about clients’ behavior because they project their desires and histories to the client. Professionals in the social work provision and students […]
• Self-Reflection and Successful Communication The role of introspection is also not to be underestimated by someone willing to become a leader and contribute to the development of a team. Overall, introspection represents a vital quality of mine that I […]
• Self-Reflection on John Adams: Slavery and Race This could demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the freedom of speech limitations that are considered in modern America. Therefore, I would like to know the perspectives of different political parties on the events of […]
• Self-Reflection and Awareness: Cultural Concealment and Therapy Outcomes In the case study, the intern’s goal is to provide social work services to Helen, and the constant focus on this target should make the intern draw sufficient attention to all the details.
• Black Lives Matter: Diversity Awareness and Self-Reflection The “Black Lives Matter” movement continues to spread across the United States, provoking a number of positive and negative emotions.
• Self-Reflection: Maintaining Patients’ Rights I had to go and ask the buddy nurse to come and assist because the patient needed two people to help her get to the toilet.
• Event-Related Alpha-Band Power Changes During Self-Reflection and Working Memory Tasks in Healthy Individuals
• Decision Making, Self Reflection, Setting Goals and Priorities
• Critical Thinking Self Reflection and the Human Thought Process
• Self-Reflection and Its Connection to Depression
• Individual Academic Critical Self Reflection and Personal Branding Portfolio
• Analytical Support for Decision Making Self Reflection
• Cultural and Teamwork Map and Self Reflection
• Self Reflection and Organizational Behavior
• The Self Reflection Process and How I Am a Professional Writer
• Psychology Theories and Self-Reflection
• Article, Background and Self Reflection
• Casey Kirwan, Civic Engagement Self Reflection
• What Is Self-Reflection and Why Is It So Important?
• Self-Reflection for Business and Organizations
• Human Resource Management and Self Reflection
• Self Reflection and Personality Traits
• Microteaching Self Reflection Issues
• Self-Reflection About the Challenges and Benefits of Cross-Cultural Society
• Self-Reflection in Ethical Choice Making
• Self-Reflection and Personal Evolution as the Keystone of Sustainability
• Self-Reflection, Responsibility for Own Mistakes, and the Power of Integrity in the Crucible by Arthur Miller
• Personal Experience Encourages Self Reflection and Improves Self Awareness
• Before Individuals Can Truly Belong, They Must Engage in Self-Reflection
• Culture Self Reflection Exercise Through Awareness
• Enhancing Diversity Within University of Georgia Community via Self Reflection, Counseling, and Leadership
• Making Ethical Choices: Self-Reflection and Beyond
• Self Reflection and Project Management Plan
• Improving Dynamic Decision Making Through Training and Self-Reflection
• Self Reflection: Perceptions and Hypothetical Thought
• The Self Reflection in Business
• How Does Language Allow Self-Reflection?
• Self Assessment Through Self Reflection and Professional
• Defining Culture and Self Reflection
• How Does Language: Allow Self Reflection
• Operation Management: Self Reflection – Get a Complete Solution
• Saint Augustine and the Mapping of My Life Through Self-Reflection
• Self Reflection Regarding Quantitative Reasoning for Business

Follow our helpful tips to choose the best title ideas for reflection paper!

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How to Write a Self-Reflection Essay: Format and 3 Examples

Mar 20, 2022

Mar 20, 2022 | Blog

What is self-reflection?

Self-reflection is the process in which an individual takes time to deeply think about himself. During this time individuals will think about their character and their actions. Most of the time you will ask yourself different reflection questions concerning your life, what you do and where you want to be. The power of self-reflection is evident because it helps you to understand yourself even better. You can be able to know your strengths your weaknesses and how your emotions are through self-reflection . You will be able to understand your strengths too.

What is a Self-Reflective Essay

A self-reflective essay is a brief paper where you describe an experience and how it has changed you or helped you to grow. Self-reflective essays often require students to reflect on their academic growth from specific projects or assignments, though others might require you to have a critical examination of a life experience or think about the impact of a specific event in your life.

Self-reflection is a personal experience. Therefore, the tone and voice of the writing are personal as well. Written typically from a first-person point of view, these types of essays take the reader through a journey of growth and discovery. The structure and format follow a typical essay writing outline. Begin with an introduction that presents the thesis statement , followed by body paragraphs that further the thesis with detailed, thorough supporting information, and conclude with a recap of the thesis statement and summary of logical conclusions.

What Is the Purpose of a self-Reflection Essay?

The purpose of reflective writing is to:

• Help you learn from a particular practical experience.
• It will help you to make connections between what you are taught in theory and what you need to do in practice.
•  To provide a platform for the author to not only recount a particular life experience but to also explore how he or she has changed or learned from those experiences.
• It’s useful for helping you develop critical thinking skills.
• Reflective writing helps you develop as a student and a thinker by examining your beliefs and assumptions, processing new valuable information, and recognizing patterns between knowledge gained through personal experiences and that acquired from outside sources.

The process of reflection can be used to inform future learning and practice.

Reflective essays writing is:

• your response to experiences, opinions, events, or new information
• your response to thoughts and feelings
• a way of thinking to explore your learning
• Self-reflection essay writing is not: just conveying much information, instruction, or argument
• purely descriptive (e.g. what happened, a summary)
• simply a description of your reaction
• journalistic – a matter of fact account

What Do I Write About?

Here are some ideas subjects you can write about to help you begin:

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

Reflection Paper Format

The format of a reflective essay greatly differs from that of a normal argumentative or research essay. A reflective essay is more of a well-structured story or an anecdote rather than an academic piece of writing. In order to write an effective reflection paper, it is imperative to understand what it is and what it entails. It can be compared to journaling in which you write about your daily experiences and happenings in your personal life.

You might be required to arrange your essay using the APA style or the MLA format .

Reflective Essay in MLA Format

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

Reflective Essay in APA Style

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

How To Write Self Reflection Essay

Introduction.

This is the part of the essay where you will have to introduce yourself to your readers. Your introduction must contain information about your past experiences, things that have changed in your life, how you have coped with those changes and how these things have impacted you in the long run. Tell them everything about yourself and make sure that it is not too boring or too lengthy.

An essay on self-reflection requires academic research. It is very important for the student to present a powerful thesis statement in order to get into the depth of reflection. The thesis statement must be clear and concise. It is advisable to make an outline before writing the introduction of the essay, which will help you to stay focused and provide clear and logical transitions between different points or events that you describe and analyze.

Plot and Narration

A plot defines the series of events in the main character’s life and narration is the style of telling the story. The author chooses the narration technique that best allows him to tell his story.

The author needs to find a plot or an event that defines him. This event can be small and insignificant but it should have had some impact on his life. The event should have given him some insight into himself that he would not have realized otherwise. This proper insight into the overall content is then used as the theme of the essay.

Personal Experiences

Self-reflection is a hard task because you need to be very sincere with yourself in order to write a meaningful essay. Before you start writing, think about the purpose of the whole paper. The main condition is that it has to be a certain personal experience on which the author has his very own perception. This experience involves personal ideas, opinions, and feelings about that situation, and how it affected the author.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Self-reflection can be difficult since we are often unaware of our own flaws. To discover our strengths and weaknesses, we need honest feedback from other people. However, it may be difficult to get honest feedback if others are reluctant to hurt our feelings or they do not want to deal with our reaction to criticism.

Writing a self-analysis can be both rewarding and challenging as you will have an opportunity to analyze your strengths, shortcomings, mistakes, and achievements. Writing about yourself may seem easy at first, but it can be extremely challenging when you start thinking about all the details that have influenced your life. In order to write a thorough self-reflection essay, you need to have a clear idea of what you will discuss in your paper.

Self-Reflective essays should have a clear conclusion. The conclusion should summarize everything you have discussed in your work. It should also highlight the lessons you have learned in the process. Ideally, you should state what you have learned from the experience and why it is important. In most cases, this type of essay does not require much research since it is based on your personal experiences. However, you still need to ensure that your points are well articulated and supported with evidence where necessary.

To enable you to compose an ideal conclusion for your great reflective essay, here are some tips:

• Make a summary of your main points. This can serve as the concluding statement of your reflection paper.
• Add recommendations. If you were assigned to talk about the lessons of the movie or book, you can make recommendations about it like what people should do after watching or reading such materials.
• Include your personal summary and self-assessment. You can wrap up your paper by summarizing everything you have discussed in the body and then give a final assessment of the whole thing. You may also see personal essay examples and samples

Reflective Essay Examples

Get help from the experts with your reflective essay.

If you are having trouble writing a great reflective essay, our experts can help. It’s not unusual to feel stuck at the beginning when trying to write one of these essays on your own. We can help by pairing you with an expert who has been there before and knows exactly what it takes to get you through this assignment with flying colors. Our experts are available 24/7 to help you get started or improve on what you have already written. Don’t wait any longer!

With a deep understanding of the student experience, I craft blog content that resonates with young learners. My articles offer practical advice and actionable strategies to help students achieve a healthy and successful academic life.

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