AcademicReflectionJournals.docVIP

Academic Reflection Journal Critical reflection is taken to mean a deliberate process when the student takes time, within the course of their work, to focus on their performance and think carefully about the thinking that led to particular actions, what happened and what they are learning from the experience, in order to inform what they might do in the future. (QCA, 2001, 8) What is an Academic Reflection Journal? It is a piece of writing which allows you to record thoughts and insights about your own learning experience. Within this course reflective writing is mandatory as it will help you gain a more honest perspective of yourself which, in turn, means clearer identification of your academic strengths and of those areas that require a little more work. More importantly, you will be able to recognize what affects your learning and performance and thus how to progress. It encourages you to review and consolidate learning, to evaluate performance, to plan future learning based on past learning experience. In such a way, you will become capable of taking charge of your own learning, and eventually to develop into independent life long learners. Academic Reflection Journals are well-accepted by many educators and teachers because it helps students to narrow the gaps between theories and practice, and most importantly heightens students’ felt need of constantly monitoring their learning progress. Learning should not be a passive process of simply in-taking information from teachers and lecturers, but rather an active process that requires a lot of personal thinking and questioning. You will find in it a personal space to keep records of your own ideas and thoughts, and which of these thoughts are useful for you to come up with solutions and novel approaches to get around problems encountered in your course of learning. Positive outcomes expectable You can gain a clearer overview of your learning progress You can gain an insight of your own strengths and weaknesse