Studying at London Metropolitan University

As part of your self-development and learning, you will be expected to be reflective.  It allows the mind to tackle a range of problems and situations.

Being reflective, in our everyday lives is something we do without thinking, such as, learning from your mistakes or errors. It just happens and we don’t normally follow a structured formula.

However, engaging in a more structured way of reflecting can enhance your learning and problem solving abilities. This enables you to process and adapt, become resilient, in your ways of thinking and learning.

Reflection can guide you in structuring your thoughts on everyday situations, your lectures, your classroom experiences, interactions with others, your assignments, and your research, in fact, in every aspect of your personal, academic and professional life.

Reflecting on an event or an experience can:

• help you to stand back from and acknowledge your feelings about it
• help you to identify what went well and focus on positive aspects
• help you to develop a problem solving approach rather than avoiding difficulties
• help you provide a structure to assist you to record, review, evaluate and plan for your learning and development
• help you to reflect when you get feedback from an essay. How can you change or develop your approach?

For assessment – you may be asked to complete a reflective journal of your learning journey, or work placement, or other tasks, which will inform an essay or be part of an assignment. If your journal is assessed your tutor and your module handbook will inform you of the requirements.

For yourself - a private reflective journal is useful in helping you to clarify your thoughts and feelings, and to help you work out dealing with difficulties. This can assist you in your personal learning journey and development.