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RMIT University Library - Learning Lab

Writing an academic reflection

 

Reflective writing requires you to think deeply and write about an experience, event or course content.

This involves writing about:

  1. What happened (positive or negative) and what you personally learned from the experience.
  2. What it means, and how it changes the way you think or understand something.
  3. What you can change or how you can apply the new learning in the future.

Reflective writing records the development of your insights and ideas. It focuses on a specific new understanding and its application to future practice.

The following diagram illustrates the reflective process of DIEP.

DIEP diagram - Describe Interpret Evaluate Plan

Insight to transfer: top to bottom.

Describe: What happened? What did you learn?

Interpret: What does the experience mean? Why?

Evaluate: How valuable was the learning experience?

Plan: How will you apply your learning?

In this tutorial

    Keywords: 
    Reflective writing
    Tutorials
    DIEP