Reflection: The step that makes a portfolio more than just a collection of work
As you move through your education, experiences will begin to present themselves that cause you to reconsider your perspective, change your mind, or deepen your understanding. As these experiences occur, you will want to record them in your portfolio for future reference.
This step is essential to the development of a learning portfolio. Your portfolio is not just a file drawer of papers and assignments; it is a place to record not just what you did, but also what you learned from it, how it fits in the context of your education, and how you think you'll use the experience in the future.
If you have a paper portfolio, the paper that your reflections are recorded on is called a "cover sheet" If you are using an electronic portfolio, you will record your reflections in the "comments" area of each artifact you load to the ePortfolio.
To record an experience in your portfolio, follow the steps below:
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Collect examples of learning
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Pay attention to those experiences or assignments that surprise, challenge, confuse, or reaffirm you. Again, these can come from school, work, home, the community or broader global community.
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Select an example of learning
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From the many learning opportunities you have, select one that is especially significant to you.
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Consider what Educated Citizen goal and/or objective the experience fits under
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You decide which goal/objective best fits with what you learned or experienced in this example. It is possible that one experience may fit under more than one Educated Citizen goal/objective and/or a program outcome. For example, a conversation you have with a supervisor about taking time off work may fit under both Effective Communicator and the Personal Responsibility area of Reflective Individual. It fits under communication if you focus your reflection on using assertiveness skills or practicing positive non-verbal communication. It fits under personal responsibility if you spent time before you met with your supervisor analyzing the best steps to take for a positive outcome, considered your boss' preference for receiving information or took steps to find your own replacement before going to your supervisor. You decide what best fits with what you learned or experienced in this example.
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Reflect on your learning
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Once you have thought about what was significant in the experience, spend some time identifying some of the details of what was important. The next section leads you through the steps for reflection
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Prepare your reflection and artifact for entry in your portfolio
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Whenever possible it is good to have something that is an example of the work you discussed in your reflection; we call this the "artifact". The artifact could be a paper you wrote, an article clipped from the newspaper, your care plan, or a letter written to your landlord. Of course, this is not always possible, as when your reflection is about a conversation you had with your supervisor. Artifacts are not required, they just add to the effectiveness of the portfolio.
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How to Write a Reflection
The Long Answer:
Quite simply, reflection is the process of asking yourself, "What happened?" "Why did it happen?" and "What do I want to happen next time?" It is a process you frequently use without thinking about it. For example: You are stuck in traffic. You realize that this road has been congested the last two times you drove on it at this time. You make a decision to try an alternate route next time you need to go this direction at this time of day. Related to school it might look something like this: You take your first exam in a class and don't do as well as you had hoped. You realize that you spent more time memorizing minor parts than understanding how the information fit together. For the next test you prepare by focusing on the broader systems.
While these examples are rather simple, one goal of the portfolio is to further develop and support the skills necessary to be a reflective practitioner. We know that experts in a field know what questions to ask when faced with a new situation. They know these questions because they have practiced asking questions related to their field and developed a depth of knowledge that the novice does not have. They also begin to see patterns in the information and from those patterns can draw conclusions. Though everyone must begin at the novice level in a new discipline, we can build the skills of awareness, inquisitiveness, and reflection that are universally useful to becoming an expert.
Questions Asked in Reflection
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Broad Questions for Reflection |
Specific Questions |
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The Short Answer
Step One: Select the objective
Whether you complete an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) or paper portfolio, you will collect evidence (artifacts) of your progress toward meeting specific objectives. One artifact may fit under more than one goal or objective (e.g. A paper may fit under the Effective Communicator for your writing skills and a Change Agent objective for how you accessed resources). The goals are the Reflective Individual, the Effective Communicator and the Change Agent. The objectives are listed in the section "How is the Portfolio Organized?" Select one objective for each reflection.
Step Two: Select the degree to which you have met the objective
Once you identify the artifact, your reflection may benefit from you rating the skill level that the learning experience demonstrates. In some ePortfolios, for example, there are even pre-stated categories of development to select: beginning, developing, competent, and advanced.
This is an opportunity for you to think about your progress toward proficiency in this objective. Would you consider this artifact to be evidence of just beginning to understand the objective, or does this artifact demonstrate a more advanced proficiency? This is a subjective rating scale and you may find yourself selecting numbers in non-sequential order as you progress through your education. This may take just a few sentences or a paragraph.
Step Three: What did you learn?
The second part of your reflection is an opportunity to summarize what you learned from constructing this artifact. This should not be a summary of the project/assignment/experience itself, but a reflection on what all you learned from the process. For example, if you submit a paper that you wrote for class, you might begin by expressing how you approached writing the paper. Did you review the paper requirements? Conduct research? Ask for help? What is the role of the writer? Do you feel you met that goal? How did you determine when the paper was "done"? What practices did you employ that you want to retain for the next written assignment? Are there any new skills you want to develop? This portion of the reflection should be one or two paragraphs.
Step Four: Consider the objective again
Once you have thought about how you approached the artifact and what you learned from it, put the artifact in a larger context. How does this experience remind you of other experiences you have had? How does this experience contribute to the development of the Educated Citizen Core Curriculum objectives? What does it contribute to your education? Do you have goals tied to this objective? How might you accomplish those goals? These are broad questions and may be difficult to answer. In fact, you may list more questions than answers in this part! This should be one or two paragraphs as well
Thoughts on Reflection:
John Dewey, the American philosopher and reformer of education, once stated,
Reflective thinking is always more or less troublesome because it involves overcoming the inertia that inclines one to accept suggestions at their face value; it involves willingness to endure a condition of mental unrest and disturbance. Reflective thinking, in short, means judgment suspended during further inquiry; and suspense is likely to be somewhat painful…To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on systematic and protracted inquiry – these are the essentials of thinking. (Zubizarreta, 2004, p.8)