What is a reflection paper?
Reflection papers are about your personal experiences and how they have shaped your views on new ideas or practices. They are often short assignments and primarily discipline/course focused. There are several key traits in these assignments,
- The use of the personal pronoun “I” is welcomed.
- You question and analyze your own assumption of the course.
- It also challenges you to reflect on previous beliefs and encourages you to develop a more complex understanding.
- The writing format is open and explores the connection between course content and personal experiences.
- Reflection papers do not need a thesis but are argumentative.
- Reflection paper does not need to be conclusive, but can be used to identify knowledge gaps, make connections, and challenge prior beliefs.
Reflection papers use the five-paragraph structure.
Introduction:
Describe major course content and discuss the paper’s topic and how it is going to explore the course.
Body Paragraphs:
Describe the situation or context that is being analyzed and the writer describes their experience and connects experience to the course content.
Conclusion:
The writer should summarize that they have learned and discuss the influence on their future.
Citations:
Used to demonstrate academic honesty. Most writing assignments require a citation/references list in APA citation style.