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Critical Reflection often goes beyond articulating your experience or talking about your feelings in relation to your experience. It's takes reflection one step further by critiquing the experience through analysis and describing a new learning connection as a result of the experience.

DESCRIBE

First it is important to orient the reader. Sometimes your audience does not have context to the experience/class you are reflecting on. This is why it is a good idea to start by describing your experience.

Sentence starter examples:

  • This class was about...….
  • In this class we learned about…
  • The internship I had with “x” was….
  • Some of the tasks I performed at my internship/job were was ….
  • My responsibilities at the service-learning site consisted of…

ANALYZE

The second part of your reflection is an analysis of your experience. This is critiquing the experience/class by noting the positive and/or negative aspects, comparing similarities or differences to other experiences/classes, etc.

Sentence starter examples:

  • The class challenged me to think about “x” in a new way by…
  • The experience at my internship site was different than other experiences I have had because…
  • The service-learning experience with “x” compared to some of the other experiences I engaged with by…

CONNECT

The last part of the reflection is to make connections between what your learned and what you previously thought about “x” prior to the experience/class. This is the section of the reflection where you explain why the experience/class was important to your learning.

Sentence starter examples:

  • This internship/class/service-learning site/experience influenced how I think about “x” because…
  • Something I never thought about before my internship/class/service-learning site/experience was…
  • As a result of my internship/class/service-learning site/experience I now…

 

Adapted from: Clayton, P., & Ash, S. L. (2009). Learning Through Critical Reflection: A Tutorial for Service-Learning students. Raleigh: PHC Ventures