Reflecting on previous learning experiences can help you become a more confident learner. Looking at your positive learning experiences will help you identify the ways that you like to work and what your effective strategies are. Reflecting on the challenging experiences will help you identify areas for development (e.g. time management).

Reviewing what you did (or did not do) and the impact that has on the outcome of the learning experience, can help you plan your approach for similar experiences in the future or new learning experiences. Further reflection after future learning experiences will help you refine your approach to your learning.

The following exercise can be used to help you start reflecting on your learning experiences. Fill in the table with your positive and challenging learning experiences, summarise what the situation was, what task had to be achieved and your actions that led to the outcome. Then note down what you learned and how you plan to use that information in the future.

Please note this sheet is provided as a starter guide to get you thinking about your experiences and how you can learn from them. The examples should give you an idea about how to start reflecting on a learning experience – even challenging experiences can have a positive aspect to them.Add as many of your own examples as you can.

Positive learning experience / Describe the situation, what the task was and your actions that led to the outcome. / What did you learn from this experience? What will you take forward into new learning experiences?
High marks on an essay / In-course essay about a topic I really enjoyed. I had to research and write the essay. I took the time to understand the question, do targeted research (i.e. relevant) and then wrote the essay and allowed plenty of time to proof-read. / I didn’t find it a chore, because I was really interested in the topic. If I have to work on something that I’m not interested in, I will try to find a way of looking at it so I can see a positive aspect.
Taking the time to understand the question and then plan my focussed research made the process much more efficient. I will try to plan research in the future so as not to waste time.
Allowing extra time for proof-reading allowed me to find some silly mistakes. I also made a substantial structure change that made my argument far stronger and was commented on in the feedback.
Challenging learning experience / Describe the situation, what the task was and your actions that led to the outcome. / What did you learn from this experience? What will you take forward into new learning experiences?
Undergraduate final year project / At honours level, I had to write up my project but I didn’t know what style/level of writing was wanted. So I ended up talking to my supervisor who showed me some previous projects. I got to see how they were formatted and what the style was. My supervisor pointed out examples of what the level was. / It is difficult to ask for help. But it was much easier and less stressful after I did because I knew what was expected. I will try to do so in the future.
Previous examples are really useful to a point. Although it was good to see the format, the ‘level’ was not immediately obvious and it was in a different style to what I write. In the future I will try to find examples of what is expected and use them a guide. E.g. my dissertation!
Exam marks not as wanted / I knew I had exams at the end of the semester so I planned and started my revision early in the semester. But as the term went on, my plans slipped due to my workload. And when it came to the exams, I realised I hadn’t paid enough attention to the new topics in the course. My marks were lower than I had hoped for and the feedback showed that I hadn’t the same depth of knowledge across all the topics and in some cases my answer didn’t really address the question. / Although not quite the result I wanted, I found the whole thing far less stressful than in the past! Starting revision early really takes the pressure off later on and I will try to do this again in the future.
Time management really helped me at the start to achieve course goals. However, I should have reviewed my plans regularly to make sure they were still working. When I make plans in the future, I will also plan review points so I can check how it is working.
I need to make sure that I know all the topics in-depth and that I’m answering the question. When I’m planning revision in the future, I will make sure to cover all the topics and spend time looking at and planning answers to previous exam questions. In the exam, I will allow for some time to double check that what I’m writing will answer the question – in a plan and after I’ve written it!

University of Edinburgh ● IAD v2-July2016