Reflective Essay: Research Impact, Gibbs Model, and Personal Growth

This reflective essay details a student's research experience, focusing on the impact of social media on sales in the hotel industry, specifically Holiday Inn. The essay utilizes the Gibbs reflective model to analyze the research process, encompassing description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan stages. The student reflects on challenges in data collection, analysis, and time management, highlighting the learning gained in these areas. The essay also discusses the development of confidence, the importance of guidance, and strategies for future research, including improved time management and efficient literature review techniques. The conclusion emphasizes the positive aspects of the experience, the development of academic and professional skills, and the student's preparedness for future challenges.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Reflective essay...........................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Reflective essay helps in identifying the learning and experience that was gained in any
significant experience (Ahmed, 2020). In the current essay as well, the Gibbs reflective model
will be used in order to critically evaluate the entire learning experience regarding the research
undertaken and then present an effective conclusion.
MAIN BODY
Reflective essay
I undertook a research in the previous part of the assignment on the impact of the social
media tools on improving the sales in a hotel industry. The particular hotel that I selected for my
research was Holiday Inn. The entire process of conducting the research was a roller coaster ride
of learning where at every point I was learning something new. I can categorise the whole
process into several stages that have been developed under the Gibb’s model of reflection in the
following manner:
The Gibbs model of reflection was developed in the year 1988 and analyses an individual’s
experience through six different stages. These stages are categorised as follows:
Description: Under this, I will conduct a detailed description of the entire research project
undertaken by me and the entre experience or knowledge that I gained. I conducted the research
on the impact of social media and in the entire report; the most difficult task was to collect the
required data for the research (Dhaliwal, Singh and Singh, 2017). In order to find the relevant
respondents who could genuinely help in the research, I required a lot of time and efforts. I was
making mistakes repeatedly while developing a comprehensive data analysis as my data
analytical skills are not very well developed but ultimately all my collective efforts pulled off
together where I was able to present a concise and yet relevant data analysis. Another major
event that I would like to reflect upon is the drawing of conclusions in the research. Since there
was both numerical data interpretation and I also had to integrate it with the literature review
done before, the entire process was a time consuming one. But I was able to develop and work
upon both my data analysis skills and my time management skills through the research that I
conducted. Therefore, the entire process was full of learning and of challenges as well.
Feelings: After the description of the situation, it is very important to analyse the feelings that a
person felt during the entire process of learning. In the present context, during the time when I
was conducting the research, there was a myriad of emotions that I felt (Snowdon, 2018).
3

Initially, all the activities sounded very complicated to me, especially the development of the
Gantt chart, using Ms- Project tools etc. and I felt that I could not do it. I was confused over very
little points and when I was asking questions repeatedly to my tutor, I became hesitant because
no one else was asking so many questions. However, after I was appreciated by my teacher for
the small draft of the research that I was conducting, I was able to gather confidence and belief
that I have all the capabilities to conduct this research relevantly. Thus, during the process of
data analysis, I was able to interpret the data collectively and despite my weaker analytical skills,
I regularly kept working and improvising my work that helped me in conducting the research
successfully that was correct and yielded genuine results. Therefore, I can conclude that during
the entire process, I was able to generate a lot of confidence regarding my own capabilities and
the work that I was able to conduct.
Evaluation: After completing the description and the feelings part, reflection required critical
evaluation of the entire situation where the good encounters and the bad encounters need to be
evaluated in order to recognise the overall learning that I was able to develop during the research
process. The entire research process went very well where I was able to earn so many new things
and improve my existing skills especially my data analytical skills (Tawanwongsri and Phenwan,
2019). I was also able to generate confidence over my work when I was praised by the teacher
because I was very apprehensive earlier. However, one thing that did not go down well was the
tie management skills. I was barely able to meet the deadline even when I had begun my research
well before everyone in my class had. I could not develop a proper timeline for my project and
despite working on my research full time, I was constantly beating the deadlines. However, the
good aspect was this was that due to repeated efforts of improving the work that I had done, I
had issues related to time management and was not able to address them properly but the quality
of work that was produced in my research were praise worthy and have helped me in boosting up
my confidence immensely.
Analysis: After identification of what went well during the entire process and what did not go
well, it is imperative to analyse the whole situations where I need to make sense of the entire
situation (Waltz, 2019). I can effectively analyse from the entire situation that the reason why my
research went well despite me lacking the adequate skills that are required to conduct data
analysis was that I repeatedly went through the whole process and this helped me in becoming
comfortable with the entire process thus improving my efficiency in the analysis and producing a
4

flawless work. Also, the contribution of my teacher was immensely helpful in making the
research a success because I was able to address all my queries satisfactorily. However, despite
my lack of adequate time management skills, I was still able to complete my research on time
and the research was of good quality that gave correct results. I can collectively analyse that I
was able to develop myself as a scholar through the entire process where I was more confident
than before and I could also portray the knowledge that I had gained throughout the procedure.
Conclusion: After the analysis of all the relevant aspects that were to be discussed regarding the
research that I conducted, I can conclude, that overall, the research activity was successful and he
entire experience was a positive one where I not only developed myself academically but I was
also able to develop my professional skills (Markkanen and et.al., 2020). It can be said that I
learnt various different aspects of the manner in which a research can be completed and
additionally, I also understood the need for being confident in the work that has been performed
and believe in ourselves. I can also conclude that if I had not repeatedly worked on the whole
assignment and had rather adopted the smart work strategy I would have been able to address my
only major challenge i.e. lack of time management skills. Apart from this, the research process
also made me realise the importance of a good guide and counsel that can help one in
successfully completing the task that was allotted to me. The last thing that I would like to
conclude is that there are a variety of challenges that I can face in any other similar or different
experience as well but I can be assured now that I will able to meet those challenges effectively
as I am prepared for them in the future.
Action Plan: On the basis of the entire reflective learning that I presented, I can develop an
action plan for the future where I can effectively state that from now onwards I am going to
develop clear schedules on the basis of tasks that I have to complete and rather than repeating the
work all over, I will try to adopt smart working strategy (Sekarwinahyu and et.al., 2019). I can
also effectively state that I would not get so confused in the selection of the literature In future
because I have learnt now that reading the abstract signifies the gist of the entire research paper
and therefore, there is no need to study complete research papers which will also contribute in
saving time. I am laos confident that in future whenever I will conduct research, I would be able
to develop a better and quicker data analysis statement as compared to other because I have
learnt the relevant techniques that will be required with proficiency. Collectively, I can state that
5

even if I do not get any guidance in future regarding the research work that I am to perform, I
would be able to complete it without many hitches because of the learning that I have developed.
Therefore, collectively, it can be said that I have developed a comprehensive learning
regarding how research is conducted through this entire process and the entire experience can be
categorised as a positive one.
CONCLUSION
The above reflective account covers all the aspects stage by stage through the application of
Gibbs reflective model and it can be concluded that through this process, the learning was clearly
recognised and highlighted thus presenting a critical evaluation.
6

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahmed, A.M., 2020. From reluctance to addiction: the impact of reflective journals on Qatari
undergraduate students’ learning. Reflective Practice, pp.1-20.
Dhaliwal, U., Singh, S. and Singh, N., 2017. Reflective student narratives: honing
professionalism and empathy. Indian J Med Ethics. 3(1). pp.9-15.
Markkanen, P., and et.al., 2020. A reflective cycle: Understanding challenging situations in a
school setting. Educational Research, pp.1-17.
Sekarwinahyu, M., and et.al., 2019, February. Development of problem based learning for online
tutorial program in plant development using Gibbs’ reflective cycle and e-portfolio to
enhance reflective thinking skills. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1157,
No. 2, p. 022099). IOP Publishing.
Snowdon, K., 2018. Humour in reflective practice. Journal of Paramedic Practice. 10(4).
pp.144-146.
Tawanwongsri, W. and Phenwan, T., 2019. Reflective and feedback performances on Thai
medical students’ patient history-taking skills. BMC medical education. 19(1). p.141.
Waltz, C., 2019. Impact of Reflective Practice within a Residency Program on New Graduate
Nurse Satisfaction, Stress, Support, and Retention Rates.
7

8