Reflecting on Professional Experience: A Personal Development Report

This report reflects on the author's professional experiences, emphasizing the importance of reflection as a learning tool. It delves into the science behind reflection, highlighting the value of self-assessment and critical questioning. The report further explores the benefits of group work, detailing how teamwork enhances learning and problem-solving skills. The author also examines the concept of professional identity, discussing its formation and the role of skills audits in identifying areas for improvement. Additionally, the report touches upon the impact of machine learning and artificial intelligence across various industries, including education, transportation, and healthcare. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of personal growth and development within a professional context, drawing upon relevant literature and personal experiences.

Running head: REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Reflecting on professional experience
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Part 1:
The science behind reflection is captivating. The most important teacher in life is
experience and we all know that. We learn from our experiences and also from our mistakes.
Learning does not happen without questioning ourselves about what the experience mean to
us and additionally actively thinking about experiences we had in a professional setting. To
completely understand the true nature of refection, we need to have experiences and
experiences can be good or bad. We need to ask ourselves simple questions such as- “What I
did well I that situation?” and “What could have I done differently?” Reflection always
provides critical and deep learning (Moon, 2013). We need to look through different lens at
situations and ask ourselves searching questions. These questions challenge the very
assumption about the world around us. As a human being, we all have tremendous tendency
to look at the negative things first. We need to exercise reflection to mitigate that. A self
assessment will provide us safe and structured way to think and ponder about the positive
aspects as well. There are many forms of reflection and many activities are encompassed by
it. Let’s take the example of working with a coach. Here, a coach will help us in guiding our
reflection with the help of questioning. This can be touted as one of the effective ways of
learning through reflection. Additionally, self assessment will help us to think about our
effectiveness in the activities we carry out as part of our role. In a more simpler way, if we
write down or create learning logs about our experiences in a professional setting, it will
actually help in clarifying and also to understand our owns interpretation of events and after
that we can put a meaning to it. Additionally, after working hours are completed we can put
only five minutes for ourselves and this will help to put what we have done into context.
Since it is very easy to think about what happened the entire day, it gives us a wonderful
opportunity to ponder about what has worked for ourselves. There is another critical element

2REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
of inner work life which is linked with reflection and is called progress principle ("The
importance of reflection", 2018). It is the ability to achieve small wins by making small
changes. As an individual, it is fair to believe that progress in professional work which is
meaningful would boost motivation to an unprecedented level (Baldwin, 2016). From my
personal experience in working with the team, I realized that small incremental achievements
while working in a group a project were just as effective as achieving significant goal in
boosting inner work life and this gives immense satisfaction. Therefore, it can be said that for
us to be able to reflect on our own achievements is a great motivation booster and provides a
learning curve (Murdoch-Eaton & Sandars, 2014). We also need to take setbacks as an
opportunity to reflect and ponder upon and to continuously improve ourselves.
Part 2:
It is very important for an individual to work in groups. For an individual the learning
is immense. Contrary to the belief that there is no quality in group work is just absurd and
false. There was an incident where I was ill I was not able to push through. Team members
took the utmost care and helped me on my part. Irrespective of disciplines team members as
united force helped me and this made me to ponder upon lot of things (Lyons & Kuron,
2014). My experience and learning that I received was immense. It does not matter whether
we are discussing case studies, answering questions about a reading or working on a specific
problem, we are able to work on the content and master the basics. The benefits of working in
a group is that we do not need a mentor for problems that arise, we will be able to solve the
problem on our own. Additionally, I have learnt that interaction between members also
clarifies certain things and reduces doubts in one’s mind. To take an example, there was a
problem with our project and it required clarification and admin assistance. However, there
was no one around to help us in that difficult situation. So we discussed about the problem,

3REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
argued about the facts and in the process of justifying conclusion, we were able to clear our
doubts and clarify our own thinking. We were also bale to learn how to function productively
in a team environment. We learnt that in order for the team to function productively, each
member of the group has to fulfill individual responsibilities (Maryellen Weimer, 2018). The
task of each member would be to support each other, contribute to group interaction and then
deliver good work on time. I have observed that my group values individual contributions
and this is a critical element in increasing a group’s productivity. Personally, when my
contributions are valued, I feel acknowledged and a core part of the project. I feel that this
feeling of being acknowledged is very important and works in a great way in increasing the
productivity of the group. Additionally, when the work is divided among members equally,
this aspect also promotes productivity in the group (Mencl & Lester, 2014). Additionally,
from my personal experience I have learnt that a group as a unit makes better decisions.
Questioning, critical analysis, perspectives and constructive deliberation can result in better
performance and solution. From my personal experience I have seen that when we take an
exam individually we score lower but when our group takes the same exam, the score is
higher. This just goes to show the fact that a group can take better decisions. The most
important thing that this group taught me is that how to work with other members from
different cultures. This helps us in fostering friendships with people from other backgrounds
and this will ultimately help in our professional growth.
Part 3:
Set of understandings, attitudes and beliefs about my professional role which is a
direct result of my work activities can be termed as professional identities. A professional
identity can be formed in various ways. Within the context of social identity professional
identity can be framed. It is also a systematic way of organizing, indentifying and evaluating

4REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
the perception of self ("Professional identities — E-Learning Modules", 2018). A
professional identity would also help me to differentiate and compare from other professional
groups in the workplace. Personally, by knowing the true meaning of professional identity it
has helped me to gain a realistic view of the profession. A group member is seen as an active
participant of formation of professional identities because the formation consists of
committing so some goals or choices and exploring available alternatives. Additionally, we
also need to perform skills audit to know the skills gap in us and to take measures to upgrade
skills or the fill the gap temporarily. A skills audit must be performed within a group. There
are reasons as to why skills audit is important. It determines whether the group can meet its
goals and objectives ("What is skills audit?", 2018). The reason that this information is
critical since the members needs to know the areas where they can improve. Internal analysis
and development and training is targeted when performing a skill audit. After completing the
skill audit, I learnt that one of my core strength is interpersonal skills. I can quickly gel with
other members and in turn increase the productivity of the group. Apart from that I need to
improve my technical aspects so as to bring in more value to the group. While working on the
project to create a machine learning app which will predict survival rate of a person in
disaster situation based on age and sex and other data’s, we gained an insight into the
industry and how everything works. Since we are working on a project on machine learning
we need to look into the industries where machine learning is bringing benefits. Awareness in
that will bring benefits for our project. Based on few sets of data an application or machine
can process that data and based on that data it can produce an output. The use of artificial
intelligence in education sector is increasing. With the help of smart classrooms, we are able
to know how artificial intelligence is being incorporated in the education sector. Probably, the
transportation industry has seen the greatest influx of AI. With the advent of autonomous
vehicles and self driving cars, the transportation sector emerges as a key player is adopting

5REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
artificial intelligence ("5 Industries Machine Learning Is Disrupting Right Now - Disruption
Hub", 2018). There is another sector where the influx of machine intelligence is growing
which is the health sector. We have often heard of robotic surgery. A robot surgeon can be
operated by a remote human surgeon. A robot that performs surgery offers greater dexterity
and allows interventions through tiny incisions. Additionally, the business and marketing
sector is also incorporating artificial intelligence. It is very useful for us to know the
industries because our application also incorporates machine intelligence.

6REFLECTING ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
References:
5 Industries Machine Learning Is Disrupting Right Now - Disruption Hub. (2018). Retrieved
from https://disruptionhub.com/5-industries-machine-learning-disrupting/
Baldwin, M. (2016). Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization.
Routledge.
Lyons, S., & Kuron, L. (2014). Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the
evidence and directions for future research. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 35(S1).
Maryellen Weimer, P. (2018). Five Things Students Can Learn through Group Work.
Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-
things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/
Mencl, J., & Lester, S. W. (2014). More alike than different: What generations value and how
the values affect employee workplace perceptions. Journal of Leadership &
Organizational Studies, 21(3), 257-272.
Moon, J. A. (2013). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and
practice. Routledge.
Murdoch-Eaton, D., & Sandars, J. (2014). Reflection: moving from a mandatory ritual to
meaningful professional development. Archives of disease in childhood, 99(3), 279-
283.
Professional identities — E-Learning Modules. (2018). Retrieved from
https://faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/interprofessional-education/
professional-identities

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The importance of reflection. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/develop/talent/the-importance-of-reflection
What is skills audit?. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.cognology.com.au/learning_center/sawhatis/