Reflective Journal on Group Presentation Experience

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SELF REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
REFLECTION ON GROUP PRESENTATION..................................................................................3
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 6
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INTRODUCTION
Self-reflection is a way of assessing the abilities, behaviour and ways of working of oneself.
Self-reflection helps in building an emotional self-awareness and gaining a better
understanding of personal emotions, weaknesses, strengths and driving factors (Boud, et al.,
2013). A reflective journal helps in maintaining a personal record of the learning experience
through recording and reflecting upon the observations and responses to a particular
situation (Hickson, 2011). This report will present a reflection on personal experience during
a group presentation in the classroom. This reflective journal will support me in identifying
my personal strengths and weaknesses in a particular situation and also enable in improving
and developing my own abilities by reflecting and learning from past experiences. Personal
observation and responses during a group presentation will be presented here to explore
and analyze the way of thinking and make necessary improvements in personal behaviour
and skills.
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REFLECTION ON GROUP PRESENTATION
John Dewey has defined reflection as an active or deliberate process that involves careful
consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of particular grounds
that support it, and also leads to the further conclusion (Ord, 2012). Reflection should
include recalling and analyzing the events by posing questions to explore new learning.
Here, I Have used the Kolb reflective cycle to reflect on my personal experience and learning
during the group presentation (Hartley, 2010). Kolb has proposed 4 stages of learning that
follow a cycle as presented below;
Figure 1: Kolb's Reflective Cycle
[Source: McLeod, S., 2017]
 Concrete experience: at this stage, a new experience or situation is encountered or
existing experiences are reinterpreted (Hartley, 2010). Here, I am exploring the
existing experience that I have encountered during the group presentation. I was
feeling nervous initially, and all of my team members are also not comfortable as we
don’t know each. We have started developing understanding after 3 days as we have
spent so much time together these days. Initially, I thought that our group would
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never gonna work effectively as we all belong to a different background. However,
after some conflicts and misunderstanding, we have become aware of the strengths
and weaknesses of every team members that have helped us in developing a
supportive and better working environment in the team.
 Reflective observation: here, the particular importance or any inconsistencies
between the experience and understanding is observed. While planning out for our
presentation, two of our team members did not like each other that has created
conflicts in the team. In this situation, I have identified that I have the good analytical
and non-judgmental attitude that has supported me in building positivity in the
team.
However, during our presentation, I think I was the only one in the group that is too
nervous and under confident. All my team members are looking confident and well
prepared for the presentation and besides preparing for days I had a fear of speaking
in public that has affected our group work.
 Abstract conceptualization: at this stage, the new idea and learning from the
experience is gained through existing concept (Hartley, 2010). The event of group
presentation has enabled me to identify my strengths and weaknesses. I have
identified that I possess some good analytical skills and attitude that has enabled me
to maintain positivity in my team while, certain weaknesses like lack of confidence,
fear of public speaking has affected my individual performance. This has suggested
that I can effectively work in a team but I need to improve my personal abilities. If
was confidently present my part then, our team could have secured higher grades.
Therefore I need to learn to speak effectively and to present myself in front of public
fearlessly.
 Active experimentation: this is the last stage where the learner applies the learning
and idea in the world (Hartley, 2010). In order to develop confidence and public
speaking abilities, I must focus on developing an action plan to work on my
weaknesses. To attain the desired objective I should start practising activities that
would enable me to gain confidence. For this, I should involve in discussions, take
participation in speeches and public speaking activities as well as also observing
leaders and evaluating own performance from time to time.
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CONCLUSION
The reflection on the personal experience of the group presentation has enabled me to
identify my personal strengths and weaknesses of working in a team. I have identified that I
have strong analysis power and understanding abilities as well as I also possess certain
weaknesses like lack of time management and interpersonal abilities that has affected my
own and group performance during the presentation. Therefore, I need to work on my
weaknesses to work effectively in a team and achieve higher success in my professional
career.
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REFERENCES
Boud, D., Keogh, R. and Walker, D., 2013. Reflection: Turning experience into learning.
Routledge.
Hartley, M.P., 2010. Experiential learning using Kolb's cycle of learning. Journal of Nursing
Education, 49(2), pp.120-120.
Hickson, H., 2011. Critical reflection: Reflecting on learning to be reflective. Reflective
practice, 12(6), pp.829-839.
McLeod, S., 2017. Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Online available at
https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html last accessed on 28th June
2019.
Ord, J., 2012. John Dewey and Experiential Learning: Developing the theory of youth work.
Youth & Policy, 108(1), pp.55-72.
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