Reflective Writing Assignment: Personal Development and Learning

This reflective writing assignment evaluates the student's knowledge performance based on internal and external situations, emphasizing the importance of retention through note-taking and reading. The student reflects on their learning experience, highlighting the significance of professional conduct standards, critical thinking fostered in the university environment, and the value of collaborative learning as a teaching assistant. The assignment details the sources of support used for reviewing learning and development, including the internet and teacher feedback. It also emphasizes the role of collaborative learning and the creation of a personal development plan to enhance the learning experience. The student reflects on their practice of putting pen to paper as a key strategy for better understanding and retaining information, referencing relevant literature to support their reflections.

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Reflective Writing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1. Evaluation of Knowledge Performance based on Internal and External Situations.................4
2. Sources of Support used for Reviewing Learning and Development......................................4
3. Using Feedback to Review the Learning Process....................................................................5
4. Working with Other People to Prioritize own Learning Needs...............................................5
5. Using Learning Opportunities to Enhance the Learning Experience and the Role of the
Personal Development Plan in Enhancement of Learning Experience...........................................5
6. Reflection on Own Practice......................................................................................................6
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................7

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In this assignment, I will evaluate my own knowledge performance as well as
understanding against external and internal benchmarks. The assignment will be all about me
recollecting what my learning experience has been like until date and how I see myself
improving this learning experience in the days to come.
1. Evaluation of Knowledge Performance based on Internal and
External Situations
My knowledge performance has always been one where I have laid a lot of emphasis on
the process of retention. I have paid considerable attention to whatever is taught in the class and
based on the class teachings I have written and formulated my own notes. In this respect I would
like to point out that one of the most effective ways by which I have managed to learn what has
been taught to me is put pen to paper. By putting pen to paper I am able to retain a lot of the
things that I am taught, and this goes for complex and difficult ideas as well. I am an avid reader
and learner and the more I write, the more I am able to retain and to absorb the things that are
taught to me in class. More details about how I perceive my knowledge performance based
on internal and external situations is discussed below.
Our institution expects us to abide by certain professional standards of conduct and
also personal conduct during the time that we engage in the rendition of services. I
personally found such standards to be quite useful when it came to knowing exactly how to
behave and how not to behave in and around campus. It was clear to me upon reading
these professional codes of conduct that there were certain standards of behavior that were
expected from me by the university authorities and that if I were to command respect and

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recognition for the work that I do, I need to go by such standards for the time that I spend
on campus. The professional standards of conduct clearly outline what type of behavior is
regarded as inappropriate and unacceptable by the institution, making it easier for me in
the process to understand how I should behave and the types of acts that I should avoid
engaging in, in order to be well respected and looked up to by the people that I work with,
especially the students and the teachers on campus (Hedegaard 2017).
The knowledge and understanding process that I was subjected to at university was
one that was highly innovative and open ended. I was encouraged every step of the way by
my professors to think out of the box and to apply myself in learning situations instead of
confining my understanding of a topic to textbook or bookish knowledge all of the time. I
was encouraged to think about a given situation using more than one perspective and as a
result the element of critical thinking was greatly fostered in me. I believe that this
emphasis on critical thinking is something that has been very useful and beneficial for me
as it helps me to analyze and reflect on things that happen in life in a much more holistic
way. My thinking is no longer as narrow and as restricted as it used to be before and I am
able to now adopt a far more broad based approach to the matter of learning (Oyston
2018).
The teaching and learning process for me is one that has been quite exhilarating to say
the least and I truly cherish the moments that I have spent inside of the classroom. In this
respect I would like to point out that I am an avid reader and learner and I like to devote
my energies to the study of complex concepts and theories that make my mind boggle and
which truly stimulate my thinking process in a number of different ways. I have learnt a lot
from the students who were working under my supervision and as a teaching assistant, I

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must say that there were quite a few interesting questions that I faced from my students at
the time of taking classes. Each and every class that I took is one that I had to really
prepare myself very well for, and to be honest, there were times when I wasn’t prepared
for answering the difficult questions that were thrown my way by my students. While
working as a teaching assistant, there was a lot that I learnt, not only about my subject of
specialization but also about the many different things that need to be taken into
consideration when teaching such a subject of specialization, especially to a diverse and
global audience (De-Smul et al. 2018).
Collaborative learning or working with others is something that I was able to learn
and cultivate very well during my time as a teaching assistant. I learnt not only to work
collaboratively with my students when teaching and researching on subjects of interest as
well as subjects in the course curriculum, and also with my colleagues and supervisors at
university. It was a great experience collaborating with my supervisors when it came to
working as a teaching assistant. I not only learnt a lot about the art of cooperation but I
also learnt what it is like to work with two to three people at a time, to adjust my working
and teaching practice with the practice of others, and in the bargain make a collective
contribution to the teaching and learning process. I personally believe that it is not possible
to learn anything in a vacuum and that we need to be open to listening to the ideas,
thoughts and views of others, while also expressing our own, in order to ensure that the
learning process is as meaningful as it ought to be (Darling-Hammond et al. 2019).

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2. Sources of Support used for Reviewing Learning and Development
The sources of support that I plan to make extensive use of for reviewing my own
learning and development are the internet and the feedback that is provided to me by my
teachers. I consider the internet to be a valuable source of information and by taking part in tests
and quizzes on the internet I will be in a position to understand where I stand as far as my
learning experience is concerned when I participate in the many different online tests that are
available for access online. Regarding feedback, more is mentioned in the section below.
3. Using Feedback to Review the Learning Process
The feedback that is provided by teachers is something that I can certainly use to enhance
my learning as it will tell me which are the areas where I am going wrong, and which are the
areas that I can improve upon. The feedback will highlight the errors I need to work on in order
to make the learning experience as smooth and effective for me as possible.
4. Working with Other People to Prioritize own Learning Needs
Working with others or collaborative learning is also one of the key ways by which I will
be able to boost the learning process for myself. Collaborative learning is something that is going
to put me in a position to work on my goals. It will teach me how to work and to finish tasks
within a given span of time and it will also help me to understand how to work with more than
one person as part of the learning experience. The more we exchange ideas and collaborate with
one another, the better it is that the learning process is likely to be.

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5. Using Learning Opportunities to Enhance the Learning Experience
and the Role of the Personal Development Plan in Enhancement of
Learning Experience
Learning opportunities such as the opportunity to attend seminars and talks is something
that has positioned me to be a better learner than what I previously used to me. Seminars and
talks have really opened my mind to new thoughts and ideas, and to things I never knew to exist
before.
I am all for the creation of a personal development plan which I believe I can make use of
in order to absorb things that are taught to me better, and consequently to learn better. The
personal development plan is one that is going to help me highlight the things that I need to focus
on as part of the learning process. The personal development plan will point out to me the things
that I need to focus on learning on a day to day basis so that I am able to master the things that I
was previously not well acquainted with and which I can now focus on learning and
understanding in the best way possible.
The personal development plan will contain information about tests and assessments that
I need to appear for in order to assess my skills and abilities in the best way possible. Finally, I
believe it will point out my key strengths and weaknesses, enabling me to understand where it is
that the effort needs to be placed.
6. Reflection on Own Practice
My own practice of putting pen to paper is something that has stood me in really good
stead when it comes to the learning process. I am able to retain factual information more easily

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when I put pen to paper and consequently I am able to better understand the things that are taught
to me in the class.

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References and Bibliography
Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B. and Osher, D., 2019.
Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied
Developmental Science, pp.1-44.
De Smul, M., Heirweg, S., Van Keer, H., Devos, G. and Vandevelde, S., 2018. How competent
do teachers feel instructing self-regulated learning strategies? Development and validation of the
teacher self-efficacy scale to implement self-regulated learning. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 71, pp.214-225.
Hedegaard, M., 2017. The significance of demands and motives across practices in children's
learning and development: An analysis of learning in home and school. In Introduction to
Vygotsky (pp. 213-225). Routledge.
Oyston, E. ed., 2018. Centred on learning: academic case studies on learning centre
development. Routledge