International Logistics

Word limit: 2000 words.

Each reflection should cover the topics presented in that weekend session. Each class within the session requires pre-reading of the assigned journal articles, which relate to the topics presented during the sessions.

Furthermore, it is expected that the knowledge from these articles is included in your reflection. These journal articles will be the main focus of each workshop of each session. It is expected that you read these papers before attending the workshop.

This assignment is a reflective writing exercise about each session covered as part of OMGT2088.

What is Reflective Practice?

Reflective practice is a process of thinking about new experiences with a view of learning from them. It is a form of personal response to new experiences, situations, events or information.

This process involves recording your observations and thinking deeply about your feelings and responses to situations. It also enables you to increase your understanding and to gain new insights about yourself, others and situations. A result of these new insights may lead to a change of thinking or behaviour.

How to Write Reflectively

As a part of the reflective process, you are asked to make regular journal entries. (Note: a reflective journal is not a diary that merely describes events and observations). A reflective journal is a personal account of your response and deep thinking about your experiences. As such, it is important that you write in the first person.

There are many things to consider when writing a reflective piece. To enhance the process you should try to:

• understand what beliefs, values, perceptions, knowledge you have examine your perceptions, experiences, ideas and observations of the new experience and how they relate to you pre-conceived ideas

• describe what you found challenging, confusing, inspiring, difficult, interesting and analyse why

• provide comparison and connections between your prior assumptions and knowledge, and your new knowledge and experience and draw conclusions from these comparisons

• explain what you need to explore next in terms of thoughts and actions include both description (what, when, who) and analysis (how, why, what if)

There is no one way to write a Reflective journal. You may use essay, report or journal format.

Useful Questions for Reflection

Before commencing upon reflection, ask yourself some of the following questions. These questions can assist in your reflective journal, thinking and/or discussion with your teacher or peers.

• What were you initial beliefs, values, perceptions and knowledge before the course commenced?

• Did your pre-conceived views change? If so, explain how and why.

• What were your learning goals for this course? What did you anticipate learning?

• Did you achieve these goals? If so why, and if not, why not?

• What were significant experiences for you?

• How did you respond at the time? Why?

• How could you improve on the way you responded/behaved?

• How did you feel about these experiences?

• How did you deal with challenges or problems?

• What would you do differently next time?

• What sense can you make of this experience in the light of your past experience?

• Has this changed the way in which you will do things or view things in the future?

Note: it is acceptable to pose questions in your reflection to which you may not necessary have the answers.

Learning and reflection

As a student and a professional you are involved in a continuous process of learning. Below are ways in which reflection might be involved in or enhance the process of this learning:

1. Reflection is involved in meaningful learning where you as a learner are seeking to make sense of new material for yourself, linking it to what you already know and if necessary, modifying prior knowledge and understandings to accommodate the new ideas. What do you know about self? What would you like to know? Or what do you know about how you relate to others? What would you like to know?

2. Reflection is associated with situations where there is no new material of learning - where we make sense of ideas (knowledge and understandings) that we have already learnt. What is your professional practice?

3. We learn from the representation of learning. When we represent learning in writing (for example), in a sense it becomes new material of learning and we can reinforce the learning or check our understanding of it, using it as a feedback system. The use of learning journals/reflection papers is an example of a method in which this mechanism is exploited.

4. Reflection also facilitates learning by enhancing the conditions that seem to favour learning. These include:

• provision of ‘intellectual space' , it slows the pace of learning,

• development of a sense of ownership of learning which has long been recognised as an important basis of learning.

• development and improvement of the process of learning to learn. Students who achieve well are more often students who are aware of their own learning processes - their weaknesses and strengths.

• Reflective or personally expressive writing seems sometimes to be more effective as a medium for learning and problem solving.

• Reflection probably helps the emotional side of learning in a general manner. In simplified terms, it could be said to support the development and maintenance of emotional intelligence.