Why Bother with Reflective Writing?

The story of James and Michael illustrates a pattern that researchers have observed repeatedly in internship settings: the transformative power of reflective writing on professional development. Dr. Reinekke Lengelle’s research provides robust evidence that structured reflective writing during internships significantly enhances employment outcomes. In her 2014 study of bachelor’s students, those who engaged in reflective writing practices received notably higher workplace evaluations from their employers, with 84% of their assessments rated as “excellent” or “very satisfactory” compared to a more distributed range of ratings for non-writing students (Lengelle et al., 2014). Beyond immediate performance metrics, the research revealed that reflective writers developed stronger professional identities and were better equipped to articulate their experiences to future employers. They demonstrated enhanced ‘luck readiness’, the ability to recognise and capitalise on career opportunities, and showed greater career adaptability, a crucial skill in today’s dynamic job market (Lengelle et al., 2016). Perhaps most significantly, these students were more likely to receive offers of continued employment or professional referrals from their internship supervisors, with employers noting their superior ability to integrate feedback and contribute meaningfully to workplace discussions.

Lengelle’s research delves deeply into the mechanisms by which reflective writing enhances skill development during internships. Her studies reveal that students who engage in reflective writing develop what she terms a “double-loop learning” process. They not only acquire technical skills but also develop a sophisticated understanding of how and why they are learning (2014, p. 79). In particular, her 2016 study found that reflective writers showed marked improvement in three crucial areas: cognitive processing, emotional intelligence, and professional adaptability. These students demonstrated superior ability to connect theoretical knowledge with practical application, showing what Lengelle calls “meta positions”, the capacity to step back and analyse their own learning journey (Lengelle et al., 2016, p. 40). For instance, while non-reflective students might simply learn how to complete a task, reflective writers could articulate why certain approaches worked better than others, identify patterns in their learning, and adapt these insights to new situations. The research particularly highlighted how reflective writing helped students develop what employers consistently rate as highly desirable soft skills, including improved communication abilities, better emotional regulation in challenging situations, and enhanced capacity for professional relationship building. This mirrors the experience of James in our story, who developed not only project management skills but also the emotional intelligence to help his struggling peer.

Lengelle’s research demonstrates that:

• Students who engage in reflective writing show significantly higher development of ‘luck readiness’, the ability to recognise and seize career opportunities. (Lengelle et al., 2016).
• Reflective writers demonstrate an enhanced capacity for ‘meta-positions’, the ability to observe and analyse their own learning experiences objectively. (Lengelle et al., 2014).
• Employers rate reflective writing students more positively, with 84% receiving ‘excellent’ or ‘very satisfactory’ evaluations compared to a broader range for non-writers. (Lengelle et al., 2014).
• Students who write reflectively show superior emotional regulation and professional resilience when faced with workplace challenges. (Lengelle et al., 2016).
• Reflective writing enhances students’ ability to connect theoretical knowledge with practical workplace applications, leading to better professional competency development. (Lengelle et al., 2014).

Utilising the DIEP Model of Reflective Writing

While Lengelle’s research provides compelling evidence for maintaining a reflective journal during your internship, you might wonder about the practical process of reflection itself. Many students find themselves unsure where to begin, after all, there’s a significant difference between casually writing about your day and engaging in purposeful professional reflection that enhances your career development.

The DIEP model offers a structured approach to reflection that helps transform your daily experiences into meaningful professional insights. This model, widely used in professional development contexts, breaks down the reflective process into four key components: Describe, Interpret, Evaluate, and Plan. Each component builds upon the previous one, helping you move from simple observation to actionable professional development.

Think of the DIEP model as similar to the scientific method you likely use in your technical work. Just as you wouldn’t jump straight to conclusions in a laboratory experiment without first gathering and analysing data, effective reflection requires a systematic approach to processing your experiences. The DIEP model provides this structure, ensuring you don’t miss crucial insights that could enhance your professional development.

Consider this example: Imagine you’ve just completed your first major presentation to your internship team. Rather than simply noting “That went well” or “I was nervous,” the DIEP model guides you through a deeper analysis:

• Describe: What actually happened during the presentation? What did you do? How did others respond?
• Interpret: Why did things unfold this way? What factors contributed to the outcomes you observed?
• Evaluate: What worked well and what could be improved? How does this experience align with your professional goals?
• Plan: Based on these insights, what specific actions will you take to enhance your presentation skills for next time?

This structured approach transforms a single experience into a valuable learning opportunity that contributes to your professional growth. Students who systematically documented their experiences were significantly more likely to identify and articulate specific skill development in professional contexts (Dunne, 2017). In addition, Dunne (2017) found that structured reflection helped students move from simply describing events to explicitly recognising and naming the professional competencies they were developing, a crucial skill for future job interviews and career advancement. For example, students using a structured approach were more than twice as likely to explicitly name skills like ’emotional intelligence’ or ‘collaborative working’ compared to those who reflected more casually.

The power of structured reflection lies in its ability to bridge the gap between experience and professional development. When students follow a systematic approach to reflection, they develop an enhanced capacity to recognise and name specific professional competencies in their experiences. Rather than simply describing events, they can explicitly connect their experiences to professional skill development, making their learning more concrete and articulate (Dunne, 2017). In the following sections, we’ll explore each component of the DIEP model in detail, providing practical examples and templates to help you implement this evidence-based approach in your own reflective practice.

Describe

In reflective writing, the describe phase focuses on capturing the raw details of your learning experience before diving into deeper analysis. This initial step creates a foundation for meaningful reflection by establishing what occurred and what you learned from it. The key is to identify a specific moment of insight or learning that stands out as significant to your professional development.

When describing your experience, aim to be objective and precise about what happened. Rather than jumping straight to your feelings or interpretations, focus on the concrete details: what was said, what you observed, what you did, or what you read. Include relevant contextual information like when and where the learning occurred, and what specifically triggered your insight. This helps create a clear picture of the learning moment that you can then examine more deeply.

Your description should focus on a single, specific insight rather than trying to cover multiple learning points at once. This insight should represent something new that you’ve learned or realised, a moment where your understanding shifted or deepened. While the insight itself might seem simple, capturing it clearly is essential for the deeper reflection that follows. Think of this step as creating a snapshot of your learning moment that you can then examine from different angles.

The most effective descriptions strike a balance between being concise and providing sufficient detail. Include enough context that someone else could understand the situation but avoid including irrelevant information that doesn’t contribute to understanding your key insight. Remember that this description serves as the foundation for your subsequent interpretation, analysis, and future planning.

This description clearly identifies the specific insight (the importance of double-checking calculations), provides relevant context (the timing and setting), and explains what triggered the learning (finding an error during a final review). It’s detailed enough to understand the situation but remains focused on the key learning moment.

Interpret

Building on the foundational work done in the describe phase, the interpret section moves your reflection into deeper analytical territory. While description focuses on capturing what happened, interpretation explores what it means, transforming your raw observations into meaningful insights about your learning and development.

When interpreting your experience, you’ll examine your described insight from multiple angles, considering its broader implications and connections. This is where you begin to unpack why this learning moment matters, how it relates to your existing knowledge, and what questions it raises for your future practice. Rather than simply stating what you learned, you’ll analyse how this new understanding might influence your thinking and actions going forward.

Think of interpretation as being like a detective examining evidence. Just as a detective looks beyond surface-level observations to understand the deeper story, your interpretation should look beyond the immediate details of your learning experience to understand its significance. What might this insight reveal about your professional development? How does it connect to theories or concepts from your coursework? What assumptions or previous understandings might it challenge? These questions help transform your description from a simple account of what happened into a meaningful exploration of your learning journey.

The key to effective interpretation is making connections between your insight and your previous knowledge, between theory and practice, between your immediate experience and broader professional contexts. While description asks “What happened?”, interpretation asks “What does this mean for my learning and development?” This deeper analysis sets the stage for the evaluation and planning that will follow in subsequent stages of your reflection.

In reflective writing, the interpret section moves beyond describing what happened to explore the deeper meaning and significance of your insight. Rather than simply restating events, you examine why your learning experience matters and how it connects to your broader professional development.

Consider how an engineering student might interpret their insight about double-checking calculations:

Notice how this interpretation examines the broader implications of the experience, makes connections to professional practice and learning, and considers how this insight might influence future behaviour.

Evaluate

While interpretation helps us understand the meaning of our insights, evaluation takes our reflection further by assessing the value of what we’ve learned. This phase asks us to make thoughtful judgments about how our learning experiences contribute to our professional development and future practice. When evaluating your insights, you examine not just what you learned and what it means, but how this learning will benefit you going forward. This might include assessing how your new understanding will change your approach to professional tasks, enhance your confidence in certain areas, or influence your future decision-making.

Effective evaluation requires examining your learning experience from multiple angles. Beyond simply stating that something was useful, you need to articulate specifically how and why this learning matters for your professional development. You might consider how your new understanding changes your capabilities, influences your professional confidence, or shapes your approach to future challenges. For instance, you could assess how a new insight affects your technical skills, your professional judgment, or your ability to work with others.

Making connections to your broader professional or academic context strengthens your evaluation. Consider how your learning aligns with professional standards, industry best practices, or theoretical frameworks from your studies. This might involve examining how your new understanding supports or challenges existing theories, or how it contributes to your developing professional identity. By grounding your evaluation in these broader contexts, you demonstrate a deeper understanding of your learning’s significance within your field.

When evaluating your learning, it’s important to be specific about future applications. Rather than making general statements about usefulness, describe concrete ways you plan to apply your new understanding. Think about how this learning might influence your decision-making, change your work practices, or enhance your professional relationships. Consider also any limitations or conditions that might affect how you apply this learning, being realistic about both the benefits and potential challenges of implementing your new understanding demonstrates mature professional judgment.

Let’s examine how to evaluate the learning experience of double-checking calculations.

Notice how this evaluation:

• makes specific judgments about the learning’s value
• describes concrete changes in professional practice
• connects the learning to broader professional development
• looks forward to future applications
• demonstrates growth in professional understanding.

Plan

After evaluating the value and impact of our learning experiences, the natural next step is to consider how we can deliberately apply these insights in our future practice. While evaluation helps us understand how our learning has changed us, planning transforms these reflections into concrete actions that will shape our professional development. This forward-looking phase moves us from understanding the significance of what we’ve learned to map out specific ways to implement and build upon these insights, ensuring our reflective learning translates into tangible professional growth.

The planning phase bridges the gap between reflection and action, helping us identify specific opportunities to apply our learning and areas where we need to develop further. By thoughtfully considering how we’ll use our insights in future situations, we transform our reflective learning from a passive understanding into an active guide for professional development.

When writing the planning section of your reflection, begin by identifying specific contexts where your insights could be valuable. These typically fall into three main categories: your current academic program, your future professional practice, and your broader personal development. Consider how your learning might be relevant in each of these areas, being as specific as possible about potential applications.

For example, rather than simply stating “I will use these communication skills in my future career,” you might write: “Understanding the importance of clear documentation will be particularly valuable when I begin my engineering career, especially in project handovers and team collaborations. I plan to develop templates for different types of technical documentation to ensure consistent and thorough information sharing.”

Time frames are crucial in planning. Consider both immediate applications within your current studies and longer-term implementations in your future career. You might discuss how you’ll apply your learning in upcoming assignments or group projects, as well as how these skills will transfer to professional situations you expect to encounter after graduation

It’s also important to identify any additional learning or development needed to fully implement your insights. This might include recognising gaps in your knowledge or skills that need to be addressed. For instance, you might write: “To build on my understanding of sustainable design principles, I will need to familiarise myself with current environmental regulations and certification requirements. I plan to complete online modules in environmental compliance during the semester break.”

When writing your plan, use future tense to emphasise the forward-looking nature of this section. Begin sentences with phrases like “I will…” or “This learning will be applied…” to clearly indicate your intended actions. Be specific about how you will implement your insights, including concrete steps or strategies you plan to use

Remember to connect your plans back to your professional context. Consider how your intended actions align with industry expectations and professional standards in your field. This helps demonstrate that your reflective learning is grounded in practical, professional applications rather than remaining purely theoretical.

Finally, consider potential challenges or obstacles you might face in implementing your plans, and outline strategies to address these. This shows that you’ve thought critically about the feasibility of your plans and are prepared to overcome potential difficulties.

By following these guidelines, your planning section will effectively bridge the gap between reflection and action, creating a clear roadmap for applying your learning in meaningful ways. This approach ensures that your reflective practice contributes directly to your professional development and growth.

Your plan reflection should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of how your learning experience connects to professional practice while providing clear pathways for implementation and development.

Maintaining Reflective Practice

Developing a consistent reflective practice during your internship helps build professional insight and document your growth. Think of these weekly reflections as creating a professional learning journal that you can draw upon throughout your career. Here’s how to make the most of this practice:

By maintaining thoughtful weekly reflections, you’re not just documenting your internship experience, you’re actively shaping your professional development and creating a valuable resource for your future career. Each reflection builds upon previous insights, helping you develop the kind of thoughtful, reflective practice that characterises successful professionals in your field.