WHAT IS THE USE OF REFLECTIVE REPORT?

If I am not so wrong, all of you have heard this word in your classes specially those who have recently finished their dissertation or case study assignments. All of you have written reflective report to show the efficacy of your selected theories and its applications. So, my question is here for those who have used reflective report in their paper. Can anyone answer me that why you have used reflective report or what was its importance in your research paper or assignments? The answer may be for personal development or showing own efficiency in your research paper. Well, all are right but these answers are one sided. Answers are given from student point of view but if I asked you to describe this answer to those who have recently assigned their research project then? This one sided view will give them a blurred  opinion about reflective report and this is one of the reasons that most of the students cannot write their reflective report properly in their research papers or assignments.

So giving all answers of these confusions, I would like to say that reflective report is nothing but personal reflection upon your subject. I know that this definition is looking funny and too much simple but it is hard to apply in student paper. Why? Just simply answer me what have you written in your reflection of dissertation paper? Your used theories, your class experience, your difficulties, right? According to me- all are very generic. Your instructor does not want to know about your used theories and class experience because these things are all visible to him/her. Rest is your difficulties that you have solved with the help of your instructor. So why have you written these all again in your refection? These all have no use. Then what should we write? Your answer starts from below points. Just go through these points. All your confusions and above-mentioned questions will be answered. It is not for those who have completed their reflective reports but for those students also who have recently assigned this to prepare.

Practical experience: The title reflective report denotes that it wants your own experience in writing. Experience means all those knowledge that you have gathered from your overall research journey. While you re-searching for your assignments or research papers, new knowledge you have gained in every time. This is your practical knowledge because all these you have gained from your academic journey. Then reflect this experience in your report to introduce this new era with your readers. For suppose, your assigned research paper is on Shakespearean Plays.  So, how would you proceed with this paper? Obviously researching on Shakespearean plays, novels, reviews of plays and like these. Sometime you will be irritated for searching a lot about Shakespeare or be confused between your thought and review papers. Sometime you also will be glad by knowing more new information about Shakespeare. Express these all in your report to show your readers both your irritation and pleasure of learning that they can get an idea about overall research methods.

Your own thinking: Reflect your thought to your readers that they can get various viewpoints about a same topic. How? It’s too simple. Justify your collected data by your own viewpoints to your readers or in your reflective report. Simply thought, some people look to nature as gift of God and some just it as nature i.e. being of its existence. All is about reception-oriented viewpoint. Therefore, you are not the only one who has researched on Shakespeare but many scholars have done it before. So what is different between your papers with them? This is the field where you can show your own viewpoints or create your new vision on selected topic to your readers. Believe me; this new perception is always welcome for readers along with its positive and negative outlook.

Your own way of application: Wait! It is not just to show your used theories or modules. It is already has seen by readers in the primary sections of your research papers or assignments. Here readers want to know how you as individual have applied those renowned theories or modules in your paper. Therefore, critical analysis is needed otherwise it will be too much generic to reading and may be one of the reasons of your less mark in semesters.

Perception of your idea on readers: Yes, your writing style will be always from your reader’s point of view. It is because, while you have prepared your research paper, it is for projecting a new idea to your readdress. Therefore, your reflective report also must be written from reader’s point of view that what kind of benefit they can get or problem they can face through your theory of applications. It will make your readers known about the efficacy of your paper.

Problems faced by you: State your problems that you have faced regarding formulating your paper. Make sure, this point is not required your knowledge gap. It only wants to know your problem of application of those theories or modules that further help your future researchers.

Your knowledge gap: This point should be in your conclusion of the reflective report. Yes, being a student it is not possible for you to know everything about your selected topic and in limited time. Therefore, some knowledge gap will be there that you need to confess honestly to your readers. If not, then your paper will lose its authenticity. Always remind, scholarly papers also have some research gaps and for these critical reviews formulated. Scholars only project their viewpoints with thorough research in their paper but viewpoint can be differing according to different reception orientation. From this gap, further reviews or research paths will raise. As you are a student, therefore, acknowledge your knowledge issue clearly to your readers that will open future research scope for them.

Hope these above-mentioned points will solve all your answers of using reflective report in assignments or research papers. Believe me; you will love to write a reflective report as because it has no such academic rules or writing pattern to project your ideas. You just need to cover all those above-mentioned points clearly and that’s it. This funky style of expression yourself is highly appreciated among readers world.