According to The National Society of Experiential Education (NSEE), “ . . . For knowledge to be discovered and internalized, the learner must test assumptions and hypotheses about the outcomes of decisions and actions taken, then weigh the outcomes against past learning and future implications. . .”
Reflection Best Practices
- Reflection should occur before, during and after the internship.
- Students should be provided with targeted reflection prompts around the questions “What? So what? Now what?”
- Reflection should occur with others. Debriefing what was learned during the internship with others can lead to additional learning and shifts in thinking, and help students identify their next steps.
- The DEAL method for critical reflection offers a model for reflection best practices.
- BYU has an extensive index of videos and materials relating to reflective writing.
Sample Reflection Questions
Before the experience
- What personal qualities (leadership, communication skills, etc.) will you bring to the internship and how do you anticipate that they will help you be a good intern?
- What contributions do you hope to make to the organization?
- Why did you choose this internship? What do you expect to gain from it and how will it support your career goals?
- What coursework will you draw from to guide you during this internship and why?
During the experience
- How did you use your Clifton Strengths this week?
- What skills/personal qualities (leadership, communication, etc.) were you able to apply/develop this week and how will they help you in your future career?
- Which NACE career readiness competencies did you work to develop this week and what did you do to develop them?
- What challenges did you face this week? What made them challenging? What steps did you take to address the challenges and why did you choose that course of action?
- Based on what you learned this week, what, if anything, will you do differently going forward and why? What specific steps will you take because of what you learned?
- Why is your work this week important to the organization? Why does what you learned this week matter to the organization and to your future career?
After the experience
- What did you accomplish during your internship of which you most proud? Why is that accomplishment important to the organization and/or your career development?
- What assumptions did you make about the internship, the people you worked with, and yourself before you started? Which assumptions proved true? Which assumptions differed from your actual experience? Did you gain what you hoped to? Why or why not?
- What aspects of the internship did you like and dislike and why?
- What was the most surprising or challenging aspect of the internship and why?
- What did you learn about yourself as a result of participating in this internship?
- Did the internship reinforce or challenge what you have learned in your courses? How were you able to apply concepts from your coursework to your internship?
- Have your career goals changed because of this internship? If so, how?
- What did you learn about your strengths/weaknesses and career values, and how will you use what you learned in the future?
- What next steps will you take towards your career development and how will those steps benefit you?
For additional sample reflection questions, please visit: https://edtech.uconn.edu/multimedia-consultation/portfolios/sample-reflection-questions/