EDL6063: Personal Development

REFLECTIVE WRITING: DIEP

Reflective writing helps you think about your personal development and learning
experiences. This guide uses the DIEP strategy adapted from Boud, Reflection: Turning
Experience into learning (1985). The 4 steps to reflection are to (1) Describe, (2)
Interpret, (3) Evaluate and (4) Plan.

The DIEP strategy

D Describe objectively what happened:

Reflect on the experience. Answer the question: What did I do, read, see, hear, etc?

I Interpret the events:

Consider why events happened in the way they did. Explain:

what you saw and heard

your new insights and connections with other learning
your feelings
your hypotheses and/or conclusions

Answer the question: what might this mean? Reflect, review and observe.

E Evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the

experience:

Make judgements that are clearly connected to observations you have made. Answer the
questions:

What is my opinion about this experience?

What is the value of this experience?
Why do I think this?

Make conclusions and learn from the experience (Kolbs abstract conceptualisation)

P Plan how this information will be useful to you:

Actively experiment. Consider what needs to change? How might this learning
experience serve you in:

Your
Your
Your
Your

course
program
future career
life generally

Plan and try out what you have learned. Reflect on how you will transfer or apply your new
knowledge and insights in the future?

DIEP strategy for writing a reflection

Overall, in your reflection journal, attempt to:
analyse your own performance as a learner
evaluate your gains in understanding and completing tasks
verbalise how you feel about your learning
make connections with other experiences, ideas
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 demonstrate transfer of learning

integrate the concepts taught in courses (including the literature where relevant)

Reflection Activity- Assignment 1 (Sept 2013)

Name: AZLIA ARAMY BINTI HILMY I.D. No: 0308917
The following is a writing strategy for a reflective journal entry in four paragraphs.

D Describe objectively what happened

Give the details of what happened. Consider what you did, read, saw, heard or experienced.

I have seen a lot of scary things in the world, the world is filled with cheats, liars,
corrupted and cruel people who dont care about you but just to make their life better by
using you, thats what I saw. The only way is to take care of yourself first before anyone
else. I heard gossip from every corner I go, wear friend back stab friends and people just
gossip about the negative things about each other, only sometimes something positive will
come out from gossiping. what I experienced is life, Ive experienced the bad times and the
good times, all I can say is to love yourself before anyone else.

I Interpret the events

Explain your learning: new insights, observations, connections with other learning, your feelings,
hypotheses, conclusions.
Answer the questions: What was the reason I did this activity? What might it mean?

I learn that you have to depend on yourself the most before depending on anyone else.
Always think positive eventhough you know the truth, thinking negative will only bring you
down.

E Evaluate what you learned

Make judgments connected to observations you have made. Answer the question: How was this
useful?

It has been a great experience, I learnt so much about myself and how to take on
challenges in life. In addition the experience taught me on how to develop myself more
throw out my life. The values I learned are mostly on myself, how to value myself is the
most important of them all. The reason why I think this is because this is what I have
experienced and that is the first thing that came into my head when I read the question. In
conclusion, Im still learning in life, this subject has taught me so much about myself and I.

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P Plan how this learning will be applied

Comment on its relevance to your course, future profession, life... Consider how might this learning
apply in your future?

This learning experience will help me a lot in my course, especially in college when there is
a lot of drama everywhere. Once I know myself better and become emotionally stable I will
be able to take on other things in life. In addition it will help me a lot in my whole program,
personal development will not only help me in my current course but my whole life, after
all I am trying to personally develop myself better. I will take what I learned in my future
career and hopefully experience more things in life. All this learning experience will
generally serve me better in life and help a lot in my future.

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