Student help
The reflective writing workflow
Where the toolkit fits across a whole piece of reflective writing — from choosing an experience to recording how you used AI. You stay the author at every step.
1. Choose an experience worth reflecting on
Pick a real moment that affected you, puzzled you, or didn’t go as expected — not necessarily a dramatic one. If you are unsure, the US6 Critical Incident or RF4 Depth Ladder tools can help you find one. Keep it anonymised from the very start.
2. Get the description down, then move past it
Write what happened plainly, then use RF1 Description Detox to find where the retelling should stop and the reflection should begin. Most weak reflections are stuck here — all event, no meaning.
3. Deepen the meaning
Use RF2 So-What Deepener to move from “what happened” to “what it meant and why”, RF3 to write about feelings honestly, and RF4 to check how deep you are going. If your course requires a model, switch to the framework tools (Gibbs, Kolb, DEAL and so on).
4. Turn reflection into learning and action
Use RF5 Learning into Action to turn a general lesson into a specific, realistic next step you actually own. For professional portfolios, the NH, MD and US tools link your learning to a standard, capability or outcome.
5. Check anonymity and confidentiality
Run NH4 or MD3 (or read the anonymisation guide) to make sure nothing — names, dates, places, or revealing combinations of details — could identify a real person. Do this before the work goes to a tutor, a portfolio, or anywhere else.
6. Respond to feedback, and record your AI use
When a tutor gives feedback, you can talk it through with the tools, but the revisions stay yours. If your course expects an AI-use statement, the toolkit’s approach is easy to declare honestly: you wrote the reflection; the AI asked questions and reviewed your drafts. Keep a brief note of which tools you used and how.
At no step does the tutor supply your experience, feelings, insight or learning. If a step ever feels like the AI is writing your reflection for you, stop — that is not how these tools are meant to work.