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Over the decades, learning has evolved from the passing down of knowledge through creative modes such as songs, stories, trade, and craftsmanship to structured learning in the form of formal education. With the advent of globalisation, industrial revolutions and technological advancements, the tenets of education have been transformed from the traditional one-way learning to contemporary learning that encapsulates, among others, artificial intelligence (AI) learning, e-learning, hybrid learning, interactive learning and personalised learning. With the use of instructional technologies and platforms that offer distinctive learning experiences in various learning contexts, personalised learning is an educational approach that seeks to tailor the learning process to each student’s learning style, abilities and aims (Shemshack, Kinshuk & Spector, 2021), which resonates with the dynamics of learning through reflective writing.

Reflection refers to the process where thinking and learning occur through the exploration of questions – the how, why, when, where, who and what. Reflection entails digging deep into one’s thought process to revisit and assess past actions, decisions, spoken words and experiences. Reflective writing, thus, encourages us to reflect on our thoughts, actions, experiences and beliefs based on our personal observations, in written form. It is one of the powerful learning tools that facilitates personalised learning as it focuses on writing about one’s personal and learning experiences in learning journals, reflective essays, blogs, self-assessment reports, etc., to connect the learning acquired from the past to the current and the future. Reflective writing is also connected to critical thinking and metacognition, which entails being aware of one’s own thought processes, how one learns and how one thinks. Thus, reflective writing helps students to think about and regulate their own thought processes, learning experiences and decisions.

Reflective writing can bridge the gap between theory and practice through the use of learning journals that help students to reflect on their progress on a regular basis; post-assignment self-assessments that provide students with the opportunity to revisit and ponder on the process of completing the assignment/project; and, peer feedback reflections that encourage students to analyze feedback from their peers and curate personalized improvement plans to overcome their weaknesses and enhance their areas of strength. Formative/summative assessment in the form of reflective writing that is tied to the relevant course learning outcomes and builds transferable skills such as intrapersonal skills, communication skills, and lifelong learning can help to develop students’ emotional intelligence, boost their academic performance, support their personal and professional development, and enhance their problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

For example, an internship logbook enables a student (intern) to record his/her daily/weekly work tasks, completed tasks, pending tasks, interactions with superiors and peers, areas that the student (intern) enjoyed working on, and areas the student (intern) found to be challenging. The logbook entries are subsequently used to prepare the internship report, which acts as a medium for reflection that supports the student’s metacognitive process by enabling the student to assess his/her own learning strategies and learning styles from the internship experience, and promoting self-awareness through the analysis of strengths and limitations. Consequently, the student will be able to identify and understand his/her strong competencies, skills and niche areas, and areas that require improvement, for future employment and career growth. Additionally, students can also engage in reflective exercises when working on an assignment or project in a group. For example, a student can reflect on his/her ability to lead, collaborate with peers, engage in fruitful discussions and resolve conflicts in an effective manner. Through the provision of feedback from peers, the student can develop resilience in handling conflicts and differences within the team, utilise peer-led constructive criticism for improvement, and assume ownership of his/her own learning and personal development.  

One of the best pedagogical strategies for encouraging students' flexibility, adaptability, planning skills and self-regulation of learning is reflective writing (Alt, Raichel & Naamati-Schneider, 2022). It is, therefore, important that reflective writing is incorporated into the relevant courses at different levels of undergraduate studies from the first year to the final year to foster the development and progressive enhancement of intrapersonal, communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and lifelong skills in students, for attainment of course learning outcomes, programme learning outcomes, programme educational objectives and ultimately, personal and professional growth.  

Dr. Premagowrie Sivanandan
������Ƶ Business School 
Email: @email 

References
Alt, D., Raichel, N. and Naamati-Schneider, L. (2022). Higher education students’ reflective journal writing and lifelong learning skills: Insights from an exploratory sequential study. Front. Psychol., 1-17. . 

Shemshack, A., Kinshuk & Spector, J.M. (2021). A comprehensive analysis of personalized learning components. J. Comput. Educ. 8, 485-503. .