Reflection and portfolios
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Reflection—the process of stepping back periodically to examine your decisions, preferences, strengths, and challenges as a writer—is the backbone of portfolio keeping. Your instructor may ask you to submit a reflective document in which you introduce or comment on the pieces in your portfolio and discuss your development as a writer throughout the course.
This reflection may take the form of an essay, a cover letter, or some other kind of statement—often, but not always, placed as an introductory piece in the portfolio.
Reflective writing allows you to do the following:
- show that you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your writing
- comment on the progress you’ve made in the course
- understand your own writing process
- demonstrate that you’ve made good writing decisions
- comment on how you might use skills developed in your writing course in other courses where writing is assigned
In writing the reflective document, you might try one or more of the following strategies:
- discuss, in depth, your best piece of writing; explain why it is your best and how it represents what you learned in the course
- describe in detail the revisions you’ve made to one key piece and the improvements and changes you want readers to notice; include specific passages from the piece
- demonstrate what this portfolio illustrates about you as a writer, student, researcher, or critical thinker
- reflect on what you’ve learned about writing and reading throughout the course
- reflect on how you plan to use the skills and experiences from your writing course in other courses where writing will be assigned
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Reflective cover letter for a course portfolio
Writing guide: Reflective letter for a portfolio