Essay Format:

Essay Format:

Essays should follow the following outline, including three specific elements:

1. Insights : What did I learn about myself and others? What are my strengths and weaknesses?

How might this affect me in the workplace? Where are my gaps / opportunities?

2. Application : What specific changes should I make to my current approaches, and/or how can I

build on my existing strengths?

3. Implication : Why does it matter to my organization? How will I become a better team member,

leader, follower, etc. if I develop my skills in these areas? What are the potential negative

ENTR3110 Reflective Essays on Personal Learning Assignment Instructions

consequences of failing to improve in this way? How does this help me, my team and my organization to perform better?

Part One: Insights from Learning Materials/Class Activities

Begin your essay summarizing the insights you gained from classes, group experiences, reading assignments etc. This must be more than a simple summary of the topics covered. Explain why these insights are meaningful to you and how they relate to your interactions with others. By reflecting on learning you “move beyond merely reciting factual, conceptual, or procedural knowledge in order to demonstrate a more complex level of understanding. Articulating insights requires you to determine the meaning of instructional messages through interpretation or inference.” This reports the "reflect" and 2

"conceptualize" steps of the experiential learning process 3

Part Two: Application of Insights in Work Settings

Once you’ve identified the insights, explain how these are relevant to your professional development.

What specific changes will you make to improve your interactions with others and/or increase your

professionalism? Be very specific as you answer this question for yourself. Use action verbs to outline precisely what you will do differently. Rather than saying things like, “I will be more aware of ‘x’ ” or “I will try to do ‘y’ ” describe specific changes you will make, providing examples. This section should clearly convey how this will be different from what you currently do.

Part Three: Implications for Personal Development

Why is this important? How will personal improvement in these areas make you a better team member or leader? We are working to develop your professional skills to help you in your careers, therefore it is critical that you identify how the application of what you learned will contribute to the development of your personal teamwork and leadership styles. In particular, how will developing these new skills benefit your teams and organizations in measurable ways? What are the potential negative consequences if you do not improve in these ways? To identify these benefits and consequences, you will need to look outside yourself to understand how what you have learned connects to the whole. By doing this, you can recognize the potential benefit of your new behaviour which will encourage you to actually work toward your personal development goals.