Important information for all written assignments
•The College of Human and Health Sciences Word Count Policy imposes a WORD LIMIT.
•This means that if your word limit is 2000, you must not write anything in excess of 2000 words.
•Themarkermuststopreadingat2000words,thus anything written beyond this will not be considered in your overall mark.
•You will not be penalised for writing fewer than 2000 words
•You do not get a +/-10% allowance on your word count The rationale for a word limit is that if you write far fewer that 2000 words, it is likely to haven’t fully answered the question; hence your overall mark will reflect this.Whereas,ifyouwritebeyondthe2000wordlimit,some of your answer will not be marked and, similarly, your overall mark will likely reflect this.
2000 word reflective account Important:
•To make the most of reflective practice,it is important to use a reflective framework
•It doesn’t really matter which one you use, as long as you use one
•For the purpose of this guide, I will use Gibbs Cycle of Reflection (1988)
•Include references•References will mostly be included in the analysis section
•Referencing should follow APA referencing style
•Take care to ensure there is no overlap of sections
•For example, you should only describe the event in the description section –there shouldn’t be any thoughts/feelings or analysis here
•Sometimes, when writing the analysis you are reminded of something else that occurred during the event which has not been described in the description. Make sure you go back and include this.
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Introduction to essay (~ 200 words)
•The introduction of any essay should make up approximately 10% of the overall word count.
•Introduce critical reflection and why this is important for Audiologists.
•Introduce concepts of reflection in action and reflection on action.
•Identify which reflective framework you are going to use and give a rationale for using this.
•Make statement about confidentiality and removal of patient/hospital identifiable information
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Description (~ 300 words)•This should include a description of the event from start to finish.•Make sure you write this in the order that it occurred.
•There should be no feelings, evaluation or analysis at this point.
•It should only describe what happened during the event.
•Keep this brief –if you like, you can put a more detailed description in an appendix; however, all key details need to be included within the main body of the essay.
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Thoughts and Feelings (~ 200 words)
•Here you should describe what you were thinking and feeling.
•You should discuss these in chronological order.
•Thinking = clinical thinking (e.g. the patient’s hearing test results are not consistent with functional hearing levels).
•Feeling = emotions (e.g. nervous, confident etc).
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Evaluation (maximum 200 words)
•Positive and Negative aspects.•Use two further subheadings:
•Positive Aspects = what went well.
•Negative Aspects = what didn’t go so well.
•You just need to state these. You do not need to say why at this point.
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Analysis (~900 words)
•This section should make up the largest part of your word count.
•Identify your key themes from your description, feelings and evaluation.
•Think critically about these themes:
•Why did the situation unfold the way it did?•Why did you behave the way you did?
•What might the patient have behaved in the way they did?
Use relevant sources to support your discussions and consider what could have been changed to improve the situation
•What does the literature tell us.
•You need to make statements about why you think things unfolded the way they did based upon your own views (if appropriate) and the current evidence base. You should also at this point be considering how this may influence your future practice.
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Conclusion (~100 words)
•The conclusion of any essay shouldmakeupapproximately10% of the overall word count.
•Here your conclusion should also include an action plan, so it is best to use 5% (100 words) for the conclusion and 5% (100 words) for the action plan .
•Sum up the main findings of your analysis.
•There should no new information discussed here.
•Consider what you have learnt and how your findings will influence your future practice.
2000 word reflective account Essay structure:
•Action Plan (~100 words)
•You should consider 4 or 5 actions that you will take in the future. These may involve:
•Additional learning (e.g. I will enrol on a leadership course to develop my skills in assertiveness. This will help me to feel more confident when dealing with situations within clinical practice where I need to take a lead role to ensure the patient is receiving the appropriate care)
•Additional reading in a specific area
•Implementing new practice based upon new knowledge acquired due to this case
•Maintaining good practice already demonstrated
Final reminders
•You will find details about the following on Canvas within the course modules:
•Marking rid appropriate to the level of study
•APA referencing guide
•CHHS word count policy
