This document provides guidance on writing an individual reflective report for a global studio project. It discusses reflective practice and using a reflective approach to evaluate the project process and outcomes. Key areas the report should cover include describing goals, skills developed, and lessons learned from working with an international team. The document also offers tips on structuring the report, potential problems to address, and techniques for keeping a reflective notebook to help capture experiences over time.

1. Global Studio
Individual reflective report
Barbara Whetnall
B.Whetnall@lboro.ac.uk

2. Introduction
• Reflective practice and report
• Possible problems and solutions
• Benefits
• Reflective notebook or journal
• Report structure
• Language

3. Reflective practice
Working it through, rather than just thinking
it through
– making prototypes – and iterations - is
thinking-by-doing
– designers can query by demonstration
– good design comes through having
‘conversations’
•

4. Reflective report 1
Self-inquiry
– express how you planned and
established your goals
– opportunity to discuss the skills and
knowledge you developed
• this helps across a practice lifetime
– what can you learn from a global project
and working with an international team?

5. Reflective report 2
Use more informal language - describe the
progress of the project and experiences
Share your insights and overall impressions with
others, in the UK and internationally
– explore areas of uncertainty - culture,
language, communication technology

6. Gibbs Reflective cycle
Description
– what
happened
What are
your
feelings?
Evaluation
Was it good
or bad?
Analysis –
what sense
can you make
of situations?
Analysis –
what else
could you
have done?
Action plan-
if it arose
again, what
would you
do?

7. Possible problems

8. Possible problems 1
Feel challenged when evaluating your own practice,
and those of the Team and Client
– finding the right words to articulate your own
thoughts and evaluation can be hard

9. Possible problems 2
Keeping detailed project records can be time
consuming
– how much detail do you go into?
– making time to upload to the blogs
• Seeing only one point of view?

10. Possible problems 3
Unsure as to which situations or experiences to
reflect upon
• Offer descriptions with little critical reasoning or
evaluation

11. Possible solutions

12. Possible solutions 1
Record your own observations on
how design decisions were made
– have confidence in your personal
interpretations

13. Possible solutions 2
Keep a project notebook, journal or diary – and
write up as soon as you can – so as not to forget
– only select the experiences you thinks are
significant

14. Possible solutions 3
Situations or experiences (to reflect upon)
may be come self–evident as the
project progresses
Communications
The value of feedback
Timing of meetings
Exchange of ideas

15. Possible solutions 4
Use critical reasoning and evaluation
– draw on your previous experiences:
industrial placement
– draw on cultural experiences and
observations
– opportunity to use problem-solving
strategies
– draw on your own judgment and intuition

16. Benefits
Useful for the mid-project survey
• Fix experiences and knowledge into our long-term
memory
• Share cultures and the values of others
• Improve our organisational and management skills
• Turn experiences into learning opportunities

17. Reflective journal or notebook
Memories of experiences can become
imprecise over time
Document your tasks /
observations / environment /
colleagues / working practices
Share with your
tutor through
the report
Can you accept
new ideas?
List personal
goals
Opportunities
for change and
improvement

18. Notebook
Example of student field notes –
Geography dept.

19. Notebook
Example of student field notes –
Geography dept.

20. Project notebook / journal 1
• not just random thoughts
• write down the most significant or influential
points
• your experiences – what are the underlying
components of a situation or process?

21. Project notebook / journal 2
• anchored to what you wish to understand better
• how subjective are your thoughts?
• could things be done in a different way?

22. What might I incorporate?
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling http://bit.ly/1JHLC4f

23. What?

24. Introduction
– Description of the project brief - Very short –
1 or 2 paragraphs
– identify your topic or focus - why your feel it was
important
– state the key areas or themes you will cover
• cultural, theoretical, technological ideas and
concepts
– introduce your team and yourself
• the location of team members
• who played which roles?

25. Design planning process 1
Introduce the design planning process
• roles and skills in the Team
• was there clarity of ideas from the Client?
• was the project brief approached in an
interesting and professional way?
• were the ideas generated kept close to the
project brief?
• was there much prior information
gathering?

26. Design planning process 2
Refining initial concepts
– were several different approaches required?
– how did the team avoid design paralysis?
– could you transform an initial design concept
into something more well-defined?
– could you argue for your design concept and
it’s value?

27. Design planning process 3
Activities
• were transitions between activities effective?
• did anything threaten the project?
• were there problems with design complexity?
• could you manage unexpected events?
• was there a degree of flexibility?
• were there any primary concerns - did the
project run on time?

28. Materials and production
Suitability of material and manufacture
• were modern or traditional materials used?
• were prototypes satisfactory?
• were there skills available to make things?
• what equipment was available? 3D printers
etc
• was it possible to re-evaluate the design at
any point and add changes?

29. Communications
Reliability and effectiveness
Skype, internet connections, messaging apps,
Kakao Talk, team blogs, Vimeo, Dropbox,
YouTube, email, Gravatar
- was the technology good enough for
detailed presentations and discussions?
- could the team upload files ok?

30. Meetings 1
Influence of time zones - UK is 2 hours ahead of
Brazil, UK is 9 hours behind Japan and Korea
– were projects moving at different rates in the
product’s design process and progress?
– was there timeliness of feedback?
– information density: how much discussed, for
how long, and in what detail?

31. Meetings 2
– a good way to share cultural elements, design
suggestions and client feedback?
– or share CAD designs and engineering
drawings?
– could tasks be shared?
– had you come across similar situations
before?
– were you happy making your opinions and
judgments visible and open for discussion?

32. Verbal and Written Language
– development of a ‘working’ English
– did the communications and blogs allow for
good transfer of information?
– did the design work have enough written
explanation?
– were difficulties able to be discussed?
– was politeness, consensus and harmony
important in meetings?

33. Non Verbal Language
Drawings / designs / images / sounds & music
– colours and shapes can be metaphors.
- did they travel across cultures, or viewed
differently?
– were drawings and pictures able to convey
the complexity and concept of design?
– if there were no responses to messages -
what did this mean?

35. Culture and environment
– was the Team able to recognise the
boundaries of its own culture and appreciate
others?
– and move forward, away from sociocultural
generalisations?
– did you learn something special about another
culture?
– or understand better other values, tastes and
traditions of other cultures?
– were concepts interpreted the same ?

36. Conclusion / discussion / action
plan 1
• did the project help develop a more
designerly way of thinking?
• would the experiences be useful when you
start a new activity?
• did the project give insights into other design
strategies?
• did you feel in control of the project or did it
slide away?

37. Conclusion / discussion / action
plan 2
• what worked well, and why?
• was there some really interesting moments?
• is there more knowledge you would like to
acquire?
• and practice more problem-solving
strategies?
• did the project give you confidence working
internationally?

38. Conclusion / discussion / action
plan 3
• did you feel stuck in routines?
• were design problems solved better as a
group than by individuals?
• would solutions and ideas be useful in the
future?
• did the project help you to prioritise tasks?
• what were you confident in?
• are international ideas and practices
becoming more understandable or familiar?

39. MindJet MindManager 15 - available on all lab PCs

41. Using 1st / 3rd person
1st person = ‘I found this significant because….’
3rd person = ‘This approach can be important because…’
Mixture = ‘We often see this approach in real situations…’
Hint: try to avoid a real mix. If you start with 3rd person
continue to the end of the paragraph in the 3rd person.
Then, you can change to 1st person in the next paragraph,
adding your personal observations.

42. How might I refer to myself?
Yourself:
• can you send it to the Team, Chris and me?
• try to avoid ‘Me and Chris….’
• the report might read better with ‘Chris and
myself’ or ‘Chris and I’, ‘The Client and the
Team’

43. How might I refer to the Team/
Client?
• You have a Team and Client names 
• Honorifics: Team or The Client - it is a good idea
to use the most polite, tactful style of English
• We tend to refer to ourselves last –
‘The Client, Chris and I’

44. Language
• don’t start too many sentences with
phrases such as ‘I think that…’
• use written language – not spoken language
– but not pompous
– try and avoid shortening words : couldn’t

45. Books on reflective writing
• Moon , J.A. (2004) Reflection in learning and
professional development theory and practice.
London: RoutledgeFalmer. http://bit.ly/1ThSheq
• Dewey, J. (1997) How we think. New York:
Dover Publications. http://bit.ly/21GSDzM
• Schön, D.A. (1983) The reflective practitioner:
how professionals think in action. New York:
Basic Books http://bit.ly/1RwJE9R