This set practises the four skills in reflection and improvement. All sources and scenarios are invented for practice. Try each question on paper before opening the answer.
Questions run from easy to harder. Where your answer differs in wording, compare the structure.
Questions
Q1 (easy). Label each sentence as description (D) or reflection (R). (a) “I watched a documentary and made notes.” (b) “The documentary used only one expert, so I looked for a second view.”
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(a) D: an observer could write it. (b) R: it explains a judgement about the source and a resulting action.Q2 (easy). Turn this description into reflection: “I made a survey of ten classmates.”
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Example: "I surveyed ten classmates, but all were in my class, so the results showed only one group's views. Next time I would ask students from other classes."Q3. A student writes: “My view changed completely.” Name two things missing.
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The earlier view and the specific evidence. A third missing item is a statement of the new view and how far it moved.Q4. Invented sources: Source A (a ministry report) says bus use rose by 10% after fare cuts in one city. Source B (a taxi association survey) says taxi income fell. A student first thought fare cuts were clearly good. Write a three-part changed-view reflection.
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Example: "I thought fare cuts were clearly good. Source A showed bus use rose by 10% in one city, which supported me. Source B reported lower taxi income, from a group with an interest in the result, so I treat it as a viewpoint. I now think fare cuts can raise bus use, but I would need independent data on wider effects." Fact: bus use rose in one city. Viewpoint: the taxi group's claim. Interpretation: fare cuts can raise bus use.Q5. Which improvement is better justified? (a) “I would work harder.” (b) “Three of my four sources came from the same news site, so I would add a source from a different country to test whether the pattern holds.”
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(b). It names a weakness, a specific change and a reason. (a) names no weakness and no action.Q6. A student’s improvement reads: “I would choose a different topic.” Explain why this is not a research process improvement and suggest a replacement. Their real weakness: they recorded no dates for sources.
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It changes the topic, not how the research was done. Replacement: "I did not record dates, so I could not judge how current my data was. Next time I would log the date and author when I first open each source, so I can compare how up to date they are."Q7. A student’s log shows two articles read and no interviews. Their draft says “After interviewing two experts, I changed my mind.” What is wrong, and how should it be fixed?
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The interview did not happen, so the claim is fabricated. Fix: "After reading two articles by different authors, I became less certain because they disagreed about the cause. Next time I would add a third source."Q8 (harder). Using this invented log, write a short honest reflection of 4 to 5 sentences. Log: (1) used a charity report and a government dataset; (2) first thought the charity’s figure was reliable; (3) noticed the figures differed by 20% and the charity gave no method.
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Example: "I first trusted the charity's figure. When I compared it with the government dataset, the two differed by 20%, and the charity did not explain its method. I now give the government figure more weight, though I do not know which is correct. Next time I would look for a method statement before using any figure." Check: it adds nothing beyond the log, and separates the facts (a 20% difference) from the judgement (more weight).If you got these wrong
- Q1, Q2: you mixed description with reflection. Revisit description versus reflection.
- Q3, Q4: the evidence or the change was vague. Revisit connecting a changed view to evidence.
- Q5, Q6: the improvement was general or not about the process. Revisit one justified improvement.
- Q7, Q8: claims went beyond the notes. Revisit writing an honest reflection.
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