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How to teach students to truly reflect

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Last updated on 2 June 2026
Students often see a reflection assignment as something to rush through, fail to see the point of it, or find it uncomfortable. The result? A hasty reflection they learn little from. With a structured approach, you can help students actually get something out of it.

Students learning about themselves is an important goal of education and fits the VU Amsterdam's educational vision. In practice, however, students often see a reflection assignment as something to rush through or simply find it uncomfortable. As a teacher, it is therefore important to emphasize the value of reflection. If you don't take it seriously, your students will sense that too. Feeling uncomfortable during reflection is part of the process and can actually be a sign of success. 

Good reflection builds self-awareness and helps students make plans to improve their behaviour in the future. With the five steps from Korthagen's reflection model, they do this properly. Below, we walk you through the steps so that you can teach them to your students. We have also developed a knowledge clip you can share with your students (available in Dutch and English).

Reflecting in five steps

  • Step 1: choose an experience to analyze

    To reflect properly, students first need to choose a concrete example to analyze. This is usually a personal experience, such as a decision, a conversation, an unexpected event, or an assignment they worked on during class or at home.

  • Step 2: look back at the experience

    Once an experience has been chosen, it is time to describe it in detail. To do this, students answer the following four questions thoroughly: 

    • What did I see? 
    • What did I do? 
    • What did I want? 
    • What did I feel?

  • Step 3: becoming aware

    Step 3 is all about awareness. Here, the student tries to understand why they acted the way they did in this situation and what that means. This is a demanding step that requires considerable effort, but it also yields the most insights. It is important to take time and reflect carefully. To support students and give them something to hold on to, you can share the following questions for deeper reflection: 

    • What is the problem or positive discovery? 
    • What factors led to this? 
    • What did that mean for me? 
    • What does this say about my strengths and points for improvement?

  • Step 4: set learning points for the future

    Once students have analyzed the experience thoroughly and arrived at insights, they look ahead. How can they learn from the experience going forward? Thinking this through enables them to work on improvement and growth. Ask your students to consider the following questions: 

    • What went well? 
    • In what other ways could I have handled this? 
    • What are the pros and cons of those other ways? 
    • What do I want to do differently next time? 

    This is where students make an action plan for how they want to handle a similar situation next time.

  • Step 5: put what you have learned into practice and reflect again

    The final step is taking action. Here, students apply what they learned in the previous four steps. How did the new experience go when they put their learning into practice? Did it go as expected? Are there new insights? Was the intended result achieved, or is there more to be gained? Students find this out by going through the steps above once more. Growing and learning requires more than one moment of reflection. Encourage them to make these steps a regular habit, so that it eventually becomes second nature and they continue to work on themselves.

Want to learn more? 

Watch the knowledge clip below, developed by the VU Education Lab. When you give students a reflection assignment, share the animation with them and encourage them to put it to use. 

Source:

  • Korthagen, F., & Nuijten, E. (2023). De kracht van reflectie (herziene versie). 

The tips for active blended learning are provided by the VU Centre for Teaching & Learning.

How to teach your students to reflect effectively

Are you looking for ways to teach your students strong reflection skills? The VU Education Lab has developed a knowledge clip that you can share with your students to help them learn how to reflect effectively.

The knowledge clip is available in both Dutch and English.

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