Week five and we were asked to look at Reflective Domains and Smart Goals. I really welcomed this as I was becoming concerned that my writing was too descriptive and less reflective; each post I published seemed to be getting longer and longer. We were given resources on both topics and set the following challenge:
Step 1
Review each of the entries you have created in your journal one at a time. Which of the five reflective domains are mentioned? Edit each individual entry and use the tagging system to tag it with the reflective domains mentioned. Multiple domain tags can be used for a single entry if the content spans multiple reflective domains.
Step 2
Tally up the number of times each reflective domain tag is used throughout the journal. This data could be visualised in a table or documented in text form. Note this down and acknowledge any imbalances. Which domain is the most dominant in your journal? Which domain needs more consideration in your reflection? Consider how you can address any imbalances in the future.
Step 3
Review the content in your journal. Acknowledge entries that could be used to help formulate a SMART goal. Identify the highest priority entries and create two or three SMART goals that build on the reflection from the journal entries. Remember, SMART goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Before I address step 3 and SMART Goals, let's identify the 5 reflective domains and how do they relate to my journal entries so far?
The 5 Reflective Domains
The 5 reflective domains are a way of structuring your writing to ensure you are focusing on the reflections rather than the specifics of the task.
Dispositional domain
The dispositional domain covers topics regarding time management, motivation, general behaviour, and discipline. It is a bedrock for other reflective domains and if not addressed properly can adversely affect the others.
Affective domain
The affective domain relates to feelings, experiences, and emotions. Reflection here draws on your emotional intelligence. Practitioners need to be honest about internal and external factors that are affecting performance and their ability to focus.
Interpersonal domain
The Interpersonal domain is how it sounds, relating to interacting with others, verbal/nonverbal communication, listening, negotiation, problem-solving, decision making, and assertiveness. Reflections should address areas where these can be improved and avoid overtly blaming others for group misgivings. It is also an opportunity to reflect on your own approach to peers and faculty members.
Cognitive domain
Reflection in the cognitive domain requires you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your approach to learning. Crucial insights can be found by identifying the type of learner you are and how best to facilitate that.
Procedural domain
Assessing the skills the practitioner has and identifying where improvements are needed. As challenges are posted weekly, this can be overly represented as it is easier to see where one's failures and assumptions can be rectified.
With the domains now established, I went through the process of step one and noted the instances of the domain in each critical reflection post, and then tagged them. The table shows only the instances of tags for the posts. For clarity, what is not depicted is where a domain is addressed multiple times in a single post.
Reflective Domain | Number of instances |
Dispositional | 3 |
Affective | 5 |
Interpersonal | 3 |
Cognitive | 4 |
Procedural | 5 |
It was noted that a common mistake with beginners to the process of critical reflection is to merely describe the context and experience. I feel that I am definitely guilty of this practice. This may stem from a heightened impostor syndrome where I feel the burning need to document and describe every element of a process to prove I am trying out and appropriately using the tools and methods suggested.
Looking at the table, however, it's worth noting I was surprised with the spread or reflective domains covered being so evenly distributed. I was sure that the bulk of the reflection would be in the procedural domain, and although this has the highest tally, it's not by a lot. It appears that although there is a lot of descriptive content in the posts, I am also leaving room for reflection. This, however, does not detract from the fact the posts are becoming prohibitively long. This issue is becoming more noticeable with more recent posts. The introduction of the domains this week could give me a framework when approaching each journal post. Hopefully, this will ensure that I focus on any personal development and reflections, rather than merely documenting my process. One area which is slightly underrepresented is the Interpersonal domain, which is unsurprising considering we have yet to undertake group work but is addressed as I discuss the spark forum and my interactions in webinars.
I am grateful for the opportunity to shine a spotlight on my reflective practices. In a previous post, I had stated that I was concerned I was committing too much to the page and needed guidance. The course content this week has given me additional tools to allow a focused approach to my journaling. I plan to use the domains as a way to keep my process honest and self-critical.
SMART Goals
Step 3 of the challenge required us to create two to three SMART Goals based on our journal entries. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound and can be used in formulating plans that are realistic and relevant to your personal growth. I have used SMART Goals in the past for my own personal development at previous places of employment so I could immediately see how they could be incorporated into critical self-reflection. Looking at my journal entries, three specific points were
raised:
Also In week 4: Rapid Ideation Session 1 - kickoff, I reference my own frustration with the length of the posts I am writing along with the relevance of the content.
In week 4: Time Management and Project Planning I discussed discord and it ubiquitous nature in the industry along with my complete lack of knowledge on the subject.
In week 5: Rapid Ideation Session 1 - prototyping and presenting, I mentioned I was interested in learning more about Adobe After Effects and Adobe Aero, and although they were too high fidelity for the ideation phase, I could see using them for “in-app” animation and more polished stakeholder presentations.
In considering these points I have come up with the follwing smart goals:
SMART GOAL 1
I will ensure that each of my reflective posts are under 7 minutes reading time and has at least three reflective domains addressed. This will keep my writing focused, relevant concise. I will be able to tell I have achieved this from the tools provided by my Wix dashboard. I will ensure this is the norm for my posts by the end of the module and will measure this by the average post length from weeks 6 to 12.
I feel this will be the most important goal to get right as I believe a more disciplined approach to writing my critical reflections will lead to better insights into my practice and a stronger basis for my end-of-module report. Keeping the post lengths down to less than 7 minutes will help with retrospectives and reviewing my progress. It will also help with keeping me motivated to consistently produce entries and not see them as a bind.
SMART GOAL 2
I will learn more about Discord so I can better communicate with my cohorts. I will read articles and watch video tutorials with a goal to post at least 2 posts a week on relevant servers or more where applicable. I will commit 2 hours a week for the next 2 weeks.
I genuinely believe this is also an important goal. Communicating and learning from my fellow students - from UX design and Indie Game Development - is a crucial part of me to get the most out of this MA. The interaction has been fairly fruitful so far, but I can see how forums and webinars won't be able to cut it as we begin to collaborate more in the future. Discord has clearly been identified as the platform of choice to facilitate this communication and I need to be 100% on board with this. As I am only looking to learn a communication platform, I believe 2 hours a week for the next 2 weeks should be sufficient, but I reserve the right to revise this estimate if I find the subject more expansive than expected.
SMART GOAL 3
I will improve my Adobe After Effects skills so that I can incorporate animation and video elements into my mockups. I will create test artifacts that demonstrate my increasing proficiency every 2 weeks. I will commit 1 hour a week for a month on the subject.
This goal falls more in the category of "would be nice to have". At this stage, it is not necessary to have these skills in my toolset, as I was able to demonstrate in my first ideation session that I could improvise and emulate to bypass my limited knowledge. However, as I move into using micro-interaction as well as more polished presentations, I feel the skills gained will be beneficial. I am not expecting to use these skills in the next ideation session, as I am a complete beginner, but I will have to start somewhere.
I'm looking forward to putting the tools learned this week into action and hopefully improving my reflective practices. As stated before I find it too easy to focus on the details of the implementation of each artifact. I want to describe my journey, however, I need to remember it's not necessary to describe the entire process and instead to focus on the takeaways. I see SMART Goals as an extension of the reflective domains in so much as they will allow me to set actionable objectives based on the insight I gain.
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