BADP2005
City Design and
Urban Ecology
Assessment 3: Critical Reflection
CONTEXT
Reflective learning is an important process. It helps develop a deeper understanding
of the new information you are consuming and the new skills you are developing.
Reflecting on your learning enables you to consider your own views and understand
the knowledge and skills you have gained or can still improve on. This is important for
professional development. The practice could be replicated, for example, when
addressing selection criteria for a job application.
The purpose of this assignment is to describe your learning process and outcomes
through reflection in a journal-portfolio. With reference to the unit’s learning outcomes
and key concepts, as well as the work you have completed across the semester, the
journal-portfolio should demonstrate you have engaged with new information and
developed your skills as a practitioner in training.
GUIDANCE
The reflective journal-portfolio should provide proof of your learning experience and
outcomes in the unit. Successful assignments will perform several critical tasks.
1. Introduce the aim and contents of the reflective journal-portfolio.
Describe the context and purpose of the journal-portfolio (see above) in your
Introduction. Preview the main content of the journal-portfolio: identify the learning
outcomes you will discuss, and the key concepts and/or learning materials you will use
in your reflections.
2. Describe your learning experience with reference to the unit’s learning
outcomes. Draw on key concepts, principles, or design actions from the unit.
The journal should engage with a minimum of three learning outcomes. You should
identify the learning outcomes in your journal entries and explain how your learning
experiences addressed the selected outcomes. You can refer to lecture content,
tutorial activities, assessment tasks, unit readings and resources, and even related
personal experiences. Use text(s) and images from the unit to provide evidence of your
learning experience and outcomes. The relevant learning outcomes are listed on the
Assignment page and Unit Outline.
When describing your learning experience, and demonstrating how it connected with
the learning outcomes, you may reflect on some of the new concepts, principles, or
design actions you’ve encountered in the unit. Some examples include:
• Concepts: ecosystem services, Cool Commons, Water Sensitive Urban Design,
Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design, regenerative design, biomimicry.
• Principles: connectivity, benevolence, inclusive governance, etc.
• Actions: green roofs, rain gardens, nesting boxes/bricks, etc.
You might explain, for example, how learning about Biodiversity Sensitive Urban
Design helped you understand how to apply a design concept with beneficial
ecological outcomes (LO3). Or you might explain how learning about the relationship
between ecosystem services and liveability helped you better understand the role and
responsibility urban professionals have to maintain ecosystem health (L04).
3. Critically reflect on your learning experiences and outcomes in the unit.
Provide some personal reflection on your journal entries by considering the knowledge
and skills you have, or have not yet, developed in the unit. You can also identify any
ideas or information you did (not) find challenging and reflect on whether any of your
learning experiences changed how you think about an issue or practice in architecture,
design, and planning. Some potential questions to guide your reflection include:
• Why did you selected these learning outcomes to reflect on?
• What learning outcomes and/or experiences did you find most interesting or
informative?
• Was there new topics, or practical skills, that you encountered or developed for
the first time? Or did you strengthen existing knowledge or skills?
• Have your views about the roles and responsibilities of built environment
professionals changed at all?
• Do you think your learning experiences will be relevant to your career or
personal life in the present or future?
• Is there something you want or need to learn more about?