A Small Writing Guide

A learning diary is a tool for assessing and developing one's own learning. It helps you describe your own experience, which supports your personal growth and helps identify weaknesses and strengths related to learning.

The learning diary supports your self-direction and assessment. It promotes reflection on how and what you have learned. It also provides information on the progress of studies and thereby encourages and motivates. The learning diary also serves as a clarifier of concepts, issues, and theories.

A learning diary is a reflection of what is heard, discussed, read or experienced. It involves reflecting, asking questions, and finding answers. A learning diary is not a paper or a summary of the topics and contents of lectures.

Creating a learning diary

You can start writing a learning diary before the lecture / seminar / study visit / or other learning situation by considering the following questions:

• What kind of preconceptions do you have?
• What are you expecting?

Creating a learning diary is process-based, so the text takes shape as the learning process progresses and as your own thinking deepens and is structured. A learning diary should be prepared as soon as possible after the learning situation. A learning diary is a structured written entity. Although its format is free, it is recommended to use paragraph breaks and titles in the text. The learning diary begins with a short introduction, which presents the background information of the learning situation, like time, place, organizer, goals, possible target groups, etc. The introduction should also briefly describe the realization of the learning situation, and make an overall assessment of its success, discussions, participants, etc.

After the introduction there is a section in the learning diary in which you should write concisely about the content of the learning situation and also about the discussions that have taken place. Content assessments should be critical and complementary and may include ideas of their own as well as those from other sources. The following questions will help you get started:

• What were the “core issues,” or important contents?
• What issues were highlighted in the discussions?
• What do you think was most significant? Why?
• What do you learn?
• Did your perception of things change so far? How?
• What did you not really understand? Why?
• How can you make use of the information and opinions you receive?

The learning diary ends with an analytical reflection on the content of the learning situation and one's own learning:

• What was the main thing you learned?
• Was it useful for your studies? How?
• What would you like to learn more about?

1 ECTS point for the learning diary consists of 4-6 seminar hours, in which case the scope of the diary is 3-4 reporting pages.

The layout of the learning diary

Use a template for written assignments. If the learning diary is based on a seminar or similar, attach the seminar's program to the diary.