Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is a model created by Professor Graham Gibbs in 1988 to structure the process of learning through experience. The cycle consists of 6 stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. At each stage, the individual reflects on a past experience by describing what happened, considering feelings, evaluating what went well and poorly, analyzing causes and consequences, concluding lessons learned, and developing an action plan for improvement.

1. Gibbs´Reflective Cycle
Learning through experience
Created by Professor Graham Gibbs (1988)
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2. Description
What happened?
Give a concise description of
your experience
When and where did it
happen?
What happened?
What did you do?
What did others do?
What was the result?
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3. Feelings
What were you thinking and
feeling?
How did you feel and what
did you think prior, during
and after the experience?
What do you think other
people felt?
What do you think about
the situation now?
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4. Evaluation
What was good and bad
about the experience?
What went well?
What did not work?
What did you do to
contribute? Was is helpful
or not?
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5. Analysis
What sense can you
make of the situation?
This is analytical part, so
try to explain the causes
and consequences of
things that happened.
Why you think it happened?
Why you think the things went
badly?
Why you think the things went
well?
Why did you act that way?
Why the reactions of others were
similar or different to yours?
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6. Conclusion
What else could you have
done?
What could you have done
differently?
What did you learn (positive
or negative)?
What do you need to
develop so that you can
handle this type of situation
better?
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7. Action plan
If it arose again, what would
you do?
Come up with a plan so that
you can make improvements,
changes
In which areas can you
improve?
What specific steps do you
need to take?
(set also a date to review
progress)
@lohynova