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Graduate WIL reflective reports

Reflection helps you turn experiences into meaningful learning. The graduate WIL reflective report is your chance to step back, consider what you’ve accomplished in your professional experience and connect it to your learning. By completing the report, you’ll link academic knowledge with your work experiences and consider how your journey has shaped your leadership, mentorship and career development. 

What will you do?

The graduate WIL reflective report is designed to help you pause, look back and connect your professional experience to your career journey. Using a “choose your own adventure” reflection, the report gives you flexibility to select the aspects of your experience that feel most meaningful. By engaging with reflection modules and focusing on career planning, you’ll articulate your growth and identify next steps for the future. 

Grading information

  • This reflective report will appear on your transcript as a graduate studies work report milestone, with a grade of 60% overall required to pass.  

What does the report consist of?

The graduate WIL reflective report was developed in collaboration with faculties and the Centre for Work-Integrated Learning. It is comprised of three sections and is designed to take approximately 2–3 hours to complete.  

Before you start, you will engage with short modules that guide you through the reflection process. These modules will help you revisit your career values, needs, and goals, and provide tips for connecting your experience to your long-term career development. You'll complete two sections: 

Part 1: Workplace context 

 Describe your role, tasks and the skills you developed during your professional experience. Additionally, identify the academic concepts or skills you leveraged and applied, as well as those you wish you had acquired beforehand.  

In support of continuous improvement and in accordance with Policy 73: Intellectual Property Rights, your anonymized responses to Part 1 may be shared with your faculty and within Co-operative and Experiential Education to help inform improvements to programs and curriculum.

Part 2: The reflection 

Engage in a structured reflection process designed to support integrative learning and professional identity development. Choose themes that are most relevant or impactful to you. 

Frequently asked questions

What is the purpose of the graduate reflective report?

The graduate reflective report is designed to enhance learning through structured reflection. It helps you connect academic knowledge with practical work experiences, deepening your understanding and preparing you for future challenges. This reflective report takes the place of the traditional work term report written for your program. 

When will students gain access to the report in LEARN, and when is it due?

Students will gain access to the preparatory content and reflective report during week 8 of their work term. The report will be due on the date and time listed in LEARN, typically during week 15 of the work term.

How is the report graded and who evaluates it?

The Centre for Work-Integrated Learning courses team administers and evaluates the report using a marking rubric; results are shared with graduate coordinators to facilitate the submission of the graduate studies work report milestones.

Is there a template or rubric for the report?

Yes. Students are provided with a marking rubric outlining evaluation criteria and performance levels, along with a time and word count guide for each prompt. 

How will the reflective report appear in Quest/on students’ transcripts?

Once students have received a passing grade on the reflective report, programs will process this as a completed graduate studies work report milestone. 

What happens during the pilot phase of the Reflective Reports?

The pilot phase will launch in fall 2025 with two co-op programs. Learnings will inform updates and improvements to the reflective report and its associated content, which will be available to all CEE-supported programs beginning spring 2026. 

Student inquiries

Student inquiries are supported via gradwilreports@uwaterloo.ca, which is managed by the Centre for WIL’s Graduate WIL Reflective Report Support Team (Centre for WIL Courses Team).