REFLECTION---
The reflection is your initiation of a dialogue with me about your work, and it is your chance to frame my understanding of your work. Reflective writing enables you to:
The portfolio enables you to gain some critical distance from your own work. When drafting your reflections, you should think of the work you are showing of the portfolio as “evidence” of the work you’ve done, how you’ve revised and what you’ve learned. You will begin by looking at everything you have collected and, as you reflect, consider where you are as an academic thinker, writer and researcher.
You might also compare it to the explanation we discussed when going over how to integrate outside material. What you choose to say should tell me why it's there, what's significant about it, and what you'd like be to notice about it.
Additional Notes (Do’s and Don’ts) for Reflection:
The reflection is your initiation of a dialogue with me about your work, and it is your chance to frame my understanding of your work. Reflective writing enables you to:
- Gain more understanding of where you are now as a writer and researcher, what has challenged you in the class and what you have accomplished, learned or demonstrated.
- Describe that understanding and those accomplishments to me.
- Bring my attention to certain features of your portfolio. If you have made substantial revisions on any draft since I last saw it, for instance, you should let me know in the reflection and explain the reasoning behind specific revisions.
The portfolio enables you to gain some critical distance from your own work. When drafting your reflections, you should think of the work you are showing of the portfolio as “evidence” of the work you’ve done, how you’ve revised and what you’ve learned. You will begin by looking at everything you have collected and, as you reflect, consider where you are as an academic thinker, writer and researcher.
You might also compare it to the explanation we discussed when going over how to integrate outside material. What you choose to say should tell me why it's there, what's significant about it, and what you'd like be to notice about it.
Additional Notes (Do’s and Don’ts) for Reflection:
- Do tie specific assertions back to specific examples from the portfolio and even passages from your work. If it is included in that section, then its reason for inclusion and its significance should be explained.
- Do remember that the primary focus of the reflection is your writing, your work and your decisions—not me, your group members, or the class. (Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t mention me or the class if these subjects come up in the discussion of your work. This is a reflection of your process, decisions and growth.)
- Don’t feel compelled to create a dramatic narrative of progress.
- Don’t feel compelled to be a salesperson. Recognition of weaknesses and shortcomings are a hallmark of rigorous reflection and learning.