Reflection paper
iMozzie
ReflectionGuide.docxGuide
The reflection is personal and should address and include certain sections as discussed below. It is NOT A SUMMARY of each the chapters or lectures.
Length:
Your reflection should be 4-5 pages in length double spaced 12 point font.
Structure:
Your reflection should have a title, a brief introduction, all 3 sections listed and explained below (personal application reflection, class content reflection, and online class format/structure reflection) and a conclusion. Additional content of personal experience is welcome although not required.
Personal application reflection: this section should introduce and briefly explain one, two or three concepts from the chapter/s (e.g. ethnocentrism; high context; cultural shock…) this should not be more than half of a page in length at most. After you introduce the concept, you analyze it looking into how you may have seen it in your life and how; you should provide concrete examples from your life or that of other people close to you (e.g. gender roles, as I was growing up I was taught that…). If you disagree with the certain concept (e.g. the chapter says that Greek culture is high context in general and you disagree) you may provide arguments why you disagree. Please note that the sample personal application reflection is provided on blackboard and is a sample for content and not length nor in covers all required sections. Make sure that your transition between the concepts you choose to reflect on and discuss is smooth.
Class content reflection: in this section you will focus on the material discussed in class e.g. the lectures, chapters and text, video links, activities and self-assessments, guest speaker recorded lecture, discussion boards, speakers and topics for extra credit opportunities...etc. In this section you will write your own assessment of all or some of these.
Online class format/structure reflection: in this section please focus on the format of the class; you may discuss what worked for you? What did not work? What you liked and what you wished was different. While we all may have preferred the class to be face to face and you may mention this if you like, please focus in this section on the class’ online format itself.
Other: you surly can add anything that you would like to share which you may not have mentioned in the other sections.
Conclusion: Please conclude with a brief paragraph assessing your overall experience in this class.
Reflection is due on the date assigned in the syllabus and should be submitted on blackboard. While you may submit your reflection prior to the due date, no reflection should be uploaded before we finish discussing chapter 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sample
This examples provide an illustration of how one may approach discussing one concept. This is not an example of the whole section. Your own reflection may be shorter or longer depending on what you choose to reflect on and whether you reflected on two or more concepts. The following samples range between A-/A quality. These samples are excerpts from actual students’ reflections.
Sample one: (A-/A quality)
One concept that stood out to me was information rate. This concept is described as the amount of information contained in the environment during an amount of time. Information Rate has 2 different forms. It could be seen as High Load, or Low Load. Low load information rate is when your circumstances are probable, certain and simple. In these types of environments, you are usually familiar with much of the information you are taking in. Information rate in the form of high load is when your circumstances are improbable, uncertain and complex. It is described as being mostly in new environments with new encounters. This concept can affect our senses and emotions.
This concept stood out to me because information rate really has had an effect on me throughout my lifetime. I believe the process of learning for everyone begins the day they are born if not before. We are born learning how to adjust to the circumstances around us. We are thrusted into this world with no real knowledge of our purpose or our fate. We rely on adults or the people around us to guide us and sometimes mold who we will become. Although we think of a lifetime as a long journey, there are so many things to do and so much information to collect. In comparison to all the information in the world the amount of time we have to gather it is minuscule. As you can probably tell I have spent time thinking about this. But in a smaller context, I have come to realize that I am not interested in knowing every bit of knowledge in the world. I don’t think there is enough time in a lifetime to achieve this. What I want to be able to do is know the most about the subjects that bring be some kind of peace and fulfillment.
This also points to who I am as a person. I am someone who relies on peace to get through life. This is important to how I handle different forms of the concept information rate. In the chapter it says that different forms of information rate can make you feel out of control. When I feel out of control I also feel stressed. That is why for me I am at my best in a low load information rate. I like going to new places and trying new things. But I have to be well informed of the new place in order to enjoy it. I would say this is why I am more of a planner.
Sample Two (B+/A- quality) (this could be a continuation of discussing a second concept if it was from the same paper but this was not)
Irrespective of one’s age, social status, or level of education, conflicts happen in everyone’s life. Since conflicts are a part of life, it is imperative to understand my own style of resolving them. Though my conflict resolution style is first formed by familial and cultural background, it has changed through conscious effort and experience.
My conflict management style developed as a result of the influence of my family. While I was growing up, my father used to tell me that nothing in life came easily. I grew up with the idea that I had to fight for what I believed in even when I could be wrong. Therefore, I was introduced to the dominating facework style of conflict management and resolution at a young age. In this approach, one or both parties involved in a conflict take a firm stance in their opinions and defend it by various means. For example, they may persuade, request, demand, ridicule, or abuse the other party as a way of dominating the situation. Therefore, the dominating facework behavior involves the use of coercive or noncoercive means of winning concessions. The probability of a conflict escalating to hostility is often high in the dominating facework approach. Nevertheless, this is the style that shaped my method of handling disagreements to a large extent.
Although I saw my parents engage in heated arguments from time to time, I noted that their confrontation did not bring lasting solutions to their issues. This made me doubt the effectiveness of the dominating facework strategy and even question my parents’ attitudes towards interpersonal conflicts. As I grew up and increasingly interacted with people from different cultural backgrounds, I discovered that there were other methods of resolving differences. However, I found myself persuading and sometimes demanding that others accept my point of view. Consequently, I became exposed to aggressive conflicts that left me emotionally exhausted. The more I tried to change my approach to conflicts, the more I realized that it would not change overnight. I had to allow myself to learn gradually in different settings.
