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Writing Project #2:

ENGL 1302

Dear Martin CWFP/Implicit Bias Reflection

Instructor Christopher Kyle

Why:

Being able to critically reflect is an important component to being an effective stakeholder in the world. One component of critical reflection is recognizing and addressing biases. While this is not easy or might not feel “good”, we all have biases, and it is important to confront them. I have participated in this process myself, and it was incredibly helpful in guiding me to better understand my own behaviors. Researchers from Harvard worked for several years to make a tool available to the public. We will utilize the Project Implicit tool as a springboard for our critical reflection.

How:

For this assignment, you will first read the article “ Understanding Implicit Bias ” After you read the article, you will access the Project Implicit website and choose 3 different Implicit Association Tests (IAT). After you have read the article and completed 3 tests, you will write a reflection to submit on Blackboard. Reflections will not be made public and will be for my eyes only.

Your written reflection should contain three parts:

1) reflection over the article

2) reflection over your IAT results

3) how implicit bias is exposed in Dear Martin by Nic Stone

1) Read the article by the Ohio State University Kirwan Institute, “ Understanding Implicit Bias ”. During the reading, I suggest you annotate the article. This will help you later process your thoughts for the reflection. After reading the article, I suggest you do some freewriting for 5 minutes to capture your initial thoughts. The process of freewriting involves writing everything down as quickly as possible WITHOUT worrying about grammar, punctuation, or organization. You are basically allowing your stream of consciousness to take over.

2) Access the Project Implicit website created by Harvard University. Read the consent form and click “I Wish To Proceed”. The consent form is just telling you that they use the results for research. Due to FERPA laws, all your information will remain anonymous.

Once you have consented to participate, there will be 13 IATs for you to choose from. You will complete a minimum of 3. Choose your first IAT and make sure you read the directions thoroughly before beginning. Not following the directions could affect the results. Also, at the end of the IAT, do your best to answer honestly. Remember, your information remains anonymous. You only have to share with me what you choose to share with me in the reflection.

Again, I suggest you do freewriting at the end of each IAT to dump some of your initial thoughts. This freewriting will help you write a better reflection once the process is complete. Remember, please take a minimum of 3 IATs in order to give you a wider range of options for your formal reflection. Access Project Implicit website and list of IATs here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Expectations for Reflective Essay:

• Shows understanding of the article

• It is clear that you participated in several IATs

• Clear understanding of how implicit bias was exposed and unpacked in Dear Martin

• Includes details and depth (remember freewriting can really help you with aspects of the formal reflection essay, tutorial for Freewriting- https://youtu.be/tzdI1l0ybNg )

• Moves beyond basic reflection and into critical reflection with honesty, perspective, and insight

• MLA formatting, well-written and shows attention to grammar/mechanics

Criteria	Beginning		Developing		Exceeding
Focus on Article	Little to no examples or details to support understanding of article or concepts, surface level and vague, leans heavily on summary rather than analysis		Some examples offered from text lack detail or depth, offers a basic review of the article with some personal connections, shows basic reading comprehension		Shows understanding of multiple concepts discussed in article, able to personal connections, offers insightful examples/details, demonstrates depth of knowledge by including both textual evidence and personal analogies
Focus on IAT	no evidence of participating in IATs		Discusses interaction with IATs but sometimes relies on basic summary, limited personal connections and lacks analysis of process		thoughtful discussion over one specific IAT or synthesizes multiple IATs in a meaningful way, ability to analyze and evaluate purpose of IATs
Critical Reflection	Reflection does not move into critical moments, mostly guarded, generic, and superficial		Writer is attempting to engage in critical reflection but sometimes demonstrates guarded and hesitant to step into uncomfortable moments		Writer demonstrates an ability to critically reflect by engaging in authentic assessment of beliefs and actions, willingness to confront and problematize our past, present, and future
Connection to Literature	Reflection does not move into critical understanding or connection to the novel, Dear Martin		Writer is attempting to engage into critical understanding or connection to the novel, Dear Martin, along with exposing some implicit biases		Writer demonstrates an ability to engage into a critical understanding to the novel, Dear Martin, along with exposing a sufficient amount of implicit biases
Organization & Clarity	lacks organizational skills, actually hinders clarity and causing confusion, lacks intro and conclusion		somewhat structured, concise, and clear, intro and conclusion are present but lack depth		concise, makes sense to the reader, and has a clear sense of organizational skills, has a strong intro that hooks reader and conclusion that offers a “so what”
Professionalism	MLA not attempted; errors are distracting to the readability and overall content; communication hindered by lack of attention to language uses		Effort at MLA is clear; contains a few errors but does not heavily interfere with readability; demonstrates basics of written communication		Correctly uses MLA formatting for the paper and citations; free from all errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics and style; demonstrates mastery of language through the diction and sentence fluency