This page is a work in process.
All CEL faculty - please send me your syllabi and CEL assignment, and CEL reflection assignments and/or activities that you're willing to share.
All CEL faculty - please send me your syllabi and CEL assignment, and CEL reflection assignments and/or activities that you're willing to share.
Written Reflection Assignment Examples from Fisher Faculty
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Asset-Based Mapping Workbook
| asset_mapping_workbook.pdf |
Final Assignment Examples
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Sample Rubrics
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How To Articles
Large Group Reflection Activities
| large_group_reflection_activities.pdf |
The ORID Model
| orid_model.pdf |
The Service Learning Journal
| the_sl_journal__aacc_.pdf |
Organizational Analysis Assignments
| organizational_analysis.pdf |
Critical Incidents Assignments
| building-citizens_part2b.pdf |
Community Engaged Learning Journals
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Other In-Class Reflections & Activities |
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Types of Reflection Journals
These types of journals identify some ways to structure journals in order to transcend mere description and promote connections between the course content and the service activities. Key Phrase Journal- Students are asked to integrate an identified list of terms and key phrases into their journal entries as they describe and discuss their community service activities. Students may be asked to underline or highlight the key phrases in order to identify their use. Double-Entry Journal-Students are asked to use a spiral notebook. On the left side of the journal students describe their service experiences, personal thoughts, and reactions to their service activities. On the right side of the journal, they discuss how the first set of entries relates to key concepts, class presentations, and readings. Students may be asked to draw arrows indicating the relationships between personal experiences and the formal course content. Critical Incident Journal- Students focus on a specific event that occurred at the service site. Students are then asked to respond to prompts designed to explore their thoughts, reactions, future action and information from the course that might be relevant to the incidents. For example, “Describe an incident or situation that created a dilemma for you because you did not know how to act or what to say. What did you do? List three actions that you might have taken, and evaluate each one. How does the course material relate to this issue, help you analyze the choices, and suggest a course of action that might be advisable?” Three-Part Journal- Students are asked to respond to three separate issues in each of their journal entries: 1) Describe what happened in the service experience, including what you accomplished, some of the events that puzzled or confused you, interaction you had, decisions you made, and the plans you developed. 2) Analyze how the course content relates to the service experience, including key concepts that can be used to understand events and guide future behavior. 3) Apply the course materials and service experience to you and your personal life, including your goals, values, attitudes, beliefs and philosophy. Different Perspectives- Ask participants to recall a specific occurrence from service experience that involved some degree of conflict. Ask them to assume the viewpoint opposite that which they actually held during this conflict (or the viewpoint they were the least empathetic with) and write a description of the conflict from this perspective. This can include what happened, their role in it, what they want, what they envision as the ideal solution. Good debrief questions are, “How did it feel to do this writing, how were you able to get in their shoes or how was it difficult.” Bringle, R.G. & Hatcher, J.A. Reflection in Community Engaged Learning: Making Meaning of Experience. Educational Horizons. Summer 1999, 179-185. PortfoliosA portfolio is a collection of documents and other forms of evidence of student achievements, specifically as they relate to learning plan objectives.
Items to be included in a portfolio: Documents drafted or written (article reviews, book reports, office reports, pamphlets or flyers). Written analysis of problems, issues, options or other assessments. Finished projects (videotapes, graphics, charts, spreadsheets, training programs, photos, marketing plans, research/project results, pamphlets). Lists of projects completed, presentations made, and training completed, all supported by date, location and organization. Annotated bibliography or copies of readings related to course objectives. Class PresentationsClass presentations can be an effective way to help students synthesize the material they have gathered during their Community Engaged Learning placements. The presentations can be short, three-minute updates throughout the semester or a longer presentation at the end of the semester. Presentations can be individual or group based, and can include inviting community members. PowerPoint can be used to create a visual, enhance the oral delivery, and incorporate photographs from the service experience.
Eyler, J., Giles, D.E & Schmiede: A Practitioner's Guide to Reflection in Service Learning. Vanderbilt U, 1996 Adapted from the Career and Community Learning Center at the University of Minnesota (www.servicelearning.umn.edu |
Artistic: Ask students to create a collage or create a model out of clay that communicates how they made a difference at their CEL site or how the CEL experience made a difference to them.
Role Play: Use case studies or scenarios for students to act out and discuss something they did not know how to handle during their service in the community. Have the students role play appropriate and inappropriate responses to the situation. Newsflash: Imagine you are a reporter assigned to write a “human interest” story. Follow basic journalism and answer the following questions: Who, What, When, Where, With What Results? What’s the Significance – related to a CEL interaction? Pair up and have one person be the reporter and the other the person being interviewed. Report your newsflash story to the group. Photography: Pick a photo that describes one CEL interaction or experience you or your CEL students had. Photo can be literal or metaphorical. Photos can be presented with others from similar projects with some comparisons/contrasts. Present your photo the group. Integrative PapersProblem Solving Papers: Students investigate a social problem related to their Community Engaged Learning assignment by defining the problem, analyzing root causes, identifying the stakeholders, identifying alternative policy solutions and recommending a policy to be pursued. "Research" is not confined to the library, but includes interviewing experts working to deal with the issue in the field.
Theory Application Papers: Students identify a particular theoretical perspective or concept and then use the experiences with community service to "test" the theory. Students argue for or against key points of the theory with examples from their experience. Case Studies: Case studies can focus on individuals, on the service project itself or on the agency's role in meeting the needs of community members. Students can develop case studies to be used in class discussions. Community Engaged Learning Self-Assessment: Assign a final paper to evaluate students' Community Engaged Learning experience using criteria identified for effective experiential learning. Students can discuss personal growth and critique the program and the placement. Agency Analysis: Students analyze the agency they worked with using appropriate organizational frameworks and evaluation tools. They combine their observations with information about who is served, how policies are made, where funding is obtained and future plans for the organization. 3/4-Step DebriefWhat Happened? (WHAT?)
(Describe what action was taken, what was the most memorable moment, and what did you see, hear, touch?) How do you feel? (What is your emotional response, what surprised, frustrated, pleased you, and how did the experience affect you?) What's the significance? (SO WHAT?) (What are you learning from this, why is this project important, how does it relate to what we're learning about in class, what other ideas do you have?) What's the Next Steps? (NOW WHAT?) (What will you do with what you've learned, how does it change future work with this project, what further questions has it raised for you?) ORID ModelObjective:
Begin with questions related to the concrete experience. What did students do, observe, read, and hear? Who was involved, what was said? What happened as a result of their work? Reflective: Next introduce questions that address the affective experience. How did the experience feel? What did it remind them of? How did their apprehension change or their confidence grow? Did they feel successful, effective, and knowledgeable? Interpretive: Then ask questions that explore their cognitive experience. What did the experience make them think? How did it change their thinking about…? What did they learn? What worked? Decisional: Finally, students are prepared to incorporate their experience into a new paradigm. They may have a shift in knowledge, awareness, or understanding that affects how they see things and, ultimately, how they will act. What will they do differently next time? What decisions or opinions have they formed? How will the experience affect their career path or their personal life choices? |
