2. From the task sheet…
• Assessment overview
• This reflective journal requires you to demonstrate your
understanding of the information you’ve learned and gathered over
the last three weeks. Ideally you will incorporate this information
with your own understandings and experiences of PR. As such you
will be able to generate new schemas and conceptual frameworks.
• We hope to guide you through this personal reflection process by
offering questions to which you should respond using the
information provided by content pages and weekly readings as well
as any other research or reading you’ve undertaken on your own.
Motivation:
Extrinsic: 30% across two journal entries.
Intrinsic: Immeasurable?
3. From the task sheet…
Assessment details
• Your reflection should seek to address the two following questions:
• Is public relations theory and practice universal? Should good
practitioners allow for variations in local operating environments?
(Provide a couple of examples of how this might be done).
• Is there organizational value in reflecting the population and
cultural diversity of an organisation’s operating environment with
its representative team of public relations professionals? If so why?
If not, why not?
600 words (+/- 10%)
4. How to make a start?
Review your resources
Understand the rubric
Brainstorm and plan
Format and structure your writing
Know how to reference sources
“'One of the most engaging uses of personal
student journals is as a mirror of the mind.
In this mode, journals invite learners to find
language deep within self to array one's
hopes, dreams, disappointments, concerns
and resolves…..The result is that students
often express astonishment and delight at
the kaleidoscopic self portraits which
emerge from the pages of their notebooks
as they journey through a course.'
(Bowman, as cited in Moon, 2003, p5)
6. Personal Reflection…
The key to writing a successful personal reflection is to remember that it
is a personal response made by you. Therefore, your responses are
usually different from someone else’s. Your response will be influenced
by:
1) Your opinions, beliefs and experiences
2) Similarities or contrasts to your own life (i.e. experiences you can
identify with)
3) How real or believable a subject / text is
4) Your emotional state at a given moment
5) Sympathy or empathy with characters
Even though you have been asked to provide a personal response you will
still need to justify your opinion. This means you need to give reasons
why you developed your ideas.You can support your response through:
1) Examples from the text
2) referring to specific events within a text
3) referring to specific quotes within a text
(Feledy, 2011, http://bit.ly/1f5TuMJ)
7.
8. 2. Ability to articulate your ideas
Unsatisfactory
Excellent
Max Marks = 1 Very little
analysis of teaching and
learning in the 21st century.
Very few or undeveloped
personal examples of what this
means to you.
Max Marks = 6 Demonstrates
a deep understanding of
teaching and learning in the
21st century and personal
connections are made that
enhance this understanding.
Able to articulate key ideas
with depth and clarity.
Simple analysis vs deep understanding. Personal examples vs personal connections that
enhanced (or challenged) this understanding.
13. Specific referencing styles that may be useful…
Online forum/discussion board posting and other such references (plus is a wonderful
resource overall): http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/
An example of citing a personal journal:
Source: http://eadm820.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/essay-guide.pdf
Personal life experience is not cited
http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/04/can-you-cite-personal-life-experience.html
You can find the exact publication date of a web page by following these instructions:
http://www.labnol.org/internet/search/find-publishing-date-of-web-pages/8410/
Referencing a software app:
http://rivendell.lib.uic.edu/news/2011/10/14/how-to-cite-an-app-in-apa-format/
14. So how might you get from these resources you have…
15. …to reflect and think critically about what the key concepts
you select mean for you and your future students in the
changing landscape of the 21st century?
16. Brainstorm -> Plan -> Draft.. Draft.. Draft..
Select the concepts or issues from your resources (readings, journal,
discussion board, etc.) that sparked something in you
Identify what the spark was and why
What experiences or personal connection do you have to the selected
concepts or issues?
Apply The 5R’s Framework to each concept or issue
and attempt some free writing for each
Is there any connection or relationship between the concepts/issues selected
that could underlie a theme or cohesive approach
to your reflective writing?
Use the Model to Generate Critical Thinking to form critical questions
to begin to structure your approach for your reflective writing
21. “Reflection could be argued to be the essential stage where
learning is integrated within the whole learner, and added to
existing frames of reference… internalised and personalised.”
(The Higher Education Academy, 2006)
Source for the quote:Moon, J. (2003). Good practice in Teaching and Learning. University College Dublin. Retrieved from: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/assets/resources/pd/tl-modules/teaching-approach/group-assignments/learning-journals.pdf
Readings, journal, portfolio, discussion board, personal experience, personal connections, further research, the children you’ll teach and aspirations for your teaching in the 21st century.Sources of images:Experience - http://www.ventiq.com/wordp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/experience.jpgPortfolio - http://cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/PRACTIKA/256/portfolio.pngJournal - http://www.deborahmay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/journal.jpgThinking (personal connections) - http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/thinking-cap-1.jpgMulticultural kids http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ef8BTn0p1Mc/TDqtFoU1kfI/AAAAAAAAANg/Ui4dqEvNjv8/s1600/multicultural+education.jpgAcademic research http://phdepic.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/reading.jpgResearch http://saintleoinkblot.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/research-icon1.jpg
Source: Feledy, N. (2011) How do I write a good personal reflection? Learning & Writing, viewed 23 August 2013, <http://isthismystory.com/2011/08/how-do-i-write-a-good-personal-reflection/>
It shows the progression from descriptive to analytical then evaluative question types- from single word queries to proper questions to allow you to really examine the experience you are reflecting on. This takes practice. Try this, in addition to some free writing on the ideas you have, which you may already have been doing or begun in your learning journals or in your portfolios.
The key here is about conveying a depth of understanding through personal connections. Note that a simple analysis or presentation of some of the topics, or giving only simple examples of where something related to the topic may have been experienced, will prevent obtaining higher marks on this aspect. Deep understanding needs to be shown and personal connections made that helped to developed, enhanced or challenged that understanding, for example, rather than just personal examples (see Above Average,) is necessary.
You may find that this framework is helpful to tease out some of these personal connections from topics/concepts/issues that sparked your interest in the discussion board activities, readings, or that arose in your journal writing or portfolio entries.It can be accessed from: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZLd0neTMGvOHBGNXpSUV9VdEU/edit?pli=1
Source of image: http://collectivenext.com/blog/role-collaboration-reflectionThere are many excellent examples in the discussion board threads of how the depth of insight has developed for students as they’ve fleshed out ideas, asked and answered questions on the discussion board. Preferably, and if it is relevant to the concept you are discussing, you’ll be able to provide examples of where you were involved in the discussion and gained insights. Your interest may otherwise have been sparked by reading other conversations to which you didn’t post, you may also reference these if they triggered aspects of your reflection. There’s still time for more collaboration over this week and next on the discussion boards. * There are also a number of conversations that were side-lines from the focus of the activity and this is absolutely fine to use. For example, equity for indigenous Australians and education for sustainability were two sizeable and relevant aspects that have not yet been fleshed out on the discussion board, though these are critical aspects of education in the changing global context and are highly relevant for a discussion in this reflective writing piece.
From the eLA links posted to the Bb discussion board;First, second and third person overview - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZLd0neTMGvY3BIcWlTMGZBZ0U/edit?pli=1The screenshotsshown on the top of thisslideweretakendirectlyfrom–https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZLd0neTMGvd0ZJX1Y3bnFybmM/edit?pli=1The screenshot on the bottom of this slide is from the Southern Cross University link - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZLd0neTMGvZDBiNFpRVWl1cVU/edit?pli=1 *** This resource has a wonderfulexemplar of a reflectivewritingparagraph, as shown on the nextslide…
There is also an example paragraph on this document that shows Theory followed by an interpretation/evaluation
If you have a page number to help you later find your journal entry that you made, you could include this in the citation. If you have kept your journal as a blog, then there is an online publication of it, and you can therefore use the “blog” format, as shown on the purdue web page above.
Readings, journal, portfolio, discussion board, personal experience, personal connections, further research, the children you’ll teach and aspirations for your teaching in the 21st century
So how will you get from your
If you are not sure where to start or have not tried reflective writing before, you may like to try this approach to get you started…
Mind map or a concept map might be ahelpful tool to get you going… a mind map shows how the ideas come off from a central concept (eg. Teaching and learning in the 21st century) with branches coming off… there is a link here for further information about mind mapping:Concept mapping is similar, except that it focusses on the relationships between the concepts and this may be a helpful later step for a mind map to help move towards higher level thinking and creating a cohesive reflective writing piece
The Higher Education Academy (2006) - source: http://escalate.ac.uk/resources/reflection/05.htmlSource of image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CfMoibdhZeQ/Tv49FPSZFRI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/olONHo_5EAA/s1600/reflection_28.jpg
