CHE 451
Chemical Engineering Senior Design Class
Examples of work
Dr. Lisa G. Bullard
Department of Chemical Engineering
Fall 2001
Reflection
Assignments
Reflection Assignments are brief (1-2 page), informal explorations of
ideas, concepts, and connections. They are designed to help you stand
back from a project and experience and think about it from various perspectives.
As such, they can help you to solve problems or make your more aware of
certain possibilities in your work. In the Module, they’re designed
to help you connect what we’re learning about teaming, writing and
speaking with your activities teaming, writing and speaking in the broader
senior design context. As I read and think about your reflections, I can
also be better prepared to help you with the kinds of problems you may
be facing in your oral and written reports.
Each reflection assignment may ask you to do some specific kinds of thinking
about your work. One week, for example, I may ask you to write about the
most significant roadblock you’re facing as you prepare on of your
reports. Another week I may ask you to think about how you might present
your work to a mixed audience of specialists and non-specialists. Reflections
are not meant to be essays or formal analyses, but they should show some
degree of critical awareness and thoughtfulness.
Reflections are due by 5pm the Friday before Monday’s TWS session.
All but the first reflection should be submitted via the module website.
Use the following rubric productively. Ask yourself, as you complete the
assignments, how well you’re meeting the different criteria.
The Five Reflection. Meets the minimum length requirement of one full
page (@ 300 words). The reflection is thoughtful and thought provoking,
providing a response to the question/s that shows insightfulness and depth
of understanding. It also provides specifics rather than generalities,
perhaps in the form of examples. The reflection also links, when required,
the work of the Module to the writing and speaking experiences of the
broader course. Finally, the reflection is, although generally informal,
relatively well written with a sense of organization and few or no grammatical
errors. Reflections scoring 5 are often interesting to read.
The Four Reflection. Meets the minimum length requirement of one full
page. It is generally thoughtful, though it may at times seem a bit perfunctory.
It includes some specifics or examples to illustrate its points, and also
demonstrates the ability to link the module material to specific teaming,
writing and speaking experiences in the broader course, though at times
these links may be a bit weak or undeveloped. The reflection is well written
though it may have a few lapses in grammar or organizational structure
that do not impede understanding.
The Three Reflection. Meets the minimum length requirement but barely
so. It is adequate but may seem more like a quickly done report than a
thoughtful analysis. Because it is done quickly, it may lack some specifics,
offering mainly generalized statements, and may make only a few undeveloped
connections between the module material and course experiences. The reflection
has noticeable lapses in grammar and organizational structure that do
not usually impede understanding.
The Two Reflection. Does not meet the minimum length requirement. The
reflection is not adequately thorough and provides very few specifics
to support the statements. The reflection makes very few connections and/or
inadequately explained ones between the module material and course experiences.
The reflection also has substantial grammar and/or organizational errors
that impede understanding in several places.
The One Reflection. Appears to have been written in haste at the last
minute. It is incomplete, unreflective, unsophisticated and overly general.
The reflection does not include any specifics and/or has grammar and structural
problems that make it unclear and unintelligible.
Reflections not turned in will receive a zero score. Late Reflections
will be penalized.
Reflection Assignment #1:
In this first reflection assignment, you will do some planning for your
team’s first phase report. You will also be developing some guidelines
to manage the team’s activities and to clarify deadlines and assignments.
Be sure to complete and submit this 1-2 page informal reflection via email
(amanda_granrud@ncsu.edu)
by 5pm, Friday, January 25th.
While you do not need to answer all of the following questions, you should
address a majority of them. They include: What is the exact purpose of
the report? Who will read the report? Why do they need the report? Must
any sections be completed before others can be started? What is each person’s
assignment? What is each person’s deadline? What do you know about
the purpose of this document that can help you make informed decisions
about its content, style, length, etc.? Spend some time planning for your
writing, and include in your reflection some commentary about how you
intend to draft this document collaboratively. Include some commentary
about your own concerns or contributions: how do you see yourself contributing
to your team's writing efforts? What are your strengths and weaknesses
in writing and how will those work in the context of your collaboration
on this draft?