COMM 353: Self-reflective essay - assignment sheet ** UPDATED 1x **

D R A F T

This is a rough draft, and I expect to do some tinkering to: (1) correct any illiteracies and references to other courses from which I copied and pasted parts of this assignment sheet; and (2) focus more specifically on some of the themes in Saller, Thurber and Nancy Brigham (the handouts from the UAW editorial consultant), especially editing as a collaborative process and management function.

Update on updates: Since I will be updating it, you should check back from time to time until I post a notice that it's in final form. Updates will be noted in the headline - UPDATED 1x - 2x - 3x - however many times it's been updated. - pe

Self-reflective essay (100 points). Write an essay of at least 1,250 words (five typed pages) in response to the questions below. Please feel free (or compelled) to quote freely, and attribute your quotes. Write as if you were submitting your essay for publication. Strive for a conversational tone. The essay is due Thursday, May 3. Email it to me and/or give it to me in person - but let's make sure I get it.

How has your perception of yourself as a writer, editor and/or media professional changed as a result of what we have studied in COMM 353? What was your overall sense of your professional development before you took the course? How has that changed as a result of your reading, class discussion, collaborating on the class project and observing the process by which it came together? How much have you used what you learned in COMM 353 in your other writing? What did you learn that surprised you the most? How, specifically, did it surprise you? Has your attitude toward writing and editing changed as a result of the course?

What worked? What didn’t work? Which of the texts and handouts we read for class helped you as a writer, i.e. suggested techniques you might try in your own writing or attitudes you might incorporate into your own craft agenda? Which suggested things you want to avoid at all costs! What did you learn from reading about the theory of editing and applying it to the practice of writing and producing our demonstation project? What was beneficial? What wasn’t?

INSERT A -- xxx some specifc stuff here on editing as a collaborative process and management function, what you knew about it ain Januray, what has changed -- how it can fit into your career as a wtiter, editor or media professional

Here are some questions, adapted from an English course at the University of Colorado-Denver, to help you think about your development as a writer:

• How has your writing changed during this semester?
  
• What do you see as your greatest strengths as a writer?
  
• What areas of your writing are you still working on?
  
• What do you think of as “good writing?” How do you evaluate your own writing and that of others?

In grading this essay, as always, I will evaluate the relevance of your discussion to the main goals and objectives of the course; the detail you cite to support or illustrate your points; and the connections you make. Be specific.

Here are some tips on self-reflective essays, from my old faculty webpage and other sources. Since COMM 353 is a writing and editing course (which academics classify as a "skills" course), this squib from an old handout on reflective essays linked to my faculty page may be helpful:

Writing (skills) courses. A skills course is one where you learn, or practice, a skill like writing. If you're taking freshman English or journalism, you'll be thinking -- reflecting -- about how you've grown as a writer. What was your writing like when you began the course? Is it better now? Are you more confident? Do you know where to look stuff up? Are you mastering the inverted pyramid format? (Basic newswriting is both a skills course and a content course, by the way, so if you're taking COM 209 look at my tips for content courses as well.) Consult the goals and objectives in our syllabus, or the "competencies" in the Illinois Articulation Iniative guidelines for the course. They'll suggest what you're supposed to learn. Be specific. What specific strategies, techniques or skills have you learned? It never hurts to be specific.

And here is a link to a very good discussion of self-reflective writing from Fairhaven College, Western Washington University. I especially like this:

A VITAL POINT: Try to write in a way which communicates information about the content of a course or independent study. Do not just speak in abstractions and personal feelings, such as "This class was extremely important to me because through discussion and the readings my thinking developed immensely." What subject? Which discussions? What did you read? think about what? developed from where to where?? A reader who does not know what the class studied should be able to gain an idea from your self-evaluation. One should be able to form some judgment about how well you understand a subject from what you say about it, not merely that you claim to understand it. In other words, BE SPECIFIC, BE SPECIFIC, BE SPECIFIC, BE SPECIFIC, BE SPECIFIC, and, finally, BE CONCRETE.

And this, which will help you evaluate all your courses, not just COMM 353 ...

To quote former Fairhaven dean Phil Ager, "It is a fiction to measure learning in a single way which therefore can be recorded by a single letter grade." Instead, he argues, there are at least four different kinds of learning:

Cognitive. Your new understandings and knowledge? What is the most important single piece of knowledge gained? What will you remember in a year? five years? How has your knowledge grown? changed? become more sound?

Skills. New skills gained? old skills improved? your ability to solve problems, think, reason, research? Did you actually use these skills? What skills do you need to develop next?

Judgment. Do you understand the difference between process and content? Can you apply principles? to other classes? life? If you took the class again, what would you do differently? Has your way of thinking changed?

Affective. (emotions and feelings) Did you change? your beliefs? values? Was the class worth your time? Do you feel good about it? the single most important thing you learned about you? Evaluate your participation in discussion. Did you discuss and learn with other students? How has the course altered your behavior? Did you grow? shrink? stagnate? float?