Sample Reflection Assignments A common method of reflection is the student’s preparation of a journal and/or reflection paper. The most significant learning often occurs during this reflection. The following questions are helpful to students as they reflect. One option is to have students write a certain number of journal entries. Another is to have students write a reflection paper towards the end of their volunteer work. Below are some examples of reflection assignments. Journal: You are expected to write five journal entries (3-5 pages, typewritten) throughout the semester. The journal assignment is intended to help consider, reflect upon, and learn from the readings and your experiences in the field. If you have difficulty deciding what to write about, please discuss this with me and we will generate some topics. It is very important that you use proper grammar and language in your journals. They are meant to be more informal than a research paper, but it is still an academic assignment.

Journal entries may include (but are not limited to) the following: **An analytical consideration of the text and your volunteer experience.

You may wish to discuss some aspect of the reading that is similar or different from your experience in the field. You may wish to write about one of the chapters or a quote from the book that was particularly interesting or provocative to you.

**Your own beliefs and values. Think about how these influence your reaction to the readings and your experiences at the agency. Consider also how your work in this course has an effect on your beliefs and values.

**Your responses to particular readings and experiences, interactions, and experiences in the field. Record both your positive and negative reactions to what you are reading and what you are experiencing in your volunteer work. Think about what classifies, for you, a situation as positive or negative.

Each entry is worth up to 20 points. Reflection Paper/Self-evaluation: Address the following questions in a reflection paper (7-10 pages long). • What is/was the significance of your service at the agency/organization? • What did you learn about the agency/organization staff, those persons served

by the agency/organization, and their similarities or differences to you? • What did you learn during your service that enhanced your learning gained in

the classroom? • What impact might your service have on your lifelong learning process? • What impact does/did your service have on your everyday life? • What insights did you gain through your service that might assist you in your

career or in selecting a career? • What did your service teach you about community involvement, citizenship,

and civic responsibility? • What is the relationship of your service to the “real world”? • How were you able to contribute to the agency/organization goals?

• What do you feel was your main contribution to the agency/organization? • What did you do during your volunteer work that made you feel proud? • What was the most difficult part of your work? • If you were to start at the beginning of this project again, what would you do

differently the second time around? Paper/Project option (from a Sociology Course): Purpose-- To demonstrate in a traditional academic method the integration of sociological perspectives with the service learning experiences and the specific subjects of the course. The paper/project gives the students the opportunity to synthesize the various components of the class and also address one topic of particular interest to them. The assignment is one element of a student’s credit in the class, participation in volunteer work and in the other assignments of the course are also crucial to receiving credit. The Paper assignment involves integrating course material with the volunteer experiences. It should be about 7-10 pages long and include the following:

• Relate your volunteer experience to the text. Choose the chapters (there must be at least 2) in the text and apply them using direct quotations to the work you did this semester.

• Apply the Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist theories to your volunteer work. If other perspectives are applicable (post modern, feminist, etc.), please include them as well. • For example, if you worked in a homeless shelter, describe how

Functionist theorists explain homelessness. What do Conflict theorists have to say about homelessness? How does the looking-glass self theory of the Interactionists relate to homelessness?

• Discuss the effect of major social forces on the population you served, and on the circumstances or social problem addressed by the volunteer site. Major social forces include social class, gender, ethnicity (race), family, religion, education, politics, age (cohort effect), rural and small town vs. urban setting, geographical region, and effect of immigration. Include as many of these as are applicable to your work.

• Identify three strengths you demonstrated in your volunteer activity. • Identify three areas where you feel you could use additional guidance

and learning in order to be more effective. • Describe the most valuable learning experience you received from this

volunteer placement. A project is sometimes more meaningful than a paper. Students may wish to leave lasting mark on the site or on the subject matter of the course and a project is a method by which to accomplish this goal. Projects are often developed and accomplished in a group, but it is possible to do an individual project. Some past projects have included: fundraisers, education campaigns,

an event for the people served by a particular volunteer site, an educational video, development of informational materials for people affected by a particular circumstance or social problem, and research. Some questions students may ask themselves during the development of a project include:

• What resources are missing from the volunteer site and how can we as students remedy this situation?

• How can we help people to better understand the nature of the circumstances facing the people at the volunteer site, both staff and the population served?

• What do people at the volunteer site need and are there resources in our community to address these needs? How can we get them to our site?

• What cultural influences do I see that encourage or discourage particular attitudes about the site population?

• Is there any way to prevent people from needing the services of this agency? What can we do to engage in prevention?

Projects require evidence of analysis related to the course and the presentation of these thoughts. This may be turned in to the instructor as an oral presentation, a paper, or a visual presentation.