WRD 103: Composition & Rhetoric I: Winter Quarter 2014 Rotating Header Image

Course Reflective Portfolio

Learning without reflecting on how, what, and why we are learning is meaningless. In First Year Writing, we believe that a digital portfolio is the best platform — like a dot-connecting mechanism — for supporting your reflections.

Due Date: during our scheduled final-exam periods, when we will meet for the final, official delivery of your WRD103 Portfolios
— Section #129: Tuesday, March 18th, 8:45-11:00 a.m.
— Section #130: Tuesday, March 18th, 11:45-2:00 p.m.
Audience: Instructor, Classmates, WRD/FYW administrators, university assessment committees

A Note on Reflection

Reflection refers to the iterative process that we engage in when we want to look back at some activity or decision we’ve made, to think about what we’ve learned from it, and how we might use it in the future. Reflection is a powerful tool in teaching and learning — think of it as a dot-connecting mechanism — and outside of academics, reflecting is a common tool among professionals and organizations as a way to establish values, goals, and future actions:

    •    What did I do? What is significant about it?
    •    Did I meet my goals?
    •    When have I done this kind of work before? Where could I use this again?
    •    Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did?
    •    How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve?
    •    What should I do next? What’s my plan? 

Reflection is also challenging: by its own nature, it requires honesty, self-awareness — what some people call meta-awareness or metacognition — and the ability to think critically about the conditions of our work and its outcomes. 

For your WRD103 digital portfolio, I have created a basic Digication portfolio with a recommended organizing principle. In a new Digication site, you’ll include:

Planning notes