Reflection/Planning A Capstone is a time for serious and deep reflection on your education. This assignment is about reflecting on what you have learned over your lifetime. This should include what you have learned through formal education and include what you have learned through life experiences. Reflection: Reflection is, I believe, one quality of an educated person. What are the criteria you identified in Perspectives and in your studies since then, that define an educated person? How did you fare with respect to these criteria? How did your education go throughout your life and at Metro State? It seems to me that reflection on one’s education involves studying how and when and why and under what circumstances and how well we have learned the things that we believe to be important. By that I mean that learning to parallel park is not the same as learning about (and developing skills with respect to) the dimensions and impact of race in our society, of our increasing global interdependence and it’s consequences, or of critical thinking, to name a few; learning about such important issues takes place in classes and throughout our lives. It is developmental and ever-changing. The Journal that you started in Perspectives might give you a great deal of information and ideas in this regard. The Capstone is a time to reflect seriously on these things. Reflection is a process, and it is a process that deserves your careful attention and all of your skills. Thus, you should use our critical thinking skills to make certain that you are doing a serious, substantive job of reflecting on education, rather than merely skimming the surface. This means avoiding superficial observations (e.g., I learned a great deal in this class) and critically examining and explaining what you learned (e.g., the reading and class discussions of X required that I made certain that I was following the rules of logic, reasoning and syllogistic thinking, the appropriate citation of appropriate experts, and the actual testing of the use and validity of the conclusions). Framework: First, indicate the famework you wish to use in your reflection–for example, your definition of an educated person, the six competence areas of the College of Individualized Studies. (These are listed in the Prsp301 Workbook–communication, community, humanities, the natural world and mathematics, vocation, lifelong learning and avocation). Or use the College’s goals which are self-directed, life long, transcendent learning. Or, pick your own framework for an Educated Person. Or, use your own definition. Aha Moments: Second, analyze and reflect on your education, including what you learned earlier in school, and what you have learned through life experiences, in relation to these criteria. Identify at least five “aha” moments–pivotal moments in your learning process. You should “show” rather than just “tell,” using specific examples. Tell a story– spend some time contemplating your memory of those moments. Use creative writing to tell the story in a vivid way – include descriptions of places and people, proper names, and direct or indirect dialog. Explain how the events in that story made you more competent in a specific way. This means you will have to write about competency in an abstract, theoretical way. Spend some time thinking about the principles, theories, concepts, or models that you gained from the experience you’ve recalled. Planning: Following your reflection on your education and given the gaps that you find in that reflection, you should address the issue of planning your future education. This need not be as extensive as the reflection nor as detailed as your degree plan, but it should address what you think you need to know and be able to do in your future, with some reference to your notion to what it means to be educated. This should include learning outside the classroom, as well as more formal learning. Details: This assignment should not be less than 10 pages (double- spaced, typed, not less than 2500 words). You will be graded primarily on how seriously you take the reflection process and secondarily on how well you can express that. I will not judge the quality of your educational process, but will judge the thought you put into reflecting on it. I KNOW THIS IS A PERSONAL ASSIGNMENT, I HAVE PROVIDED WHAT I HAVE SO FAR, I WILL ATTACH MORE. IN THE MEAN TIME, USE WHAT IS BELOW, THINK OF YOUR OWN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES. THIS IS THAT I HAVE SO FAR, SEE BELOW ****Being an educated person to me is to be one that accumulates knowledge AND KEEPS IT. Whether it be street smarts or book smarts, some people either can’t or choose not to absorb information. Others take that information and use it to their advantage. Being able to queue up that information and use it or even expand it in a given situation is the hallmark of an educated person. School is obviously the place where most of the education is going on, but don’t think that it’s requisite for being an educated person. People that find knowledge and retain it on their own shouldn’t be considered less educated in my opinion. There is just no good way to show and prove how educated someone is without an educational institution signing off on it. Sure, a diploma is a great way to prove that you have certain specialized knowledge, but DaVinci, Edison, Darwin and Ben Franklin were all self taught and would without a doubt be considered very educated. My school experiences have not been that great, I don’t feel like I have learned much. In my day to day jobs, I have gained the experience I have by doing, not by sitting in a class reading, participating in group projects etc. I feel the educational system has let me down, especially in college.****
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