Due May 7

EPortfolio: End-of-Year Reflection

Team F
College of General Studies
Spring 2017
Professors: Henebry, Wiggins, Coffman, Corrin

First-Year End-of-Year Reflection

During your four semesters of study in Rhetoric, Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences at CGS you will develop critical skills in seven major areas. You will develop 1) the ability to communicate in writing and orally, 2) the skills needed to gather, analyze, document, and integrate information (research skills), 3) a detailed understanding of historical processes, literary and aesthetic movements, and specific cultural contexts, 4) an awareness of rhetorical and aesthetic conventions, 5) the ability to examine questions from a range of viewpoints and engage in perspective-taking, 6) the ability to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking drawn from two or more disciplines to produce an interdisciplinary understanding of complex problems, and 7) the ability to use quantitative methods in the natural and social sciences.

As you survey the work in your e-portfolio, think about your progress in each of these areas and how it may be documented in the samples you have collected. Where have you been able to demonstrate your knowledge of literary movements or historical contexts? Where can the reader see evidence of your writing and research skills and your ability to reason quantitatively? How have you taken account of different approaches to knowledge in the courses you have been taking, and what connections have you been able to make between and among your courses? What has your interdisciplinary experience meant to you?

Write a brief but detailed reflective essay guiding the reader through your accomplishments over the past year. Wherever possible, use specific examples and detail taken from the work in your portfolio to support your claims about progress and skills you have gained (be sure to draw upon samples taken from each of your CGS courses). Finally, consider your goals for next year. If possible, identify specific areas where you would like to make additional progress. When you are finished, post your essay to the “Interdisciplinary Reflections” section of your portfolio.

While this is not a graded assignment, you will need to complete it to receive full credit for your eportfolio work this semester.