One of the goals of higher education is to help you learn how to learn. Taking time to reflect over the activities you are participating in and what you are learning in the process is a very important component of learning. Unfortunately, this key part of the learning process gets ignored often. The reflection or learning logs have been designed to engage you in frequent, ongoing reflection. In these memos, I invite and challenge you to take responsibility for your own learning. The assignments, activities, and even the evaluation processes with which we engage in this course are meant to fulfill this goal. 

Participation is one of the more difficult aspects of student performance to evaluate fairly and consistently.  This category is usually meant to encourage you to prepare for and attend each class, to participate actively in classes, and to be a good citizen in the course--following policies, guidelines, deadlines, etc.  We will take a different approach to this part of your course grade.

Beginning the first week and continuing until the last week, you will submit reflections or learning logs to me ( via Discussions).  In these reflections, you will help me understand your performance for that unit, the ways you were a responsible learner and participant in the business of this course. Reflections or log will be due for each course unit.

Every week, you are challenged to examine your work carefully and honestly. In your reflection or log to me, you will propose a plan of action for the unit and then you will evaluate your performance based on that plan.  I will either agree with your report or proposal or I will respond with my view and ask you for more clarification.

I hope you see how this approach has several benefits. I invite you to be part of the evaluation process and demonstrate that you are taking reponsibility for your learning. Perhaps more important in the longer term, though, is that this challenges you to be a reflective learner.