NR206
Critical Reflective Analysis Assignments
Week 1:
What
struck you most about Ivan Illich's writing?
What did you think about Adrienne Marie Brown's Privilege Circle and Leadership
Model that Matt presented in class?
Week 2:
What
is a pressing problem that you are facing right now? How do you define that problem? What
are the forces that are acting on that problem? How would the situation
need to change for you to feel that you have successfully solved the
problem? What leverage points (see Donella
Meadows reading) can/are you using to create that change?
Which of Joanna Macy's approaches to the great turning do you feel most drawn
to? How does your work embody that approach?
What struck you about Donella Meadow's "Places
to Intervene in a System"?
Week 3:
What
is your personal theory of change? How does it fit into Johanna Macy's
model? What leverage points (Dana Meadows) does it address? How is
it affected by issues of power and privilege? (Feel free to include your
own conceptual diagram of your theory of change from class!)
In what ways did Annie Bourdon's stories model or contradict ideas presented in
class, or your own personal thoughts on problem-solving?
Week 4:
What
do you most rely on for decision-making/problem-solving: logic/rationale, emotion, faith,
avoidance? How does your preference for decision-making affect the way
you communicate with others?
What role does feedback/evaluation/assessment play in
your personal approach to problem-solving?
Week 5:
What patterns do you notice about yourself as you work with community partners
and group members? Do any of these characteristics hold you back?
Week 6:
What were your reactions to Chip and Dan Heath's "Made to Stick" and
Hughes' essay on the Farmers Overview? What struck you about your
classmates' presentations?
Week 7:
What were your reactions to Derrick Jensen's article, "Beyond
Hope"? Do you believe hope can play a role in creating change
and solving problems?
Week 8:
What struck you most about Fritjof Capra's article:
"Ecology and Community"? How does Capra's synthesis of
ecological principles relate to the problem solving process?
In what ways did Hub Vogelmann's stories model or
contradict ideas presented in class, or your own personal thoughts on
problem-solving? What did you take away from his talk? What did you
disagree with?
Week 9:
In what ways did Norman Meyers' stories model or contradict ideas presented in
class, or your own personal thoughts on problem-solving? What did you
take away from his talk? What did you disagree with?
Do you ever feel as though these "environmental" problems are being
handed off to your generation to solve?
During his presentation, Norman Meyers asked everyone: if you could
address any ONE problem you lifetime, what would it be? How did you
respond to this? Why did you choose the problem that you did?
Week 10:
What were your reactions to Ben Falk's talk? What did you think of his
assertion that many RSENR graduates know "WHY" to take action, but
they don't know "HOW?" What did you take away from his talk?
What did you disagree with?
What struck you most about John Todd's speech to the Schumacher society meeting
in 2001? Does Todd's approach (and principles of ecological design) spark
any creative approaches to problems that you're working on (even if they're
quite different in nature)?
Ecological design was a central theme of both Ben Falk's talk and the reading
from John Todd. In what ways can these ideas of intentional design and
ecological design pertain to your own personal life and the decisions that you
make as you leave UVM? What does your "ideal scene" look like,
and how can you design it to be so?
Week 11:
In what ways did Dan Daggett's "Beyond the
Rangeland Conflict" exemplify and/or contradict a systems-level
problem-solving approach?
What are some conceptual frameworks that shape your worldview? What
are their strengths and shortcomings? What are some benefits and dangers
of a disciplinary approach to problem-solving? What are some benefits and
dangers of an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving? What struck
you most about the Julian Simon video? What did you AGREE with in the
Simon interview?
In what ways did Rebecca McCown's stories and experiences model or contradict ideas presented in class, or your own personal thoughts on problem-solving? What did you take away from her talk? What did you disagree with?
Week 12:
What
were your reactions to Mike Snyder's talk? What did you take away from
his talk? What did you disagree with?
What struck you most about Paul Hawken's article,
"To Remake the World." How would you articulate
his theory of change? How does his theory of change compare to that of our
guest speakers or your own?
Overview
Critical reflection is a key component of any learning process. Throughout the semester we will ask you to complete six critical reflections. Because individual reflection styles often vary, we are offering two alternatives to complete this requirement:
1)
Critical Reflection Analysis Entries
These entries should go beyond descriptive accounts and should demonstrate higher order processing of concepts and experiences. Each entry is an opportunity to critically evaluate and integrate readings, presentations, dialogues and group project experiences. These reflections will provide us with valuable feedback about your experience (and our instruction) and will allow us to assess your understanding of issues addressed in lecture. Your entries will serve as a useful roadmap for documenting and evaluating your project and will also contribute substantially to enhancing the quality of your final integrative paper.
Throughout the semester, we will provide you with a number of prompts. However, we ask that you choose topics that are of interest or that you would like to explore in more depth. The following prompts can be used to address higher level processing of experiences and ideas (more specific prompts will be posted to the NR206 webpage):
To reflect on your interests:
· What was most memorable or stimulating idea or concept expressed in this week’s class, lab, reading, presentation or course-related experience? Why did you find it so stimulating?
· For you, what interesting questions remain unanswered about this week’s topics?
To reflect on relevance:
· In your opinion, what was the most useful idea expressed this week? How might you make use of it?
· What idea(s) struck you as things you could or should put into practice? Why did you feel this way about the idea?
To express your attitude/opinion:
· What idea(s) expressed this week did you agree or disagree with? Why?
· What was the most persuasive or convincing argument (or counterargument) that you heard or read this week? Why did you find it so convincing?
To express critical thinking:
· What do you think was the most important point or central concept communicated during the week’s presentations/readings/dialogue?
To make conceptual connections:
· What relationship did you see between this week’s topics and other topics previously covered in this course?
· What ideas did you encounter this week that seemed to connect with what you are learning or have learned in other course(s)?
2)
Reflective Dialogue Sessions
Dialogue is a useful method for group inquiry and individual reflection. Practiced well, dialogue can help a group to discover insights that aren’t attainable individually. There will be three facilitated dialogue sessions that will provide an opportunity to reflect on course readings, guest speakers, project experiences, or other emerging topics related to the problem-solving process. While some prompts will be provided, participants are expected to come prepared to engage.
Grading criteria: There will be 3 grading rounds for your reflections. Two reflections are due at each round of grading. You may mix and match written and dialogue reflections (or propose an alternative reflection medium if these don’t suit you) for a total of 6 reflections during the semester.
Grading period 1: Two reflections are due by 5:00 pm on February 21st
Grading period 2: Two reflections are due by 5:00 pm on March 20th
Grading period 3:
Two reflections are due by 5:00 pm on April 17th
There are no "right" or "wrong" ideas. We will not assess your ideas but will evaluate the way and depth to which you explore and express them. While the written assignment is not intended to produce “polished papers,” entries should demonstrate professionalism and thoughtfulness.
Rubric for each
grading round:
15 pts Is your reflection your own thoughts, not just summarizing content or parroting back what others have said?
15 pts Does your reflection demonstrate depth of thought (originality, insight, development of personal viewpoints/philosophical ideas, synthesis, conceptual connections)?
15 pts Have you posed and responded to questions that are personally challenging?
15 pts Professionalism (clear, well-written, neat, on time)