Up Next in ENGL 1500/2500: Reflection

As we reach the end of the first unit, it is important to close it in a meaningful way before transitioning to the next assignment in ENGL 1500 and 2500. The Activity Inspiration Repository has some activities that were developed as a part of the Redesign Institute.

With contributions from Ben Parker, Cornell Brellenthin, and Kristen Neumann, the activity for ENGL 2500 invites students to reflect on their experiences with AI. This can be helpful to give instructors initial feedback and insight into their students’ perspectives early on in the semester, and help them to set clear expectations and shape the remainder of their course accordingly.

The reflection activity for ENGL 1500 was created with contributions from Ginnia Kovach, Josie Wickman, and Sam Piccone. “Discussion, Reflection, and Writing a Letter: Meeting Assignment Expectations While Staying True to Your Voice” was developed for the Personal Narrative, but can be adapted to any major assignment. Below, you can find these reflection activities as detailed lesson plans.

Remember that if you have designed some particularly creative, engaging, or useful lessons, you can share them to be added to the Activity Inspiration Repository as well! Email your materials to Mariana Castro Azpíroz (mca96@iastate.edu), Amy Walton (acwalton@iastate.edu) or Lesley Bartlett (lesleyb@iastate.edu).

Meeting Assignment Expectations While Staying True to Your Voice

Purpose of the activity:

This activity encourages students to do some work learning about and defending their own voice while also looking at the assignment expectations on their own to make sure they are meeting them. It intends to get students thinking deeply about communication while contributing to building community in the classroom.

Materials or resources needed:

Students must have completed the following readings by this point:

• CSMG Ch 2
• CSMG Ch 9
• SG “How Do I Apply the Communication Basics?”: Written Communication
• SG Appendix F
• SG “Personal Narrative” examples

The instructor could strengthen the textbook tie-in by including samples of the Personal Narrative examples in a slideshow when discussing specific aspects of the rubric.

Description of the activity:

Open the class with a discussion of how the Personal Narrative assignment has its own set of expectations. An instructor will grade the students’ telling of a personal story, which makes it a unique combination of self-expression and meeting the expectations of someone else. Explain that every act of communication requires our unique voice and some task, and every task comes with different expectations and levels of freedom.

• How does thinking about that variety in communication scenarios enhance students’ confidence and/or curiosity?
• How does it help them understand their own work for this assignment?

Split the room into four groups. Assign each group a rhetorical context to consider:

• Group 1: Speech at a friend’s wedding
• Group 2: Instagram post
• Group 3: Cover letter for a job
• Group 4: The Personal Narrative assignment

Have students identify how much priority, in their assigned context, should be given to self-expression and how much priority has to be given to meeting the expectations of others. Have them use percentages – for example, an Instagram post might be 75% self-expression and 25% meeting the expectations of others. Opinions will vary, which is part of what makes this conversation interesting.

1. For 1-2 minutes, have individuals think of or write down their own responses.
2. For the next 10 minutes, have students share in their small groups. Groups will decide together on an answer that most accurately reflects their conversation, but if they have widely differing opinions, the fact that they disagree so much can be what they share with the large group.
3. For another 10 minutes, small groups will share their insights with the whole class. Make sure to end with Group 4 – the Personal Narrative assignment. Hear their thoughts, then give your own guidance about how to balance using their unique voice and self-expression while meeting the needs of the assignment. This should transition into bringing up the rubric for the assignment in Canvas as a class.

Reflecting on Your Experience with AI

Purpose of activity:

This activity allows students to reflect on how AI may have cultivated or disrupted their learning as it relates to Rhetorical Analysis and written composition.

Materials or resources needed:

A designated text box in Canvas.

Description of the activity:

Include the following questions for students to respond to:

1. In what ways did AI assist me in the generation and compilation of this project?
2. In what ways may AI have impeded my learning with regard to understanding rhetoric and the process of writing about rhetoric?
3. How might my new understanding of AI impact my use of it in future academic work?

Potential adaptation: This could be approached as an in-class free-write activity followed by a whole class discussion.