Purpose:

During the term, you will be required to read the Thomas Frank book, 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (while studying less) and write three reflection papers about what you read. There are two main purposes of this assignment. The first is to provide you with the opportunity to choose an area/skill set/topic from the book in which you would like to investigate further. A second purpose is to provide you with the opportunity to develop and practice the successful graduate student habit of integrating learning with required reading and reading critically to improve understanding.

Reflection Paper Guidelines

This assignment will require you to connect what you have read in your extensive reading book to discussions we have as a class and to your own experiences as an OSU student. You will also need to connect the information in the reading to how you see it helping you to be successful in your journey through graduate school. You will need to submit three different reflection papers covering three different chapters/topics from the book. Check due dates at the bottom of this document.

In all of your reflection papers, you will need to identify which chapter/topics you will reflect upon. You must choose a different topic/chapter for each reflection. You will then need to address the four questions listed below. Reflections need to be a balance of your ideas/experiences with the information/concepts you gained from the chapter you read. Your paper should interpret and connect ideas from the chapter rather than summarize the text or give unsupported opinions. Your reflection paper should have a clear introduction and conclusion. Do not simply write the questions with your responses below them. Your reflection paper should read as a coherent paper that fully addresses each of the four questions.  All borrowed ideas, words, and phrases are to be given proper credit with the use of APA style citation (APA resource link here).

1. How does the chapter you read connect with what you already knew about the topic?
2. What did the information in the chapter reveal about you as a learner and as an international graduate student studying in the US?
3. Of the information you learned, what key concepts would you share with a new international graduate student preparing to study in the US. Why do you think this information would benefit this student?
4. How will you use the information in the chapter to build your skills for future graduate success?

Assignment submission 

Reflection papers should be typed, set in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced, and each paper should not exceed 800 words. You will need to save your document as a Word doc or PDF. Before you submit your work, be sure to proofread your paper for sentence structure and grammar errors as this is part of your grade.  To upload your document, please open the Reflection Paper assignment, add your file, and click the submit assignment button. As per the Syllabus, no late assignments will be accepted.