Final Reflection Paper

The reflection paper of your learning experiences in Uganda.

Purpose

The reaction paper to the trip is an opportunity for you to further reflect upon the meaning of your experiences as it relates to your professional and personal growth. The reaction paper is also a good way to write the narrative and to potentially rewrite your perspective and thoughts about the experiences before, during and after the trip. The reflect paper demonstrates on a personal and intellectual level, your development as a person, student, a budding practitioner-researcher, an advocate, and/or an individual in the global community.

To summarize, the reaction paper addresses the following questions:

• What did I learn from doing research in Uganda and living in Uganda?
• What new understandings did I gain about:
  • collaboration,
  • the nature of community based participatory research, action research,
  • work in the community,
  • your understanding of older persons,
  • personal and professional relationships,
  • importance of engaging community partners,
  • your personal and professional values, personal goals and development?
• Why do these insights matter?

Content

Please include reflections on your

• Experiences working as a team with HENU and older persons.
• Experience with the organizing, clinic visits, data analysis, Ideation and digital stories project
• Key learning and insights about community based participatory research, research in an international setting, and collaborative research
• Thinking about issues of older adults and families in Uganda and the United States
• Experiences as a team member with your colleagues during the trip
• Cross cultural experiences
• Growth as a individual and practitioner

You will be assessed for the following:

• Depth of Reflection – Authenticity, integration of personal experiences (40)
• Integration – Connection of experiences with themes/readings from the course (20)
• Presentation – Proper grammar, mechanics, spelling, sentence construction, APA formatting (20)

Guidelines

• The reflection should be about three to five pages with double spacing
• The reflections do not need to be extensive and long but they need to be substantive and reflexive.
• The reflections should show careful thought and insight
• Be honest, authentic and professional
• Be well-reasoned and logical
• Opinions should be supported with examples
• Unlike technical reports, where you might be expected to write in the third person, reflection papers use “I” when referring to yourself.
• Use proper spelling, grammar, and mechanics

Paper Length and Format

Approximately 4 to 6 pages, 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins.