The act of reflecting on an experience has been promoted as a key learning strategy for internship or service learning experiences.  Asking a student to keep a journal is a popular technique for stimulating the reflective process.  However, journals can turn into diaries – a list of “what I did today”.  This document provides specific reflection questions and assignments that can inspire deeper reflection and promote enhanced learning.  Not all of these ideas will work for all situations but they can be a starting point for other ideas.

 

Early in the Experience

Journal questions 

  • What do you hope to accomplish in this experience?  What are your specific goals?
  • What are your expectations for this experience?
  • What are your initial reactions to your first few days?  What are you looking forward to?  Is there anything you are disappointed about?
  • What is going to be your biggest challenge in this project?
  • What contribution to society does this organization make?
  • Do you feel like you fit in to the organization? Why or why not?

Assignments  

  • Learn about the history of the organization.
  • Get a copy of the organizational chart and job descriptions within the organization or department.
  • Read the entire website of the organization and read relevant marketing materials.  If possible ask for an annual report or similar document.
  • If you have identified challenges or disappointments in your initial expectations of the project, put together an action plan to deal with these.

Middle of the Experience

Journal Questions 

  • What goals have you met so far?  What goals do you still need to meet?  Have you changed any of your goals?
  • How has your perception of the organization changed since you started?
  • What steps have you taken to address the challenges and disappointments that you identified in your early journal entries?
  • What is surprising you about this project?
  • What have you contributed to the organization?
  • What have you done that has made your supervisor’s life easier?
  • What have you learned from the routine or boring parts of the project?
  • What do you think are your strongest attributes in this project?
  • What surprises have you had?
  • If you are working in a group project, how have you been distributing work load?  Is it a fair way to distribute the load. 
  • What is your role in the group?  What would you like your role to be?
  • In what ways do you feel like you can improve your performance?
  • How did you react to a bad day or disappointment?  How would you like to react?
  • Is your personality a fit for this organization?  Do you notice particular personality types working in this industry?

 Assignments 

  • Identify the most boring or routine activity in this experience and put together a plan for turning it into an opportunity for learning something new.
  • Meet with your group to put together a mid-term report on your project.
  • Ask your employer for a progress meeting.
  • Research other organizations that meet similar needs to this one.  What can your organization learn from them?

End of the Experience 

Journal Questions 

  • How did you accomplish your goals for this experience?
  • What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
  • Were your expectations for this experience realistic?  Why or why not?
  • What was your biggest success in this project? 
  • How did you change as a result of this experience?
  • What have you done that you didn’t ever think you would be able to do?
  • What impact does your organization have on the community?
  • What changes would you make if you had the chance to do this over again?
  • What would you do differently in this organization if you were the leader?
  • How would you describe your workstyle based on your behavior at this project?
  • How are you different than you were when you started this experience?
  • Have your views of particular people or organizations changed?
  • What was your biggest success or contribution to the project?
  • What did you learn from your challenges in this experience?
  • How do you want your colleagues/clients to remember you?
  • What recommendations would you give to other students doing a service learning project at this location? 

Assignments 

  • Write a summary of your performance from your supervisor’s point of view.  What would he/she say about you?  Write this in the third person.
  • Think about a new career option that you learned about through this organization.  Research that career.
  • Write a description of the project that can be added to your resume.
  • Write a script, make a movie clip or media presentation that summarizes your project.
  • Write a handwritten thank you note to your supervisor and 2 or 3 other people at your project site that had an impact on you.  Keep in touch with these people after the semester ends.