You will be required to submit a written self-evaluation of your Senior Capstone experience. As a part of your portfolio, you have been asked to maintain an activity log that describes your experiences during the Senior Capstone Project. This activity log serves two purposes; documents the time and tasks you were engaged in during the course of the project, but most importantly, provides a mechanism for you to record impressions, reactions and feelings regarding events and activities that occurred along the way. Recording these thoughts while they are fresh and clear in your mind, without the pressure of a deadline, will provide a solid source of information and content for the reflection paper.
You should consider setting aside 10 minutes following any significant time spend working on your Senior Capstone Project as a time for reflection and review. Reviewing activities with your Capstone Advisor is another good way to stimulate thoughts worth reflecting upon.
Ideas
The reflection paper should provide the reader with a synopsis of what you did during the course of the Senior Capstone Project, but most importantly, it should reveal what you learned about yourself, about the specific subject of focus, and about how the experience may apply to your future aspirations or endeavors. In an effort to involve the reader and engage their interest, you should be sure to use well-placed and vivid anecdotes.
Reasoning
Demonstrate through a clear and thoughtful stream of ideas and concepts, as well as logical reasoning, how you arrived at conclusions you have drawn regarding the Senior Capstone Project outcomes.
Organization
The reflection paper should be a well-ordered presentation of your experiences and discoveries during the entire course of the Senior Capstone Project.
Voice
The reflection paper is intended to provide you with a platform by which to enter into a dialog with the reader about your project, discoveries, experiences, and impressions. You should carefully craft and edit the paper, but the tone should be personal as if explaining what you did, what you learned and its impact on you and your future to a friend.
Conventions
You should demonstrate your grasp on proper English conventions including grammar and vocabulary, as well as the use of a variety of sentence structures and lengths. Carefully review your reflection paper and consider asking others to review it in an effort to produce a final product that represents your best work. Remember, the resulting product may serve a great work-product reference document for you in the future.
Introspective
The reflection paper should demonstrate detailed evidence of what you learned both academically and personally from this experience. Don’t be afraid to discuss the areas that were positive, as well as those areas that challenged you. How are these learning’s impactful and how might they influence you in the future?
Presentation
The reflection paper will be a minimum of 1000 words in MLA format (Ariel or New Times Roman 12pt. font, 1” margins, double-spaced, page numbers and first/last name in top right margin) and should include a cover page that identify your name, school attending, year of graduation and the title of the Senior Capstone Project. You are encouraged to meet with their teacher and Capstone Advisor to review the final draft. The final draft should include components of your portfolio such as photographs, charts, graphs, or other images.
