How Does Reflection Help Us Revise?

“Revision is the heart of writing.” – Patricia Reilly Giff

What have you learned this semester? What skills have you developed? How can you use those lessons and skills to improve your work? The purpose of the portfolio is to reflect on what you have learned this semester and provide an opportunity to revise one or both of your projects.

In other words, revision is about addressing the most substantial aspects of your work, such as issues of organization, clarity, structure, unity, and other rhetorical strategies. Revisions for a project should showcase how you are using rhetorical strategies based on the rhetorical purpose and intended audience of the text.

Please note that a revision requires you to address global issues in the work (see Step 2 below). Submissions that only change a couple of words, sentences, and typos will receive little to no credit.

Why You Should Care

This final portfolio project is an opportunity for you to demonstrate how much you’ve grown as a writer and thinker throughout the semester. By focusing on reflection, metacognition, and revision, you’ll not only enhance your writing skills but also gain a deeper understanding of how these skills apply to your personal, professional, and academic life. This project encourages you to connect what you’ve learned to your own experiences, helping you to see the value of writing and critical thinking beyond the classroom.

Audience

For both parts of the Civic Action Projects, your audience will be Scottsdale residents. For your Personal Reflection, however, you will imagine that your audience is a scholarship committee.

Project Value

The Personal Reflection is required for everyone and worth up to 50 points. The optional revisions of your Civic Action Projects can add up to 50 points each to the grades for those original submissions. See below for a breakdown of required vs. optional components and their point values:

Personal Reflection (required)

50 points

Write the personal reflection as though you are writing a personal essay for a scholarship application. This way, you can actually use it to apply for scholarships. Please note that you can only receive credit for the submission if you attend the final class meeting.

Revised Civic Action Project Part 1: Issue in Context Research Essay (optional)

50 points

Revise up to four global issues of your project. Each issue you revise could earn up to 10 points that will be added to your original submission grade for this assignment (10 points x 4 revised issues = 40 points). If you decide to revise this project, you must also submit a Revision Reflection worth 10 points. If your original submission earned 90% or higher, please note that you automatically receive full credit for this assignment and do not need to resubmit.

Revised Civic Action Project Part 2: Poverty Simulation Scene (optional)

50 points

Revise up to four global issues of your project. Each issue you revise could earn up to 10 points that will be added to your original submission grade for this assignment (10 points x 4 revised issues = 40 points). If you decide to revise this project, you must also submit a Revision Reflection worth 10 points. If your original submission earned 90% or higher, please note that you automatically receive full credit for this assignment and do not need to resubmit.

Important Notes for Your Project

Open Educational Resource (OER) Agreement

This project is a collaborative effort that collects content from students across multiple disciplines each semester. To be considered for inclusion, you must sign an Open Educational Resource (OER) Agreement that allows your work to be shared. Projects may be developed or revised by other students, but all contributors will receive credit in the exhibit.

By following these guidelines, you will ensure your project meets the standards necessary for public display and contributes meaningfully to our Food for Thought exhibition.

Project Steps

Step 1: Reflect on Your Work

Prepare for your Final Reflection by applying metacognitive strategies. Take some time to think about what you learned and now know as a result of being in this course.  An efficient way to do this is return to the modules and review the prompts, assignments, readings, and resources. Carefully review the instructor feedback you received on the one project you have chosen to revise. Jot down some notes about what you learned during each module.

If you ARE NOT submitting revisions of either Civic Action Project, proceed to Step 7: Write a Personal Reflection.

If you ARE revising one or both parts of your Civic Action Project, continue with Step 2: Revise the Global Issues of Your Work.

Step 2: Revise the Global Issues of Your Work

Revise up to 4 global issues to revise on each part of your Civic Action Projects. You can earn up to 10 points for each global issue that you revise, and these points will be added to the assignment’s original score. Global issues are the elements that are most important in good communication:

Step 3: Edit the Local Issues of Your Work

Edit the local issues. Local issues are the elements that help overall readability:

Step 4: Check Your Work

Before submitting your text, evaluate it using the following checklist:

Grammarly

Copy and paste your text into Grammarly. Either accept or decline each suggestion. Please note that AI will provide some useful tips and suggestions, but not every comment will be correct. You will need to use your judgment to determine whether to apply the advice. You can also ask your instructor for input and clarification.

Cite All Sources

Make sure all evidence includes in-text citations. Grammarly can also help you format your work using MLA.

Format the Works Cited Page

Make sure the Works Cited page is double-spaced and uses Times New Roman font. Citations must be alphabetized.

Read Your Work Aloud

It may feel silly, but reading your work aloud will greatly improve your writing. Your ear will catch problems your eyes miss, such as awkward phrasing, clunky transitions, confusing sentences, and grammatical errors. Trust me, this technique works really well.

Work with The Writing Center or the Embedded Tutor

SCC offers free and convenient tutoring services at the Writing Center. You can visit in-person, submit online, or schedule a live online session.

Step 5: Write Your Revision Reflection(s)

Please note that the Revision Reflection(s) are different from the Personal Reflection (Step 7). The Revision Reflection(s) focus on the changes you made to your Civic Action Project(s).

Include a paragraph reflection for each global issue that you revised (maximum of 4 global issues per Civic Action Project). This means that if you revise 4 global issues for your Issue in Context paper, you need to write 4 reflection paragraphs. See Step 2 for a list of global issues.

Each paragraph in your reflection should be a minimum of 5 sentences, at least one sentence to address each of the following:

Identify the global issue and the original score you received for the category on the project. You can find your scores in the original project rubric on Canvas.

Example: “This reflection focuses on Claims. On my Issue in Context paper, I scored 6 out of 10 for Claims.”

Reflect on the global issue that resulted in the original score for that category. Your reflection should discuss the reasons for receiving the original score and demonstrate that you understand what errors were made.

Example: “I earned this score because my topic sentence did not include a specific, arguable claim.”

List the specific global revisions you made.

Example: “For my revision, I added an arguable claim to my topic sentence. The original topic sentence provided a fact about SNAP’s work-based requirements and only stated when they were created. In my revision, I created a claim arguing that these work-based requirements actually hindered people from accessing SNAP benefits.”

Specify where the exact revisions were made (e.g. provide page numbers, paragraphs, subheaders, etc.).

Example: “The topic sentence I revised is on page 2. It is the first body paragraph after the introduction.” 

Discuss why you made these changes and how they improved the work. Your discussion should demonstrate that you understand the concept and your strategies for revising it.

Example: “Making my topic sentence arguable helped me focus the entire body paragraph. Originally, I had only stated a fact, and that caused the body paragraph to drift off-topic. I found that the entire paragraph included a bunch of random evidence that wasn’t connected by a single point. Revising the topic sentence gave me something specific to prove, and it helped me go through the body paragraph and identify information that wasn’t relevant to my argument.”

Step 6: Format Your Work

Revision Reflection(s)

Double-space all text and use Times New Roman font (12 point). Indent the first sentence of every body paragraph using the Tab key. In the upper left hand corner of the first page, include (in this order) your full name, professor name, course, and date. On page 1 (between the header and introduction paragraph) include a title that grabs the reader’s attention and previews your stance. 

In-Text Citations

All evidence must include in-text citations. Either introduce the source using the author’s name (if available) and article/book/website title, or provide an in-text citation using MLA.

Works Cited Page

Include a Works Cited page for each Civic Action Project you choose to revise. You can include your Works Cited at the bottom of each project or as a separate document.

Step 7: Write the Personal Reflection

For your Personal Reflection, write a 7-10 sentence personal essay about your service experiences. You can use our ENG101 service experiences from this semester or choose other service experiences you performed. on your service by responding to one of the prompts below, which are taken from real scholarships available through SCC and MCCC. Please write your answer as though you are actually applying for a real scholarship. Then, if you wish, you can use your response on the personal essay portion of scholarship applications. In other words, provide a thoughtful response and remember to apply rhetorical strategies (logos, ethos, and pathos)!

Option A: Describe your volunteer or community service and the benefits or learning experience you gained from these activities.

Option B: Describe your service learning experiences at Scottsdale Community College and share how participating has impacted your personal development. Using your service experiences at Scottsdale Community College, explain why it is important for college students to serve their school and community.

Bonus Points

Use your response to question 4 in a real scholarship application (dozens of scholarships can be accessed here) and earn Bonus Points! Just submit a screenshot of your application to our ENG101 Canvas or email it to matthew.healy@scottsdalecc.edu

Step 8: Submit Everything to Canvas

Submit clearly labeled documents (as Word docs or PDFs) for each component you are including for your Final Portfolio:

Optional

• • Civic Action Project Part 1: Revision Reflection
  • Civic Action Project Part 1: Issue in Context (Research Essay)
  • Civic Action Project Part 2: Revision Reflection
  • Civic Action Project Part 2: Poverty Simulation Scene (Narrative)

Required

• • Personal Reflection

What a Successful Project Looks Like

A successful project will demonstrate that you have:

• applied metacognitive strategies to the revision process
• identified up to 4 global issues to revise
• provided a thoughtful reflection paragraph for each global revision
• dedicated sufficient time and effort into the revision process
• improved the overall quality of your work by utilizing instructor feedback, course concepts, and skills

Helpful Resources

These resources will improve your understanding of the project and/or skills necessary to complete it.

• The Writing Center – Use the Writing Center to improve your work, even if you are a talented writer. The best way to improve your writing is by getting feedback.
• Embedded Librarian – Contact Nancy Deegan at nancy.deegan@scottsdalecc.edu for researching resources and strategies.
• Embedded Tutor – Contact Lorraine Howland at lorraine.howland@scottsdalecc.edu for personal feedback on your work. 

Rubric

The rubric is available on Canvas. The most successful students read the rubric before beginning your project, and use it as a checklist throughout the writing process.