Discipline-Specific Reflection Questions

Notice that the questions ask students to draw from specific readings or course material to help them critically connect the course and the service experience. These questions are sometimes difficult to write, but they tend to be the most engaging and effective.

Examples from Political Science

Drawing from course materials and other resources (e.g., newspaper reports, etc.), how would you characterize the set of public policies most relevant to the primary issue addressed by the agency/site (e.g., education policy, health care funding, immigration law, etc.)? How is the site affected by these public policies? Have they led to the need for more or less service? How do they impact the site’s financial resources? How might congress affect these policies, and, therefore, the agency/site?

Examples from Sociology

Education and employment issues:
McGee (1977) defines norms as “social rules and customs either requiring or prohibiting, permitting or discouraging, behavior.” What norms or expectations influence the educational and occupational goals of the person or persons with whom you are working in the field? What explicit and implicit messages do they receive as students in their community? Compare and contrast your observations to the trends in education and employment described in class.

Adapted from Susan Harris, Faculty Liaison Joint Educational Project, UCLA, 2001