REFLECTION

Introducing the Reflection Activity

•  During a study abroad experience, students worked on a collaborative

design project with international peers. The purpose of this design

project was to provide students with meaningful international experiences. At

three points in the project, students reflected on their experience working in a

cross-cultural team. The purpose of these reflection activities was for students

to look back on their experiences, learn from them, and be prepared for future

similar experiences.

•   Three times throughout the quarter, students were asked to reflect on their

experience working on a project in a cross-cultural team. In the first reflection,

students reflected on their interests and goals within their field of study and

how those connected to the course. The purpose of this reflection was to set

the stage for the course and students’ experiences in cross-cultural teams. In the

second reflection, students reflected on how they saw the project and the

intercultural collaboration, and how these related to their learning .

•    The purpose of this reflection was for students to pause a few weeks into their

work and see what they had learned and make any necessary adjustments for the

rest of the course. In the final reflection at the end of the quarter, students reflected on

their overall experience. The purpose of the final reflection was to support

students in looking back at their experience and thinking about what they had

accomplished and how it connected to their future.

•  After each reflection assignment was submitted, the teaching team read the

individual reflections of each of the teams they were mentoring and provided

feedback to that team. The reflection assignment was graded on whether the

student did the assignment and on the depth of the reflection using levels of

reflection by Neville Hatton and David Smith: Descriptive Writing, Descriptive

Reflection, Dialogic Reflection, and Critical Reflection1 students were asked to

write at the last two levels (and were given indicators for each level, so they

could judge for themselves). Additionally, the Rose-Hulman educator read all of

he Rose-Hulman students’ reflections because their reflections were a

component of their grade for the course.

•  In terms of outcomes, there was potential for students to better understand

cross-cultural communication. After engaging in this reflection activity, students

may better understand working on a large-scale open-ended group project, and

how the project benefitted the client and society.

ecreating the Reflection Activity

Description:

1. Introduce the reflection activities to the students at the start of the trip.

2 .Read the reflections and provide each team with feedback.

3 .Read the reflections of the students from your respective institution for grading

purposes.

Retroreflection

Working principle of a corner reflector

Main article: Retroreflector

•  Some surfaces exhibit retroreflection. The structure of these surfaces is such that light is  returned in the direction from which it came.

•  When flying over clouds illuminated by sunlight the region seen around the aircraft's shadow will  appear brighter, and a similar effect may be seen from dew on grass. This partial retro-reflection  is created by the refractive properties of the curved droplet's surface and reflective properties at  the backside of the droplet.

•  Some animals' retinas act as retroreflectors (see tapetum lucidum for more detail), as this  effectively improves the animals' night vision. Since the lenses of their eyes modify reciprocally  the paths of the incoming and outgoing light the effect is that the eyes act as a strong  retroreflector, sometimes seen at night when walking in wildlands with a flashlight.

•  A simple retroreflector can be made by placing three ordinary mirrors mutually perpendicular to  one another (a corner reflector). The image produced is the inverse of one produced by a single  mirror. A surface can be made partially retroreflective by depositing a layer of tiny refractive  spheres on it or by creating small pyramid like structures. In both cases internal reflection causes  the light to be reflected back to where it originated. This is used to make traffic signs and  automobile license plates reflect light mostly back in the direction from which it came. In this  application perfect retroreflection is not desired, since the light would then be directed back into  the headlights of an oncoming car rather than to the driver's eyes.

Multiple reflections

Multiple reflections in two plane mirrors at a 60° angle.

•  When light reflects off a mirror, one image appears. Two mirrors placed exactly face to face give  the appearance of an infinite number of images along a straight line. The multiple images seen  between two mirrors that sit at an angle to each other lie over a circle.[3] The center of that  circle is located at the imaginary intersection of the mirrors. A square of four mirrors placed face  to face give the appearance of an infinite number of images arranged in a plane. The multiple  images seen between four mirrors assembling a pyramid, in which each pair of mirrors sits an  angle to each other, lie over a sphere. If the base of the pyramid is rectangle shaped, the images  spread over a section of a torus.[4]

•  Note that these are theoretical ideals, requiring perfect alignment of perfectly smooth, perfectly  flat perfect reflectors that absorb none of the light. In practice, these situations can only be  approached but not achieved because the effects of any surface imperfections in the reflectors

propagate and magnify, absorption gradually extinguishes the image, and any observing  equipment (biological or technological) will interfere.

