Math 130

Fall 03

End of Semester Reflection

due December 15

 

 

            Write a final reflection on the important concepts and processes in Math 130.  You can write a letter to yourself to be read in January, when you return for Math 131; you can write as a guide for another student; or you can use another format that works for you (creativity is encouraged, but be sure that your creativity on the format doesn’t interfere with your mathematical creativity). 

Your reflection should describe important concepts in the course so far.  It should discuss what you’ve learned and what you still need to work on.  Here is a partial list of topics to consider discussing: problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, representation, mathematical connections, factors and multiples, primes and composites, divisibility, spreadsheets, fractions.  Make sure that your paper includes mathematics.  For example, you might include problem solving strategies that have been useful, with a few examples of problems where you have applied the strategies.  You might discuss the some of the conjectures you made about divisibility and how you proved or disproved them.  This is an opportunity for you to synthesize what you’ve learned this semester and outline some things you want to keep working on next semester. 

Note that writing this reflection is a good way to study for the final exam, and you are encouraged to submit the paper early.

 

 

 

Scoring Guide:

 

 

Level 5  Goes beyond level 4, perhaps with an exceptionally creative presentation or extremely thorough approach.

 

Level 4  Thoughtful and comprehensive reflection on the semester.  Makes connections between topics and shows insight to your own strengths, growth, and challenges.  Writing is clear.

 

Level 3  Thoughtful reflection on the semester.  Makes some connections between topics and shows some insight to your own strengths, growth, and challenges.  Writing is mostly clear.

 

Level 2  Shows some good reflection on the semester, with some good writing.

 

Level 1  Some reflection on the semester, but paper has a lot of problems.

 

Copyright 2005, Debra K. Borkovitz.  You may copy or edit this material for non-profit, educational use only.

 

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