In the reflective essay, the student will demonstrate their competency in two (2) of the degree-specific student learning outcomes, and develop a Professional Information Philosophy that is grounded in the learning outcomes.

Instructions

In the reflective essay, the student will discuss how s/he has developed as an information professional during the School. The student will discuss two (2) of the degree-specific student learning outcomes, and demonstrate how they have become proficient in these learning outcomes.

Of the two learning outcomes, one is randomly selected by the School, and is announced to students at the beginning of each semester. The selected learning outcome will be posted on the Graduation Assessment website the second week into the semester, and will be included in the email sent to student body announcing the dates associated with graduation application and Graduation Assessment submission.

The student will choose the other student learning outcome to reflect on in the Essay. In the Introduction section, the student needs to clearly identify, justify, and cite the learning outcome they choose to include in Graduation Assessment.

In the main body of the reflective essay, the student discusses how he/she developed as an information professional, and demonstrates how he/she became proficient in the two learning outcomes. For each learning outcome, the student uses 500-600 words to demonstrate their understanding of the learning outcome, and use two course artifacts to support their competency in each of them.

As a concluding piece of the essay, the student will include their stance or philosophy of the information profession. The student will gird the philosophy piece using readings of the research, professional literature, personal experiences, and the learning outcomes. Students can address questions like: What is an information professional? What are the characteristics, qualities and knowledge that will be most important to you as an information professional?

Use of writing in the first person is encouraged.

Essay Submission

The final product will be a 1300-1700 word reflective essay, with suitable and ethical citation practices followed (final word count excludes bibliography). Please note that this is not a personal history or review of courses taken during the School. Instead, it is an articulation of your growth as an information professional and your adoption of a personal professional philosophy.

You may submit the reflective essay in .doc, .docx, or pdf formats. Please do not submit the essay in .zip or .rar format.

Make sure your reflective essay has the following elements: 

• Introduction 

• Discussion of each MLIS learning outcome 

• Discussion of appropriate artifacts in relation to each MLIS learning outcome 

• Professional philosophy 

• Conclusion 

• References