Using Journals Prepared in Moodle to Foster Reflection on Reading Assignments
FCS 380 Family and Consumer Sciences Foundations and Research
*All my undergraduate classes have journals due on Moodle before the class time. There are two items in
each journal.
Every time there is a reading assignment for that day, the first journal entry is the response to a question
such as “What did you find most interesting about “chapter 2”? Include your opinion and elaborate it.”
I find students who completed the journal really come to the classes having done the reading and ready to
have discussions.
FCS 681 Research Methods, FCS 682 Seminar in Research
FCS 690K Consumer Economics
*For these graduate classes, for each class day, there is a journal due on Moodle before the class time.
There are three items in each journal.
The first item is about the reading assignments for that day, and students write about what they found
interesting and what they struggle to understand. They have to write their opinions, experiences, and
elaborate. I can prepare for that day’s class knowing student level of understanding and what they find
difficult.
Attached below is my sample journal instruction and grading rubric for a graduate class. Each week, there
are major modifications in Part 2 and 3 of the rubric, but Part 1 is somewhat consistent.
Summer 2012 FCS 681 Research Methods
Three Part Journal
Each class day, unless otherwise announced, submit a journal entry addressing the areas covered in the
assigned readings for that day or other relevant topics that are asked. Specific information will be posted
on Moodle. I plan to refer to your thoughts for course content and may ask you to share with the class.
Please bring a hard copy of your journal entry to class on the due date and be ready to share your ideas
with the class. A typical journal entry will address the following three areas:
1. Write about the most interesting thing you learned through today’s reading assignment (Specify
the reading assignments here);
2. Analyze how the assigned reading builds upon the course content thus far; and,
3. Explain how the previous class experience (Specify which date) and course content can be applied
to your professional life.
This is to be typed and posted on Moodle by noon each class day, unless otherwise announced. The main
body of the journal should have three paragraphs, one for each area listed above. Each paragraph should
be between two to eight sentences long. For the acceptable level of content for a typical journal, please
refer to the following grading rubric.
Grading Rubric:
Component
(Example)
Part 1: Most interesting
things learned
Part 2: How it builds
upon the course content
so far
Part 3: Professional life
Mechanics
Pass
Your ideas or opinions are presented in a
logical and coherent manner, with strong
topic sentences to guide the reader.
Your central argument is clear, interesting,
and demonstrated using evidence, specific
to the current stage of the course. Your
arguments and claims reflect a robust and
nuanced understanding of key ideas from
this course.
You refer to specific experiences or
content from the previous class day, with
original insights or a particularly engaging
argument.
There is no distracting spelling,
punctuation, or grammatical errors, and
quotations are all properly cited.
Fail
Instead of your ideas, at most, a
summary of the reading is presented.
Your central argument is clear and
demonstrable. While your arguments and
claims reflect a solid understanding of
key ideas from this course, the argument
is not specific to the particular class
meeting/date to make this entry unique.
You provide general links to the course,
but not the particular day’s class
experiences or content and your
professional life. Your writing refers to
the wrong day’s class experiences or
content, or your writing does not link
reading assignments with your
professional life.
The writing style does not meet the
expectations for graduate work.