Initial Stage Assignment  Student Identity Profile
Our belonging to the university community and academic culture
Assignment Rationale: The purpose of this assignment is to investigate our educational
skills, practices, and experiences. Our education is not limited to school and university, it
is any kind of learning we perceive as education. The process of completing this
assignment will reveal how our education is shaped by several cultural, political, and
economic factors. We will be prepared to cross-culturally communicate with people
from around the world about our educational background in a critical way.
Profile Component # 1: University Coursework Case Study
Choose a university course you have completed and answer the questions below about
this course
1. What three main academic skills did you develop in this course? (‘Academic
Skills’ graphic organizer is on Wikispace) Describe two practices you completed
in this course that developed these skills.
2. What learning strategies did you use to succeed in this course and become better
at the skills in question # 1? (‘Learning Strategies’ graphic organizer is on
Wikispace)
3. Cooperative learning skills in this course: did you feel like students were
competing or cooperating to complete the practices of the course? Describe what
kind of interaction and cooperation happened among the students to engage the
practices of this course. (‘Cooperative Learning’ reflection form is on Wikispace)
4. What were the main sources of knowledge and information in this course? What
did you do to understand the knowledge and information? What did the instructor
do to assess your knowledge? Do you think the instructor’s assessment was
valuable and meaningful to you?
5. Based on the kind of skills you developed and the kind of practices that were
practiced, how could you label the students of this course? For example, social
scientist, artist, interpreter, language learner, etc.
Profile Component # 2: Learning Practice Report
Through what relationships and in what ways have you engaged in a learning practice
outside of school and university?
A Learning Practice….
 May or not be planned, instructed, or involve drills
 Is mastery of definable and predictable behavior
 May rely on simulation of circumstances which permit the learner to develop standard
responses
 Is to acquire a skill or an insight
 Happens when we arrange meetings with those concerned with or interested in the
same kind of learning. Each person has the opportunity to share a current concern
with others motivated by the same concern


Is the result of teaching and instruction according to logic
May happen casually
Below are some questions and phrases to help you:
a. We learn (what/about what)….. together with (people and
resources)…..in…..by……because…..
b. Describe in detail how you and others are learning.
c. What kinds of relationships exist in this learning community? (is
everyone equal or is there hierarchical relationships)
d. Who do you share this learning with and how does your learning
benefit other people? How does it benefit you?
e. Did you learn “on your own” by observing others or teaching
yourself? If so, describe how you learned it in this way.
Profile Component # 3: Educational Identity Essay
In this component you must demonstrate an ability to use the information from
components # 1 and 2 to critically reflect about how your educational experiences are
connected with culture, politics, and economics. You must include references to sources
from wikispace, activities from our lessons, and discussions from our lessons.
How has or has not your educational experiences taught you about the values and
traditions of being Russian or succeeding in a Russian institutional setting? Do you
believe your educational experiences taught you in some way about the dominant culture
in Russia or some other part of the world? How so? What kind of internationalmulticultural experience or skill did you learn from your educational experiences? What
kind of international-multicultural experience do you believe your education has prepared
you for?
We study and learn for several reasons: we hope that the completion of a degree or some
kind of learning practice means allows us to begin a profession and earn money. Our
education is also a social activity: friendship and community belonging are reasons why
we study and learn. There is also the philosophical question: how is our education
preparing us for the ‘good life’? Our conception the ‘good life’ is based on our interests,
values, and priorities. There are expectations that our educational experiences will help
us to live this ‘good life’. In this essay, you must explore how your educational
experiences has satisfied/may satisfy/has not satisfied your expectations and goals for
your status, socioeconomic advancement, community belonging, and the ‘good life’.
Grading Rubric
Profile
Component
University
Coursework
Case Study
Point Value
Learning
Practice
Report
Point Value
Educational
Identity Essay
Point Value
Criteria
Criteria
Criteria
Answers to the
questions are
complete, detailed,
and demonstrated
deep reflection
All questions are
answered and
complete. Answers
address the case
study questions
satisfactorily
3-2
Not all of the
questions are
answered or the
answers are
incomplete
There is evidence
that the report
contains deep
reflective
observation of a
learning practice
5-4
There is evidence
that the report
contains basic
observation of a
learning practice
There is
evidence that the
report contains
poor observation
of a learning
practice
1
There is evidence
that the author
interpreted how
his/her educational
background is
connected to culture,
politics, and
economics with
specific examples
and several
references to our
course sourceslessons
10-7
The author presents
a good
interpretation, but
reference to some
of the key concepts
from our course
sources-lessons is
missing
The author
presents an
interpretation
that lacks detail
and specific
examples. This
essay may or
may not contain
references to our
course sourceslessons
6-4
3-1
5-4
3-2
Points
Comments
1
Total
points
 This grading rubric must be included in the assignment. The maximum amount of
points for this assignment is 20.
 This assignment is due in one week. Each day late you lose five points.
 This assignment must be typed and printed out.