This is an example of a reflection designed to help students prepare for an upcoming discussion in my Media, Culture, & Society course.

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A few things are worth noting in this example:

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• The instructions explicitly tell the student that they should have already studied the supporting learning content. This helps students understand the order of operation in learning.

• The instructions make clear the purpose of the reflection.

• The instructions give clear steps for students to follow in order to prepare for the upcoming writing.

• It's easy for students to ask questions about the reflection: they just click the as the professor link (Ask Steve).

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In the best case, well-trained students do this work and make these connections on their own. Students who aren't there yet can ask very concrete questions in order to better understand how to do this work. In any event, this kind of assignment lets me walk students through exactly what I want them to do in between class meetings.

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This work precedes a "stickiest point" discussion, where students identify an idea that they didn't fully understand,  explain what was confusing, and what they did to try to clear up the confusion. I respond to each post, and students are encouraged to work together and help each other create understanding.