How to write a reflection paper about an article

In this assignment you will explore printed media and discover new scientific data and see how that data is being used and interpreted. It will be easier to analyze and give your views on the article and related issues, if you become a critical reader. Decide if the information presented in the article is biased. Is the author trying to persuade you to agree with his point of view? Look at the people involved in the article, the writer, the researcher, the people funding the research -are they influencing how the research data is being presented? What are the values and beliefs of these people? Look at how new scientific data is collected and how it is used and developed within our society.

The Process:

1. Locate and read a recent article from a newspaper, magazine or the Internet. The article should have been written in 2016 and should relate to a science topic covered in psychology. Some places you might want to look for articles include:

· The Washington Post
· Science News Magazine
· The New York Times
· Time Magazine
· Discover
· The Washington Times
· Scientific American

Theses sources may be found in the library or on the Internet. You do not need a copy of the article to turn in with your review; however you will need to properly reference the article, as you would in a bibliography.

2. Summarize the information contained in the article. The summary should be 2-3 paragraphs in length and should include the basic facts given in the article. The summary should be about one half of the total length of the paper.

3. Give your views about the article. Your views will be unique, they will not be right or wrong. Your reaction to the article should be supported with thoughtful reasoning and explanations. Here are some points you might want to consider, they might not relate to all of the article you choose.

· Is the article related to topics covered in class?
· Is the article biased in any way? Is the author trying to convince the reader to agree with him/her?
· Do your personal beliefs influence they way this information should be used?
· Will this information affect you personally or someone in your family?
· Who is going to benefit from research in your article? Will all people have equal access to this information? Will this new discovery benefit many people or just a few?
· Who is going to benefit economically from this research?
· If a new technology is developed, will new laws need to be made to protect citizens?

4. The total length of the paper should be one or two pages typed, doubled spaced.

5. Credit the Author! Use a reference citation for the article just like one in a bibliography. The web address alone is not a proper citation!

· Example:

Author (date of publication) Title of the Article, Source. Volume, page number.

Jones, K., & Day, J. D. (1997) Discrimination of Two Aspects of Cognitive-Social Intelligence from Academic Intelligence, Journal of Educational Psychology. 89, 486-497

· If you find an article online this is how you would cite the author:

Benton Foundation (1998). Losing ground bit by bit: Low-income communities in the information age [Electronic version]. Retrieved June 27, 2001, from http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-Income/two.html