How to Write a Reflection Paper in Family and Consumer Science: 5 Basic Features

Writing guide
Posted on July 3, 2021

If a person obtains a degree in Family and Consumer Science, he or she will cooperate with people trying to improve their living environment. It is a beneficial and very perspective education for those who want to make human life better. A student can become an educator, 4-H agent, a consultant, designer, tour director, etc. Consequently, a person has a chance to present a research paper that will be precious for everybody thanks to the variety of available topics.

No doubt, a reflection paper is the best tool for the college committee to reveal their students’ interests, preferences, ideas, intentions, and creativity. Such academic writing will show whether a person is an apt student and fits the chosen profession or not. It is also a great opportunity for a student to introduce oneself as an aware and ambitious person.
A reflection paper differs from other academic papers. Experts identify 5 basic things a student should know about this academic assignment.

  • It is one of the few academic writings that allow students to use the first person singular (‘I’ sentences).
  • It is subjective and appreciates a student’s point of view concerning the presented problem or idea.
  • Its purpose is to make a student compare and contrast personal experience with the existing problem, idea, approach.
  • The goal of the thesis statement is to investigate and draw a lesson.
  • The structure can be less formal and include an open ending, retrospection, and prospection.

Students can write a reflection paper in Family and Consumer Science to discuss such topics as nutrition, healthcare, childcare, parenthood, rules of communication, resource management, financial awareness, career development, and other important things for the family and consumer’s well being.

How to Write a Reflection Paper in Family and Consumer Science: Sources

Reflection writing is not only a presentation of personal thoughts and feelings concerning some topics. It is a research paper that needs knowledge. Students will get them only in case they investigate related literature. A person should look for reliable sources to cite them in the paper. For example, trustable websites always update their information and have regular posts. Writers always back up their information and give hyperlinks or a list of the used sources at the end of the article.

Below, one can see 5 websites that provide information about Family and Consumer Sciences. One can study them to find a worthy topic to reflect or find some useful information for the paper. Another 5 links introduce Amazon books devoted to the topic for one to buy, read, and use in research and writing.

One must not forget to introduce all literature in the bibliography section. If a person does not mention the applied websites, books, magazines, newspapers, journals, and encyclopedias, he or she will be accused of plagiarism regarding copyright policy.

3 Things to Consider about Reflection Paper in Family and Consumer Sciences

Just like any other academic writing, a reflection paper demands proper structuring, language, and formatting. It is important to keep to the college requirements. Nevertheless, a reflection becomes brighter when a person uses a unique writing style to underline his or her individuality. Let’s speak about three basic things in detail.

Structure

Professors and tutors always pay attention to the structural peculiarities of academic assignments. Due to the proper structuring, one can scan the text to see what information the paper contains. Consequently, a person should create precise and informative headings and titles. There must be paragraphs and a corresponding number of words in each one to guarantee good readability.

An informative paper usually has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. As a rule, a reader observes 5 visible blocks. Such papers are called 5-paragraph essays, responses, or reviews. It is very comfortable to introduce the paper in the introduction, develop the idea within three paragraphs of the body, and devote one paragraph to the conclusion. That is why professionals recommend creating an outline.

An outline looks like a plan that mirrors all structural components of the paper. It helps to think of striking headings, logical paragraphing, suitable words, and eligible citations or sources. An outline lets a person write without unnecessary brakes. When a person feels inspired, he or she will write quickly and productively. Lack of information about the topic or proper sequence of structural parts prevents from creation. So, it is better to be ready and know what to write in each part of the paper.

An introduction is to be brief but informative and catchy. Its goal is to attract the attention of the target reader.

✔ a reflective introduction presents one’s expectations, experience, and thesis statement regarding the major topic; it usually asks a reflection question to provoke a dialog with the target reader

✖ a reflective introduction is to be subjective but not too emotional and clumsy

A body discusses the main idea and supports it with facts and useful data. It usually has three paragraphs. The first one should speak about the influence of personal experience on a person. The second one opposes things that a student and others have observed. The last one conveys the general message and lesson a student has learned at the end of the writing. In other words, an individual explains the reason for the chosen approach and idea, involves details and facts, and highlights the way the writer has changed thanks to the analysis.

✔ reflection body refers to trustable sources or the course and reexamines suppositions given earlier

✖ poor writing is not focused on a student’s experience and the course; it does not encourage a student’s experience as a main influential factor

The conclusion stresses the idea of the paper and the impact of one’s experience on the final decision. It is important to be persuasive and influential. Each word must speak to the point while unfolding the message of the thesis statement. This part answers all important questions and might ask other questions to make the reader integrate with the student and understand him or her.

  • a reflective conclusion reflects the initial assumptions and highlights knowledge gaps and leading problems
  • it should not just restate the thesis statement and give objective summarizing

Language

A student must write wisely and avoid silly repetitions. When expressing the attitude towards something, a person is not to be rude, impolite and too positively or negatively tuned. It is a college assignment that demands an academic tone. It means that a text must omit colloquialisms and abbreviations that are popular on social networks like OMG, LOL, BTW and others.

Sentences are to be simple. Short sentences should alternate with long ones. Students should use transitions to express the idea logically and connect one idea with others. The most popular transitions are ‘besides’, ‘firstly’, ‘in addition’, ‘as a result’, and so on.

Important! Sometimes, a person feels awkward when providing a personal viewpoint concerning the core idea of the reflection paper. A person can escape subjective language and use ‘one’ or ‘we’ instead of I in the text.

Students should also keep in mind the awareness of the target reader. It is wiser not to describe obvious data in detail. If a student is going to read the paper to other students, it will be better to explain some notions, events, and terms. Professors do not need that, so a person can use many terms without explanations.

Formatting

There are different academic papers and each of them needs a fixed format. Formatting deals with details a person should be aware of. Usually, professors ask their students to format a reflection paper the following way:

  • Word document
  • A-4 page format
  • 1-inch margins
  • font 12
  • Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria (or any other distinguishable font)
  • 2-spacing

Everybody knows that an academic paper usually introduces the list of used literature in the alphabetical order. Besides, it is necessary to study different format styles. Colleges usually demand APA and MLA style, though, sometimes students have to use Harvard and Chicago styles. It is not very easy to differentiate between all styles. Fortunately, a person can use online apps to generate citations in several seconds.

Online generators need basic information about the source to generate citations. For example, to cite a book a person has to give the name of the book, the authors, year of publication, pages, and city. Students are lucky to cite websites because in this case one should just copy and insert URL addresses to receive ready literature for the bibliography section. Cite This for Me and Scribbr are perfect tools for that purpose.

How to Write a Reflection Paper in Family and Consumer Science with the Help of Apps

Modern society cannot imagine a single day without digital devices. Students feel cozy when using mobile phones in classes. Consequently, mobile apps can simplify the process of writing. One can search for such apps on Play Market or just use online tools without the need for installation. Professionals recommend 5 top apps for academic writing.

Grammarly

This tool is free and allows a person to use it without installation. A person can scan documents to find basic mistakes and correct them. Moreover, a person can sync it with Google Docs to save time and write with fewer mistakes.

Dupli Checker

Students adore 2 famous combinations ctrl C +ctrl V but tutors, professors, and teachers hate them. Academic assignments stimulate creativity and let students mirror their thoughts. Plagiarism tarnishes one’s reputation. Educators do not want to deal with plagiarized papers. That is why they always punish cheaters. College committee either expel students or make them rewrite works and never give A to such writings.

Dupli Checker scans the typed or pasted text to identify copied sentences and abstracts. It also introduces websites where a person has plagiarized information.

Hemingway Editor

Adverbs, weighty lexical units, passive voice, and long sentences complicate the readability of texts. Hemingway app helps to find problematic lexical and grammatical constructions. A student has a chance to alter them to make the paper more readable.

WordRake

When students write a reflective paper, they will try to say as much as possible to impress the target reader. As a result, they use too many words and the writing becomes watery. WordRake reduces unnecessary words and helps to sound wiser and more exact.

Cliche Finders

One of the worst things is the use of cliche phrases in academic papers. Professors feel sick when seeing them and lower the mark because of that. That is why students have to read a lot to enlarge one’s vocabulary and write unique papers that vary in lexical units and unusual grammatical constructions. Cliche Finder points to overused phrases and a student can replace them with better variants.

The last step in the creation of a reflection paper is proofreading and editing. A student should slowly read every sentence and check if all parts have a logical connection. One should also pay attention to the density of different words. SEO analyzers provide such data in numbers. Thanks to that, a student can change words that appear too often, delete repetitions, and improve the fluency of the language in general.

Professional writers suggest using active voice to sound more natural and engaging. Besides, excellent examples of reflection papers in Family and Consumer Studies serve as perfect guides for beginners. One can ask those who have already succeeded in it to share samples and secrets of their success.

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