The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Master of Health Science Program (MSHS)
Health Informatics Concentration
Reflective Journal Assignment Instructions and Grading Rubric
Assignment Rationale:
Please refer to the course syllabus to determine what percentage the Reflective Journal assignments are of your final grade for this course. The purpose of this assignment is for the student to have the opportunity to document reflections concerning course content and the application of learning.

Assignment Learning Objective:
Each Reflective Journal assignment will be related to a specific prompt and learning objective. Please refer to the Assignments chart located within each week to locate the relevant learning objective as a guide for each journal entry. The prompt can be found under the submission link found within the related Learning Activities Folder.

Assignment Instructions:
1. Using well-constructed, thoughtful, organized writing, complete Reflective Journal entries as assigned.

2. Click on the Reflective Journal tab on the Course Menu to add your journal entry.

3. Each journal entry should represent student reflection related to the prompt (consider course readings, activities, relevant research).

4. Reflection should indicate the relevance of the issue to the student’s professional practice.

5. Click on Create Journal Entry (near top).

6. Please insert the journal entry directly into the textbook provided (after you click on Create Journal Entry) rather than attach a Word document.

7. Make sure you title the journal entry appropriately (see syllabus).

8. Each journal entry is private and can only be read by the instructors(s) and not classmates.

9. Always check the posted course calendar for any due date clarification but typically journal assignments will be due on Tuesday at 11 pm. Reflective Journal Assignment Grading Rubric

Exemplary
Capable
Developing
Needs Improvement
No Credit
Clarity
Reflection, regarding the prompt, is substantive, clear, and original.
Reflection, regarding the prompt, is thorough (but lacking detail.
Reflection is minimal or unrelated to the prompt.
Reflection is confusing to the reader.
No reflection included.
Analysis
Prompt analysis is substantive, clear, original, and relevant to the course content.
Prompt analysis is thorough.
Prompt analysis is minimal.
Prompt analysis does not make sense to the reader.
No prompt analysis included.
Relevance
Reflection is detailed and shows mastery of the content and communicates the relevance of what the student has learned with thorough effectiveness.
Reflection is complete and shows comprehension of the content but the explanation regarding relevance lacks depth.
The reflection shows an attempt to explain the relevance of the topic but overall it was not well explained.
Most of the reflection is irrelevant.
Details are fragmented, irrelevant, and unrelated to the course content.
Grammar, Spelling, and Sentence Structure
Journal writing is of excellent quality; Free of any grammar and spelling errors.

Journal writing is polished; maximum of one grammar or spelling error.

Journal writing is adequate for graduate level work; maximum of two grammar or spelling errors.
Journal writing is inadequate for graduate level work; three spelling or grammar errors.
Journal is poorly written with multiple spelling and grammar errors.
Length
Submission consists of a minimum of two paragraphs, each with at least four sentences.
Submission consists of a minimum of two paragraphs, each with fewer than four sentences.
Submission consists of only one paragraph.
Submission is too brief to be considered adequate – three sentences.
Submission is very short – one to two sentences.