Reflective Introduction

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Instructor
Course
December 2, 2016
Reflective Introduction STEM
The journey undertaken when writing papers for college level classes is one of discovery. We learn about topics by doing many hours of research. The first steps are to formulate the thesis for STEM. Next look for pros and cons based on the thesis. Then decide what is important to know about STEM. Then back up the thesis with accurate data, and put together multi-modal visuals to follow the thesis. No matter how much time spent researching the school library, or on the internet, there is always differing opinions, with both pro and con on all subjects. In the end, it is about how one could phrase the research thesis is all about what comes up as research. One must take the time to find a consensus on the information. The reflection for this STEM topic is that stereotyped careers as a male dominated in earlier dated articles.
Excerpt from previous STEM paper on Solutions to the Challenges on page 2
Studies indicate that when students are still in the lower grades in their education, they all have similar desires to pursue STEM-related disciplines later in their academic life. However, the males in the science-based disciplines outnumber females. The women accounting for only twenty-one percent of the undergraduate degrees related to STEM (Hill, 31).
That process looks to be changing in the more current articles. This good news for women as the figure 1 below shows the proof that more women are discovering the benefits of choosing STEM as a career.

The research also proves that career planning should occur earlier than that high school. This is where the mentoring process works the best. As listed in figure 1 the numbers for women improved dramatically by the year 2000. Figure 2 speaks for itself, that times are changing in respect to women and STEM careers.

Fig 1: Women in Selected STEM occupations 1960-2000 (Hill 31) Fig 2: Performance on a challenging mathematics test by stereotype
Threat and gender
In the other paper on STEM, this was a shocking statement listed below that proves that few scholars mention this governmental ruling. Looking back, public school did move away from specific classes in favor of basic skill sets. This affected the future for everyone.
Excerpt from Reasons for the Gender Disparity in STEM Majors
According to her, the implementation of No Child Left Behind policy “demanded that schools generate higher test scores in basic skills, but it required no curriculum; nor did it raise standards. It ignored such important studies such as history, civics, literature, the arts, and geography” (Ravitch 18).
Questions and Answers
The light bulb comes on when this student is away from the process. It usually happens in the middle of the night after several hours of sleep. It occurs after spending a few hours digging into multiple levels of research that seem confusing. The practice of stepping away from the process allows the subconscious to pick apart the data to keep the most critical information. This student, it is in the form of an epiphany, somewhat like a writer’s block. It is the stepping back, which enables one to see the bigger picture.
Multi-modal presentations are attention grabbers.
The advent of being able to insert pictures and graphs in research papers greatly assist in producing a quality paper. It breaks up the monotony of a sea of words. This helps everyone to understand the concepts expressed in the paper. It also allows one to grab a larger audience because visuals are interesting.
The finalized graphs above explained the numbers better than the written words. When looking for the data in the body of the research material, the visual of the graphs made the information easier to comprehend and they fit the paper perfectly.
Thesis clarity was greatly improved.
Revision -Multiple drafts are crucial to paper completion. The ability to step back and take a break from writing can change one’s perspective. The process of comparing two versions can assist in better sentence formation. What looked great yesterday can appear flawed. This is when silly mistakes are corrected. This leads to validation of facts that forces the writer to reevaluate yesterday’s thought processes.
Reflection as a Writer
The skills of a great writer improve with every paper. Writers learn better spelling and grammar as the level of expertise increases. Revision is part of this process and students learn from making mistakes, just like everyone else. Frequent revising is critical in producing great papers.
Works Cited
Hill, Catherine. Reflection Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Washington DC: AAUW, 2010. 3-134, Print.
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and
Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic Books, 2016. Print.