Guidelines for Creating a Knowledge Synthesis Page
Overview Section:
This section introduces the rest of your Knowledge Snapshot Page. Thus, it is best to write it after you have completed the other sections below. In a brief paragraph, your overview will summarize the learning experience and grab readers’ attention. It is best to begin with a description of the context and what were you trying to learn or accomplish at the time. It should also include a sentence or two about why the experience was valuable to you and when applicable, the impact the experience had on others. Lastly, you should also provide an image (set to the right or left of the page) that captures the essence of what you learned
The “Skills and Insights Gained” Section:
This section, which is typically 1-3 paragraphs long and often includes bullet points, describes your role and your actions throughout the learning experience, including your insights, decisions, choices and interactions along the way. It should also address what you learned and why it was important or meaningful to you at the time of the experience. Although it is helpful to make a bulleted list of the steps you took, it is also very helpful to readers to include brief story that really captures a specific moment of challenge or insight from the learning experience. In this section, it is important that you use a variety of action verbs (ex: listening, asking, analyzing, etc.) to describe your insights, decisions, actions, a-ha moments and responses. Search the web for specific skill language and action verbs if needed.
Guiding Questions for the “Skills and Insights Gained” Section
(Use “I” statements, action verbs and direct objects as much as possible)
What are/were the major steps or tasks involved in this learning experience?
How did you spend your time? What did you do?
Describe a specific challenge or “a-ha” moment you had. What was the moment, how did you respond to the moment and what did you learn from it?
What are some of the ways you learned to deal with different or competing expectations, ideas, information, goals, needs and/or people through experience?
The “Lessons Learned” Section:
In this section, which is usually 1-3 paragraphs long, the goal is for you to describe how you are applying or translating what you learned from this experience to other areas of your work or life.
For instance, if your “skills gained” section provides a snapshot of the insights you gained in a leadership role, then in this section, you can describe how these insights or skills are applicable to other areas of your life. For instance, how they gave you the foundation or confidence to take on additional leadership roles and responsibilities, or how they taught you to better collaborate with others and delegate tasks.
Guiding Questions and Prompts for “Lessons Learned” Section
Why do you think this learning experience has stayed with you? How is it valuable to other areas of your life?
How have you applied what you’ve learned to other areas of your life?
What can you do better or differently now, or in the future because of this experience?
How will this experience shape how you will approach something in the future?
The “Importance” or “Impact” Section:
This section, which should be no larger than 1-2 paragraphs long, can sometimes be combined with the “Overview” section (depending on the degree of impact or importance of the experience). This section demonstrates your capacity to connect relatively “small” learning moments to larger “Big Picture” goals, ideas, needs, etc.. You should briefly describe how your learning connects to goals and/or values beyond the immediate experience. When applicable, you should also describe how groups, organizations, communities, etc. were affected by the insights, actions, decisions or interactions you described in previous sections.
Guiding Questions and Prompts for “Importance” or “Impact” Section:
(You do not need to answer all of the questions, just the ones that are useful to you.)
What was the potential impact or outcome of your work for yourself or others?
What was the need, gap or challenge addressed in this experience (for you and/or for others) and why do you think it existed?
How did this experience enhance group/community development or well-being (i.e. the “importance” of being an RA is that you can help first-year students make the critical transition to college life).
How did this experience support a change underway within a group, community or institution (i.e. the importance of doing research on a health-related issue could be that it motivated you to participate more actively in the national health-care debate)?
What positive feedback have others provided about this work/experience?
How did what you learned from this experience connect to your larger learning and professional goals (i.e. the importance of learning Spanish could be that it prepares you to be successful in a diverse workplace).
Visual Element:
The visual elements (image or diagram) usually captures some theme or poignant moment illustrated in the Knowledge Synthesis Reflection Page. It is best to put the visual element at the top of the page in the “Overview” section. These visual elements can be abstract or concrete, personally created or taken from the public domain.
Guiding Questions for “Visual Element” Section:
When you consider the outcome of your experience, what image(s) come to mind?
If someone did not have access to reading your Knowledge Synthesis, what image(s) would best capture the essence of your experience?
Create a Standout Title for your Knowledge Snapshot Page: (Do this last)
Titles work best if they are action-oriented and capture the "essence" of what you learned or gained from an experience (e.g. "Creating a an Effective Tutoring Program" "Learning Abstract Thinking Through Calculus" "Applying Statistics to Everyday Life"). It is often easiest to create the title of your Knowledge Synthesis Reflection Page at the very end.
Guiding Questions for Creating a Title:
What parts of your experience would grab the attention of your audience the most?
Can you explain your experience in “action-oriented” language in less than eight words?
Overview Section:
This section introduces the rest of your Knowledge Snapshot Page. Thus, it is best to write it after you have completed the other sections below. In a brief paragraph, your overview will summarize the learning experience and grab readers’ attention. It is best to begin with a description of the context and what were you trying to learn or accomplish at the time. It should also include a sentence or two about why the experience was valuable to you and when applicable, the impact the experience had on others. Lastly, you should also provide an image (set to the right or left of the page) that captures the essence of what you learned
The “Skills and Insights Gained” Section:
This section, which is typically 1-3 paragraphs long and often includes bullet points, describes your role and your actions throughout the learning experience, including your insights, decisions, choices and interactions along the way. It should also address what you learned and why it was important or meaningful to you at the time of the experience. Although it is helpful to make a bulleted list of the steps you took, it is also very helpful to readers to include brief story that really captures a specific moment of challenge or insight from the learning experience. In this section, it is important that you use a variety of action verbs (ex: listening, asking, analyzing, etc.) to describe your insights, decisions, actions, a-ha moments and responses. Search the web for specific skill language and action verbs if needed.
Guiding Questions for the “Skills and Insights Gained” Section
(Use “I” statements, action verbs and direct objects as much as possible)
What are/were the major steps or tasks involved in this learning experience?
How did you spend your time? What did you do?
Describe a specific challenge or “a-ha” moment you had. What was the moment, how did you respond to the moment and what did you learn from it?
What are some of the ways you learned to deal with different or competing expectations, ideas, information, goals, needs and/or people through experience?
The “Lessons Learned” Section:
In this section, which is usually 1-3 paragraphs long, the goal is for you to describe how you are applying or translating what you learned from this experience to other areas of your work or life.
For instance, if your “skills gained” section provides a snapshot of the insights you gained in a leadership role, then in this section, you can describe how these insights or skills are applicable to other areas of your life. For instance, how they gave you the foundation or confidence to take on additional leadership roles and responsibilities, or how they taught you to better collaborate with others and delegate tasks.
Guiding Questions and Prompts for “Lessons Learned” Section
Why do you think this learning experience has stayed with you? How is it valuable to other areas of your life?
How have you applied what you’ve learned to other areas of your life?
What can you do better or differently now, or in the future because of this experience?
How will this experience shape how you will approach something in the future?
The “Importance” or “Impact” Section:
This section, which should be no larger than 1-2 paragraphs long, can sometimes be combined with the “Overview” section (depending on the degree of impact or importance of the experience). This section demonstrates your capacity to connect relatively “small” learning moments to larger “Big Picture” goals, ideas, needs, etc.. You should briefly describe how your learning connects to goals and/or values beyond the immediate experience. When applicable, you should also describe how groups, organizations, communities, etc. were affected by the insights, actions, decisions or interactions you described in previous sections.
Guiding Questions and Prompts for “Importance” or “Impact” Section:
(You do not need to answer all of the questions, just the ones that are useful to you.)
What was the potential impact or outcome of your work for yourself or others?
What was the need, gap or challenge addressed in this experience (for you and/or for others) and why do you think it existed?
How did this experience enhance group/community development or well-being (i.e. the “importance” of being an RA is that you can help first-year students make the critical transition to college life).
How did this experience support a change underway within a group, community or institution (i.e. the importance of doing research on a health-related issue could be that it motivated you to participate more actively in the national health-care debate)?
What positive feedback have others provided about this work/experience?
How did what you learned from this experience connect to your larger learning and professional goals (i.e. the importance of learning Spanish could be that it prepares you to be successful in a diverse workplace).
Visual Element:
The visual elements (image or diagram) usually captures some theme or poignant moment illustrated in the Knowledge Synthesis Reflection Page. It is best to put the visual element at the top of the page in the “Overview” section. These visual elements can be abstract or concrete, personally created or taken from the public domain.
Guiding Questions for “Visual Element” Section:
When you consider the outcome of your experience, what image(s) come to mind?
If someone did not have access to reading your Knowledge Synthesis, what image(s) would best capture the essence of your experience?
Create a Standout Title for your Knowledge Snapshot Page: (Do this last)
Titles work best if they are action-oriented and capture the "essence" of what you learned or gained from an experience (e.g. "Creating a an Effective Tutoring Program" "Learning Abstract Thinking Through Calculus" "Applying Statistics to Everyday Life"). It is often easiest to create the title of your Knowledge Synthesis Reflection Page at the very end.
Guiding Questions for Creating a Title:
What parts of your experience would grab the attention of your audience the most?
Can you explain your experience in “action-oriented” language in less than eight words?