Assessment 2 Instructions: Wisdom, Courage, and Humanity Reflection Paper
• Write a 3-4 page paper reflecting on what you learned when completing a positive psychology activity, how it relates to optimal human functioning, and how you can apply that to your life.
Introduction
Note: You are encouraged to complete the assessments in this course in the sequence in which they are presented. It is best to complete Assessment 1 first. Assessment 1 will help to prepare you for the other assessments. It is best to complete Assessment 4 last since it is the most complex of the four assessments.
A significant part of positive psychology is determining a person’s strengths and building on those to enhance well-being. The VIA is one way to measure and categorize strengths. Identifying your top strengths is an interesting academic exercise, but it becomes more interesting and helpful when you can find ways to use that information to improve your personal or professional life. In this assessment, you reflect on what you learned when completing one of the positive psychology activities related to wisdom, courage, or humanity and apply that knowledge to your personal or professional life. Take note that it is strongly recommended that you do the quizzes and tests in this course in the order in which they were provided to you. It is recommended that you start with the first test and finish it. The first Assessment will Help you in preparing for the subsequent assessments. Given that Assessment 4 is the most difficult of the four tests to complete, it is recommended that you save it for last.
Determining a person’s strengths and then building on those qualities in order to improve one’s well-being is an important aspect of positive psychology. The VIA is one method that can be used to assess and classify strengths. Finding your top talents is an intriguing academic exercise, but it becomes even more interesting and useful when you can find methods to apply that information to improve your personal or professional life. Identifying your top strengths is an interesting academic exercise. In this part of the test, you are going to think back on what you picked up from participating in one of the positive psychology activities dealing with either wisdom, bravery, or humanity, and then you are going to apply that information to either your personal or professional life.
Overview
Note: You are encouraged to complete the assessments in this course in the sequence in which they are presented. It is best to complete Assessment 1 first. Assessment 1 will help to prepare you for the other assessments. It is best to complete Assessment 4 last since it is the most complex of the four assessments.
Preparation
For this assessment, complete the VIA Survey of Character Strengths and one of the wisdom, courage, or humanity activities in the Positive Psychology Activities media piece. You are encouraged to record your personal reflections (thoughts) and insights (things learned or relearned). These notes will help you complete the assessment.
• In Section 2, complete Activity 2.1 VIA Survey of Character Strengths.
• In addition, complete one of the following activities in Section 2, 3, or 4.
o 2.2 Advice From Your Inner Sage.
o 2.3 Curiosity Activity.
o 2.4 Creative Thinking Activity.
o 3.1 Courage Activity.
o 3.2 Zest Activity.
o 3.3 Honesty Activity.
o 4.1 Sentence Completion.
o 4.2 Compassionate Love Scale.
o 4.3 Close Relationships Questionnaire.
o 4.4 Drive-by Flowering.
Use the Capella University Library to find scholarly articles. If you aren’t familiar with the library, the “Finding Articles” section of the Psychology Research Guide is a great place to start your search. You are required to include a minimum of 2 properly cited professional resources (such as a textbook and peer-reviewed scholarly journal article).
Instructions
Organize your paper, using the following headings to ensure that you address each element of the assessment.
• Activity Summary
o Describe the activity you are focusing on for this assessment.
o Summarize and explain your personal reflections and insights to demonstrate what you learned from this experiential learning activity. What did you learn about yourself or others?
• Relationship to Positive Psychology
o Explain how this experiential activity or the character strength it represents is related to optimal human functioning. How does this activity demonstrate the principles and concepts of positive psychology?
• Application to Personal or Professional Issues
o Summarize how what you learned from this activity and the study of character strengths for this assessment may be applied to personal issues in your life or professional issues as in an educational or work setting.
o Analyze the strengths and limitations (advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons) of applying what you learned or the character strengths studied to the personal or professional issues.
o Include supportive research findings related to these topics (at least one scholarly peer-reviewed article in addition to supporting information from a textbook or a professional source). Be sure to cite and reference all scholarly sources.
Additional Requirements
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Your paper should be formatted according to current Evidence and APA guidelines.
• Number of References: Your paper should include at least two properly cited professional resources (such as a textbook and at least one peer-reviewed scholarly journal article from the Capella library).
• Length: 3–4 double-spaced pages of content in addition to the title page and reference page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
Review the Wisdom, Courage, and Humanity Reflection Paper Scoring Guide for details on how your paper will be graded.
Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
• Competency 1: Explain the relationship among positive experiences, positive traits, and optimal human functioning.
o Explain how a particular activity demonstrates the relationship between experiential activities or character strengths and optimal human functioning.
• Competency 2: Apply concepts of positive psychology to real world situations.
o Explain reflections and insights related to experiential learning activities.
o Apply concepts of positive psychology to personal or professional situations.
• Competency 3: Apply research findings to topics in positive psychology.
o Support analysis with research findings related to topics or issues.
• Competency 4: Analyze the strengths and limitations of applied positive psychology.
o Analyze the strengths and limitations of applying character strengths to personal or professional issues.
• Competency 5: Write using a clear purpose, organization, tone, and sentence structure.
o Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text with appropriate tone and grammatically sound sentences.
o Use APA style formatting in citations and references.
