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Cultural Immersion Paper

General Instructions

Use textbooks, class materials, outside sources, and use APA format (Note: first person
expression is expected). Reflect on your experiences and your prior preconceived ideas.
Which of those preconceived ideas are now open to re-interpretation and why? What have you
learned about yourself and “them” now that the immersion is over? Take what you have learned
about this group and yourself and apply it in a counseling context. Assume you have a client
from this group and discuss each of the following:

• Use the insights you gained into your preconceived ideas of this group to identify ways

you will cope with your internal dialogue about clients from this group. Have your biases

shifted, and how will you keep your internalized biases at bay?

• What are some likely counseling issues you might expect from this group and why?

• What approaches (counseling and systemic) will you use and why?

• What are the ethical and legal issues inherent in counseling a client from this group?

• What will you do now to be ready to meet this future client?

• What did you learn in this experience that you will use with future multicultural/diverse

clients?

• Write 8-10 pages; Graded; 25 pts, APA and outside resources required

• If you are a non-counseling major, instead of applying your experience to the

“counseling” area, please apply it to your area of education (i.e. teacher, administrator,

etc..)

• Also, place your Cultural Immersion papers in the Discussion Board if you wish to share

with your classmates.

CACREP Standards Addressed: 2F.2.a, 2F.2.b, and 2F.2.h

Scoring Guidelines

Points available: 100.

Components Unacceptable
(0 points)

Revisions Required
(5 points)

Target
(10 points)

Introduction
Establishes historical

background and defensible
thesis that supports a logical

line of reasoning

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.b,
2F.2.h)

Underdeveloped
introduction; reason for

culture selection is
unclear or missing;

historical background is
inaccurate or missing

Coherent introduction
that includes a reason
for culture selection;

historical background is
accurate but limited

Engaging, well
developed introduction
that includes a detailed

reason for culture
selection; historical

background is accurate
and thorough

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Components Unacceptable
(0 points)

Revisions Required
(5 points)

Target
(10 points)

Focus & Purpose
Developed thesis and

attentive focus on topic

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.b,
2F.2.h)

Missing thesis; confusion
about or

misunderstanding of
topic; no sense of

purpose

Simplistic and unfocused
ideas; limited sense of

purpose

Developed thesis;
represents sound

understanding of the
assigned topic; focused

Ideas, Support &
Development

Supports ideas and
reflections using specific
and relevant examples of

evidence/experiences

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.b,
2F.2.h)

No or limited
evidence/experiences

are provided to support
ideas and reflections;

evidence is incomplete,
incorrect, oversimplified,
or disconnected from the

context

Provides necessary
evidence/experiences to

support ideas and
reflections; the

importance/relevance of
all pieces of

evidence/experiences is
unclear or under

developed but does
support the ideas and
reflections presented
and is placed properly

within the context

Relies on compelling and
detailed

evidence/experiences to
support ideas and

reflections; the
importance/relevance of

all pieces of
evidence/experiences is
clearly stated; considers
alternate interpretations
of evidence/experiences

to enhance
demonstration of cultural

intelligence

Conclusion
Establishes clear conclusion

based upon
evidence/experiences

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.b,
2F.2.h)

Missing or no connection
of evidence and analysis
to the reflections; fails to
summarize the argument

coherently

Limited connection
between evidence and
analysis to reflections;

summarizes some ideas
and thoughts but repeats

ideas to support
reflections

Engaging, strongly
connects evidence and
analysis to reflections;
summarizes the main

topics without repeating
previous ideas

Structure &
Organization

Text has unity and
coherence to accomplish the

focused purpose

No paragraph structure;
or single, rambling

paragraph; or series of
isolated paragraphs

Organization is
confusing or disjointed;

weak paragraph
structure; transitions are
missing or inappropriate

Clear organizational
structure; easily followed;

includes transitions;
structured format

Audience & Tone
Audience appropriate and

consistent tone

No awareness of
appropriate audience for

assignment; tone is
inappropriate

Lacks awareness of
appropriate audience for
the assignment; tone is

inconsistent

Effective and accurate
awareness of audience;
tone is appropriate for

audience and
assignment

Sentence Structure
Demonstrates varied

sentence structures to
enhance meaning

Contains multiple and
serious errors of

sentence structure: i.e.
fragments, run-ons;

unable to write simple
sentences

Formulaic sentence
patterns or overuse of

simple sentences; errors
in sentence structure

Effective and varied
sentences; errors (if

present) due to lack of
careful proofreading

Mechanics
The text has few

Frequent errors in
agreement, verb tense,

Contains several errors
in agreement, verb

Virtually free of errors in
agreement, verb tense,

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Components Unacceptable
(0 points)

Revisions Required
(5 points)

Target
(10 points)

grammatical, spelling and
punctuation errors.

spelling, and
capitalization; intrusive

and/or inaccurate
punctuation;

communication is
hindered

tense, spelling,
capitalization, and

punctuation (up to 6);
errors interfere with

meaning

spelling, capitalization,
and punctuation (no

more than 3); errors do
not interfere with

meaning

Vocabulary & Word
Usage

Uses extended and
appropriate vocabulary

Vocabulary is
unsophisticated; or

subject specific
vocabulary or

sophisticated vocabulary
used incorrectly.

Proper, but simple
vocabulary used; subject
specific vocabulary used

infrequently

Vocabulary is varied,
specific and appropriate;

uses subject specific
vocabulary correctly

APA Format/Citations
Correctly uses APA style and

formatting

Reference page includes
frequent errors (more

than 3); no attempt was
made to cited

supporting sources in-
text; contains multiple
errors in APA format

Reference page in
accurate and virtually
free of errors (no more
than 3); all supporting

sources are cited in-text,
but minor errors in APA

format are present

Reference page in
accurate and free of
errors; all supporting
sources are properly

cited in-text; APA format
is correct and accurate