Example Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge 

 I am a mathematician .   I am going to talk about mathematics .   That alone gets many people nervous ,   and it is my responsibility to assuage their fears , and explain technical concepts in easily understandable   terms .   A lot of people are not mathematicians , and do not want to have to learn mathematics in order   to achieve a task .   A good percentage of them have a bias against mathematics , and so I tell stories to at   least initially avoid the kind of language that might cause my audience to put up mental shields against   the concepts I am trying to communicate .   I learn how to read my audience , and how to present the   information in such a way that it is understood and accepted .   Math is language at its core , and stories   can be the most accessible form of language . 

 Selection 

 These terms often change with my audience .   When I am consulting a visual person , I create a lot of   visual diagrams to explain each concept .   I label each part individually , then use arrows to show what   sends what to where , and use circles to show scope and commonality . 

 If a person is verbal , I explain it in the simplest terms possible , and relate it as well as I can to the specific   fields of knowledge shared by my audience members .   People think in relative terms , and storytelling is   a great way to take advantage of that . 

 If an audience is mixed , I use both techniques at the same time , and I make sure to analyze my audience   while I am presenting , and adjust to their reactions to make sure they are all able to understand and   keep up . 

 Application 

 My main example of the success I ’ve had with storytelling is my dissertation defense .   I had a mixed   audience made up of professors from various fields and businesspeople .   Each person had their own   field of knowledge , and had a previous understanding of a different part of the subject matter .   No one   was familiar with all of it , except for me , and it was my responsibility to make sure that they all   understood once I was done .   I used what I call “ putting just enough salt in the water for the freshwater   and saltwater creatures to survive ” , which is to describe it with just the right mix of detail and general   storytelling to be able to not only communicate what I had been doing , but why it was significant   enough for a Ph.D. 

 Insight 

 It was interesting .   Each person had their own questions , and their own challenges .   I would be patient ,   listening to each person .   I would then make sure everyone understood what was being asked , and I   would address it directly , but without using technical language that would make the other professors   uncomfortable with aspects they were not familiar with .   Professors do not approve of ideas they do not   understand , or are not comfortable with .   Even when one professor seemed to be looking for an excuse   to not like my research , I remained patient , and I eventually settled the matter , and was able to   continue .   Eventually , I was done , and there were no more questions .   I then heard my dissertation chair 

 say : “ Congratulations ... Dr. Miller . ”   I smiled , and I thought to myself : “ They accepted your work , so   do n’t say a thing . ”   I then left ... to more paperwork required for graduation , but that is another , less   interesting story . 

 Approach 

 I remember being frustrated at all the process I had to go through to get to that point , beyond simply   coming up with an original , useful idea .   I had to learn how to work with different kinds of people to   achieve a common goal , how to adapt with constantly changing circumstances , and communicate in   clear and interesting ways .   It was the beginning of my career as a professional   mathematician / statistician , and this course has been interesting regarding those aspects of the human   element that need to be understood in order to facilitate progress .   I ’ve actually used some of this   material already in my conversations about other new ideas I ’ve been working on , and I am eager to see   what I can really do with this knowledge . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Example Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge 

 I am a mathematician .   I am going to talk about mathematics .   That alone gets many people nervous ,   and it is my responsibility to assuage their fears , and explain technical concepts in easily understandable   terms .   A lot of people are not mathematicians , and do not want to have to learn mathematics in order   to achieve a task .   A good percentage of them have a bias against mathematics , and so I tell stories to at   least initially avoid the kind of language that might cause my audience to put up mental shields against   the concepts I am trying to communicate .   I learn how to read my audience , and how to present the   information in such a way that it is understood and accepted .   Math is language at its core , and stories   can be the most accessible form of language . 

 Selection 

 These terms often change with my audience .   When I am consulting a visual person , I create a lot of   visual diagrams to explain each concept .   I label each part individually , then use arrows to show what   sends what to where , and use circles to show scope and commonality . 

 If a person is verbal , I explain it in the simplest terms possible , and relate it as well as I can to the specific   fields of knowledge shared by my audience members .   People think in relative terms , and storytelling is   a great way to take advantage of that . 

 If an audience is mixed , I use both techniques at the same time , and I make sure to analyze my audience   while I am presenting , and adjust to their reactions to make sure they are all able to understand and   keep up . 

 Application 

 My main example of the success I ’ve had with storytelling is my dissertation defense .   I had a mixed   audience made up of professors from various fields and businesspeople .   Each person had their own   field of knowledge , and had a previous understanding of a different part of the subject matter .   No one   was familiar with all of it , except for me , and it was my responsibility to make sure that they all   understood once I was done .   I used what I call “ putting just enough salt in the water for the freshwater   and saltwater creatures to survive ” , which is to describe it with just the right mix of detail and general   storytelling to be able to not only communicate what I had been doing , but why it was significant   enough for a Ph.D. 

 Insight 

 It was interesting .   Each person had their own questions , and their own challenges .   I would be patient ,   listening to each person .   I would then make sure everyone understood what was being asked , and I   would address it directly , but without using technical language that would make the other professors   uncomfortable with aspects they were not familiar with .   Professors do not approve of ideas they do not   understand , or are not comfortable with .   Even when one professor seemed to be looking for an excuse   to not like my research , I remained patient , and I eventually settled the matter , and was able to   continue .   Eventually , I was done , and there were no more questions .   I then heard my dissertation chair 

 say : “ Congratulations ... Dr. Miller . ”   I smiled , and I thought to myself : “ They accepted your work , so   do n’t say a thing . ”   I then left ... to more paperwork required for graduation , but that is another , less   interesting story . 

 Approach 

 I remember being frustrated at all the process I had to go through to get to that point , beyond simply   coming up with an original , useful idea .   I had to learn how to work with different kinds of people to   achieve a common goal , how to adapt with constantly changing circumstances , and communicate in   clear and interesting ways .   It was the beginning of my career as a professional   mathematician / statistician , and this course has been interesting regarding those aspects of the human   element that need to be understood in order to facilitate progress .   I ’ve actually used some of this   material already in my conversations about other new ideas I ’ve been working on , and I am eager to see   what I can really do with this knowledge .
### Output: 