A500.9.4.RB - Course Reflections
This course has been a great beginner’s course for the Leadership program; I think students who are nervous or hesitant should take this course to gain the confidence of being an independent learner. By having an instructor who is involved in our work and provides valuable feedback is a positive reflection of this course. The one negative tool used during the course is the Brain, the product provides vague instructions and difficult to use. After interacting with fellow classmates, it is apparent many of us are older and have become accustomed to what we know how to use pertaining to technology. I struggled with the Brain the first assignment and I found the product frustrating.
I have a few improvements for the next course that I need to work toward to gain the most from my Grad school experience. First, I need to learn APA format and use all tools available to improve my writing such as the APA book, Purdue Owl Online, and my peers for review. Second, I need to be comfortable writing and not let writers block stand in my way. I found myself getting caught up in small details during a few assignments and I would lose focus while writing. Finally, I need to accept feedback as a positive skill-building tool and not be hard on myself for mistakes I make.
The topics covered during this course are relevant to our education because we were not confined to single topic discussions with a single answer. The topics were great conversation tools with fellow classmates and a few sparked in-depth discussions. By taking an online course we do not get the classroom experience, however; the weekly discussions, personal thoughts, and encouragement from our fellow classmates during the discussions gave us a great opportunity to interact with one another. Also, having the instructor involved in our conversations was a great experience as well. I have taken several online courses in undergrad and I have never had an instructor involved the way Dr. Atchison was involved in our work. It is important as a student to know our instructor is aware and in tune with the class.
For future courses, I hope to have the same great experience I did for this course. I was nervous when I began the course because I was focused on what was right versus thinking critically. As the course progressed, I received the necessary feedback to work through the class and understand what was expected of me as a student.
