Sunday, November 15, 2009

Course evaluation and self reflection.

At the beginning of the semester, I was looking for classes that are different from the engineering classes. Also, I wanted a class that teaches me how to find a job. I found a book "What color is your parachute" recommended in this course website. I thought it must be helpful for my job search. Those were the reasons for taking the course.

After taking the course, I have had a positive learning experience. By experience, I really mean experience. The course did not teach long equations and theories. Rather, we have had the experience of writing a proposal, blogging and interviewing. These seemed not as important as the hard core knowledge. However, I strongly believe that these skills are absolutely necessary to differentiate yourself from the rest who are also well educated.

I really like the fact that I could receive feedback in the class. And I've received plenty from Brad and my classmates in ES2007S. The courses with final exams did not satisfy me because I would never know what was wrong with my answers, essays, or reports.The stimulating thinking process involved in many activities of the course was really enjoyable.
I still remember the "Gone fishing" slides and recently "The social atom" slides. It was interesting to see how Brad draw a connection between the book and communication principles. For the blog posts, I had put a lot of thoughts when I commented in other blogs. Also, it was educational to see how my classmates interpreted and communicated in response to a same question.

I want to thank Brad for giving us relaxing, relevant and insightful lectures. I appreciated that you have encouraged us to pursue our idea for the proposal when the Officer though it was not realistic. I am thankful for having fun and competent classmates. You guys have given me many constructive criticism, encouragement, and something to look up to. I learned plenty from your strength and weaknesses. Without you, my classmates and my tutor, I think I could not enjoy the whole course that much.

10 comments:

  1. I agree that receiving peer feedback was great. It's not just being able to know what you did wrong, but also being able to get suggestions for improvement.

    And yeah, it's also interesting to see how our classmates can have different points of view on the same topic. Not just on the blog posts, but also on some of the questions asked in class, or even on the presentations.

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  2. Hello Van,

    I too like the feedback system. From all the feedback and comments we received, we definitely improved a lot. I am so glad this courses doesn't require us to memorize long equations and theorem. :) haha.

    Anyway, I would like to say I have learnt a lot from you. Glad to have done the peer teaching session with you. :) Good luck in your future pursuits :)

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  3. Hey Van,

    I'm sure that we have learnt a lot from you too. Your constructive criticism and ideas during the normal lessons and also in our project proposal helped us to improve and make it more practical.

    Its such a pity that you needed to go back to Vietnam and were unable to join us for the last lesson. All the best for your exams.

    Cheers
    Amos

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  4. Hi Van,

    You were missed!

    By the way, I just had to mention that I think we all liked the feedback system in this class. You get feedback on your assignments almost instantaneously, with the assignment still fresh in your memory, instead of getting it back two weeks later after the lecturer/tutor has marked all of them.

    I would like to thank you for being an extremely contributive part of the class. Everybody's active participation really made learning fun and easy.

    Well, that's all from me. Good luck for your exams!

    Pei En.

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  5. Hi Sister,

    I am really glad to have you as one of my country's men. haha. Anyway, I think I have learnt from you too that is the calmness, I guess. :P

    The blog system was great in the sense that we can understand each other more, but also improve ourselves.

    I believe these assets we have gained and improved in the Class will contribute dramatically in our future achievements.

    Wish you all the best, Sister!

    Cheers,
    Jake

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  6. Thank you, Van, for this heart-felt reflection. I appreciate that you can find relevance and insight in our discussions. I also like the way you place value on the "experience." Indeed ES2007S is very much about an experience rather than any theory or principle.

    From the very first week I could see how fortunate we were to have a person of your background and caliber in the class. You brought so much to the discussions in the way of novel perspectives and valuable questions. I also enjoyed hearing contextualizing our various topics within your cultural framework. Thank you once again for sharing so much with us.

    Best wishes, too, for a very satisfying and productive future! (By the way, if you ever have a chance, I'd like to know what you think about the blog post I made in June of 2008 abut Vietnam. If you ever have a chance, please read to and comment...)

    Let's stay in touch!

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  8. Hi Van,

    You are a very passionate person, and I treasure the experience that we did project together. Though we had disagreements during the process, I glad that we could talk to each other openly. And finally, we get a good result for the proposal and presentation. Thank you ^-^

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