My Higher Education Experience - Essay Example

Reflective Essay on Managing Progression into the Second Year Student Name Course Tutor University Date Introduction I have been a studying at the university in my first year studying Economics, in the course I had to study the module of The Personal and Professional Development. Things at the university were not as easy as I had expected. The objective of this module of Personal and Professional Development is that it aims at helping students to bridge the transition from college or school to the university study so that they are equipped to face the challenges they experience all through the remaining time of their degree. I have personally failed to satisfy this learning objective, and thus this essay is going to express my reflection on the aspects that made me fail in satisfying the learning objective of the module. When reflecting on the experiences and the events that led to the results, I will be explaining how I will be able to manage my moving forward to the second year of my degree. The Body When I joined University to start taking my degree in economics, I thought it would just be things to do with dealing with money matters and its relationships with the economy. My mind was full of ideas of how I was going to be able to know all about going around with money. I was very well psychologically prepared to tackle the economics as I had understood it. However, I came to learn that learning at the university was much integrated and comprised of learning so many things. Apart from just learning the actual economics I had to learn a lot more other related things and others that were just general knowledge. The module of Personal and professional Development came as one of the related things I had to learn that would make my understanding of the whole degree I was going to get effective. As much as my mind had not been set or prepared to handle this, I could not avoid it. Learning the module of personal and Professional development was also diverse in its own way. The module had its dimensional approaches in which it was delivered to us learners. One dimension in which The Personal and Professional Development was delivered is the scope. Peter Hlebowitsh (2005) defines scope as the threads that organize and constitute the particular skills and the content that the teachers are supposed to include in their instruction. These are all the contents, learning experiences, topics, and organizing threads as that comprise the education plan as another scholar, Tyler (2004) defines it. Basing on the scope dimension the module had contents like learning leadership, group work, writing styles, research and learning styles. This was much more of the units covered in the module. Most of these contents of the module were not and had not been my mind as far as studying my degree in economics was concerned. With time I had to develop a negative attitude toward the module because of its scope. The learning experience of the module which was much of work that put less pressure on the brain as my love for economics would. Economics as I had hoped and as it turned out to be, required thinking and doing the calculation, but as per the scope of this module which only allowed just simple understanding of theories. An example is like when we attended the classes of learning group work. I did not find such classes challenging to me to give the challenge I needed to take the class seriously. Time is considered to be under the scope and as I can remember enough time was allocated to teaching the module. The curriculum was well covered by the teachers who used their time well coming to teach and ensuring nothing was left out. The teachers were also diverse in content and gave the content as it was supposed to be. To my understanding even now the content taught in the module of Personal and Professional dimension is not to be really considered as complex. My not however having no interest made me not to be able to take the content of the module which is definitely not complex. Another dimension of delivery of the module of Personal and Professional Development. As defined by Peter Hlebowitsh (2005) it is the order of delivery of the skills and subject matter of the curriculum. The sequence is fully based on the scope dimension. Sequence in this sense becomes the order of delivering the scope of the curriculum. The delivery of the content in the module was so professional and in a chronological manner. Learning was by starting to gain simple content and moving to the complex content. Starting with the concrete and easy thins to the abstract and difficult things. Learning the contents of the module always insinuated that there would be other fundamental things ahead to be learned. It was prerequisite learning. We could be taught by first being given an overview, and then the specific content or topics would follow. It is similar to the gestalt principle stated by KurtKoffka (1935) who states that every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form. It is viewed as the law of simplicity. The sequence of the model was generally chronological coming from overview and then to the content. The sequence happened to be one of my setbacks that resulted to my failing to achieve the objectives of the module. With my already developed negative attitude towards the model as something I should not be learning, I lost focus when we still at the overview stage of the learning. I did not keep my focus and concentration to await the content part that comes later. Kridel (2010) gives the notion that as it so happens the content part carries the important knowledge and skills that we are destined to gain as per the scope of the module. It is so bad looking at it and remembering I even missed some other class as I had lost interest at all. As it so happened, the classes I failed to attend were the later classes where following the chronological order of the sequence were the classes when the most important content was being passed on to the other students. Integration is also one form of dimension that was applied in the curriculum of The Personal and Professional Development. Integration just like it is it involves integrating and interconnecting. The module understands that life is a series of emerging themes, and that is why it has its scope skills including the variety of leadership, research, group work, writing styles and even learning styles. The module gives a variety of skills to be learnt that are different gives students different knowledge that can be applied differently in different places and situations. The modules teach group work, having good relations with others and being able to work well with others. At the same time the module equips with skills of leadership and even research. This is a great combination and integration of skills that this module tries to offer. This dimension being applied in the curriculum diversifies the mind of students to great heights. The organization of the skills is drawn from the world themes that affect real life issues. Diversification of the subject matter in integration goes beyond just teaching the class content but teaches things will help students integrate with the real world. Losing on such knowledge and not taking it seriously is such a great loss to any student and I being affected I have to look really back into it. Just like the dimension of integration itself even if I did not expect or want to do such things in my degree, I should have been able to integrate and catch up. A lot of information that the module teaches is quite essential in catching up with the real life. For example group teaches on becoming better people among others, this is very vital when out there in the world relating with other people. You get to live with them well. As per the scope of the module it yet still integrates group work with leadership. As far as you can be able to live well with others, you can also manage them and help in solving issues that might arise amongst yourselves. Another crucial dimension applied in the module is articulation. Articulation is expressed in two forms, vertical articulation and horizontal articulation. Vertical articulation involves arranging contents from level to level or grade to grade in that the contents in the lower level are connected to the contents in the next level. For example learning leadership in Personal and Professional Development. You start learning with the content that can help you manage yourself well before you can learn the content of managing others. Just like it is obvious you can manage others. Managing yourself affects directly the ability to manage others and thus you need to learn how to manage yourself firs. This information in teaching leadership in the module is articulated in a vertical manner. The contents learnt in learning skills and writing skills are to help in further learning when you move from the first year to the second year. This is the reason this module is taught in the first year. This is a vertical articulation of the module. It has been placed strategically so that letter on it can be able to affect the steps ahead. Learning skills for instance after learning will be able to help when learning research which requires coming up with reports. I personally did not consider this when I was creating a negative attitude towards the module. If I was to be able to learn and gain the knowledge it would have been of help and affects my results in another level. Horizontal articulation is where two things occur simultaneously. What is happening here is also happening at another level, not like in vertical where the level above is waiting to be affected by what is happening in the level below. The module brings out this aspect clearly. Though you will be learning the learning skills but at the same time you will learn the other topics. You won’t be waiting to finish learning the learning skills to be able to go start learning reading skills using the learning skills learnt. This module failed to impact me as I was not able to realize I could learn simultaneously, I only had the logic that I should learn once and lost track of being able to take learning the module seriously. The last dimension that is also applied in the module is balance. Balance brings together all the other dimensions applied in the module. Balance advocates to having everything done equitably. Content, experiences, time and all other elements should be assigned equitably to bring about balance in the curriculum design. My experience showed me that this was happening. Every element of the module was treated equally. This would have helped in realizing that everything I was supposed to do needed equal attention and not that others were superior to others. Keeping things in balance require constant reviewing to maintain its effectiveness. The scope contains the contents of the curriculum, and this is as Tyler (2004)explains. Sequence ensures the content are in a chronological manner that brings logic when teaching. Integration makes the different contents to be taught together in unity. Articulation checks the relations of the contents being given at different levels. And finally now balance ensures no content has been given mores attention than the other making it look more superior.These dimensions are well structured together to work in unison. Having been able to identify all this faults, I have been able to reflect on myself and what the future may be holding for me as I move to my second year. My mistake of not taking the lessons of the modules seriously by working on the assumption that it was not necessary has cost me losing on the important knowledge that is vital as I have come to realize. I have by so failed in satisfying the learning objectives of the curriculum and I have realized why and how I was able not to get things right in achieving these objectives. However, I find it not too late to rectify my mistakes and move on with now a mind that is focused and knows what is expected of me. Throughout the essay as I have been reflecting upon my reasons for not being able to achieve the learning objectives, one thing comes out clearly that the main reason for my failure has been a poor attitude and bad assumptions that I had developed from before. Tersman (1993) in his book says that anything is bound to change, I also have realized where I was going wrong and can now learn to work on the better side. Moving to my second year, am now able to realize that everything offered in a curriculum according to its scope dimension has its importance. Taking even one thing for granted affects even others as all of them are related. In my second year, I will be able to take everything seriously and now even try to analyze things to understand their importance without just assuming them. I have realized my attitude towards things is making me became less focused on my goals. I had created a big assumption that there was no need of taking seriously curriculums that did not mean economics. But now I understand the importance of why I need everything. For instance, I had to miss classes thinking the information I was to gain in such classes was not relevant. But looking at all that I realize it was a misconception that I was making and at the end was a big mistake. In my second year, I won’t be taking anything for granted. Looking at situations where I thought learning things like writing skills was not necessary when I was studying economics I realize it was misleading myself. Learning skills were not just to be something I was going to learn for the sake of it; this was a skill that was to help throughout my entire study for a degree. I am to apply this skills in my entire study, and now I realize on how much I was losing by trying to think it was not necessary and assuming it. This feeling of looking at things and thinking that they are less important is one thing am going to avoid throughout my entire study. Group work as a skill to be learned is very important as one proceeds with the studies. Just like the module of sequence where things get more complicated as you progress, learning gets even more complicated as you move ahead. Learning group work would help in being able to correlate with other students and learn from each other for better understanding. Having had to think of such as a waste of time has had me thinking really having the need to change which I have finally taken. Going ahead in my studies in the second year will even have to learn more of such skills to be able to relate well with other students. Conclusion I have had quite an experience with my life as a student. I joined the University with an already made up mind of what I was to learn and study. Reaching the University and finding things not exactly as I had expected changed me to the worse. I had expected only to study and deal with the economics part of my degree as I did not have the idea of the integrated learning that involved another curriculum like The Personal and Professional Development. This already developed attitude developed in me even more during the time in my first year. With the negative attitude, I lost focus completely of what was expected of me and failed to gain the intended purpose of the module in Personal and Professional Development. However, I have reflected over my situation and realize there is need to change and have a better attitude that will be able to enable me improve in my studies. By looking at several dimensions of the curriculum in Personal and Professional Development, I have been able to analyze critically as I reflected on the actions I have taken. All through the dimensions I have learned of what I was doing that was wrong, and I needed to change so as to be able to move through my second year with much more improvement. The dimensions I have discussed are the scope, sequence, integration, articulation and balance. Scopeincludes all the contents, learning experiences and topics that are comprised in the curriculum. Sequences are the chronological order in which content is passed to the student in a way that the most difficult work comes fast and the step by step it develops to the most difficult. Integration involves the idea of teaching different aspects and content that is diversifiedto influence even the life out of class. Articulation gives the content taught a relation to each other. It may be vertical where content taught at one level influences the content at another level, or it may be horizontal where different contents are taught simultaneously at two different levels. Lastly on the dimension is the balance, this ensure equity in time, content and all the aspects of learning. It helps in establishing the balance needed in a curriculum design. References Hlebowitsh, P.S., 2005. Designing the school curriculum, Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Koffka, K., 1935. Principles of gestalt psychology, Harcourt, Brace and Co. Kridel, C., 2010. Scope and Sequence, in Curriculum Development. In Encyclopaedia of Curriculum Studies . SAGE Publications, Inc. Montgomery, M. (1973). The reflective journey toward order. Athens: University of Georgia Press. Tersman, F., 1993. Reflective equilibrium: an essay in moral epistemology, Karlshamm: Almquist & Wiksell International. Tyler, J. (1995). Observing dimensions of learning in classrooms and schools. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Read More

The modules teach group work, having good relations with others and being able to work well with others. At the same time the module equips with skills of leadership and even research. This is a great combination and integration of skills that this module tries to offer. This dimension being applied in the curriculum diversifies the mind of students to great heights. The organization of the skills is drawn from the world themes that affect real life issues. Diversification of the subject matter in integration goes beyond just teaching the class content but teaches things will help students integrate with the real world.

Losing on such knowledge and not taking it seriously is such a great loss to any student and I being affected I have to look really back into it. Just like the dimension of integration itself even if I did not expect or want to do such things in my degree, I should have been able to integrate and catch up. A lot of information that the module teaches is quite essential in catching up with the real life. For example group teaches on becoming better people among others, this is very vital when out there in the world relating with other people.

You get to live with them well. As per the scope of the module it yet still integrates group work with leadership. As far as you can be able to live well with others, you can also manage them and help in solving issues that might arise amongst yourselves. Another crucial dimension applied in the module is articulation. Articulation is expressed in two forms, vertical articulation and horizontal articulation. Vertical articulation involves arranging contents from level to level or grade to grade in that the contents in the lower level are connected to the contents in the next level.

For example learning leadership in Personal and Professional Development. You start learning with the content that can help you manage yourself well before you can learn the content of managing others. Just like it is obvious you can manage others. Managing yourself affects directly the ability to manage others and thus you need to learn how to manage yourself firs. This information in teaching leadership in the module is articulated in a vertical manner. The contents learnt in learning skills and writing skills are to help in further learning when you move from the first year to the second year.

This is the reason this module is taught in the first year. This is a vertical articulation of the module. It has been placed strategically so that letter on it can be able to affect the steps ahead. Learning skills for instance after learning will be able to help when learning research which requires coming up with reports. I personally did not consider this when I was creating a negative attitude towards the module. If I was to be able to learn and gain the knowledge it would have been of help and affects my results in another level.

Horizontal articulation is where two things occur simultaneously. What is happening here is also happening at another level, not like in vertical where the level above is waiting to be affected by what is happening in the level below. The module brings out this aspect clearly. Though you will be learning the learning skills but at the same time you will learn the other topics. You won’t be waiting to finish learning the learning skills to be able to go start learning reading skills using the learning skills learnt.

This module failed to impact me as I was not able to realize I could learn simultaneously, I only had the logic that I should learn once and lost track of being able to take learning the module seriously. The last dimension that is also applied in the module is balance. Balance brings together all the other dimensions applied in the module. Balance advocates to having everything done equitably. Content, experiences, time and all other elements should be assigned equitably to bring about balance in the curriculum design.

My experience showed me that this was happening.

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