Patch Work for University Year One Student - Assignment Example

Patch Work for Year One Week 3, Seminar A: Approach on management Oliver, Harry, Jane, Cole and James on the second week carried out a learning activity on the human behavioral approach used by management. The activity was to act a little skit, which was intended to help the group members understand the human behavioral approach applied by management. The group simplified the activity as much as possible making the human behavioral approach become clear and easy. James acted as the manager of the company whereas Jane, Harry Cole and Olive serving as subordinate members. Since their company had been newly formed, James required every person in the company to give his or her all to help it grow and become successful. James was a determined and hardworking manager who conducted research on the ways that help bring positive results in a company. According to him, the most important was the human behavioral approach as the company’s workers were core in any activity a company undertook. He spent a considerable good amount of time learning the behavior of the four workers and coming up with ways of motivating them to work hard in order to achieve the set goals. After a close chat with Olive, James found out that she performed poorly under close supervision but performed well when given the space and freedom to work on her own. Harry was motivated by deadlines and working under a little pressure and thus all the work which had little time frame would be given to him. The unique thing about the skit is that James had to indentify on his own the behavior of the other group members and this is similar to what the managers do. It was easy for James however, to know the characteristics of every person in the group as we are in the same class. A manager should also find it easy to know the behaviors of his or her workers as they are working together all the time and for an extended period. Week 4, Seminar B: Career Management I have grown up thinking that attaining skills that enable an individual work in a certain career line is all that an individual needs to become successful but my view changed after reading the article on continuing professional development (CPD) (Scales, 21). The article states that due to the ever-changing dynamics in the world, mere skills and knowledge in a certain career field are not enough and that a professional needs to continue developing them. I was amazed by how simple a professional could continue developing in his or her related field. According to the author, the first step to this is documenting and keeping track of the knowledge, experience and skills that a person has. It had not hit me that a person can acquire skills and knowledge both informally and formally. The author simply describes CDP as a process that will be helpful to a professional manage his or her development and personal growth. I as amazed with how easy it was for an individual keep track of his or her own personal growth. After conducting the recording, it is easy for an individual to reflect on whatever he or she has learned in the process noting a crucial skill or knowledge that he or she misses. The author gives states some key features that must be present in the CPD process and this act as a guideline to the professionals who want to carry out the process (Scales, 28). For those people who are not easily convinced, the author dedicates a huge amount of space discussing the importance of CPD. Some of the discussed importances include giving professionals guideline on the different careers they are involved with. The most important purpose for the CPD is that they help professionals develop their careers (Scales, 33). There have been reported cases of professionals deciding to change their careers after realizing that they are in the wrong careers. The simple steps are given by the author to professionals on how to conduct CPD amazes me. Reference Scales, Peter. Continuing Professional Development in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2011. Print. Week 6, Seminar B: Learning Behavioral response suggests that all behaviors result from responding to a certain stimulus. It is assumed that the previous or current environment, which they reside, determines whatever action human beings take. To help determine and experience this first hand, the class decided to go and study the occurrences that take place in the beach during a public holiday. The students are popular for their well mannered behavior as fully concentrating in class and noting down the important points. This however, changed once we arrived at the beach. Some of the students were nowhere to be found as they had mixed with a larger crowd. The teacher failed to get responses to some of his questions, as most of us were absent-minded. These occurrences were the complete opposite of ones that occur in class and this can only be attributed to behavioral response. The environment where learning at that day took place was not appropriate for such an event. Week 11, Seminar A: Patchwork Assignment Workshop One seminar that is still very vivid in my mind occurred when we attended a seminar intended to teach us about teamwork and its benefits. The organizers divided us into different groups that were gender balanced and given the same tasks, which were expected to perform as a group. As we went on with a given task, the organizers took note of things such as how the groups coordinated and communicated. After each group had finished the given task, the winners were announced but most importantly stated the reason why the group had emerged victorious. Since every person present participated in the challenge, it was quite clear as to why the winning group had won. Learning in a social context is helpful as people have different abilities and knowledge and thus a person can become more knowledgeable following this interaction. Week 11, Seminar A: Patchwork Assignment Workshop The learning activities made me grasp the concept taught in class more as it was easy to relate easily with whatever was been discussed or covered. Studying in a social context is helpful as one acquires knowledge from other students. The course module guidelines provided that each student finds an article related to career management and this was a real eye opener for me. Managing ones career and finding more information on it is helpful during the application of any knowledge or skill acquired. From the diary, I can keep track of the areas that I have studied helping me note ay knowledge or skill that I may be lacking. Read More