A500.9.3.RB – Course Reflections

Reflecting on the perceived value of critical thinking which, is the main focus of the academic content of this course, I have come to understand and learn the benefits of pursuing a self-development based critical thinking.  Critical thinking was the main tool that helped me in grasping the main idea of the content of this course.  It helped me to revisit past modules’ main points and got a deeper understanding of the content of those modules.  Critical thinking allowed me to connect with the main focus of this course that necessitates analyzing and critiquing the ideas at hand that enabled me to gain a higher level of understanding of the applicability of those ideas in my personal and professional life. The course in itself helped me in assessing and analyzing challenging course works or challenging work situations and most especially, it helped me in questioning appropriately information of varied kinds and examining the credibility of that information.  

            Although critical thinking has its benefits, I have encountered barriers that prevented me from applying critical thinking in my academic, professional and personal pursuits.  There’s the pressure of timely submission of weekly assignments and at the same time reports and projects at work like Gallup Survey or Bonus Reports, all due at the same time.  The undue stress effect was really challenging.  I was at one point, in the duration of this course placed into a situation, where I had to make a choice which project should be my priority.  This did cause me to settle for a “this would do” outcome in both situations.  I always have the choice to excel in my work project first then do the best I can with this course work. 

            Then, there was also a time when my egocentric thinking was overpowering.  There were times that I thought my work was so excellent that I asked my husband’s second opinion knowing that his response would provide me a confidence boost.  Asking my husband to read and critique my school work making sure that my thinking was logical and rational was of utmost importance at times.  His support helped me to gain confidence and maintain momentum.  I have also experienced the opposite.  My confidence was obliterated when I had to ask the class instructor if I was on the right track.  The only thing I was sure of was that my husband and my instructor will be honest enough to give their true assessment and opinion.

            It seemed that there are so many distractions that hinder in the success of my pursuit of academic online learning.  In order to improve my learning experience not only in this course but in future courses that I will be taking, I need to take advantage of utilizing not only my instructor’s opinion or recommendations, but also solicit the opinions of my fellow online students of which I have neglected to utilize.  I need not be embarrassed about asking questions in the first place if I do not fully understand what is required in the weekly assignment submission.  I need to be more open and honest with my instructor that I need more clarification on the subject matter submission requirement.  In order to be successful in my pursuit of the online learning experience, I need to fully understand that online learning needs as much commitment as traditional classroom learning pursuits.

            I hope that in future classroom initiatives the ERNIE will find a way to initiate a weekly skype or web conference to initiate an actual interaction between students and instructors.  Online learning does not require a face-to-face interaction, but a weekly webinar or conference call to encourage student voice interaction would be excellent.  I hope that the University will in the future, be able to find a way to initiate a virtual classroom where students in a particular course can meet virtually.  As of right now, I think online learning is primarily text-based even though Discussion Board is highly weighted in course grade assessment.

              The overall content of MSLD 500 – Leadership Found’s in Research, is very relevant to the success of my academic pursuit.  Besides developing and enhancing my skills as a critical thinker which is of utmost importance to my leadership endeavor, learning to write annotated bibliography and appropriate utilization of ePortfolios are also relevant to my academic online learning success.  Familiarity in summarizing and describing every source that I use in the early stages of project research will enhance my critical thinking skills by way of critically analyzing how the sources are related to each other.  Although technologically challenged, cognizance of the benefits of ePortfolio will be to my advantage in my academic pursuit.  Through ePortfolio, I will have the opportunity to gain experience in integrating the curricular and co-curricular online learning, see the value of the online learning experiences, and recognize the consequential skills that I need to develop in my “course-specific learning” and “life-long learning”.

In regards to my “life-long learning” objectives, this course had ignited a deeper meaning in my quest of furthering my education through online learning.  Critical thinking is of utmost importance to the success of my pursuit of higher education and advancement in my professional development.  This course gave me a wider and more elevated perspective of how I can continually develop and transform my experience and my aspirations of higher education.  I have for quite sometimes wondered if I would be successful or have the discipline and competence to succeed in higher education. 

References:

Chatam-Carpenter, A., Seawel, L., & Raschig, J. (2009). Avoiding the Pitfalls: Current Practices

and Recommendations for ePortfolios in Higher Education. J. EducationTechnology Systems, Vol. 38(4) 437-456