Week 24 - final blog! :)

Final blog entry

Provide an example of an interpersonal skill which you feel you have developed during this module.

From the very start of this module I believe I have been able to develop my communication skills. At first I did not know any one so had to be able to communicate with strangers and develop new relationships; this was the first time I had really been with a group of people who I did not know at all, so it was quite a challenge. When I had overcome this first stage of communication I felt it easier to get on with my class mates, but then had to achieve communication on a different level by working with them in a group. I feel like I have developed communication skills whilst working in a group as we all had to be in regular contact to achieve our assignment.

 Reviewing the blogs you have submitted, which was the most challenging to write, and why?

The blog which I found most challenging was Perception and Communication. I found this hard as at first I could not think of an example where I had perceived someone to be something they were not. I found it difficult to write about my own experiences as I had to think quite a long way back when I worked for Waitrose. I also found the second part of this blog challenging as we had to write about an article and discuss how the university could improve communication with students. I think the main reason I found this blog hard was because I left it until quite a while after the lecture to complete it; I believe that if I had done it straight away it would have been clearer in my mind and I would have found it easier.

What would you change, if anything, if you were the module leader? You can consider assignments, lecture content, activities, subjects.  You need to be constructive in your comments and ensure you approach this from the view of the module leader, so a suggestion to have no assignments is not appropriate! 

The two assignments for this module were fine, as they both linked together. I think it is good that one of them was a group piece and the other a reflection of how we worked, so I would not change anything about this. However, I found some of the blogs quite challenging and I was left with a lot to do at the end of the year. Although I know this is my fault, I think the lecturers could have done more to make sure no one was behind on blogs. If I was module leader I would set 1 blog every 2 weeks, but make sure that the deadline for each was at the end of those 2 weeks. This gives students a good amount of time to complete each one easily and makes sure they do it when it is fresh in their mind. If each of the blogs had to be completed within 2 weeks of them being set I know I would not have got behind and I would have had only 1 to complete in this last week, (instead of 5!). This would also make it easier for the lecturers as they would be able to mark them each week rather than have 100s to mark at the end of the year.

A lot of people have mentioned getting rid of blogs altogether, however I think that this is a bad idea as I actually found them quite enjoyable when I got round to doing them and motivated myself. I think they show that students can work independently and they encourage them to turn up to lectures; I have found that the blogs are so much easier when you actually turn up to class and pay attention.

Overall, I think this has been a really fun and interesting module, and I have enjoyed the lectures very much. There is not a lot I would change as I think it has been taught well and has good content. I feel I have done well in People and Organisations and I have gained a lot of skills.