Reflections
by Donelle Knight French
Group Work-I
absolutely hate it! But I get it done.
Some of my worst experiences as a
tertiary level student have involved group work. I am an eager beaver and I prefer to get
started immediately and be well ahead of the deadline. I really cannot comprehend why persons allow
the deadline to approach and then as a result I am forced to sacrifice my
valuable sleep time to rush to get assignments submitted. It makes me so very angry. I feel like the guy in the image wearing the
turquoise shirt. Despite this stress and
pressure, I have noticed working in groups is indeed a necessary evil. Although I an excellent at time management, I
do not have a creative bone in my body.
Oddly enough the members of my group who are self-confessed ‘last minute
people’ are the very creative ones. This
brings a nice balance to our projects.
Image credit: https://www.mcgilltribune.com/opinion/collaborative-work-develops-valuable-skills-02202018/
What was my role?
I proposed
the concept of creating a reflective framework designed for entrepreneurs to my
group. In my capacity as a Business
Studies/ Entrepreneurship teacher I was happy that they accepted this
proposal. Since I am actually engaged in
teaching this course my role in putting together the project was to describe
the target learner audience and the related teaching & learning environment
as well as the learning processes the new framework seeks to address.
So what?
Image credit:
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/data-analysis-concept-flat-design-icon-in-vector-6661586
In making my
contribution to the project I started to get a deeper understanding of why reflective
activity must be incorporated into the field of Business Studies. While reflection is not a part of the
syllabus it supports practices such as understanding customer feedback, dealing
with employee relation, understanding market patterns and changes and decision
making among many others (Provis, 2015).
It also helped me to develop an appreciation of the fact that reflection
on experiences, on self, with mentors and with peers will to a rich and deep
reflective and learning experience. The
framework which has been created emphasizes collaborative reflection so that
ideas and expertise can be shared and used as an impetus for innovation,
incremental innovation as well as the development of a growth mindset.
Image credit: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/brainstorming-solution-icon-vector-20999171
1.
As requirement of the CAPE Entrepreneurship
course students are required to create business concepts. It is my intention to designate 15 minutes of
each class as reflection time where students can share their business ideas
with peers and hear their views. This is
meant to cover the element of peer reflection.
2.
During some of the sessions resource persons in
the form of practicing entrepreneurs will be invites to hear the students’
ideas and to share their expertise. This
should cover the element of mentored reflection.
3.
In some sessions students will reflect on their
own views, those of the mentors and their peers’ views in order to make their
business concepts richer.
As stated in my last post reflection needs to
be incorporated directly into course materials and course time so that students
can have every opportunity to practice developing their reflective skills.
Reflection leads to the development of analytical skills, which are transferable
to many situations (Quinton & Smallbone, 2010). This further encourages me to incorporate
reflection in my classes despite the fact that it is not a syllabus
requirement.
References
Provis, C. J (2017). Intuition, analysis and reflection in business ethics. 140 (1), 5-15. Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.library.open.uwi.edu/article/10.1007/s10551-015-2688-z#citeas
Quinton, S., & Smallbone, T. (2010). Feeding forward: using feedback to promote student reflection and learning - a teaching model. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 47(1), 125–135. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.library.open.uwi.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=46de78d9-568c-4ac2-9f5d-8ee57acfb173%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=47992453&db=ehh
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