Can you relate them to your life experience or observation?.
At the end of each lecture, students will need to reflect on the class material presented and give opinions on the topics covered, reflections can consider: if such things have impacted their life, do they agree or disagree with the information presented and why. There is no set structure to your reflections but rather whatever you feel strongly about in relation to your life. Keep to the topics covered, the journals arent diaries of whats been happening at work or in your personal life. Instead the following can be used as a guide:
Think of the topics we have covered in class
Identify which ones you feel strongly about.
Give your opinions do you agree or disagree with statements being made by the lecturer and why. Can you relate them to your life experience or observation?
When writing directly quote what was said. Include a time stamp from the recording.
Example reflection:
“At 15 minutes 42 seconds in the lecture, the lecturer stated that “Religion can strongly influence a persons behaviour” I agree with this statement because a friend of mine lost her very close friend after she joined a particular religious organisation. Even though they had been friends since childhood…etc.
As per the above example, reflections do not have to directly relate to your own experiences, they can be something you have observed in others or in the media.
Try to have at least 3 reflections and remember I am trying to understand if you have understood the material from what you have written so try to be as clear as you can.
Reflections are best done before the next class, dont leave it to the night before its due
MARKING
Opinions themselves are not graded, the level to which you express opinions will be. Basically the more you reflect the better the mark. However, please ensure you do not go off topic. It should not be random diary ramblings, it must relate to the component of the lecture you are reflecting on. It should also not be a summary of what was covered in the lecture. It is better to have fewer reflections going in to detail rather than lots of reflections with very little detail.
WORD LIMIT
The more you reflect the better your mark, this usually means you will write more, there is no set word limit but I expect a minimum of 200-250 words for each lecture.
WHY DO WE HAVE THIS FORM OF ASSESSMENT
As most people in the beauty industry would attest, the industry is one in which would benefit from people with further training in psychology (this was decided upon by the industry group in designing the course and the University). The goal was to teach the use of psychological techniques to help with colleagues and issues with clients.
Many people in the field of psychology would agree that to use psychological techniques involves a process of self-reflection.
That is our own internal processes affect the way we act and therefore we should reflect on these internal processes so that they do not adversely affect our application of psychological techniques. This is why the first four lectures focus on getting to better know ourselves and others. The goal of this is so the student can start to see patterns within themselves in their functioning and thoughts that affect their interaction with others.
The role of this assessment is to make sure they are being done by the student, not to assess the personal beliefs themselves.
The point of them is for your own self-reflection. Personally I dont care what opinions are raised, and in correcting the journals I always get a wide range of opinions, some I personally agree with some I dont. I do not mark your opinions or beliefs but rather that you have shown reflection on the information, for example do you agree or disagree with the information and your explaination as to why via your reflections.
Simply regurgitating the information I have covered in class for your journal is useless in understanding psychology…. application of the knowledge is the key. Which is why I do not want a summary of the class (that is more a test of your memory of the class than understanding the concepts contained within).
If I can see how you have taken the concepts and related them to your beliefs then I can get a better picture of if you have understood them. Our aim at Victoria University is to make sure that you have understood the concept of what is being taught so that you can apply it properly in your professional life.
Preparation
You are expected to have completed the readings and learning activities in Lectures 1 – 4 before submitting this journal
Weekly sequence
Topics and Activities [lecturer]
Readings/Resources
Assessment Tasks
Week 1 20/7/2015
Psychology of the self
Reflect on this lecture for Journal 1
Can you relate them to your life experience or observation?
