The
following journal entries are what I have written throughout the science
engagement course. I feel that the journals allowed me to really connect
what I have been doing in my placement with the concepts that was taught during
the lectures. I felt that when I was writing the journals, I never ran
out of things to talk about, and that allowed me to put into perspective what I
have been doing in my placement. I thought that the journal #2, when I
wrote about my mistakes in the lecture and what I can improve on was especially
important to me achieving my goal of being a better lecturer. Before I
started the lab skills seminar, I thought that I would be ok at presenting in
front of a class no problem. But I was wrong, and this journal allowed me
to really reflect on what actually went wrong. My self-reflection allowed
me to realize that, maybe I was not that good at presenting before I started
doing this placement. But it also helped me manage the criticism that I
had received from the surveys. No one likes to be criticized, but this is
the only way to learn and improve, and this journal allowed me to do that, and
to feel as confident that I am now when I am presenting.
Overall, what
I have gained from my placement is:
1) A
greater sense of what it means to be a lecturer.
2) What
it means to work as a team.
3)
Professional relationships and what they mean for me and my group.
 |
| Me, during a lecture. |
Because
of the frequent lecturing, I understand what it means to lecture to a group of
students, with the intention to describe, and explain content as best as I can,
to facilitate learning. Of course, listening to a lecture is only one way
for a student to learn the content, but a good lecture provides students a good
base with which to build their knowledge upon. Often times, the course
lecturer does not spend enough time on a specific concept, or just simply
didn't explain it in terms in which the students can understand it in.
Because my group and I are still students at UTSC, we have a mindset that is more
aligned to the students, and thus, lets us explain things in a way that takes
into account their perspective and gives us an advantage to understanding what
they are asking when compared to the course lecturer, who has many, many years
of experience in their field and sometimes it's not possible to go back and
imagine what content may be difficult for them, and the best way to explain it
to them. I feel that, as a student, I was able to explain things as well
and sometimes even better than the lecturer themselves. If my pursuit of
a teaching career actually follows through, I'll be keeping in mind what I have
learned from the LSS to teach my students
 |
| Lana helping Natalia and I set up. |
For this
semester, I have been seeing Taleen, Natalia, and Mario almost twice or three
times a week, every week, for the entire semester to work on our work for our
placement., or going to each other's lectures for support and to learn from
each other's mistakes or things that they did well. Since Natalia and
Taleen always started first, Mario and I would often go there to watch the
lecture and take notes on anything that they might've said that was unclear or
very well done, and additionally, to listen to what our supervisor has to say
about the content that we are presenting that we may have missed when we were
creating our lecture slides. With the amount of time that we have been
seeing each other to collaborate and complete our work, it was very interesting
to see how we interact. At first when we just started, we weren't very
organized because everyone had their own schedule to manage and it turns out,
not all 4 of us are able to meet on a certain day to allow for all of us to
work on the slides together. So what we decided upon was that each person
would be responsible in making lecture slides for one of the five different
lectures we had to do in total, and sends it to us and as a group give feedback
to the slides to see if any changes were needed. This is a good example
of how a good group can resolve issues; through good thinking and concession
making. I feel as if I have learned how to work effectively as a group
and the importance of making concessions to allow the work to be spread out
fairly and to allow for everyone to put their input in. This allows for a
good group dynamic to form.
 |
| Wanda explaining something to us after the lecture. |
Before
the placement, I had an ok relationship with Lana, but not with Wanda.
Lana knew me by name from all the courses that I had taken with her, but Wanda
didn't really know me before this as I had only had her for the first half of
organic chemistry II, and I had never really interacted with her. Even
though Lana knew me by name, we didn't really know each other too well as I had
only interacted with her about marks and about course content in general.
But after the placement I feel that I know her and Wanda on a more personal
level now. Since the group and I had to meet up with them at least once every
two weeks to discuss our Powerpoint slides. During those meetings, the
team and I interacted with Lana and Wanda on a more informal basis, but of
course, still on a professional level. Additionally, through those
meetings, I feel that they also have a clearer idea on what our abilities are
as students and mentors through the placement, and she feels that she knows us
better too. It was clear when we had given her our gift, that they were
completely touched by our gesture. I felt that we were obliged to give
them a gift because they were so good to us in terms of supporting and
encouraging us. I truly believe that we had learned a lot from them, and
maybe, they learned a thing or two from us in terms of how the lab skills
seminars can be run better.
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