First of all, I will be giving my thoughts about the purpose of SES. Personally, I found SES to be quite different from what I expected. As SES is a new module and has a name which makes one think the subject is quite complex, I was not very sure of what to expect. It turned out to be quite different from what I expected, and was a lot more focused on case studies compared to theories. At the same time, however, the teacher warned that the purpose of SES was not to teach us about the case studies, but the skills needed to analyse those case studies. I feel this is actually very important, as the case studies themselves may not be relevant in the future, but the ability to apply reasoning to analyse an issue will always be relevant. This also prevents mere "mugging" or simply memorising information. Therefore, I would say that SES is an important and interesting subject.
However, while SES makes sense in theory, actually carrying it out may be a problem. Because of the nature of what SES tries to accomplish, it is difficult to test the skill of students with traditional examinations. Thus the mode of assessment focuses on class discussions and reflective journal entries, such as the one I am writing right now. However, this method of teaching and assessing students is highly dependant on the student preparing himself adequately before the lesson. An inherent part of the case method of teaching is that research has to be done beforehand in order for a fruitful discussion. If this does not happen, students cannot learn from one another and understand the different approaches other students have when given the same issue. Even if students do their research, they also may not feel comfortable participating in the discussion either. I do not usually participate actively in discussions myself, which is reflected by my consistently low oral participation points. Other students may also feel the same way and decide not to engage in the discussion. Furthermore, the discussions will be led by students instead of the teacher, which makes it more likely that the discussion will not involve everyone. While teaching SES through case studies makes the subject more interesting and 'real', it also has the downside of needing active participation from students.
However, a large part of the assessment is also based on reflective journals, and the two papers which students are required to complete. Even if students do not research beforehand or do not participate in class discussions, they are still forced to think through the compulsory reflective journals after each lesson. Even if the discussion was not very meaningful, students can still learn from one another--and in fact are forced to do so--by commenting on the reflective journal of other students. The research paper and term paper also help ensure that the student has to do a minimal amount of research and critical thinking. While I feel that this also makes sense in theory, as SES is a new module, unforeseen problems may still arise.
My expectation of SES is quite simple. As long as it can achieve the goal of teaching new skills and knowledge, it has already served it's basic function. If it is possible, I would like SES to help push me out of my own comfort zone as well to participate more actively in class, as I usually choose to remain silent and will probably continue to do so unless something forces me out of my comfort zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment