After term 2, SES lessons will be taught by a different teacher and focuses more on economics. As the content and method of teaching is going to be different, it is an apt time for us to reflect on not only what we have learnt, but also why.
In the very first SES lesson, the purpose of the module was outlined as improving our Cultural Intelligence through case studies. This would ensure that students gain the flexibility to adapt in the future to a culture they are unfamiliar with, even if it was not covered as a case study. However, I feel that the module had too much focus on the specific case studies, with not enough emphasis given to the 'drive' aspect of CQ. Some students have the misconception that the purpose of SES is to analyse the case studies. However, simply gaining knowledge about the case studies, mainly focused on America and China, is not enough as information is constantly becoming outdated and irrelevant. What happens if India, which is not in the curriculum, rises to become the next global superpower? While students who followed the lesson should have gained the skill needed to research and analyse articles to improve their knowledge and awareness of other cultures, they are only doing it because it is an assignment. It is hard to say how many will apply these skills in the future. It should be noted that to cultivate an interest or ensure that students are self-motivated is an extremely difficult goal which is highly dependent on the students themselves. While I personally feel that more emphasis could have been put on this and that the module has not succeeded in achieving this aim, it is an innate flaw in the system which cannot be easily resolved. On the other hand, for those who have picked up these skills from the module and have the awareness to apply them in their real life or future will find many opportunities to do so. An understanding of corporate culture can help with business relations, while being sensitive and knowledgeable about other cultures is definitely beneficial to social relationships. While I find it difficult to examine myself without bias and decide whether I can apply - or even remember - these skills in the future, I believe that I have benefited from this module.
Aside from the content, I also found that there were a few flaws to the mode of assessment. In my very first journal entry, I commented that the use of class discussions as a mode of assessment assumes that the individual student researches and prepares adequately before the lesson. After experiencing more lessons conducted in this format, I think I have a clearer picture of what some problems are. Firstly, there are some who do not participate in the class discussion despite being prepared. This is caused by two issues. Some people prefer not to speak up as they are shy. However, this is also due to the discussion being dominated by several people. Those who need to pause to think find that they have no time to respond to questions before their points are said by other people. This makes class discussions an inaccurate in gauging a student's understanding of the issue. A second problem as mentioned above is the lack of preparation. While efforts have been made to ease the burden by reducing the number of articles and assigning questions, this also means that students have a narrower perspective of the issue. The last issue I found was a lack of time for class discussion. While class discussions are more effective in engaging the students and ensures that they have prepared beforehand, it also takes more time than if a teacher simply gives a lecture. It is difficult to obtain an in-depth understanding of the issue through a discussion without adequate time.
However, I found that the reflective journals were quite effective in shoring up the flaws in class discussion, except for the issue of a lack of preparation. The reflective journals ensures that each and every student has to post his opinion and ideas about the issue on his blog, and shows whether he has really been thinking about the issue. Moreover, it was specifically stated not to simply describe what happened, which has no personal input. The expectations and format are very different from the reflections we normally write, where most students - myself included - just try to write what the teacher wants to read rather than our own opinion. Personally, I feel that either less weightage should be given to journal entries or more journal entries should be written. I did not participate in class discussion much in term 1 but still managed to achieve a score which was above average because of my reflective journal. While I am happy that I managed to get a good grade, I think it does reflect that there is not enough weightage placed on class discussions despite the fact that it needs the same amount of preparation and thinking. Also, it is important to ensure that the entries are of consistent quality.
Overall, I think that the SES module is successful as a module which was recently introduced and is a very good concept, though its implementation can be improved on.
