Monday, 7 October 2013

Reflective Learning Journal #1


I have recently found myself in my first session of my university career, a tutorial session, which consisted of various handouts about essay referencing techniques, introducing myself to seven other students and the tutor. By the end of the session I had already been assigned my first essay on if ‘Human Geography plays a key role in understanding and responding to climate change’, consisting of 20% of my module grade. I was given little information to begin with so I was anxious about whether I would be able to write a successful essay. Unsure about where to begin, I began making notes on what I thought the essay would consist of, drawing on my knowledge from A level work and reading through some of the material that was suggested to us for use in this essay, including ‘Key Concepts in Geography’. It wasn’t a particularly difficult question, but being away from a study environment for six months really effected how I worked. The problem with this essay was that I didn’t read many of the suggested readings, tending to search online for various websites and articles that were short because at the time I did not understand the importance of key readings (I suppose the word key should have given it away). This impacted on my essay because it limited my understanding of the question which would have been improved if I had read the key readings. Since I have had feedback I have began to read more journals and Geography textbooks but they seem very complicated and difficult to analyse. I understand that, since this is only the beginning, I will develop as the course progresses and eventually become used to the writing style needed for essays and will be able to understand the points made in the journals. Next time I will read more in order to have a better understanding of the question topic, which, with any luck, will mean that I get a better result for my next essay.


~ Jones' Journal

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