We have officially come to the end of the beginning of this Master's program. With the conclusion of this first course I can look back and clearly record some progress and lessons learned. It seems to me that these past 9 weeks flew by. Maybe this is because we packed each week with new and exciting assignments gearing us toward an action research paper accompanied by a presentation. It could be because this course fell smack dab in the middle of my work and family life (both of which are full time jobs). Mainly, I feel this time passed quickly because I truly enjoyed every minute of it!
I would do myself and this course an extreme injustice if I didn't start with our instructor Matt Earnhardt. Matt made this course for me. All of this stuff I learned was relatively new and a bit confusing at times, but he kept me focused and informed. I never felt that I couldn't shoot him an email, ask a question, or pick his brain. He was quick with grades (which helped me chart my progress) and quick with replies. I couldn't have asked for a better instructor for my first Master's level course. Thanks Matt for everything!
I felt the course was more than adequate in preparing me for in-depth research as a leader. I was reintroduced to the Hunt Library and its vast amount of resource material. I learned qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather information. Literature reviews and annotated bibliographies were new to me, and I can now see how they can guide my research in the future. I also learned that you can not trust everything you find on the Internet. I already had a good idea of that one, but using the CARS technique to validate a sources was quick and effective. But the biggest lesson I learned was in action research.
By conducting my action research I can honestly say that I am a better facilitator for my Security Section. I chose to introduce some critical thinking elements into my training regiment. I got to weigh the pros and cons of old methods of training with using CT and discovered that everyone benefited from thinking critically about our training topics... especially me! I learned that action research sparks an ongoing process to implement an idea and continue to improve on it. I am better for it and my guys are interested in our training times together.
Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this course and its development. There were times when this new (and sometimes confusing) information seemed overwhelming, but Matt was there to keep me focused. He let me figure it out by pointing me in the right direction and letting me "go with it". If this first course has any reflection on the next steps in this journey then I am all in for one heck of a ride.
On to the next one!
JP
I would do myself and this course an extreme injustice if I didn't start with our instructor Matt Earnhardt. Matt made this course for me. All of this stuff I learned was relatively new and a bit confusing at times, but he kept me focused and informed. I never felt that I couldn't shoot him an email, ask a question, or pick his brain. He was quick with grades (which helped me chart my progress) and quick with replies. I couldn't have asked for a better instructor for my first Master's level course. Thanks Matt for everything!
I felt the course was more than adequate in preparing me for in-depth research as a leader. I was reintroduced to the Hunt Library and its vast amount of resource material. I learned qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather information. Literature reviews and annotated bibliographies were new to me, and I can now see how they can guide my research in the future. I also learned that you can not trust everything you find on the Internet. I already had a good idea of that one, but using the CARS technique to validate a sources was quick and effective. But the biggest lesson I learned was in action research.
By conducting my action research I can honestly say that I am a better facilitator for my Security Section. I chose to introduce some critical thinking elements into my training regiment. I got to weigh the pros and cons of old methods of training with using CT and discovered that everyone benefited from thinking critically about our training topics... especially me! I learned that action research sparks an ongoing process to implement an idea and continue to improve on it. I am better for it and my guys are interested in our training times together.
Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this course and its development. There were times when this new (and sometimes confusing) information seemed overwhelming, but Matt was there to keep me focused. He let me figure it out by pointing me in the right direction and letting me "go with it". If this first course has any reflection on the next steps in this journey then I am all in for one heck of a ride.
On to the next one!
JP
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