My Final Reflection
My initial goals for this class were to avoid procrastinating my assignments, getting full credit on my assignments and exams and to learn about the subject. I believe I have fulfilled my goals for the most part. When it comes to procrastination I believe it's my worst trait. I have always procrastinated my assignments but I believe this course has made me improve. I would always check the due dates for this class on Mondays and I made sure I had an idea of when everything was due. I did procrastinate some of the assignments but I believe I learned how to keep track of the deadlines in this class. I got full credit on most of my assignments but I know I am capable of better. I have learned a lot in this class. I never thought you could learn so much with an online class. I learned about maps and the different scales they are presented in, I also learned about geographical hazards and I also learned about the different spheres. I am more aware of my surroundings and somewhat think geographically when I am at unique places. I understand the different hazards and how they become. I look at mountains, lakes and islands and have an idea of how they were formed.This course has also taught me how to work with others. I worked with an amazing partner for the hazard project who was very attentive. I also had to deal with unresponsive group mates for the map project. I learned how to communicate with people online. In this generation people are used to informal writing and text language but in this class that had to be put aside and I learned how to write to people in a professional manner. In the future I will still be working on my procrastination habit and I hope to get rid of it very soon. I will also never forget the skills I learned during this online course. I really enjoyed taking this course due to the computer skills I have acquired as well as the knowledge I have gained in the subject.
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Student Learning Outcome #1
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Field Trip Project | |
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For Student Learning Outcome #1 I chose the field trip assignment. The field trip assignment taught me many valuable skills. I learned how to use Google Maps and although it took me a while, it is a good application I may use in the future. I believe my academic skills have improved by doing this project. This was the first time I learned about geographical processes in the different spheres. For example one may ask why does wind occur at the Cobb Estate? and the answer would be wind is caused by the aeolian process. I included an example from the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and the lithosphere. My learning goals for the next assignment are to learn more about the different spheres and to grow my knowledge in general. There is one minor change I would make to the way I did this project and that is the order I set the stops in. I realized If someone were to go on this field trip in order, they would go in a loop and it would take them longer to complete. Outside of class I have already become more observant and aware of my surroundings. I look at my surroundings and think what is the cause of this? I feel so smart and educated when I know the cause of mountains, winds and lakes. This assignment taught me the value of planning ahead. I was very busy on the week of this assignment and I had not payed attention to my modules until the day of. I panicked and did the project as best as I could. I believe if I had not procrastinated I would have produced work of higher quality. Overall I enjoyed completing this project due to the knowledge I gained and the creative freedom I was given to design my pamphlet.
Student Learning Outcome#2
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Map Project | |
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For Student Learning outcome #2 I chose the mapping project. I learned a lot with this project due to the amount of research I did. My “sphere” of choice was the lithosphere. This project required us to explore a bit about map making and the different scales they come in. Our maps had to be presented in local, regional and global scales. I chose the Sierra Nevada mountain range to explain the different geographical processes. In my project I explained how the mountain range, the lake nearby and the island were formed. The hardest part about this project was exploring the globe and trying to find a pattern. With this project I gained confidence on my knowledge about the spheres by doing this project. It taught me how to distinguish the atmosphere and the biosphere.The Mapping Project was one of the most challenging for me due to the lack of effort my group mates demonstrated. This taught me a bit about the real world and how to work with others. I do believe that by doing this project I improved my academic skills. By doing this project I also learned how to use Google Earth a bit more accurately. I had always had it installed on my computer and I would play with the program but I never sat down to learn all it had to offer. With this assignment I am proud to say I did not procrastinate. I planned ahead and gave myself enough time to comfortably complete everything. I don't think there is anything I would change about the way I did this project. In the end we were instructed to make a screencast of the are we chose. The Mapping Project being the last big assignment in this class made me reflect on everything I have learned in this short class.
For Student Learning Outcome #3 I chose the hazard project. My favorite assignment was the Geography Hazard project. This included a video and poster. The hazard we chose was Tornadoes. I learned a lot about tornadoes, learned about my learning goals for the next assignment as well as what I would change about my project.
In high school I was in the broadcast journalism program and I mainly edited video. When doing the video portion of this assignment I got to experience a different side the videographer experiences. I enjoyed planning the video out with my partner. We would talk about how we would walk toward the camera while talking instead of standing still. Although we live in California and the video was on tornadoes, we tried making the infomercial fun to watch. I also learned a lot of numerical facts about tornadoes and about tornado prevention. I believe my skills have improved with planning and working with others. I used to absolutely hate working in groups but I learned that planning ahead really helps when avoiding conflict.
The next assignment I will be working on is very similar to this one in the sense that it included working in a group and planning ahead. I hope to learn how to create a map because I have never created one before. I also believe I will learn much more about the different spheres. My group for this next project was unresponsive and very hard to work with. I believe I need to work on my communication skills (especially in an online class). I also need to plan ahead a bit more although I am slowing improving on this.
If I had to change one thing about the video portion of this assignment it would be the time we decided to film it. Our video was focused on tornadoes and tornado prevention and when someone thinks of tornadoes they usually imagine dark gloomy weather. We filmed the video at Brand Park in sunny California. I wish we had waited for the sun to go down a little so it wasn't too bright therefore giving the illusion that a tornado may occur.
In high school I was in the broadcast journalism program and I mainly edited video. When doing the video portion of this assignment I got to experience a different side the videographer experiences. I enjoyed planning the video out with my partner. We would talk about how we would walk toward the camera while talking instead of standing still. Although we live in California and the video was on tornadoes, we tried making the infomercial fun to watch. I also learned a lot of numerical facts about tornadoes and about tornado prevention. I believe my skills have improved with planning and working with others. I used to absolutely hate working in groups but I learned that planning ahead really helps when avoiding conflict.
The next assignment I will be working on is very similar to this one in the sense that it included working in a group and planning ahead. I hope to learn how to create a map because I have never created one before. I also believe I will learn much more about the different spheres. My group for this next project was unresponsive and very hard to work with. I believe I need to work on my communication skills (especially in an online class). I also need to plan ahead a bit more although I am slowing improving on this.
If I had to change one thing about the video portion of this assignment it would be the time we decided to film it. Our video was focused on tornadoes and tornado prevention and when someone thinks of tornadoes they usually imagine dark gloomy weather. We filmed the video at Brand Park in sunny California. I wish we had waited for the sun to go down a little so it wasn't too bright therefore giving the illusion that a tornado may occur.
For General Outcome #2 I chose the first discussion I ever did in this class. We were instructed to find a research article from PCC's Shatford library. The article had to be about how Earth's seasons effect climate change. I chose an article called "Shifts in the seasonal distribution of deaths in Australia". I applied my knowledge to comment on the limitations of the research and to summarize it to the best of my ability.
Bennett C, Dear K, McMichael A. Shifts in the seasonal distribution of deaths in Australia, 1968-2007. International Journal Of Biometeorology [serial online]. July 2014;58(5):835-842. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2015.
In Australia, hot weather in the summer time and cold weather in the winter time increase on a daily basis since the 1960s. The impact of climate change on human health has been increasing ever since. Since 1968, the ratio of summer to winter deaths has increased from .71 to .86. This applies to both sexes and four age groups in Australia. The age groups were limited to fifty five years old and above. This change is due to reduced winter mortality rather than increased summer morality. The likelihood of higher ratios is predicted due to predicted warmer climate change in the future. Climate change takes a toll on morality.
The age groups were limited to fifty five years old and above. They should have focused on more age groups(people in their 30-40s).