Reflect on Colloquium

Entry #17

4-4-12

      To be completely candid, I enjoyed colloquium more than I had anticipated. For example, I found the principles of direct-attention fatigue and the restorative environmental effect to be very interesting. As a social work major I could defiantly use the nature as a tool for helping to calm clients with ADHD as the text illustrated. Before taking this course I didn’t think I would learn anything that could be applied to my field of study. I enjoyed the trip to ECHO and learning about the ways they help the down-trodden, this is an issue that is very near and dear to my heart. Also, doing my ecological footprint was a great way to quantify how my actions directly impact the planet. I’m glad that every student FGCU has to do one. It is a great tool to help spread change and awareness. I also enjoyed some other aspects of this course but I fear I am being repetitive, because I mention them in earlier journals. So I will answer the question of,”What would you change.” One thing I would change is making the class periods shorter when we spend the entire time in the classroom. No disrespect, but it is practically impossible to pay attention for that long when the majority of the material is videos. I feel the students would learn more and pay attention better if briefer videos were shown. Also, this may be impossible, but since the course is mandatory I feel it should be cheaper. Part of the student body’s resistance to this course is the price tag it caries. We begrudgingly pay for our core classes because we know they will help us in our future professions. Lastly, more clearly defined writing assignments would be helpful. I felt there was some vagueness about what was expected and it caused me to get a lower grade than i would have liked. I felt I had a clear understanding of what was expected but apparently I was wrong. In conclusion, I enjoyed Colloquium more than I had expected and think with some slight modifications it can be an even better course.