Challenges
Over the course of the semester in Bus 306: Principles of Marketing, I found I had a few challenges with some of the marketing concepts. These were not issues with the topics themselves but with my learning style in relation to the material overall. One challenge I faced was difficulty understanding topics thoroughly. I felt lost during some of the early lectures, and reading the book did not help to clarify the material. At the beginning of the semester, I was mainly a kinesthetic and visual learner. When I entered Bus 306, I felt unprepared because, like many college courses, the early lectures were catered to a mainly auditory and verbal style of learning. Also, I found the material in the book is very dense. When I would read, I would get lost between the endless descriptions and some of the examples, meant to clarify the information, confused me even further. When I started the Practicum Presentation, I let my other team members take over the discussions because I felt unprepared. When we presented, I was more comfortable than I had been before, however, when I was in front of the class, I was self-conscious and my grade was marked down. Another challenge I had was with writing cohesively.
In my two individual assignments, I did not fully develop the ideas I introduced and consequently got a lower grade than I would have liked. I have always had issues with my writing style and discussing topics thoroughly. Due to issues understanding the material in class, I had the most trouble with the Chapter 20 concepts, marketing sustainability and ethics. This is evident in Chapter 7 Concepts in which I was to discuss ethical dilemmas in toddler high-fashion. When I began writing, I focused more on my personal ethics rather than ethical business practices and I left many of these ideas incomplete because I did not know how to tie some of the issues together. While both of these challenges are evident in my early semester assignments, there were improvements in my more recent group projects.
After I started working weekly with my team members, I improved greatly in understanding each of the marketing concepts. I realized my learning style had developed to include more interpersonal aspects. Clarifying the concepts with others made the material seem easier. Also, when we were working on our Market Planning Assignment, I felt like I got a clearer understanding of marketing while reading the book because if I was confused about a concept, I had someone who could help me. I also found myself adjusting to become more of a linguistic learner. I started taking notes and drawing lines to show connections between concepts. Implementing these different strategies early on prevented me from falling behind in the course and from not understanding essential concepts.
More Challenges and Improvements
Starting the second half of the semester, I felt like I have improved greatly and had fewer issues. Previously, I had implemented strategies such as being more interpersonal and talking with my group members about the concepts and how to apply them to each section of the projects. Also, I improved my note taking skills to help me remember connections between concepts. I continued to use these strategies.
By speaking and planning with my group members more, I was able to further my presentation skills and confidence; this was evident in my Marketing Plan Presentation. Also, my grades on the online tests improved immensely as I took notes and study skills. I then focused on improving other parts of the course I was struggling with.
In the second half of the semester, I noticed I was having issues with stress and getting my work done on-time. I had to start making notes and schedules for myself so I would not forget due dates or meetings. By making notes and planning ahead, I was able to get my work started earlier and do a more thorough job of expressing and explaining the material properly. Overall, this semester, I became a better student by adjusting my study habits and communicating with my classmates more.
Learning Portfolio 