Reflective Essay On Learning Process & Challenges In AMP Module Of International Business & Management.

Learning experiences and challenges in AMP module

Question:

Describe about the experiences those have been gained during the process of doing the AMP report? 

This reflective report is about the experiences of the student while gaining experience within the while learning process of the AMP report. This reflective report has reflected the learning process as well as challenges of the student while learning this process. This report is based on the AMP module of international business & management. The AMP literature review is based on the topic of brand decisions and marketing mix of Mondelez International Inc.  Therefore, this reflective report has discussed about the experiences those have been gained during the process of doing the AMP report.

This report is a reflection of the effective learning style that has been gathered by the student during the process of taking part within the learning section. This reflective report also can be considered as the personal statement of the student. This reflection report discusses brief information about the achievements and challenges those have been faced by the students.  This reflective report also discusses the aspect that how I have gained learning experiences throughout the whole process. This reflective report also demonstrates the strengths and weakness of the student. This reflective report has discussed about the time management skills, group discussion, and effectiveness of group communication. This reflective report also discusses the aspect of improving the area of the expertise. This reflective report discusses the aspect of learning style while gathering personal experiences and learning experiences within the aspect of knowledge gathering.

The aim and objective of this reflective report is to identify the key areas of challenges as well as strengths and weakness of student during the whole process of the study. The objective of this reflective report is to evaluate own personal experiences through the process of learning.

For this research study, I have taken the individual method of study. I also discussed several topics regarding my AMP report with my respective teachers. I took qualitative methodology for completing the whole research with reference to the case study analysis. As discussed by (), learning experience refers to the type of interaction, program, course and other type of experience within the traditional place or non- traditional place of education. Traditional setting of education refers to the school, classroom setting etc. On the other hand, nontraditional setting refers to the outdoor area from the school or educational institution premises.

On the other hand, ÇakıroÄŸlu (2014) argued that, non-traditional method also refers to the process of incorporation of new as well as digital media into the educational setting. Learning experience refers to the variety of experiences like group discussion, method of independent study, discussion board etc. Group discussion refers to the process of doing study with people of small number. As I have taken the case study analysis of the research topic, I took the method of individual study for completing the whole topic of the research. For my AMP literature review topic, individual study by consulting relevant experts or teachers has been remained very effective for completing the whole research study. The study that I have undertaken for research has been perfectly completed with the help of case study analysis. For this individual study, I have taken the help of many relevant secondary sources, like journals, books, websites and blogs.

Personal achievements and strengths and weaknesses

I have to read many complicated phenomenon regarding this particular topic. I have learnt many unknown things about the elements of marketing mix, branding etc. I have gathered several secondary data from the news feed of the face book regarding the company. In order to complete this work, I have gained some valuable experiences regarding the activities of different customers of this company. I have collected the data from this source. There are different types of strategies for the case study analysis. The strategies are logical or argumentation, interpretative or historical, qualitative, co relational, experimental as well as simulation. Therefore, I have taken the process of metric for completing the process of analysis.  In order to complete the whole case study analysis, I also chose the qualitative method of the chosen secondary data.

However, I faced challenges while collecting several data from the sources of data. I found it difficult to choose several data from the sources. I often faced issues while collecting appropriate books or journals of the relevant topic. However, I found it more relevant and important while accessing the news feed of the customers of the company in face book. I took the experience of the feedback of several customers through face book activities. I have been able to associate with new types of information from the relevant new media as well as social media. However, in order to do this job, I often felt confused of choosing effective feedback of customers. I often have become confused for collecting the relevant and purposeful feedback of the customers. I felt confused about the fact that, which feedback is effective for the process of conducting research. I have been learnt that, face book can be considered as one of the most powerful tools of social media. I have learnt that, using this tool one company can gather relevant information about their potential as well as loyal and new customers. Face book as a tool of campaign can provide important information about the customers and their respective choice about the company. The news feed of face book can be considered as very important tool of providing feedback about the current operation or the product of the company towards the competitive sector of the market. I have gained this experience while working with the news feed of the face book that, it could be considered as one of the most important tool for assessing the position of the particular company among the group of the customers within the competitive sector of the industry.

As I have chosen the process of individual study, I have gained several experiences of extensive research regarding this particular topic. I have been able to hold more patience while doing the independent study of this particular topic of the research. I have been able to take control over the whole study of research. At the time of arising confusion, I took help from my respective teacher.

However, Choo et al. (2014) discussed that, Seeking guidance is considered as a sense of responsibility while doing independent studying of the process of research. I have become so much responsible about the time management process and personal plan. I have learned to take responsibility while completing each part of the research study. I have also gained experience while collecting all the data responsibly. I have learned skills of management and learning.

Improving area of expertise

As discussed by Honey and Mumford, there are four learning styles those have been experienced from the Kolb’s learning style.  The learning styles of Honey and Mumford are characterized as Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatist.

According to Frame et al. (2015), an Activist always remains active while doing effective study. Activist always prefer to involve any type of energetic dealing through the learning activities. They have the tendency of listening other. They also like to study alone with lots of help of theory. I mark 16 among 20 as an activist of learning as I have completed all the study alone and took the help of theories and models.

On the other hand, a reflector always tries to review the experience of the study. A reflector takes the time to think effectively regarding the research study. As a reflector, I mark myself 6 out of 20. I did not belong from this group.

A theorist always tries to conclude whole thing with the theories. Theorist knows overall ideas and theories as well as concepts with the help of logical argument, analysis and structure or concepts etc. As theorist, I mark myself 15 out of 20 as a theorist.

Apart from this, a pragmatist always applies the theories into the real world situation.  They plan the next step while applying effective learning style. A pragmatist seeks to apply those theories as well as concepts and models into the real world or practical situation. As a pragmatist, I mark myself 16 out of 20.

Therefore, from the analysis of learning style, I have concluded that, I am a pragmatist as well as theorist in dong effective learning. I mostly prefer the pragmatic and theoretical learning style for completing the whole study of research. In order to complete the whole research study, I have taken the pragmatist or theorist approach of learning style. My analytical thinking ability has been increased while completing this research study. I have learnt how to analyze data that has been collected from several sources of data. I have learnt the process of analyzing the secondary data of the research.

However, I faced several challenges while doing this research study. I have gained the skills of management and learning while dealing with various types of situation within the research process. Therefore, I concluded that I would take help from different theoretical perspective for completing any of research purpose within the future.

At the beginning of the project, I started the project within a group. Therefore, I faced several issues regarding the aspect of time management and effective communication among the members of the group within several types of situation while doing the study. I faced challenges regarding time management skills. At the beginning of this project, I failed to maintain the pre determined time of meeting the members of the group as well as the members of the group of faculty within the process of study. Therefore, I faced several challenges while doing study within a group. On the other hand, I also gained several experiences from those challenges:

Traditional and non-traditional setting of education

Many students come from several groups of culture. Their cultural background is different from mine. Therefore, at the very beginning, I faced some issues while mixing with all the members of the group. I faced issues regarding language also. I faced trouble in order to understand the lecture notes of the teachers. By the time, I have been able to cope up with all the members of the group.

Apart from the above-mentioned issue, I also faced problems of effective communication between my teammates as well as faculty members of the group or the learning process.  At the very beginning, I felt very confused while understanding the respective theories and application of those theories into my selected topic of research. I also failed some issues regarding introducing my part within the process of learning new theories and concepts or models of respective research study. I often felt shy while addressing my issue or problem of not understanding some of the topic of the research study. 

Apart from this, I also faced some barriers while collecting important information from my respective lecturers of the research study. I faced several issues while collecting correct and particular information of the contact of different professors of the respected topic of the research. I often felt issues while collecting effective information from the professors of the particular research report.

While completing the project, I often missed deadline of the task. I had no idea about the referencing process. Therefore, I spent lots of time while gathering knowledge about different kinds of referencing process. However, I missed many tutorials while gathering knowledge on referencing style. Therefore, I often faced issues while knowing the proper techniques of secondary research. I had never done secondary research in my previous section of the study. Therefore, I have also done research on the effective process of secondary data by myself. I have gained lots of information regarding the techniques of secondary data collection. On the other hand, I did extensive research on the techniques of secondary research. After the learning process, I took my own area of choice within the field of secondary research of the particular research topic.

However, Franklin et al. (2013) stated that, time management is very effective for completing the whole process of research. I often used to study at day and night also. Therefore, I felt much stressed while studying the topic. However, the skills of time management can be very effective for the future process of my study. I often missed very classes. I also missed some important group meetings of the particular research process. In the first few weeks, it was remained very difficult for me to manage every team meetings. I felt issues while attaining all the team meetings with my respective fellow members of the team. I also faced issues while collecting important minutes of the meeting within the team meeting.

In order to overcome these challenges, I have associated with lots of experiences regarding some essential activities of study. I have gained experiences while doing group study. I also learnt the techniques of effective communication among the members of the group. I learnt the required skills of time management. I learnt to follow the team role model of Belbin. I have to overcome these challenges while completing the research study.  At the passing time of my study, I learnt the process of maintaining effective communication within the members of the group. I also learnt to overcome some communication pitfalls while working within the team. I used to manage all my challenges with the help of Belbin’s team role model, mind mapping and brain storming technique for managing the challenges those have been faced by me at the time of the development of the research study.  I have also be able to manage the time while doing effective team work of study.

Case study analysis and qualitative methodology

As discussed by Hsieh et al. (2011), mind mapping technique is considered as one of the most effective and important techniques for the student who wants to recollect the learning elements while making notes, improving the memory and prioritising the level of information within the process of learning. The process of mind mapping can enhance the study skills with quick and easy steps. Mind mapping visually tells the direction of the study to the student ().

As stated by Jepsen et al. (2015), A Mind Map is considered as visual map of ideas. It lay out within a radial format around with a central thought of the particular topic. In order to use Mind Mapping technique for the study one can simply take the central subject after that can organise the notes around this particular point. Therefore, the mind-mapping tool can be used for the effectiveness of the study within individual field. Mind mapping has helped me to develop my ideas and concepts regarding the central aspect of the particular topic of the study.

With the help of mind mapping, I have structured my study with the process of planning the essay, generating creative ideas, solving problems and making helpful presentation of the respected study. After the group study, I undertook individual study for completing the whole research study. Therefore, mind-mapping process has helped me to complete the individual study with more strategic choice of studying.

As discussed by Kenner and Weinerman (2011), brainstorming is a creative method that can be able to generate many innovative ideas within a short span of time. With the help of brainstorming process, I have managed my learning process with strategic process. With the brainstorming process, I also had been able to save time within my work of study. Brainstorming session was very much helpful for me at the time of group discussion of the study. I often took the help of brainstorming process while attaining the group meeting. With the technique of brainstorming, I have been remained successful at the ending time my group study.

I took the concepts of Belbin’s team role model while maintaining effectiveness within the respective team. According to the team role model of Belbin, there are several strengths of role among the members of the group. Plant, resource investigator, shaper, coordinator, monitor or evaluator, team worker, implementer, completer or finisher or specialist are the roles those have been painted by Belbin as roles of a team (Klašnja-Milićević et al. 2011). However, I have worked as a team worker in accordance with the Belbin’s team role model. I acted as a very good co-operator as well as perceptive and diplomatic within several types of situation. I often worked as conflict eradicator.

Conclusion:

This reflective report has discussed about my own reflection of the study. This report has reflected upon the knowledge gathering process of me while completing this project. I have faced many serious issues while completing the research study. This reflective report has presented the challenges as well as limitations of the study. I have presented the reflection of my techniques of managing the issues and challenges those have been faced by me during the course of study.

However, I often managed the issues of time, communication, group study and other activities of group study with the theoretical aspect of management. I took brainstorming and mind mapping technique for completing the research project with structural manner. On the other hand, I also took the help of effective management techniques for overcoming the changes while studying individually or within the respective group. I took the help of Belbin’s team role model for managing the teamwork. I have learnt the effective technique of managing the issue of group work. On the other hand, I have also gained lots of experience regarding the knowledge of secondary data collection, qualitative research technique and aspect of secondary research for the literature review portion. I often gained experience of time management process while doing study of this particular research topic. I have gained lots of experience regarding the learning of management process. Therefore, this reflective report has reflected all my dealing with the team mates of the particular research study.

Reference list:

ÇakıroÄŸlu, Ü. (2014). Analyzing the effect of learning styles and study habits of distance learners on learning performances: A case of an introductory programming course. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(4).

Choo, P. K., Lou, Z. N., Camburn, B. A., Wood, K. L., Koo, B., and Grey, F. (2014, August). Ideation Methods: A First Study on Measured Outcomes With Personality Type. In ASME 2014 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (pp. V007T07A019-V007T07A019). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Frame, T. R., Cailor, S. M., Gryka, R. J., Chen, A. M., Kiersma, M. E., and Sheppard, L. (2015). Student Perceptions of Team-based Learning vs Traditional Lecture-based Learning. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 79(4).

Franklin, C., Johnson, L. V., White, L., Franklin, C., and Smith-Olinde, L. (2013). The relationship between personality type and acceptable noise levels: A pilot study. ISRN otolaryngology, 2013.

Hsieh, S. W., Jang, Y. R., Hwang, G. J., and Chen, N. S. (2011). Effects of teaching and learning styles on students’ reflection levels for ubiquitous learning. Computers and Education, 57(1), 1194-1201.

Hsieh, S. W., Jang, Y. R., Hwang, G. J., and Chen, N. S. (2011). Effects of teaching and learning styles on students’ reflection levels for ubiquitous learning. Computers and Education, 57(1), 1194-1201.

Jepsen, D. M., Varhegyi, M. M., and Teo, S. T. (2015). The association between learning styles and perception of teaching quality. Education+ Training, 57(5).

Kenner, C., and Weinerman, J. (2011). Adult learning theory: Applications to non-traditional college students. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 41(2), 87-96.

Klašnja-Milićević, A., Vesin, B., Ivanović, M., and Budimac, Z. (2011). E-Learning personalization based on hybrid recommendation strategy and learning style identification. Computers and Education, 56(3), 885-899.

Manolis, C., Burns, D. J., Assudani, R., and Chinta, R. (2013). Assessing experiential learning styles: A methodological reconstruction and validation of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Learning and Individual Differences, 23, 44-52.