A reflection paper is an important component of learning as it provides the learner with the opportunity to express his or her feelings, views, opinions and experience during the study. Therefore, a reflection paper can help a lot in improving the learning process. This service-learning reflection paper will focus on my experience with the M311 class. It will cover my experience with the community partner who was typically a small area in the business organization. Also, through this service-learning reflection paper, I will share my views regarding how the Indiana University and the Kelley School of Business have helped me complete this class and particularly in working with community client. Lastly, I will share some of the recommendations that I believe if considered can contribute to improving the learning experience of the students who are willing to take this class in future.
Initial Expectations
My initial expectations about this class comprised of both positive and negative feelings. I had a positive feeling because I knew the M311 class was critical towards my marketing course since it would help me with the necessary skills needed in marketing such as creativity and communication. Also, I expected that the service-learning project will provide me with the opportunity to work with the community partners. Therefore, I knew the class will offer me a reciprocal experience from which I would benefit as a student as well as the community people. As a result, both partners will be able to contribute and benefit from the experience.
On the contrary, I had a negative feeling towards the M311 class because I knew it was not an easy class. Even though I expected to gain a lot from it regarding knowledge and skills in marketing, I knew there was a lot of work involved such as the project and to some extent; this made me develop negative feelings about the class. Nevertheless, this was not the case as can be seen from my subsequent experience with the class in the following section.
Subsequent Experiences
In general, my experience with the M311 class and in particular with the service-learning project was quite good. The project, for instance, offered me the opportunity to work in groups with my classmates; thus, we were able to help each other as well as exchange various ideas. Moreover, the service-learning project made me understand the need for forming the partnership with the community members in enhancing the learning process. Through the class project, I was able to learn a lot of things in the real world of marketing such as the marketing strategies adopted by these small area business organizations. On the other hand, the service-learning project also made me feel the need for my service. Because I was able to pass some of the knowledge I have learned from the class to the client. Therefore, I felt making a difference in my community through offering my service to them.
The Indiana University and the Kelley School played a significant role in working with the community clients. The two ensured that I had the favorable environment for this work. Additionally, they provided me with the all necessary materials that I needed to complete the project. Furthermore, they ensured that I had the right knowledge that I used in working with my client. To sum it all, the Indiana University and the Kelley School played a significant role in ensuring that I was successful with my service-learning project.
The class materials and topics also played an important part in ensuring that the servicing-learning project was successful. Although I had some challenges during the execution of the project, the class materials and topics were relevant and were useful to the project. They made me have the right knowledge required for developing the marketing proposal for the assigned business organization. As a result, they helped me a lot in executing the service-learning project.
Even though the project was well done, there were some challenges. For instance, I was a bit late with the project. Time was a limiting factor to my project, and thus, I did not manage to complete the project in time. Therefore, it made me hurry with the project and therefore to some extent I was not able to produce the best marketing proposal for my assigned business.
The experience of being late with the project was a good one in some way since it made me learn how to deal with such challenges in future. From the experience, I learned that it is important to plan well before starting such project. Planning will assist in managing the schedule of a project both efficiently and effectively. Hence, given the same opportunity next time, I would ensure that I planned well for the project to be successful.
On the contrary, the experience of the service-learning project had a positive impact on me. For example, it provided me with the opportunity to practice what I have learned in the real world. Also, I was able to learn from the mistakes and challenges that I encountered during the implementation of the project. The experience has also helped me in reinforcing my knowledge in marketing. With this vast knowledge in marketing, I will be able to help more of my community members and also pass it to other students who are interested in it.
Conclusion
In summary, the M311 class and, in particular, the service-learning project has been very helpful to me, and I also believe to the other students who are interested in the marketing. The M311 class through its service-learning project is a good experience for both the learners and the community members as it provides a reciprocal experience for both the area business people and students. Even though there were some challenges with the service-learning project but also its benefits were so many. For instance, it provided me with the opportunity to practice what I have learned in the class. I was able to put the theories into practice. Also, I was able to learn a lot from the mistakes and challenges associated with the service-learning project.
Recommendations
Although the M311 class together with the class project have been good due to their benefits, they can be still improved. One of the ways is through ensuring that students are given enough time for their projects. Therefore, this improvement will enable the high improvement on quality of the work since groups require more time so that each and everyone can contribute appropriately. Moreover, adequate time will allow students to work with more partners. Hence, they will be able to learn more as opposed to working with only one partner.
Also, the project scope can be increased to cover a larger area. Currently, the service-learning project only covers the small area business organizations. However, this can increase to allow the students to have a bigger scope of the study. Therefore, more community members are likely to benefit as well as the students.
