{"id":8,"date":"2023-12-06T16:30:08","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T16:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/emma-brashear\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2023-12-12T05:47:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T05:47:59","slug":"final-reflection","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/emma-brashear\/final-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I have progressed through this Calculus I course, I have developed a growth mindset and learned from my mistakes. One example of this has been changing my mindset when I work on a problem incorrectly or get the wrong answer.\u00a0 It has been difficult for me to learn that getting the wrong answer on a problem does not mean that I am just \u201cbad\u201d at that learning concept. So, instead of giving up altogether on the learning target, I have developed strategies to work through my challenges. Some of these strategies include going to office hours and revising problems. These methods of growing through challenges are ones that have been uncomfortable for me at first. For example, the first time that I attended office hours to work through a difficult concept for me, I felt very awkward. By the end of the semester, however, I felt much more confident asking for help when I needed it. This same feeling applies to revisions of my work. When I first began revising work, I felt almost ashamed, as though I had \u201cfailed\u201d at learning. By the end of the semester, however, I realized that most things will not be perfect the first time, including my learning process. These feelings of uncomfortableness are signs that growing is occurring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One specific example of learning from my mistakes can be found within my work for Learning Target 15<\/a>. On one of the checkpoints, I had incorrectly solved the problem set for this learning target. I did not fully understand how to include positive and negative signs into my calculations for geometrically finding the value of a definite integral. So, I got a revision mark for my work. At first, I was upset because I felt as though my studying efforts had been futile. Once I took a step back, however, I reflected and realized that this was an opportunity for me to better my understanding of this topic. After this reflection moment had occurred, I attended office hours to clarify what I needed to study. I then was able to rework the problem correctly. After doing so, I felt so satisfied that I had worked towards truly understanding Learning Target 15,<\/a> instead of just giving up on the concept, like I had initially wanted to. I feel like because of this change in emotion towards the learning target, this is a prime example of how I have developed a growth mindset.<\/span><\/p>\n

One way that I consistently contributed to my community throughout the semester was by sharing my work with the class. I typically did so by writing my methods of solving various problems on the whiteboard. At times, I felt vulnerable sharing my work with my classmates because I was unsure if I had obtained the correct answer or worked the problem in the correct way. As the semester progressed, however, I took pride in being brave enough to explain my thinking to others consistently. By the end of the semester, I had gained the confidence to receive feedback on my work from my peers and use that to further my learning process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another way that I contributed to the learning community of the calculus classroom was through team quizzes. When solving these problems, there were times where my teammate was unsure on how to solve a specific part of the problem. When this occurred, I took the opportunity to further my own understanding and explained the problem-solving process to the best of my ability. Explaining these concepts expanded my own understanding of these topics. There were also, of course, times where I struggled with calculus topics. In these times, my teammate and peers happily jumped in to help me better understand the topics. Without their help, I am sure that I would not have understood calculus at the same level as I do today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout this course, I have grown as a student, especially when it comes to improving my communication skills regarding technical material. One thing that I have had to improve on is being concise and clear with my problem-solving. For me, my inherent desire is to simply write an answer on the page. This does not give insight into why or how I thought through the problem in order to get this answer. So, over the semester, I have continually worked on writing more of my methods. For example, in Homework 3<\/a>, my written work is very unclear and confusing. Although I had come to the correct answers, it is difficult to read any of my work. Even now, I can barely interpret the answers that I do have. When I compare this to my more recent work, like my work for Learning Target 8<\/a>, I find it much easier to understand how I came to the answers that I did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I have greatly improved my communication skills, there are still many areas where I want to continue to improve these qualities. For example, I am constantly having to remind myself to add a label to my work. Even though I now know how important these labels are for communication, it can be so easy to forget in the moment. Therefore I want to continue to improve this skill. More specifically, I need to especially focus on adding a \u201c+ C\u201d when dealing with indefinite integrals. For example, I had this issue in the Learning Target 18 team quiz<\/a>. Because I forgot the \u201c+ C\u201d, I did not get any of the answers correct due to the fact that I had forgotten such a vital part of the answer. With this in mind, I want to finish the semester by continuing to remember the importance of my technical communication skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I view this first semester in college as a transitional time from high school to college, where self-efficacy truly becomes essential for success. In high school, it was easy for me to pay attention in class and not have to worry about actually studying the material in my free time. I quickly learned that I could not rely on this same approach. So, I began studying outside of class. I found that not only did the amount of check marks I received increased, but also my understanding of each topic did as well. The more time I spent studying, the better I was at calculus. Although this may seem to be a straight-forward thought to have, this was a much different mindset than I had in high school, where I believed that if I didn\u2019t understand a concept right away, then there was no use in trying again. I am proud of myself for this change in my self-efficacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, I have learned to fully utilize the resources that I have access to. For example, I have recently started attending office hours regularly and revising Learning Targets that I had not gotten correct initially. The more that I used these resources, the more I realized how helpful they were. It is not shameful to admit that I need extra help on a topic. It is actually better for me in the long run when I am able to admit these things. For example, on Learning Target 11<\/a>, I did not truly understand the topics at hand. I had studied the concepts outside of class, but the ideas just weren\u2019t \u201cclicking\u201d. Then, by going to office hours and revising, I was able to fix my thinking for this target. Eventually, I assessed and successfully mastered the topic. Through this, I learned that admitting that I need help is an essential part of my learning and self-efficacy. <\/span><\/p>\n



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As I have progressed through this Calculus I course, I have developed a growth mindset and learned from my mistakes. One example of this has…<\/p>\n

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