Saturday, April 30, 2016

MSLD 500 Module 6- Qualitative Research

Though numerical results tend to provide some evidence and understanding to research, analyzing another research or thought provides researchers the opportunity to not only gain understanding, but also apply and establish further thinking. This is also known as qualitative research: a research that produces findings without statistical or any quantification (Hoepfl, 1997).
Qualitative research is often found to be richer in information compared to quantitative research. Numbers might be used as proof or see some sort of trend, but numbers itself isn’t enough for critical thinking. The hiring process might come across and notice this difference. Grade point averages (GPA) are often shown in one’s resume to inform the reader that they have prior education. People will almost always assume that ones with a high GPA is highly intelligent. Though the number does stand out and might be desirable, a high GPA doesn’t always mean that they are qualified for the job. Since GPA itself does not provide enough information, we do job interviews to gather further information. After conducting interviews, you apply your “research”. For this case, maybe you are looking for someone who has excellent computer programming skills. The person with the high GPA seemed like he was qualified, but during the interview, you realize that the person did get a high GPA on a computer programming education, but never had enough hands-on experience. You then apply this knowledge to your preference to determine whether the individual is or is not qualified for the position.
Personally, I believe the whole concept of qualitative research is similar to the systems of thinking. Systems of thinking is the concept of thinking of the main idea by breaking it down to smaller pieces (Nosich, 2012). Just like looking at numbers, looking at “the top of the pile” results in insufficient information. Qualitative research is rich in details because they look at the big picture and break it down smaller to understand and come up with other thoughts. Businesses often come across approach. As an example, people may persuade a business to establish a particular product because it’s a current trend. As the owner of the business, you may assume that following trends are a good thing, but for your business specifically, you might ask yourself, “is this trend a good idea”? You then breakdown this idea and analyze other similar businesses and consider other factors such as location to determine whether the idea is good or not: another thought.

Sources

Hoepfl, M. (1997). Choosing Qualitative Research: A Primer for Technology Education Researchers. Journal of Technology Education, 9(1). Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v9n1/hoepfl.html
Nosich, G. (2012). Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education.



Thursday, April 21, 2016

MSLD 500 Module 5- Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

Way before making the decision to pursue a master’s degree in leadership, I’ve always been an overthinking and detailed-oriented individual. Whether it was something small like cleaning to advising my students, I always had the belief that only looking at “the top of the pile” will have some sort of effect (usually negative) later on. This was especially seen during my writing experience in 6th grade. My English teacher assigned every student in his class to enter an island-wide essay contest. Since I sided with speed, I was often scolded by my teacher due to the lack of effort and details in my essay. After taking his advice and submitting the essay, I miraculously ended up winning first place. This was when I realized how details and effort can really make a huge difference in even the simple things like writing. In the end, I decided to get into the habit of being detailed and thinking deeper.

Today, my critical thinking and detail-oriented habits are stronger than ever. My position as an academic advisor is dependent on this since it is my goal to be clear and informative so students can successfully graduate. Even though I believe that my critical thinking skills has always been strong, being a part of this course has definitely enhanced my thinking and communication skills. As weird as it may sound, I believe that taking part of this course has got me in a better habit of thinking about my thinking. I think the key for taking this class is to identify what we are doing in our critical thinking. For example, I use intellectual perseverance almost every day, but was not aware of it. As a result, I never understood the complete definition of intellectual perseverance. As we did our assignment on intellectual perseverance as well as other topics, I was able to not only understand the definition, but also provide examples, opinions, as well as connect the topic to another. Putting this together, we are actually using the system of thinking, and this will enhance our knowledge on critical thinking and leadership throughout the program. 

Saturday, April 16, 2016

MSLD 500 Module 4- Ballet Slippers or Adorable?

Sheena Lyengar’s presentation The Art of Choosing made three assumptions of making choices. The first assumption states that choice is revolved around the individual, therefore all choices are made by ourselves. Lygenar also called this assumption “being true to yourself” (Lyengar, 2010). This assumption in my opinion is not entirely true. It is true that we do make our decisions in leadership, however effective choices are made by the support of the followers’ preferences and ideas. People are what make leadership possible and since they’re an essential source, it is important for leaders to reach their needs and wants as much as possible. My opinion is connected to my current position as an academic advisor. The goal is to help students with their plan and my choices needs to be relevant to help these student. For example, I make one year degree maps (my recommended list of courses) to every student. If I cannot get in contact with the student who needs an annual revision, I usually make a default map based entirely on my choices. When I do get in contact with the student (and usually after they got the revision) however, the choices I make is based on their preferences, hence resulting a more effective degree map.

Lyengar’s second assumption states that more choices will lead to better choices. Personally, I believe this second assumption is true, but I see her assumption more as a fancy phrase for system of thinking. By definition, system of thinking is a method of critical thinking where ones analyze the relationships between the system’s parts in order to understand a situation for better decision-making (Grimsley, n.d.). In the systems of thinking, we have a main idea or goal and branch out into details to understand the situation better. Coming back to the degree map example, the goal is to make an effective annual route for the student to take so he or she can successfully complete their degree. Though making my own choices may help lead the student, my maps will be much more effective when I implement the student’s preferences (choices). When making the map by default, I usually make a schedule of a full time student and consider the classes the students require and place them on the map. When I get a hold of the student, they provide me much more information- such as how many classes per term they wish to take, as well as what times and form of classes they prefer. These preferences are additional “branches” that help me understand what works for them, which will result in a much more effective route.

The third assumption Lyengar made was to never say no to choice. This statement in my opinion is true since choice is what leads ones further. It’s similar to how assumptions work. Assumption is defined as a claim or guess as is one of the eight elements of reasoning. It serves as a starting point to critical thinking (Noisch, 2012). Saying no to choice can either completely halt someone from moving on or can cause complications to whatever outcome ones are hoping to get. This can be seen if I were to not to consider the student’s preferences in degree mapping. Though there are other resources students use to see what classes they need to take for their degree, some students are highly dependent on my degree maps because of the details. If I were to not implement their preferences for those students, they will probably constantly ask me for assistance, become frustrated with me or the university and may even corrupt their route to success.

In conclusion, choices are very essential in leadership. Though Lyengar stated that choices are made independently, it is important to consider other’s ideas and preferences in leadership. People are what make leadership possible so it is critical to consider their needs and wants as much as possible. Doing so will then lead to more choices, which can open up to more opportunities to enhance our leadership. Lastly, choices must be made to move on. Not doing so will result in complications to a complete halt in our leading which can ruin ones image.

Sources

Grimsley, S. (n.d.). Systems Thinking in Management: Definition, Theory & Model. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/systems-thinking-in-management-definition-theory-model.html
Lyengar, S. (Director). (2010). The art of choosing [Motion Picture].
Noisch, G. (2012). Learning To Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education.



Friday, April 8, 2016

MSLD 500 Module 3- Explore the Hunt Library

The resources of Hunt Library can immediately be compared with the system of thinking versus the body of knowledge. As a recap, systems of thinking is defined as a method of critical thinking where one analyzes the relationships between the system’s parts in order to understand a situation (Grimsley, n.d.). A body of knowledge on the other hand is nothing more than a collection of information. The key difference between the two are how thinking is processed. For systems of thinking, you come up with a big picture, break it apart and analyze each pieces to enhance your knowledge of the big picture. A body of knowledge on the other hand requires you to work the other way around. You have a bunch of information, but you need to put them together to understand the main idea.
When examining the contents on the Hunt Library, ones can easily recognize that most resources consists of books, articles, databases or reports. Though the types of sources are significantly different, the key characteristic that separates resources from the Hunt Library from a simple search are how the information is analyzed. To clarify, I searched on what makes a good leader in both the Hunt Library and search. I first started out with what I am more familiar with: a simple search on Google. The first result was a short article from the University of Notre Dame. The article consisted a list of characteristics and skills leaders should have with a short description of its significance. Since communication in my opinion is one of the most fundamental and powerful concept in leadership, I compared how communication is analyzed. For the Notre Dame article, communication was described as a required skill at every level of business. As you read on, they also provided a list of different tasks such as motivating teams and having a vision to enhance a leader’s communication (Alliance, n.d.). All components were explained briefly and only provided the basics.
When I searched what makes a good leader at the Hunt Library, I came across a scholarly report. Similar to the Notre Dame article, the report briefly explained the significance of communication in leadership. The major difference was that the importance of communication was broken down to several categories: each of them containing a very detailed analysis. As an example, one part of the report talked about the ties of motivation and communication. The report stated that the ability to motivate people is a highly desired quality in a leader and to obtain this skill, the leader must understand their people to obtain their cooperation (Sprinks, 1993).  Other parts of the report also consisted of statistical data that supported the author’s reasoning.
In conclusion, resources from the Hunt Library can aide our systems of thinking by analyzing another. This is significant for my studies since we can only gain so much from just a body of information. With another person’s analysis, we can gain not just the basics, but understand the importance of a reasoning better with their opinions and supportive details. We probably already understand the basics of a topic but comparing another way of thinking can assist us on asking questions on top of their questions- hence enhancing our current knowledge.

Works Cited

Alliance, U. (n.d.). What Makes an Effective Leader. Retrieved from University of Notre Dame: http://www.notredameonline.com/resources/leadership-and-management/what-makes-an-effective-leader/#.VwgqsvkrKUk

Grimsley, S. (n.d.). Systems Thinking in Management: Definition, Theory & Model. Retrieved from Study.com: http://study.com/academy/lesson/systems-thinking-in-management-definition-theory-model.html

Sprinks, N. &. (1993). What Makes a Good Leader? The Role of Communication. Retrieved from ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/205864643?pq-origsite=summon






Sunday, April 3, 2016

MSLD 500 Module 2- Tell Your Story

Whether you’re at work or at home, everyone has and use a unique set of thinking standards to accomplish their goals. Thinking standards can be critical or non-critical. Critical thinking standards are what helps us determine whether we’re going through questions effectively (Elder & Paul, 2010). Non-critical on the other hand are not in-depth and act as a supplement to our ways of thinking (Nosich, 2012).

Personally, I have more critical thinking standards than non-critical. Some of my big ones include precision, organization and understanding the feelings of others (empathy). Though I believe I naturally acquired most of these standards (especially the non-critical ones), there was a time where it really became a part of me. During my 6th year in elementary school, my English teacher made every student in his class to write and submit an essay to an official island-wide contest. Writing was never my thing and I would often jump straight to the main point without having any coordinated way of explaining them. The teacher was pretty strict (and mean in general) and would often yell things such as “how was this your memorable moment?” or “you need to start all over because this paper is disorganized and confusing” Eventually after being scolded numerous times, I did what I was told and submitted my essay. Some time passed and I unexpectedly won first place. When being called up the stage, I often thought how adding details and being organized can make a huge difference in your writing. Ever since, being specific and organized became an everyday habit.

Though my early habits were more for writing, I realized over time that people must be organized and precise to solve or make anything work. This is also critical in today’s leadership. We need people to look up to you when leading something, and this requires trust. Common traits people look into a leader include organizational skills, being knowledgeable on what you’re trying to lead, as well as having a good connection with your people (Alliance, 2016). Today, I often use precision and organizational skills when advising my students. As an example, I often have students who come into my office because they can’t enroll in a course. I’ll immediately recognize that the student has a hold that blocks the student from enrolling themselves, however I need to consider the different types of holds. As I look into the student’s records I’m not only getting more information, but is also sorting out the information to determine if I can override the hold or not. Lastly though showing empathy is not a critical thinking standard, it supplements both the student and I while resolving the issue. Though it is rare to have pretty angry students, I need their full cooperation to seek more information and solve their problem. I’m also very passionate with what I do and I express how much I really want to help the student. Most time they will calm down and it helps me get through the problem.

Sources:

Alliance, U. (2016). What Makes an Effective Leader. Retrieved from University of Notre Dame: http://www.notredameonline.com/resources/leadership-and-management/what-makes-an-effective-leader/#.VwDV5KQrKM8
Elder, L., & Paul, R. (2010, October). The Critical Thinking Community. Retrieved from Universal Intellectual Standards: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/universal-intellectual-standards/527
Nosich, G. (2012). Learning To Think Things Through: A Guide To Critical Thinking Across The Curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education.