Brian Deyo's Professional Portfolio
Reflection for Standard 8 Systems
8. Systems - Understand that we live and work within systems of cause and effect in which actions may have multiple origins and consequences.
Reflection on Systems Work Product
At the time of this project, I was enrolled in EDTEC 795A with Dr. Rossett. San Diego State University held BATS classes for graduate students to help them format their theses or dissertations. The Thesis Reviewer was looking for someone to create several demonstration tutorials to explain the content of these BATS classes. These tutorials were to be located online for reference by the graduate students when they had questions about thesis formatting procedures.
I interviewed the Thesis Reviewer and the BATS Instructor to find out about the “optimals” and “actuals.” I observed the two BATS classes to document the class content. Then, I reviewed the student feedback and prepared my initial analysis. As part of the analysis, I organized the content of each class into a modularized course for future online development. I met with the Thesis Reviewer on a regular basis to guide my production of two Captivate tutorial work products.
The EDTEC standard I am demonstrating with this project deals with systems. This project reflected how we understand that we live and work within systems of cause and effect in which actions may have multiple origins and consequences. In this project, we had many dynamic systems interacting in real time as this project came to fruition. SDSU was in the process of promoting the BATS Instructor to another position. This promotion would leave the BATS class without its subject matter expert. The Thesis Reviewer just received approval to award a stipend to any student that could help create these modules. Personally, I was going through many trials and tribulations. Professionally, I learned that my job would be terminated and I was pursuing many employment opportunities. Mid-semester, I began training for a new position. This training limited my access to the Captivate program since it was located at my former job.
One problem that arose during this project was my restlessness to make progress on the project when I should have waited for more guidance from the Thesis Reviewer. I would receive preliminary feedback and start working on project changes when I had not yet received complete or final feedback at each particular stage. This anxiousness on my part would have me “jump the gun” in a few steps along the development process. I would have to go back and redo much work that I thought I had finished. This repetition of work actually helped me learn the Captivate software better over the course of the project. I did feel somewhat disconcerted to have to redo my work. However, this experience made me know the project more completely in the end. I feel that this work demonstrated my ability to adjust to changes in workflow. I was able to adapt to many revisions of the work at each step in the development process. Especially when my access to the Captivate program was greatly reduced midway through the project, I was able to make the necessary changes in a timely manner. My proficiency for using the software greatly increased with each revision. My patience also grew in this project. I learned that I could suggest changes to the client, but that I usually can’t lead the client. The client still knows what s/he wants as a final product and I need to accommodate the wishes of the client.
This project was an example of the importance in serving the needs of the client. Whenever the client asked for changes to be made to the project, I did not hesitate to make the desired changes. I did not personally invest in the outcome of the project and only approached the final product through the eyes of the client. If the client was happy, I was happy. I adhered to the terms of the signed contract and completed the work to our mutual satisfaction.