Course Reflection: Service, Learning, and Thinking

This report provides a reflective overview of a professional development course, detailing key learnings on service, learning methodologies, and critical thinking. The author discusses the importance of community engagement, highlighting the personal and societal benefits of service, and the development of crucial skills. The report then explores effective learning techniques, emphasizing the significance of interest, deep memory embedding, and the use of visual aids. Furthermore, it examines the role of critical thinking in decision-making, emphasizing the importance of logical reasoning and the evaluation of alternatives. The author uses personal experiences to illustrate these concepts, concluding that the course has significantly enhanced their understanding of personal and professional development.

Introduction
In this course, I learnt quite a number of valuable things. I learnt about service and the
importance of community engagement and the role it has to play for an individual and the overall
community. I also learnt about how to learn, Learning is a process that is often overlooked while
other subject material is taught. I learnt how to maximize how I can learn any subject material. I
also learnt about critical thinking in the decision making process. This paper will document some
of these learnings with an aim to provide a reflective overview of the impact of this course.
Learning about Service
The learning point Learning about Service was quite an eye opener for me. I have not always
been passionate about community engagement activities. I especially thought that they added no
value to me especially since they were mostly conducted free of charge and were done to
situations which could not afford to maintain the service provided to them. However, in the
course of this course, I uncovered the role of service in the community not only to others but
myself. First, it was clear that the benefits of community service are quite personal. The saying
goes that those who give sleep better than those who don’t. In this way, community service is
useful for the wellbeing of individuals since they are able to achieve some sense of satisfaction
while they carry along the community service work. One is able to attain some sort of self-
fulfillment in knowing that their work is going to benefit another individual or the community in
its entirety. I tried this for myself when I selected a section of an area near my neighborhood and
tried to pick up the dirt that was lying around. Initially I wasn’t much taken by the idea, however
when I was about to finish and I noticed how clean the place was, I appreciated my work and I
couldn’t wait for the next time when I would have been able to carry out the work again. I
received self fulfilment from engaging in a community service activity that was free and that was

out of my own initiative. Also, other than fulfilment, community service acts as a way in which
individuals develop skills which they might not have had a change to develop in normal course.
For example, if someone is engaged in a building project, they might end up learning
construction which may impact their future career choice. Community engagements therefore do
a whole lot more to the individual than they do to the community. The one who gives has much
more to gain.
I also learnt that another beneficiary of the community service engagements is the community. I
was able to appreciate that not everyone or every community can afford to purchase some
activities that make the community a better place. For instance in the case of the hurricane
disasters, most of the families were left bare without their property or food. At that particular
time, they could not fend for themselves. One would think that it is the role of the government to
ensure that they are well catered for but that might not be the case since the government might be
overwhelmed by dealing with the problem at a nationwide level. It is therefore necessary for
individuals to come together and assist at a community level. In this way, resources available to
the public are not strained and the affected areas are able to get back on their feet as soon as
possible. Generally, the course helped me appreciate what service means to the community, the
individual and the society. I was able to gradually change my idea of thought concerning free
service to the community and it motivated me to look for other community projects that I can
Learning about Learning
This section was one of the best sections of the course. I used to think I learnt in an effective way
by maintaining an overly repeated process which is suggested universally but produced dismal
results. I used to skim, study, review and recite. Through the course, I learnt that while this
method allowed me to pass examinations, it did not change the way I learnt or what I knew.

Learning about learning highlighted the importance of interest and the need to embed
information not only for the purpose of passing exams rather create a depository of information
which could be useful for a later date as it is embedded in the deep memory levels. I discovered
that it was more important to discover than recite. It was therefore important for individuals to
put a focus on trying to understand a new idea through practice or experimenting in order to get a
wider overview of the concept instead of trying to conceptualize an idea which is new or novel
from just reading about it. Visual aids and sounds are effective in improving the individual’s
learning curve. I also discovered another way of learning especially when it came to math
subjects. I learnt that the subconscious mind is usually very powerful and at times one might not
be able to apparently solve a problem in the foreground but the subconscious is busy solving it in
the background. In this way, the individual may then get an idea of solving a problem that he did
not know how to before. I therefore learnt that a change is as good as rest. This means that
instead of spending hours trying to uncover one idea, it would be important for that individual to
change into a different activity and most times when they resume the prior activity they are able
to complete it better.
I was also able to understand group dynamics and their role in learning. I learnt that studying in a
group or engaging in discussions is a good way of getting to repeat the study material learnt in
class. It also enables one to get a clarification of some of the issues which may not have been
clear in the course of the class. It also acts as a way of promoting team work between members
of the classroom. On the other hand I discovered that while group work is encouraged it might
not always be necessary since some individuals work best when they are alone. Group work may
sometimes inhibit free thought and independence which may affect the performance of an
individual who does not thrive in such an environment. In the Unit I also learnt about

communication. It was interesting to uncover that communication involves both listening and
speaking. Feedback is integral in communication as it provides information to the sender of the
message about the quality of the message. I have learnt to communicate better with my peers and
instructor in order to get exactly what I wanted instead of the message being lost due to poor
communication. For example I now use turn taking in my conversations in order to allow the
other person to understand what I am saying as well as to allow myself to respond accordingly to
what was said to me in the proper manner.
Learning about Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is important in reading texts, deciphering information as well as personal
decision making. When learning about critical thinking, I learnt that the first step in order to
apply critical thinking is listening. One cannot critique what they do not know or what they have
not heard properly. It is therefore necessary for people to listen or read well whatever is at their
disposal. Also I learnt that critical thinking applies the use of logic in order to arrive at a
conclusion. It is necessary to decipher what may be a fallacy in a statement in order to effectively
qualify it. For example a politician may argue that his opponent is not intelligent since he did not
go to school. This statement may be a fallacy since it does not mean that since one did not go to
school he is not intelligent. Intelligent is not put in a bunker that stays in school. Critical thinking
is important since it helps people engage in logical debates without using fallacies to support
their arguments. I also learnt that critical thinking has an important role to play in decision
making. The right decision can only be arrived at when the alternatives are thought about
thoroughly. I was once involved in making a decision about where I was going to stay. I needed
to look at factors such as transportation, housing prices, accessibility of social amenities and
stores and the security of the neighborhood. In order to effectively arrive at the optimal decision.

I had to consider all the facts that were important to me. I noted that while critical thinking takes
place in the mind, it could be useful to write a few things down which may help one have a view
of what he is supposed to do in a particular case. Critical thinking is essential for all decision
making process that we undertake in a day to day life.
Conclusion
To sum, this course was not a waste to me. I learnt several things that are going to help me live a
lot better and also enable me to make the world a little better. I now have knowledge in service to
others, learning and critical thinking for decision making.
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