Core Skills
This page showcases five core skills learned at SPCC that includes: Written Communication, Oral Communication, Cultural Literacy, Technology, and Social Scientific Literacy. For each core skill, I have chosen an artifact that best demonstrates my learning and understanding of the core skill. Each artifact and reflection will show what I learned and the goals that I accomplished while attending SPCC. I loved and enjoyed every assignment. I am glad to have the opportunity to showcase my growth and knowledge on this page. While creating this website, I learned how to challenge myself in my thinking. I was also able to see how much work I accomplished while attending SPCC.
Written Communication
The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using written text in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
I took ENG-112(Writing/Research in the Discipline) in my Spring 2017 semester. I remember being nervous because it was my second college writing class. Although I enjoy writing, essay assignments have never been my favorite. Despite this, I experienced much growth in my writing abilities while taking this class. For this artifact, I decided to share a proposal that I wrote titled "Split Rail Records: A Marketing Proposal". I wrote this proposal on Appalachian State University's student-run record label, Split Rail Records. I wrote about how they could expand their audience by using both online and offline marketing strategies. Through my research, I saw how much potential the record label had. They had access to so many resources! I wanted to create a realistic approach to the problems that I encountered. I used my knowledge to plan out a budget with strategies that they could implement.
I set two smart goals for myself. The first was to be able to craft a clear and focused introduction. I often struggled with this in the past. I have the tendency to either overexplain the topic or not give enough detail. Coming from a homeschooled background, I didn't have to write as much as the everyday public high school student. When entering college, creating essays was a struggle for me. In the rubric for the proposal assignment, the professor made it clear that my introduction should be realistic, clear and focused. In order to achieve this, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I wanted to start the proposal. I decided to introduce what a student-run record label is, go into the history of Split Rail Records and then acknowledge how the record label had become inactive. I was determined to prove to myself that I could create the best introduction possible. I learned that introductions don’t have to be long and drawn out. I discovered that introductions should make a good first impression on readers.
My next goal was to be able to organize my thoughts in a coherent manner. Creating this proposal wasn't the easiest task. It was the longest paper that I've ever written. I had only written 3-5 page essays. It's easier to compile research and organize your thoughts appropriately with those types of essays. But with the proposal assignment, I knew that I would need to say more. I had a lot to say because of how passionate I was about the subject. I had so many ideas from researching the label that I wasn't sure how I would be able to organize and present them in a way that wouldn't confuse the audience. I decided to create an outline after seeking help from my professor and searching methods online.
I created the outline using topical organization. I laid out my introduction and then each solution to the problem that I came up with. For instance, I wrote in one document about how online marketing was a solution to Split Rail Records' inactivity. I then described the ways that online marketing could help or hinder the label. In a separate document, I wrote how offline marketing was a solution and how it could help or hinder the label. I paid attention to the sources that I had gathered. I used the ones that supported each of my solutions and put them in their appropriate categories. Through this process, I learned how I work and how I organize my writing. I work much like a puzzle maker. I try to see which pieces fit and which ones don’t. In the end, I got a paper that I was very proud of. I also learned a lot about how outlines can help me organize my thoughts. Looking back, I see how much I've grown as a writer. I am now able to write better than I ever have thanks to going to SPCC and completing assignments like this. I want to thank my ENG-112 professor for pushing me and helping me to become a better writer! I will never forget the experience that this assignment gave me. It allowed me to develop writing skills that I know I will need as a student and future professional.
Oral Communication
The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using the spoken word in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
I took ART-111(Art Appreciation) in my Spring 2018 semester. Studying art was an interesting experience for me. My dad is an artist so I've grown up around art. Despite this, looking at art and learning about it in a college context are two different things. Developing a technical approach to looking at art was challenging. Because of this, I was very nervous when I found out that we had to do a speech presentation on an artist of our choice for the final! I chose to speak about Claude Monet. In my presentation, I spoke about why I chose Monet as my subject, his artistic style, his influences, his most important works and his impact on art. While studying his works, I learned many things. I learned about how artists use lighting. Many of Monet's paintings looked differently at various times of the day because evening and daylight lighting set a "mood" for Monet's works.
My first goal in oral communication was to be able to deliver a speech that clearly explains my information to my audience. I was nervous because sometimes I speak fast when I'm passionate about the subject. I didn't know if my audience would be able to understand me. Because of assignment requirements, I couldn't include a lot of information on the slides. I'm used to relying on them. I knew that once I hit the record button I couldn’t edit my stumbling blocks out. So, I took my time when delivering my presentation. I spoke clearly so that my words wouldn’t be muffled through the mic. It was important that the listeners could hear me explain the information clearly. Through this process, I learned how pronunciation and cadence are important when delivering a speech. When your audience is in front of you they can tell that, even if your voice gets loud or angry, you are just delivering the information. But you must focus on keeping your tone even when delivering a voice presentation because your audience cannot see your face. I'm surprised I didn't know more about pronunciation and cadence because I'm a singer. Once I thought about how I use my voice to express emotion through singing it did make speaking easier. This assignment was a great learning experience although it was a little stressful getting the hang of it!
My next goal was to be able to organize information into a speech for my intended audience. I knew the importance of one subject flowing into the next when I began creating this presentation. I wanted the listeners to experience a little bit of everything. I know I wanted to deliver the information chronologically. But, I didn’t know whether I wanted to speak about Monet's art or his life first. I watched videos and read many articles on him. So, I had a lot of information. I was confused as to where to start. After this research, I began creating an outline for myself. I knew that the professor wanted me to explain the reason why I chose Claude Monet so I included that first. Afterward, I went into explaining his artistic style because I knew that the audience would love to see pictures of his work. Then I went on to explain his work and how his life influenced his work. Organizing the information for this speech was fun. It showed me how organizing information is key. Organizing helps the fluidity and delivery of your speech. A speech doesn't seem complete when you go back and forth from topic to topic. I want to continue to sharpen the skills that I learned while doing this assignment so that I can take them into my future as a student and a professional. It is important to me that I continue to better myself. I want to have projects like this that I can look back on and see my growth!
Cultural Literacy
The learner will demonstrate a "set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts"
I took HIS-112(World Civilizations II) in my Fall 2017 semester. I've always enjoyed taking history because I love seeing how the past and present are interconnected. History is definitely one of my favorite subjects that I've taken at SPCC! This artifact is a book review that I wrote on Mark Mathabane's Kaffir Boy. I learned a lot about African culture and the Apartheid. Even though the assignment was simple, I had no idea about the Apartheid before this assignment. In my book review, I examined Mark Mathabane’s life growing up in the township of Alexandria and his experiences as a young boy growing up in poverty. I explore what it felt like for him being so used to racism and prejudice at a young age. I also explored the different themes that Mathabane threaded throughout his autobiography. For example, he repeatedly mentioned power and the abusive of it, depression, being a victim and gender equality.
A goal that I set for intercultural competence was to be able to understand a culture's rules and practices. I learned a lot about African culture when researching the background of Mark Mathabane. I learned about the prejudices that are present in their community and how the world thinks of their culture. I learned how the apartheid was a social and political system of institutionalized racial segregation. The system was strict, systematic and built against the African race. Something else that I learned during my research and reading of Kaffir Boy was how much education meant to his culture. Education wasn’t just about knowledge. It was about finding a way towards the success and money that could provide for your family. Mathabane pursued education relentlessly because of his beliefs. Education wasn’t just something he practiced. It was what he was. This opened my eyes to the privileges of American society and how we take things for granted. This is often preached to us millennials. But it is humbling to step back and put life into perspective.
The next goal that I set was to be able to understand cultural differences in human interaction. I often hear people say how they don’t understand how some cultures can do things that they consider inhumane. These statements are often prejudged assumptions that are made without knowing a culture's history. Through my reading and research, I began to understand how many of the people in the African culture during the Apartheid were put in situations based on survival. Children were often left at home to care for their siblings while their parents were off trying to find or work jobs. Many may think this is a sign of child neglection. But when faced with the reality of what they had to deal with, it is clear that they had no choice. Completing this assignment taught me how important learning about cultures from the perspective of individuals from that culture is. I learned a lot about putting myself in the shoes of another and looking at things from their perspective. I learned that it is necessary to understand how other cultures differ in order to understand why they interact the way they do. The skills that I met and the goals that I accomplished will help me to build relationships in school and in my future field.
Technology
The learner will select and use technology to access, process, and exchange information in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
For this artifact, I am using my ePortfolio. I first learned about the ePortfolio in my ACA-112(College Transfer Success) class in my Spring 2017 semester. I remember thinking how cool it was that I was going to be creating a website for homework! I've always considered myself to be tech-savvy. When I was younger I often took apart old desktop computers and put them back together. But, I've never created a website. My ePortfolio was completed in the HUM-115(Critical-Thinking) class that I took in my Fall 2018 semester. For this assignment, I was supposed to create a website that showcased my best work for scholarships committees, future employers and for my future reference. Exploring the website, viewers will be able to find a personal introduction, my short-term, and long-term personal and learning goals, artifacts, and reflections that showcase what I learned in terms of my core skills and program outcomes and other educational experiences that happened while I was at SPCC. Creating a website is a fun and interesting experience. You learn so much about yourself in the process!
One of the goals that I set was to be able to create a website that is professional and easy to navigate. I had never used Wix before. It became clear to me that Wix is not the easiest to understand when you're first getting started. So, I looked up tutorials on YouTube and read articles online to better understand the website. I had the hardest time knowing how to function the controls for fonts and where to place certain tabs. When I first started, I was going to create something intricate and different. I wanted to include big bright buttons on the side of the page that would take viewers to what they were looking for. But I abandoned my idea when I started to realize that it wouldn’t make my website easy to navigate. Instead, I made everything easy to see. I also didn’t allow big, bright functional controls to take over the page. When viewers first look at my website, they see a picture of me. The pages have clear titles that show links to each page on a strip across the top of the page. Everything about my website is simple and easy to use.
My next goal was to be able to create a theme for a website that reflects who I am. My ePortfolio is very important to me because it will be shown to people in my field. It will also be shown to people looking to hire me or support me financially for school. Because of this, I wanted to create a theme that represented exactly who I am. It wasn't easy. I knew that I had to take time to reflect on who I was. To do this I looked inside and asked myself questions like; What best represents you? What colors best showcase your personality and interests? What quotes would represent your values? After also exploring other ePortfolios for inspiration, I started to get a better grasp of what I wanted my theme to be. The pages and colors are very minimalistic because I am a simple girl. I like for my work to do the talking for me. I also like to be polished and presentable at all times. This is why the colors are pretty muted.
I wanted my ePortfolio to showcase me as a young, confident woman, who is committed to her education. In order to do this, I included a quote from Michelle Obama on my welcome page that states, "Commit to your education because every time you stretch your mind you boost your confidence and add power…to your voice". This is exactly how I feel! I've grown so much in my confidence because of the assignments that I completed at SPCC. I also wanted my ePortfolio to showcase who I am on a personal level. So, on my personal introduction page, I included pictures of me and my family, which represents me as a loving young woman, a picture of the complete Bronte sisters book collection, which represents my love of literature and history, and a midi controller, which represents my love for music. I wanted my love for music and obtaining knowledge to be weaved throughout my ePortfolio. My love for those things is a major part of who I am! Viewing my website and looking at the work that I created is an amazing experience. Doing this assignment, I learned a lot about myself and what I like as a person. I see and understand how every assignment shapes me and every experience makes up who I am and whom I am going to be. I'm excited to look back on this years down the road and see where I learned some of my best skills and accomplished some of my best goals at SPCC.
Critical Thinking
The learner will identify, interpret, analyze, or synthesize problems before developing and implementing solutions in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
I completed this artifact in my MAT-152(Statistical Methods I) class that I took in my Fall 2017 semester. This assignment required a series of steps. First, I had to look at various graphs and learn how to describe them. Second, I had to know how to create graphs using the statistics tool, Stat Crunch. Third, I had to determine whether the data was qualitative or quantitative by looking at each graph. Fourth, I had to decide what type of graph should be used to depict the data. Lastly, I had to create the graph. This assignment was done in 2 parts over a two-week time span.
My first goal for the critical thinking core skill was to be able to interpret variables as they relate to graphs. I had never dealt with variables before this assignment. Previously, I had thought that variables were just the x and the y of college equations. My research showed me that variables were characteristics, numbers or quantities that can be counted. These data items help to determine what types of graphs should be created. When doing this assignment, the professor gave us different types of variables. We had to think about whether we should describe them as being qualitative or quantitative. The methods of analyzing qualitative and quantitative data are very different. It took me some time to do this part of the assignment. It had never occurred to me how data should be measured. I had to determine the correct level of measurement for each variable. I also had to decide whether the data items were discrete, continuous or neither. The process wasn't the easiest. But, the aftermath was rewarding.
My next goal was to be able to create and describe graphs. Before this assignment, I didn’t know much about determining data from graphs. I had never taken statistics. I remember being very nervous about this assignment because I knew that I would have to think outside my comfort zone. But I still opened my lab manuals and used them as a reference to understand the assignment further. During this assignment, I learned that it is important to pay attention to the variables that you interpret while creating graphs. I often got confused between using a histogram and a bar chart. Even though the bars of histograms stick up, they describe the frequency of quantitative and continuous variables. While bar charts show the frequency of qualitative variables.
I often got confused with questions (see question number 6). But whenever I wondered whether to use a histogram or a bar chart, I asked myself multiple questions such as: Is the data continuous? Is the data qualitative or quantitative? Through asking myself these questions I was able to come up with the correct answers. I learned a lot about the importance of understanding the smaller concepts. You can solve a problem easier when you understand the smaller concepts that behind it. I was very proud of my accomplishments with this assignment. I proved to myself that I could grasp complicated subjects just by taking my time and using my brain.