As the semester and the taught component of the MA programme
nears an end, now seems an ideal opportunity to look back on the experience of
the different assignments which I have completed since beginning the course in
September. In this penultimate reflective blog post, I will discuss what I
believe I have learned about myself from completing these tasks.
The projects and activities on this course have been like
nothing else I have experienced in my third-level education. My undergraduate
degree (a BSc. In Computer Games Development) involved practically zero academic
research. Instead, our work was almost exclusively practical, problem-based
learning. Transitioning to the MA where a significant aspect of many
assignments was to conduct research and provide supporting references to
existing literature was, initially, a challenge. The new expectations required
a change in how I approached work. I feel I have significantly developed my
skills as a researcher because of this. As time has progressed, I have become
more confident in my abilities to source relevant readings. I have improved my
techniques for searching the various databases that we have access to through
the UL library. These skills will be useful in my future career, as it is
likely that it will be necessary for me to carry out background investigations
on topics I will work on for clients.
Ask pretty much any student of this Masters degree what the course
is like, and words like “hectic”, “intense” or “busy” will be sure to follow.
Tasks come quick and fast throughout, and you are always managing several projects
at once, often with deadlines that are close to each other. As a result, it
becomes imperative to be skilled in effective time management. To keep up with the
workload, I found it useful to create a weekly to-do list, outlining each of
the tasks I needed to accomplish. This method was very successful and is
something I wish I had applied much earlier in my education. Having a clear set
of goals was crucial in ensuring I did not get overwhelmed by the scale of work
ahead. Breaking each activity into smaller steps made them appear less daunting.
It prevented what I like to term my “rabbit-in-the-headlights” tendency, which
was a feature of my undergraduate studies. That is, I would often find myself
unable to see a way of even starting projects, resulting in a build-up of
pressure until eventually I would be forced to rush through work in order to
meet submission deadlines. I think time management may be one of the critical
skills I have developed during the programme.
Assessing the various types of assignment I worked on throughout
the year, one thing has become evident to me. I am a more practical-minded
person. The projects I have enjoyed the most were those which involved creating
a deliverable. These included redesigning an instruction manual, writing a
descriptive and informative summary of a long-form article, developing an
instructional podcast and creating a storyboard for a digital learning resource,
among others. I found it to be thoroughly rewarding to put into practice the
concepts which we were learning in our lectures. Conversely, I found more
theoretical work to be much more of a challenge. While I value the skills I
developed in the research those activities required, they remained outside of
my comfort zone throughout. This lesson about myself was instrumental in
helping me to decide whether to pursue the development or dissertation route
for the MA project. Learning this has also helped me to focus on where I would
like my career to progress once the course is over.
The MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning presents
its’ students with a wide variety of assignment types. From designing graphics
to learning new pieces of software like MadCap Flare, and to carrying out
research studies, the content is varied and develops a range of skills.
Ultimately, I feel this is a major positive of the programme, and it has
allowed me to improve my abilities and learn about my interests and aptitudes
alongside each other.
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