University of Applied Sciences

Kempten
Department of Electrical Engineering
C216: Human Resource Management and Leadership
in a Globalizing World

Reflective Learning Journal

Author:
Pascal Lieb

Professor:
ller
Dr. Andreas Mu

November 7, 2016

 Week 1, October 10th - 16th

When the course started I didnt have any special expectations. Mr.
M
uller has an interesting attempt to create his lecture using many extraordinary tools. Stuff, like using a journal to reflect own impressions
collected over the week are new for myself and so my first impression
was kind of awkward. But I didnt only feel like this about the Human
Resource Management Course, because this is my first semester in the
electrical engineering class and visiting only English spoken courses is
also a complete new experience for me. I think I will need time to
grow into my new role as an master student at this university. For the
following weeks it seems to get very time intensive because I have to
figure out a schedule to catch up on some fields of electrical engineering
in which I have a lack of knowledge. During my bachelor degree, which
I have finished with the Bachelor of Engineering, I didnt cover the
whole assumption about engineering tools for the lectures now.

Week 2, October 17th - 23th

I note that the approach to learn in the master courses is different from
the courses of the bachelor degree. I like to be independent, to work
in groups sometimes, for example our lab practices and, at the same
time, have less presence in the lecture room as well. For me it is more
important to learn certain stuff in private study sessions rather than
joining several times theoretical lectures and try to follow the professor
for hours with the result, that unfortunately most of the content is lost
as a consequence of too much input. I work part-times at a company
and I want to write my master thesis there. Now it is my second
week and I recognize that there is a requirement to improve my time
management to handle work and studies together to be successful in
both of them. A big advantage of this semester are the lecture times,
because we only have to sit in class Monday to Wednesday, according
to the timetable. The students can use the rest of the week for some
preparations for the next course or for lab, to do their homework and
also go to work, for example for a company, like I do. Working besides
studying is very important to have a look inside the company and
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connect theory and practice. Practical trainings at the laboratory are

good advantages to the lectures but only in the industry you can find
satisfaction.

 Week 3, October 24th - 30th

I am now trying to invest more time in my preparations for the following courses so that I dont lose the thread. For example the digital
signal processing unit in particular needs a lot of time for a good preparation and to pass the following individual practical lab training in the
laboratory. Since last weekend, I suffer on a cold, which made me lie in
bed for half a week, therefore I have lost a lot time which I need to catch
up now. Im also thinking about whether I might be able to finish the
master program in 3 semesters or if I should rather take more time, e.g.
4 or even 5 semesters to complete my master degree as good as possible.
The pressure of being successful, however, is rising week by week because my studies are depending on the Bafog office, which means I get
a financial support by state which is unfortunately only possible for a
period of regularly study time, so in this case 3 semester. At the office
the to-do list is rising up week by week and sometimes it seems that
the part-time job as which I began working, is now transforming into
a full-time job position. In December there will be a meeting with my
boss about my future role in the company, particular the master thesis.
Right now, I am working as IT-Administrator and it is an pleasure.

Week 4, October 31th - November 6th

The last week was quite hard for me in terms of learning and working.
I dont have enough time to do everything which should be done. The
first case study was, in my opinion, not really good, because there was
a lot of input. Now, I rework every lecture at home not to get into time
pressure at the end of this semester and also for a better comprehension of the learned lessons. I also spend more time on preparing the
upcoming lectures in each module. The current homework with the
case example of the nurse is much better. The text is as long as in the
previous study, but somehow better to understand, perhaps it is because of a personal identification with Barbara Norris, the main actor.
However, it was more pleasant and I was able to reflect myself in this
text, which I couldnt in the case about Cirque du Soleil before. I am
already very curious about the discussion next week which takes place
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in the lecture room and about some upcoming results corresponding

with my own interpretation. In my eyes, reading texts makes it more
meaningful to understand the course and allows an easier access to subject and background. Videos for each case study seem to be a good
addition for the text-bound parts for me, but I need more time for a
interpretation.