Study to Succeed and Study for Work Life

isilidur1980

Are the university having a laugh incorporating this nonsense as core business subjects? Skills to Succeed is actually the title of the first and skills for work life is the title of the second!!

im invisible

Yes,
no,
i blame the teachers,
i blame the parents,
feckin' lazy students, too much atari jaguar

isilidur1980

im invisible wrote: »

Yes,
no,
i blame the teachers,
i blame the parents,
feckin' lazy students, too much atari jaguar

Not sure how at least ten hours of lectures and workshops on CV construction will fix that!!:)

keesa

You do know they started in semester one right? We were taking attendance, and you were getting marked for it....

isilidur1980

keesa wrote: »

You do know they started in semester one right? We were taking attendance, and you were getting marked for it....

Yeah, I understand that. Just having difficulty understanding why they are core modules ahead of some of the optional modules. I think they should at most be optional and possibly be voluntary. I cannot see the value of Arts in Action. I signed up for commerce(accounting) not Arts!

keesa

So have you actually gone to them? I'm a tutor and it was all explained to us quite well. It's not all arts in action, and I wasn't actually involved in that part, but basically as far as I remember it was to make you more open to the world around you. But the rest of the module was quite useful, or would have been to me when I did my undergrad. I don't know if youre first or 2nd year so I'm not 100% on what you covered, but 2nd years had to attend interviews, team workshops, go out into the community to actually work etc. All a lot more use to you than sitting in a lecture hall doodling


(Also, arts people dont have to go to arts in action, nor do they get any of the support you do so you wouldn't have these problems if you *had* signed up for arts)

isilidur1980

keesa wrote: »

So have you actually gone to them? I'm a tutor and it was all explained to us quite well. It's not all arts in action, and I wasn't actually involved in that part, but basically as far as I remember it was to make you more open to the world around you. But the rest of the module was quite useful, or would have been to me when I did my undergrad. I don't know if youre first or 2nd year so I'm not 100% on what you covered, but 2nd years had to attend interviews, team workshops, go out into the community to actually work etc. All a lot more use to you than sitting in a lecture hall doodling


(Also, arts people dont have to go to arts in action, nor do they get any of the support you do so you wouldn't have these problems if you *had* signed up for arts)

Make me more open to the world around me??? I must have missed that part. I find it has actually closed quite a few doors for me when it comes to future module options.
I would also differ from you on the content involved. None of this was a lot more useful to me than sitting in maybe a business law module or employment relations module or a statistics module, which I will now have to choose between. I'd rather be doodling in these "core" modules than "doing work in the community". The last time I checked "doing work in the community" was voluntary work. I already have volunteered and will again in my life. I don't think this will teach me anything about business as relevant as corporate legal personality,etc. I actually found the lectures which accompany Skills to Succeed to be the ones where I doodled the most. There was quite a bit of repetition and I picked up nothing useful from these at all.
I might be only at the start of my university education but I'm not stupid and I don't need to be told what is relevant and what is not for my future career. I understand my strengths and weaknesses and these modules will put me at a disadvantage when measured against business students from other colleges. The idea that these modules help to create a person who has a "more-rounded" personality is ridiculous. If they are so good, why not leave them stand on their own merits. Put Business Law 2 vs Skills to Succeed down as an option. I think you would quickly find out what students feel is relevant.

keesa

Two things.

1- I don't think you understood what I was saying about the 2nd year module. I'm not familiar with the first year one as I didn't work with them. Working in the community was not quite as un-directed as you imply.

2- Every graduate from different universities will have studied the same core subjects, you need something to differentiate you and being able to say you worked with different community groups running projects will help you.

I think if you have issues with the modules, you'd be better talking to the course director/lecturer than with me here.

isilidur1980

keesa wrote: »

Two things.

1- I don't think you understood what I was saying about the 2nd year module. I'm not familiar with the first year one as I didn't work with them. Working in the community was not quite as un-directed as you imply.

2- Every graduate from different universities will have studied the same core subjects, you need something to differentiate you and being able to say you worked with different community groups running projects will help you.

I think if you have issues with the modules, you'd be better talking to the course director/lecturer than with me here.

Voluntary work will be looked on as voluntary work by employers whichever form it is in. I already partake in voluntary work.
The idea that every graduate from different universities will have studied the same core modules is wrong. Unless I change universities at the end of this year, I will have studied quite a few less than students from other universities. I liked this course because it allowed us to pick major streams of interest after second year, however this choice is now constrained.
I usually attempt to differentiate myself by achieving better results, taking part in societies, partaking in voluntary work,etc. I understand I have to differentiate myself. But I am the person best placed to understand how I can achieve this. How can a standardized module help to differentiate me?
I posted this thread to the forum for opinions and not just you, by the way.:D

keesa

Voluntary work is voluntary work. Well done. Voluntary work like working in a shop for the GSPCA is different to undertaking a project with them like in the case of this module is more than just voluntary work. How taking a compulsory module limits your choices makes no sense, and it's a standardised module in NUIG in your specific course not across all universities. In interviews people expect you to know what you did in your degree academically, not what you did that is different from everyone else.

I gave you the reasoning behind the course that's what you asked for. You just want someone else to agree with you so I'm done. Like I said, bring this up with the director if you've an issue, they do want feedback, and feedback could change it.

isilidur1980

keesa wrote: »

Voluntary work is voluntary work. Well done. Voluntary work like working in a shop for the GSPCA is different to undertaking a project with them like in the case of this module is more than just voluntary work. How taking a compulsory module limits your choices makes no sense, and it's a standardised module in NUIG in your specific course not across all universities. In interviews people expect you to know what you did in your degree academically, not what you did that is different from everyone else.

I gave you the reasoning behind the course that's what you asked for. You just want someone else to agree with you so I'm done. Like I said, bring this up with the director if you've an issue, they do want feedback, and feedback could change it.

You are contradicting yourself in quite a bit you say. It was you who tried to extoll the benefits of "working in the community". I merely suggested I have already done this outside of my course. I have talked to second years about this "voluntary work". At an employers level, they will be looked on as the same. The one that is truly voluntary will probably hold greater weight than the forced one actually.
You seem to belittle volunteering in a shop for GSPCA. I would guess that the GSPCA would differ from your view and that it is actually the people who do this type of work all year round that they place the highest value on.
Taking a module that is labelled as "compulsory" and therefore making core modules such as business law and employment relations optional does limit my choices. I will have not be able to do statistics and probably business law 2 now.
I would disagree with you on the interview part. I think that yes, the interviewer will want to see how I done academically. This information can work in a number of ways. If I achieve a serious average, it will act as a differentiating information cue. That is what i aim to do. But for you to say that an interviewer will not be worried about what else you achieved to differentiate yourself is nonsense and goes completely against your argument for having these nonsense modules in the first place.
The feedback I gave was that voluntary modules should be voluntary!