CG 280 Cooperative Education Seminar

Activity: Journal

All students in CG 280 are required to document their learning experiences in a written format by completing weekly journals. The journals should be written legibly and they should follow your progress through each day's activities on your job site.

There should be at least 10 entries--one for each week of the term. Each journal entry should be two to three paragraphs in length. Entries need to be dated to indicate when each activity occurred.

In describing your worksite, begin thinking about all the factors which affect your ability to perform tasks and to function as a co-worker. You rely on technical skills and knowledge to do your job, but you may also be discovering that interpersonal relations and communication skills play a big role in helping you get through each working day smoothly.

Consider the journal similar to a personal diary. It should reflect how and why you performed certain activities in your job, as well as how you felt about what you did. The job you are learning now may not be a job you will want in a year or two, but what you are learning there may be useful to you in an entirely different job.

Coursework you have taken at the college may also help you in your job. Psychology courses give suggestions on how to deal with certain behaviors of those around us. A Business Management course may help to create a more organized work schedule at the job site. Mention your coursework in your journal, if it is adding to your job skills.

Below is a suggestion guideline for what to write in your journal. Copies of your journal are due on a weekly basis, or on dates will be assigned by the Specialist.

Journal Guidelines

Make an entry in your journal at least once a week. Record what took place at work that day. Include such aspects as: new experiences, skills or procedures you learned, new ideas, highlights or problems. The journal should accurately reflect your perspective of the day-to-day occurrences.

Include #1 below in your first entry.

Each week select one of the items listed below for special emphasis that week. Select those that are appropriate for your job. You do not have to do them all.

1. Write your job description. Consider which of the following skills are necessary to do your job.

• Technical skills.
• Communication skills.
• Administrative skills (organizational, paper flow, personnel).
• Supervisory skills.

2. Describe a technical problem you have encountered on the job, and explain:

• What steps you took to solve the problem.
• Which of your actions proved to be most successful, and why.
• What would you suggest could be done differently to achieve an even better solution to the problem?

3. Explain a misunderstanding, disagreement or conflict that you observed or were involved in.

• What points of view did the differing parties hold?
• What attitudes, feelings or values did they express?
• What was the end result of the communication between the people involved?
• What recommendations would you make for more effectively resolving the issue?

4. Describe the relationship between what you are doing in this job and how you see your future in field. If you see no relationship, explain.

5. Write an evaluation of your work station, focusing on the following points:

• Your satisfaction with the work you were required to do.
• How well the work served as a meaningful way of learning.
• The quality of the organization you worked for.
• The quality of supervision.

6. Human Relations on the job.

• What are the biggest human relations mistakes the young or first-time worker can make on the job. Have you mad these blunders or observed others making them? What were the consequences?
• What are some of the common human relations mistakes that most employees seem to make?
• How important is human rel Have you made these blunders or observed others?
• What were the consequences?
• What are some of the common human ations to career success?
• What should supervisors do to avoid some of the common human relations problems among their employees?