A500.9.4.RB - Course Reflections

A500.9.4.RB - Course Reflections

I feel I have learned a lot of from this course. My only negative aspect is that I took two classes while struggling with health problems. For me, finishing my courses this summer has been very important to me, to try to show myself that I could do it. But, instead I have ended up feeling and knowing I have disappointed myself and the professor. I wish I could have shown that I can do it. 

The only thing I found difficult, was the amount of work the first few weeks while trying to get to know new programs and a new method of studying. The amount decreased throughout the course and I found it enjoyable from those weeks. For me, who ended up hanging after from the first few weeks never managed to catch up on all of it. 

I have learned a lot about critical thinking. I know a lot to do a good presentation, but I still struggle with it. What I have had to admit is that people doesn't know if I screw up or miss things during the presentation, so I should be less nervous when presenting. For my critical thinking will help me throughout my life, personally and professionally.

A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

Denning mentions five dimensions of leadership:

1. "The interactive leader works with the world rather than against it."

2. "Interactive leadership both adds and subtracts elements from the leadership palette."

3. "Interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity."

4. "Interactive leadership doesn't depend on the possession of hierarchal authority."

5. "Interactive leadership benefits from an understanding of the different  narrative patterns that can be used to get things done in the world."

I believe that being an interactive leader is the best. You don't want to manipulate and control the people you work with just to get the way you want. I believe in listen to all suggestions, look at all of the facts and then make a rational decision. I did that as the leader for an all-female group at my college. I would listen to all suggestions and there was no way I would feel comfortable as a leader manipulation og controlling the other girls in the board. We made decisions together. I believe this strengthens and gives a great group that is comfortable together, support each other and respect each other. This also says you can add and subtract elements from the leadership palette. 

When listening to your co-workers, being honest and treat them with respect, they will treat you the same way. You need this to have a functioning group. Having a functioning group is crucial to get work done. You need the help of your co-workers to finish the tasks and make it the best possible. I have done both of these as a leader. You do need your co-workers help to finish and the result will be better as you have more heads, more suggestions and you can combine suggestions in a way you may not have figured yourself. 

A500.8.3.RB - Good Presentation Design

I have been through many presentations during my years in college. For me, a great presentation include:

- A clean and minimalistic PowerPoint, if used
- A secure talker
- Someone who doesn't hide behind a desk or notes
- Someone who gets the audience involved
- If using video: using the right video
- Know what you are talking about!

Engineers have a tendency to be to caught up in presenting the facts and data, that they forget how to include the audience. You are not speaking in one way, the communication has to go both ways. Once you have the audience included, you have basically nailed the presentation. To me, that is the greatest quality of a speaker. They also have to know how to use their powerpoint and/or videos in the right time and place. So far, I know what makes a great presentation, but I still get so nervous that I cannot make it up there. But, one day I will!

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact

I am not the kind of person that easily get in contact with strangers. I think that has a lot to do with my upbringing. In our country, you don't talk to people you meet, you don't talk to them in the elevator. Doing that means being rude many places. It varies between people, but most don't approach strangers just randomly. Being in the same setting helps, as attending a seminar, being at a bar, etc.
Being scared of being rejected

The only time I have been able to "work the room", has been this summer as a coordinator at the summer camps at school. Kids are easy to get engaged and involved, but I feel so different in rooms with people my age or older. I don't think I have the confidence to do that. There is just something about that that scares me. I know, just with talking with my dad, I always know he is the superior one. I think that is just because out of respect.

Having traveled the world, I grew up understanding that people are different. We have different upbringings, religious views and food habits. That has thought me that we are individuals. I know humans are alike, but so many things make us all different. Upbringing, environment, etc.

I think that I can learn that people might not think about me the way I think. They are strangers after all. And I am not a mindreader. I should probably think the positive way and think about all that I can offer.

A521.7.4.RB - Knowledge Sharing Story

When attending college back in Norway, I was a part of a group of three girls trying to get girls interested in engineering and technology. We went around in the country to different arrangements to talk about what we studied, how it was, and that is it possible for girls to do the same as guys. As I am also a licensed electrician, I could easily tell them stories that there still are guys out there, from the "old days" that still thought that being an electrician and engineer was just for guys. Luckily, those are a minority. I have come about sexist guys in my work, talking inappropriate to me. But, them doing that just made me more determined to do well and kick the guys' butt. And I proved I could do just as well!
I really do understand that girls are hesitant about going into a male-dominated career path, most guys are very respectful and nice. It is kinda like how we look at male nurses. It might seem weird, but it is getting more and more normal crossing into each others zone. It creates a better work environment. I always tell girls that you should follow your heart and do what you want to do, and not think about what other people might think or say. I was also scared of what people would think, but all I got was positive comments back. And they always told me to follow my heart. It was really important to us to show the girls in high school that you can achieve anything you want, as long as you follow your heart. I wish I could talk to them again today and tell them that I moved to the US to do my Master's Degree and that this is the best choice I have ever made. I followed my heart!

A500.7.3.RB - Quantitative Research Reflection

Quantitative Research Reflection

The researchers have a planning state just like most other workers. Selections of topics can be either personal, social, theoretical, or an ethical question. 

The main question researchers are trying to primally answer in quantitative research: Why.
They are trying to answer:

- What exist/happens in society?
- Why does it exist/happen?

This is usually answered by using different methods. They collect data and test the hypothesis and theory with the data. The types of data collected are numbers and statistics. When testing the data collected, they do it based on precise measurements using structured and validated instruments. Differently from Qualitative Research, the researchers do not use themselves as the participant. The researchers are not known for the participants, which differ from Qualitative Research. The participant characteristics are hidden from the researcher. They are doing what they call a double blind studies. 

Methods the researchers use to gather the data are: surveys, such as postal or e-mail questionnaire surveys, interviews- either face to face or over the phone. Others are observation, text analysis, statistical data and register data.
When studying the participants, those participants are a sample of the entire group. There might be an sampling error by the group being exceptional. This is why they do a random sampling, where they can estimate the error.

A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research

A500.6.3.RB- Qualitative Research


The main elements in qualitative research are: 

- using natural setting as the source
-  researcher acts as the "human instrument"
- researchers predominantly use inductive data analysis
- the reports are descriptive, have expressive language
-research has an interpretive character

- researchers pay attention to the idiosyncratic as well as the pervasive

- researchers focus on an emerging process

- research uses special criteria for trustworthiness

When it comes to qualitative research, there is more focus on the quality of what is written then how much. Using more time on this type of research, it is more difficult to generalize it. They aim to investigate why and how including what, where and when. Researchers observe, describe and interpret the findings they have. Group discussions, field notes and other materials are ways they collect the data. They categorizes this data. The researchers are the data gathering instruments. 

When writing a paper, they explain in details and use an expressive language. They are trying to find what is special with each case. 

Another important element is how trustworthy the findings and researchers are. 

A521.6.3.RB - High Performance Teams

The elements of high/performance are: work groups, teams, community and network. 
A work group is where "each individual has specific responsibility within an overall group objective". A team has specific operational objective. A community has a domain of information or knowledge or activities of common interests, where as a network members want to stay in touch with each other. 


In Baja, all of these apply. As being the electrical lead, I had the responsibility to make sure that the kill-switches, and break lights worked and that everything was connected properly. Without that we wouldn't pass tech-inspection during competition. Other girls had responsibilities too, as breaking, steering, chassis, etc. When it comes to being a team, we agreed on that finishing the car and making it run during competition was our main goal. Being a part of Baja means that you have the same interests in learning how to design, build, test and drive a car and we had to meet all of the goals together. During the time we are a part of the team, we all stay in touch. But when we are done and people leave, it's only natural to stay in touch with some people and loose contact with others. 


As mentioned earlier, some shared values within the group are to work hard and have a finished and working product before competition, mutual respect no matter sexuality, ethnicity, religious believes and personal interests. These are the key values for our team to function efficient and great as a team. 


I will start with the negative experience first. This year, we had a problem with leadership and our teamwork. The communication wasn't there and the captain wasn't a leader. It got so bad we had to have a talk with advisors where we had to talk about our team and what we wanted to do. If we wanted keep working on the car and go to competition and still be a team. It was sad that we came to that point, but it helped us as a team too, getting closer to each other and our communication got better. There's not really much I could have done in this situation, it is ultimately up to the captain to take control and be in charge. All I could do was support her as best as I could.


I have many positive experiences with the girls. Having fun in the shop, going to a cottage in West Virginia to bond, going to competition and seeing that our teamwork has ended in a fantastic car. I told my team about my depression so that they knew what I was going through, and they were all so supportive!

A521.5.8.RB- Value Narrative

This story is important for the Baja because we are a group of nice and strong girls. It happens every once in a while that these two values are conflicting with each other. 

At competitions, we are there to compete at the same level with other universities. What some guys don't understand is that we can take care of ourselves and the car. We do know how the car works and how to fix it. But, we don't want to come off as rude when people ask if we need help. We know most of them only means well. So, when asked if we need help, we let them help us. This happens a lot when it comes to lifting the car or when we are stuck on the tracks. When letting the guys help with the car every once in a while we make friends. They are good to have if we really need something, like material we don't have or the right tool. Some of the girls might be a little more on the strong side, while others are more on the nice side. That's why we are a perfect mix of each other. 

A521.5.4.RB- Aligning Values

A genuinely ethical community has three basic components:

- Trust

- Loyalty

- Solidarity

These three components are very important in a club like Baja. We have to trust each other, we have to be loyal to the other members and the work we are doing. What is great with Baja, is that we have each others back no matter what. If someone is struggling with anything, there is always someone you can talk to and a shoulder to cry on. 

We are a mix of so different human beings. Sometimes it isn't easy being a group of girls with so many different values and personalities. But, there is something we always agree on: teamwork and trust, loyalty, and solidarity to Baja. We have to put or differences aside to get the group to work and focus on the values we do share. 

I don't feel like we are missing any important values, but I feel we come short in some:

- The ability to attract more people to the club and more sponsors. We are allowed to use as much money we want for our car, but since we don't have any bigger sponsors we have a budget on what the school is willing to sponsor us with.

- Another thing I feel we are lacking is structure and better leadership. Since we are a group of girls, I feel like the captain might come short to lead the group. She might worry to much about what other feel and want. 

The lacking of leadership might be that we as individuals haven't been able to do this in other situations. Most of the girls are missing that experience. What we can do is support the captain and help her on the way by not getting upset by being lead. At least, all we can do is try!

A521.5.1.RB- Core Workplace Value Assessment

I see Baja as my organization. 

For us on theBaja it is important to be creative and building a really good product. This is something we do every year as far as to designing the car and building it. This means we have to be innovative too. Being a part of a team has learned us about teamwork, respect and being valued, developing skills with tools, order and structure and having fun! It is important that we meet deadlines with the car and that we learn how to use our time in a productive, efficient way. As a group of female engineers building a car, we want to have a positive impact on others, especially young girls, and the society. 

My personal values is reflected in some of these values. For me, Baja is about having fun and learning new skills. It is also important for me in my personal life. I was once told to always have fun while learning something new. This will help me work on my creative side, as well as the problem solving aspect. For me, it is really importent to be respected for who you are and what you stand for. It is important, when being a part of a group, that you can be who you are and that you feel valued and heard. For Baja, we have had to pull a few all-nighter, because our time management has been a little off. This can happen in my personal life some times too. I have a bad habit of holding off on doing something I don't want to do, and that is something I need to improve. 

For me, as an individual, it isn't really necessary to stand out and have a big impact on society. If I can have an impact on one or two persons, I have managed to reach a goal that means a lot to me. For Baja, we try to reach out to everyone, at school and in society. We want to show that this is what we have done and that we are proud of it!

A500.5.3.RB- Critical Thinking About Critical Thinking

Since I started this class five weeks ago, I have learned to ask questions in a different way. During my time as an apprentice in an electrical firm, I was told to always ask why. Such as "Why are you doing what you are doing?" I have started asking myself what am I trying to achieve, what is the author trying to say in this chapter, etc when I read. I think this is something I have to keep working on, to get my mind to work this way in many situations/ cases.
I have also implemented this way of thinking when it comes to my dogs. I ask myself why Lucky barks at the door when the neighbor passes, why he is crying instead of showing me what he wants. I think this is a good way to learn why dogs are the way they are.

A500.4.3.RB- Ballet Slippers or Adorable?

Sheena Iyengar speak about an interesting topic.

1. Make your own choice
2. More options leads to better choices, and
3. Never say no to choice

     I have to say, it has really helped me to be able to make my own choices. Being able to wear what I want, having my own dreams and being able to follow them. I can't imagine living in a country where you are told to stay at home to watch kids and clean and cook, not being able to drive, and having to cover up when going outside. I do believe, in all of these points, that it is all up to each person to decide if you are able to make your own choices, the choices that are best for you.
     As for point two, it is all about what kind of person you are. Being in control of yourself. But, more options doesn't necessarily mean better choices. You could have more options and still choose the lesser choice. Although, having options that can benefit all people is good. When people don't have a lot of money, it is good to be able to choose a less expensive brand. And those with more money can choose a cheaper or more expensive brand.
     I don't agree with Ms. Iyengar when it comes to never saying no to a choice, though. If you give a kid a choice of staying up or going to bed, there is a big chance they will choose to stay up. If you offer them candy and fruit, what would they pick?

A521.4.3.RB- Subtitles of Communication and Hidden Messages

     People always say they can read me like an open book. Even if I say that I am okay, my body language tells them something different. I have learned that it is okay to be honest with people.
     I guess I am that kind of person that wear her feelings on the sleeve. I get loud when excited, I cross my arms and legs not only because it is comfortable, but because I don't trust people easily, and I speak fast and mumble during presentations because I always get nervous.
     I could improve on all these to become a better communicator; learn how to be excited in a professional way, trust myself in what I know which will improve my speaking skills, and trust people in the professional way.
     Me and my sister, we don't get along. So we have many situations where we have said something to each other and our body language something else.

A500.3.4.RB.- Explore The Hunt Library

The Hunt Library is available only for student at Embry-Riddle, while the web is open for everyone. The Library has articles that has credibility while anyone can post anything on the internet, true or false.
The main difference between these two sources is the credibility and what alternatives you get when you do a search. In the Library, you get articles, book and videos that has to do with the topic you are searching for. As for the web, your first get explanations what the word means, how you can become a good leader, etc. I personally feel that you have to be so much more specific when you search for something on the web. For a definition, I would easily just google it. As for articles for class, I would search in the Library as I feel I would find what I was looking for faster.

A521.3.4.RB - Personal Reflection

Looking back to my life when I was younger, there are many situations that have formed me to be the person I am today.

I have always been scared of hurting anyone. I guess because of that people have taken advantage of me and pushed me around. Realizing this, I have stood up for myself and trusted my own skills. It has made me a better and more secure leader, in the way that I ask what other people think of a matter but I am the one that has the final say. I am also more clear on what I want and expect from people.

Having people push me around and yelling at me often throughout my childhood and youth, without reason, has made me sensitive to criticism. It has made me work harder and I take failure personally. If something doesn't go as well as I hoped, I get very disappointed in myself.

A500.1.5.RB- Intellectual Perseverance

Intellectual Perseverance means to continue with purpose in spite of opposition.

     To me, this has been my world since I started my master's in the US. I know English well, but I still have to read sentences many times and think through what each sentence mean. I can read one paragraph multiple times and I can still have problems understanding what it says. I have thrown books at the wall in frustration many times. Taking a break and go back again has helped most of the times, some times I have had to get help. Usually it takes to long to aks for help, just because I am often too proud to ask for help. I am the kind of person who wants to try hard to solve a problem by myself first and it takes a lot to me to ask for help. I have through the years started to learn from my mistakes and have started to understand that I am at school to learn and that there is really not bad to ask for help from anyone.
     This class is a very new and different class to me. I often find myself calling my boyfriend to ask for help. I will call or send a screenshot to him and he will call back and explain in a way that I will understand. Although I get really frustrated, and sometimes embarrassed, it really helps to have someone explain it in his or her own words. 
     I hope that this class will help me start asking the right questions, ask them in a easily understanding way and better my understanding in the subjects I am studying. I think questioning the right questions will better your analytical skills and it will help in any subject you have to study. For me, it will aslo help in communications, especially conversations and emails. Some times I find myself just nodding and answering yes or no because I really don't know what the person is talking about or what his or her point is.
     I also think this is a good quality to have as a leader. To be a good leader you will have to know the tasks you put your group on. You will have to know what questions you want the answers to.

A521.1.4.RB - Stories in Your Organization

My organization is the Women's Mini Baja at Embry- Riddle. I have been a part of this club for 18 months now. This was a good way for me to get to know people at school, particularly girls.

The Baja team designe, manufacture, test and drive the car themselves. We start planning already in May or June each year, but we start the work when school starts up in August. The "prize" (as we see it), for a year of hard work, is seeing the results in a 4-day event at the end of the spring semester. There we compete against about 100 other university teams. We are the only all-women's team and have two female advisors. In this competition we get to see how solid and good our car is in different events and we get to show that girls can do the same engineering work as boys. We have the last few years placed in the middle of group, what we are very happy with! We are still a pretty new club.

We gathering girls from different engineering departments and get to know each other. We also promote engineering to other women and try to get them interested in what we do; hopefully so interested that they start at Embry-Riddle and join our club!

A500.2.3.RB- Tell Your Story

     It is really important to me to always be honest, do my best, be a good person, while having fun. I have learned from sad happenings that life is to short to waste any time.
     I have these qualities from my parents. They have always told me to follow my dreams, work hard to achieve them and have fun on the way. That is something I try to follow every day!
     As I get older, I value those words more and more. My parents have always believed in me, which is what drives me. Without their support and love, I wouldn't be where I am today.
     What has changed during the years is that I see how important my parents support have been and still is, and I see it as advice instead of nagging. What haven't changed is how much they support me and have my back. I guess I used to take some things for granted, I used to believe that my parents could help me out of every situation I needed help with. After loosing important and people close to me the last six years, I had to grow up and started to understand that losses is a part of life. I have to live my own life and take the consequences of everything I do myself. My parents will always be there with support, love and advice, but I have to live my life the way I want.

A521.2.3.RB- Danger of Stories

A springboard story is supposed to spring people enthusiastically into a new future. There are a few main elements to achieve a successful springboard story, for example:
- clear and worthwhile
- actual examples
- have a positive tone
- the date and place where it happened
- the story is linked to the purpose to be achieved in telling it.

Chimamanda Adichie is trying to tell us a story about stereotyping.
Stereotyping happens when only one story is told. To make a story complete, you need a balance of stories.
The first step in telling a successful springboard story is telling a true story. Miss Adichie achieves this by using her own life. During her presentation she keeps telling the time, by using her age at the time, and place for all the happenings; when she started reading and writing, when she herself made an error with stereotyping a house boy, when she moved to the U.S to attend college, etc. She also tells the story in a positive tone and it has a happy ending.