Amanda Pineda
Reflection Paper
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Plan/Calendar for Study
a. My set working hours for anything school related are from noon to 3:30pm daily (except for
Sundays). Since this is a summer class and I have both my little ones at home, I am mentally
prepared for this not to be easy. I do have it scheduled to study at least 30 minutes every day and
that is not including any schoolwork. The week before an exam I will bump up my studying to an
hour daily. I leave Sunday’s for catch up days. From 9am-11am I run to a coffee shop or the
nearest library to have uninterrupted time to work on what I’m behind on or struggling with. I
believe keeping my scheduled managed as strict as possible helps with avoiding any multitasking.
Mastery level 6/7 Range
a. After taking a few tests in Coursepoint and doing well on them, I am still at a Mastery level of 1. I
need to take 20 minutes daily to study the chapters that will be tested on daily.
b. I have an update: As I am writing this a week later from when I started this paper, I am officially a
Master level two. I bumped up my questions to 20 instead of the 5 that I was previously doing and
made a promise to myself to spend 10 minutes a day which is included in my daily 30 min study
time focusing on Prepu questions. I firmly believe that I will raise my mastery level to the 6/7
range as long as I continue testing daily.
Sensory Learning Activities
a. When the course started, I took a test to see what type of learner I am and found out that I am
evenly spread across the board with how I retain information. Not one way of learning was
stronger than the other. With that said, I have sought out other resources than just reading the
textbook and following through with the notes on the PowerPoints. I have purchased a well rated
nurses study guide to just use as an extra visual to learn. I have also purchased flashcards from
nursing student resources (simple nursing and LevelUpRN). I have also been creating my own
flashcards with the computer program called Anki. It works kind of like PrepU where it’ll focus on
what I am struggling in so I can master it. I also watch youtube videos from Simple Nursing and
LevelUpRN to concrete the information that I should know. I made the decision to join a few
facebook groups where I can reach out to other students virtually to discuss any struggles. It also
helps for me to learn when I help others that ask any questions. I talk to my husband about what I
have learned and that helps as well.
Meeting with Course Instructor and Education Specialist
a. Non applicable at this time
Pharmacology Analysis
a. This is what I have been struggling with the most. I feel like it is very overwhelming, with all the
long names and off label uses it’s very easy for me to group a medication in the wrong drug class.
I first created a chart on Excel and filled columns of what was noted that I need to know. Then I
realized there was a Pharmacology link on canvas and printed out everything. I highlighted the
medications that will be tested on for my first exam.As long as what is on those sheets is what is
needed to know for the exams, I should be good. Also, as stated in section 3, I have purchased
pharmacology flashcards from an outside source that has been really useful because they come
with extra tips on how to remember what is needed to know for a specific medication.
Self-Analysis
a. As of May19th I have answered 25 questions from 3 different chapters, and I am at a Mastery
level 1. I am also currently getting my pharmacology notes together. I plan on spending the next 3
days creating outlines for all the chapters that will be on exam 1.
b. Today is May 26th and I believe there is some improvement with how I have been studying.
Again, being strict on how long I study and letting my kids know this is mommy’s study time
helps a lot. Though I am still interrupted, I don’t feel bad not focused on them because it’s not
separated throughout the day, and I can give them uninterrupted attention outside of my studying
time. This past week Ive been spending majority of my study time gathering all my notes and
making sure everything is easy to look over. I went through all of the PowerPoints and key points
c.
throughout the textbook and simplified it in a notebook. I am still very stressed since I have idea
how the exam is going to be. So, I’m confident I will not be able to relax until I take my first
exam.
Update: Since taking the exam and passing, I believe my techniques are useful. However, I can
focus less on specifics of things since I now know, questions are usually based on situations. I am
proud I didn’t miss any pharmacology questions since that was a HUGE struggle for me. One
thing to improve on is terminology/vocabulary. There were some questions on the exam that I had
struggled to answer because I didn’t know what the words in the question meant.