Wine Tourism Assignment: Weekly Journal Entries
Question
Task: The objective of the reflective journal is record your ideas, personal thoughts and experience with the research process and how you interacted with other group members to enable you gain insights on the learning process and experiences with collaborative learning. You are expected to think more deeply, to challenge your old way of thinking with new knowledge and to reflect on how the unit of study may have changed you as a learner or individual.
This assessment consists of two parts:
• Weekly journal entries
• Reflective Journal
Instructions:
Weekly Journal entries
• Each week you should write up your experiences in working on the project and group effectiveness.
• Was it difficult implementing the research?
• What dilemmas did you face in terms of deciding on research topic/techniques?
• What incidents went well or badly?
• How did the group go about tackling the project?
• Were there any problems within the group (meeting times, different opinions)?
• How did you feel? How did you handle various situations?
• Each journal entry should explore what you have learnt about research and any issues/problems that arise and how you plan
to deal with them. It can also be used as a ‘to do list’.
• Your type-written journal should have an entry for each week. Clear headings should identify the week. Each entry should be
no more than 100 words. You can use expanded dot point for this section.
Reflective Journal
• At the end of the semester provide an overview of 500 words which draws on your journal to highlight your experience with
undertaking research and working in a team. The overview should elaborate on your personal learning and reflections for
future project work (how would you do things next time?).
Answer
Assessment 4
Week 1: Selection of the topic for preparing Wine tourism assignment
The groups were given the responsibility of choosing a particular topic for the research, for which all the team members were divided in their opinion. With efficient interference from one of us, who explained to us the importance of studying the factors influencing return patronage in wine tourism, all 4 team members agreed to choose this topic for the research on Wine tourism assignment. The group worked in unison towards drawing action plans for the research and considered a division of responsibility, which went very well, given it, was our first project as a group.
Week 2: Determining the aim, objectives and research questions
We were divided in our opinions regarding the aim and objectives for the study since we were in a dilemma regarding the correct aspect to choose for this research topic. While two of them wanted to investigate the impact of return patronage on the turnover from the wine industry, I and my other peer wanted to investigate the factors in the context of wine tourism. With effective reading and efficient group discussion, the solution to the dilemma was drawn. My leadership abilities were utilized, to some extent, for controlling dissidence about the objectives and research questions to be chosen for the Wine tourism assignment and the responsibilities to be handled by each team member, which was a good learning experience.
Week 3: Demonstrating the literature review
As the research topic was already being chosen by the whole group for Wine tourism assignment, hence the factors which needed to be explained were taken under consideration. There were no arguments regarding the aspects explained within the literature review as all the team members agreed to the determinants within the literature review, which provides the true essence of the research topic. The incident of explaining these factors had undergone smoothly as all the determinants were divided among each of the team members for elaborating it thoroughly. As inferred from the studies of Bruno and Dell’Aversana (2018), the responsiveness and dutiful attitude of each of the team members made it easy and comfortable for the whole group to discuss regarding the aspects in an efficient way.
Week 4: Determination of the Research Methodology
There was a contradiction within the opinion of each member as to what methods the Wine tourism assignment was going to be conducted. Every team member had their own opinion of following the different types of research methodology and there was a situation of dilemma occurring within the team. The incident was getting worse as the circumstances of arguments were raised among the members and hence, with my leadership responsibility I had advised them to conclude other than creating a heated situation. As inferred from the studies of Cheng (2017), the Qualitative method of research and the use of secondary data should be incorporated within such research topics, which may lead to clear outcomes.
Week 5: Conducting interviews
The conducting of interviews was done based on the research topic as the work was divided among the group members. Thus, the interview questionnaires were given to all themes among which half of the members conducted the interview in person and the other half had the telephonic conversation with three respondents. The questionnaires were prepared with the help of the opinion gathered from each of the members and hence, the Wine tourism assignment was tackled through the efficiency of the responsibility along with teamwork capabilities of choosing the respondents and interviewing them thoroughly. Thus, as observed in the studies of Dumlao and Pinatacan (2019), the team working capabilities has helped me to come up with the Wine tourism assignment and work as the team with my other colleagues to gain a concrete outcome.
Week 6: Implementation of the secondary data
Our team had contradictory views upon implementation of the secondary data within the research topic. Some of the team members came up with certain old data from several journals and articles, which they thought to be relevant to the topic. However, as per the context of the research topic, which had the aspect of recent times, these data were getting out of context. Thus, some of the other members (including me) had advised me to implement the data from recent journals and articles, which will suit the whole case. Thus, a situation of dilemma raised for choosing the set of data and hence, argumentative circumstances took place. However, with leadership qualities and responsiveness, the situation was handled and the conclusion of using recent time data was chosen.
Week 7: Determining the thematic analysis
As stated within the studies of Hughes et al., (2019), the determination of the thematic analysis is based upon the research topic, which helps in the analyzing of the qualitative data. Thus, the theme upon which the literature reviews was to be conducted was in a reconciling situation as every member of the group agreed to the aspects of the theme, which needed to be explained. Each of the themes was divided among each of the members for explaining and analyzing it. Thus, the situation was handled through the teamwork spirit and with mutual understanding among us and hence, it helped in deriving the favorable outcome.
Week 8: Analyzing of the data
The data collected from the interviews and through the secondary sources by the team members were communicated differently within the group discussion regarding the topic. Thus, the there situation of the dilemma was raised within the team as different team members had presented different data and stated it to be relevant. Thus, with the attributes of the leadership aspect along with the responsiveness towards maintaining the productiveness of the team, I had advised incorporating the most relevant sources of data within the study, which thoroughly explains the aspects of the topic. Thus, the situation got handled through incorporating the qualified data sources which resulted in a perfect outcome.
Week 9: Discussion
During this period, there was a long contradictory discussion process, which had taken place within the team as each of the member’s views and opinions against the data collected and its findings. These views projected by them were said to be taken for consideration, which was not reliable for the research topic, and hence, half of the team asked for incorporating the valid discussion within the topic to make it reliable and informative. Thus, my opinion was taken into consideration regarding the data I had collected and it was incorporated within the research. As inferred from the study of Min et al., (2017), with being efficient to the work and developing the skills of teamwork and creativity, the collected information got relevant to the topic and hence was incorporated within.
Week 10: Creation of the rough draft
Gradually, the structure was arranged accordingly for the creation of the rough draft depending on how to present it as the Wine tourism assignment in front of the other peers and professors for getting the feedback. Nearly half of the team members suggested including me, suggested developing a rough draft and showing it to the professors to get feedback and work on it accordingly. However, half of them suggested developing the final draft without wasting time and thus, submitting it to the professors. Therefore, as due to the leadership skills and the responsibility of making the Wine tourism assignment look reliable, my suggestion of developing the rough draft was accepted by my colleagues and hence, this rough draft was shown to the professor and the feedback suggested by them was taken in consideration.
Week 11: Creation of the reference list
The development of the reference list was the most crucial task within the Wine tourism assignment, which had to be done with precision by providing the recent relevant referred information. There was a situation of dilemma among the group members as some of them suggested randomly choosing the reference. However, my opinion was to choose the most relevant and recent time scholarly articles and journal, which consisted of reliable information, to suit the context of the research. Every team member accepted this view when we discussed about the pros and cons of this decision. As per the skills and attributes developed within me throughout the overall task has helped me leading to success and efficiently handling of the project on Wine tourism assignment.
Week 12: Developing the Final Draft
This was the last session of the research project on Wine tourism assignment where the final draft was built with all the relevant and useful information within. However, the research proposal on the research topic of “A study of the factors that influence return patronage in the context of wine tourism” was developed with the help of the efficiency and productivity skills of each of the team members. As inferred from the studies of Sharma (2018), working as a team has helped in handling the acute situations along with creating efficient outcomes. Thus, the final draft was produced with a thorough structure and information relevant to and was submitted in the form of a project to the professor.
Reflective Part
The above research proposal on Wine tourism assignment regarding the topic of “A study of the factors that influence return patronage in the context of wine tourism” has made me gain real knowledge about the aspects relevant to the research that is the factor which influences and the return patronage along with its impact upon the wine tourism. I developed this Wine tourism assignment and the members of my group, which had made me realize the value of teamwork, responsibility, duty, leadership skills and more; these are essential within a team for the creation of a project. I have helped me gain the spirit of working as a team and I have also gained the opportunity of learning from each of my colleagues. From this group project, I have understood the necessity of paying heed to the views of other team members as well and the importance of good communication skills for the successful completion of a Wine tourism assignment. Communication within the team members is an essential aspect and all the team members should bear equal responsibility for communicating their actions and views on the topic, for minimising errors significantly.
As opined by Shi et al., (2017), it helps in building trust among each other, encouraging the risk taking along with blending of complementary strength. I had also learned to be listening to my team members and valuing their opinion rather than just presenting my own thoughts. This has helped me gain effective communication skills and the confidence of presenting my views in front of others. The teamwork has helped in fostering the atmospheres of loyalty and helps in motivating the members, which aligns them to their works, and being cooperative and supportive to each other. As stated by Tanaka et al., (2018), working as a team increases collaboration along with allowing brainstorming, which helps in the creation of ideas and improvement in productivity. I had realized that teamwork helps in solving the problem in an easy and comfortable way and hence, I could also develop my leadership skills along with responsibility that has helped me to accomplish the task assigned to me efficiently. This project on Wine tourism assignment helped me realize that discussion is the way by which most of the problems encountered within a project can be efficiently handled.
I have understood the importance of time management within project on Wine tourism assignment. My team members and I had initially felt that the development of the action plan was a tedious job and was unnecessary. However, with the progression of the project, we understood that deadlines are an effective way to ensure effective completion of the allocated tasks within time, so that the actual deadline for the submission of the Wine tourism assignment could be efficiently met. The experience gathered from the execution of the interview was novel and I feel I could significantly improve the way I executed the interview. If I am to carry out a similar research in future, I would first take the permission of the personnel for the interview and send them the draft of the questionnaire well in advance, besides preparing for the interview and not just reading out the questions while noting down the answers. I also plan to record the interview proceedings for future reference, rather than relying on handwritten notes, so I am able to observe the expressions of the interviewees and interpret the data more effectively.
References
Bruno, A. and Dell’Aversana, G., 2018. Reflective practicum in higher education: the influence of the learning environment on the quality of learning. Wine tourism assignment Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(3), pp.345-358.
Cheng, G., 2017. The impact of online automated feedback on students' reflective journal writing in an EFL course. The Internet and Higher Education, 34, pp.18-27.
Dumlao, R.P. and Pinatacan, J.R., 2019. From Practice to Writing: Using Reflective Journal Instruction in Enhancing Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Developments. International Journal of Instruction, 12(4), pp.459-478..
Hughes, J.A., Cleven, A.J., Ross, J., Fuentes, D.G., Elbarbry, F., Suzuki, M., Della Paolera, M., Carter, N.S., Stamper, B., Low, P. and Malhotra, A., 2019. A Comprehensive Reflective Journal-Writing Framework for Pharmacy Students to Increase Self-Awareness and Develop Actionable Goals. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 83(3).
Min, W.Y., Mansor, R. and Samsudin, S., 2017. The use of critical reflection manual in writing reflective journal: A case study of Malaysian student teachers’ perceptions. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 12(1).
Sharma, J., 2018. Reflective journal–a means to develop learners into reflective practitioners. New Horizon, 3(1), p.1.
Shi, Z.M., Zheng, W.Y. and Kuang, Z.Y., 2017. The difference of face measurement between reflective model and formative model and the face influence on green product preference. Wine tourism assignment Chinese Journal of Management, 14, pp.1208-1218.
Tanaka, M., Okamoto, R. and Koide, K., 2018. Relationship between Reflective Practice Skills and Volume of Writing in a Reflective Journal. Health, 10(3), pp.283-288.
