The documentary summary assignment allowed me to get a feel for what it is like to document a series of events in chronological order. I know this is a skill that can be applicable to writing reports for a case. This assignment also refined my writing skills and made me gain more confidence in my writing skills.
The weekly blog posts left room for a little more creativity when responding to guided reflection topics. Not only was the professor going to see our views and thoughts, but our peers could do so as well. Writing the blogs enabled me to get my views across in a respectable manner.
The textbook exercises helped to apply what I read on the page to a real world experience. It is one thing to read information on a page, and another to understand and apply what you read.
Analyzing police scenes reinforced the policy and procedures we read about in our textbook. The scenes also demonstrated just how fast a call can escalate and the quick thinking officers must do on a daily basis.
Finally the mock interviews we did in groups allowed us to put together all that we had learned about investigations and interviews. We were able to come up with questions and interview our peers. The activity made everyone involved pay attention to their body langue,as well as, their tone of voice.
Overall there were lessons to be learned from taking this class. However, I wish I was able to get more out of this class. We focused a lot on the writing process and what it takes to be a good writer, but not enough on the actual documents or scenarios that we would encounter in the Criminal Justice field.
