Arianna Jasmine Mabunga

BSN-2B

Summative Course Evaluation

1. Cite three (3) topics/lessons in this course that you personally find interesting and
relevant. Explain how each topic has helped you gain a better and deeper understanding of
the course, yourself and others, and the society in general.

For this whole semester, I had been struggling with the topics of this course since it
wasn’t really a field that I was totally interested in. Even though I had a hard time understanding
the topics there were a few topics that I enjoyed reading. The topics that I found relatable,
interesting and relevant were that readings in the Midterms. I think It was just because I had
already adjusted to the instructor’s style of teaching and his type of exams and the fact that the
Midterms concepts were easier to internalize now that we have a background of what
globalization is really about. Most of the midterm topics aims to point out that globalization has
a hand in all of the aspects of living right now in this contemporary world. Though I think that
the topics in the Prelims are also relevant because without it we wouldn’t be able to totally grasp
the idea of how globalization works. However, if the whole course was to be compared to a book
or a TV series, I’d say that the first few chapters of the book or the first few episodes of the
series would always be boring, the excitement if mostly found in the middle chapters or the
middle episodes. This is because most of the first few chapters or episodes aims to portray or
explain a detailed background of what would the audience be expecting to see in the story. Some
audiences would either fully read or watch the first few chapters or first few episodes but some
would only skim through it until they get to the exciting part. The exciting part of the books,
movies and series are usually in the middle when all the cards had been laid down and the
audience sees how those cards had been used then the first few chapters would then make sense
to them. I am one of those audiences who finds the middle chapters and episodes more
interesting and relevant because for me the middle chapters and episodes would be able to
connect the dots and answer my questions in the first few chapters and episodes. Though I’m not
saying that the first few chapters of this course is irrelevant but I just find those very boring and
less interesting because the sort of lack the actions, drama, and thrill about how globalization is
applied in the modern day that we’re living in today.

The first lesson that I found interesting and relevant is the reading: Economic
Globalization: Corporations. This is because I grew up in a family where my parents talk about
assets, equity, liability, market value, shares, financial growth, investments, and etc. I’m familiar
to scenarios in the business world that’s why I found this topic interesting. It was interesting and
exciting to discuss how companies like McDonalds, Burger king, Starbucks, KFC, 7/11, and
other companies that are found even in the most remote places of the world. This topic gave me
an easier understanding of what globalization meant in the economy and the world of business
all over the world. Also the concept of economic globalization made me understand better the
interconnectedness of each countries through transnational corporations. This topic was able to
explain why and how corporations engage in transnational activities. When I was a kid and up
until now McDonald’s has a special place in my heart that no other food chain, not even Jollibee
can ever replace. I mean sure Burger, Shake-Shack, and In-N-Out were extraordinary food
chains but it’s not McDonald’s. Ever since I was a kid all I wanted was to have my own
McDonald’s branch, maybe it was because all I wanted before was to be able to eat a lot of
Chicken nuggets, Mc Flurries, Quarter pounders, Big Macs, and Fries for free. Before all I knew
was one can be able to acquire and franchise their own branch of McDonald’s for a fee of fifty
million pesos. I didn’t know that before you can be able to put up your own branch of
McDonald’s your location must be a strategic one. I understand now that even before when I was
a little innocent kid, I had been consumed by the system of globalization’s effect in the economy
specifically the transnational corporation of McDonald’s. The topic gave me a wider view of
how the global economy was anchored on the market and assets viability of the place.

The second topic that I found interesting and relevant is the reading: Cultural
globalization. Being a Filipino, there had been lots of diverse known culture to grow up with. It
had been discussed in this reading that globalization had been accepted as a multidimensional
process therefore culture is one dimension that globalization touches. Although there had been
debates about the presence of a global culture, the cultures of different countries all over the
world can and is currently being shown and being sold through the media and communications
technologies. This increasing connectivity is, in many ways, an obvious aspect of our lives.
Connectivity pretty much defines our use of communications technologies and it increasingly
influences the way we earn our living, the styles of food we eat, the music, cinema and television
that forms our entertainment, and our experience of mobility and travel. And this connectivity if
just like our each and unique culture which binds us all. Culture and globalization ate somewhat
the same in some of aspects because both does have this general unifying character. But again
the idea of having a global culture is only a speculation, the reason is that it seems possible that
we can see the ‘unifying’ effects of connectivity in other spheres. Though globalization has been
present a long before and maybe even it emerged together with the cultures and traditions being
practiced today, a certain uniqueness is still being observed from places to places. Just like for
example in South Korea, they don’t have much goods that they can be able to put in the global
trade but they were rich in culture. So instead of using natural resources and goods to barter in
the global trade they used their culture to sell what their country has to offer. They were able to
showcase their cultures and traditions through social media, and the film industry. I watched a
ted talk about this back in my senior high days and the speaker pointed out the huge gap of the
movies and TV series made in South Korea and in the Philippines. Both the Philippines and
South Korea are well known for their own unique cultures it’s just that the latter chose use it to
let the world know about what their country has to offer and attract tourists.

The third topic that I found interesting and relevant is the reading: Globalization and the
Environment. Being a student who studies in the field of health sciences and art of nursing the
sick, I find the environment a critical paradigm to developing a curative aspect for the sick. An I
think the environment and globalization is very intimately connected since the environment is
already global in very many ways. Just like for instance the whole atmosphere of the Earth is
being shared globally. Therefore, what one does to the environment whether good or bad greatly
affects the majority if not all. Environmental problems are being shared worldwide. I don’t think
there is a single country which isn’t concerned about what is going on with the environment
globally. Let’s say for example the issue about global warming, one if it’s effect is the melting of
the artic glaciers up north, but not only the northern countries are concerned about it because it
greatly affects all since the melting of the glaciers would mean the increase in sea water level
and the increase of sea water level means places in the low lands are more prone to flood. So it
can be inferred that anything that involves the environment affects the whole world.
2. Which topic/lesson did you find to be least interesting or not relevant at all? Why?

Out of all the topics that we had encountered throughout the semester, the topic that I
found to be the least interesting but not in any way irrelevant was the first ever reading. I found
the reading terribly complex to understand mainly because I can’t very much relate to it. Also as
I’ve said the first few chapters of the book or in this case the course is the most boring of all the
topics. Though the article was written greatly and it explains in perfect detail how this study
revolves around globalization. In the first few paragraphs the writer said that globalization is a
highly sensitive topic to discuss since there are many critiques about it. Like the people who
totally dismiss the idea of the presence of globalization to which the writer called them the
rejectionists. There were also people who where skeptical about the idea of globalization and
they emphasized the limitation of having a global process to which the writer called them the
skeptics. And lastly the group of critiques who said that the topic globalization is not a new
thing, they argue that even in the older times globalization had already existed. Though most of
the parts of the article were new and unfamiliar to me the word Mcdonaldization caught my
attention. It was created by George Ritzer to describe the wide-ranging process by which the
principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American
society, as well as the rest of the world. I guess it only caught my attention because it had the
word McDonald’s in it which I love very much. Though the word really meant patronizing
McDonald’s and other American or Western products in a negative way. It was also explained
how patronizing the products of the west rather than buying the local ones would have a negative
impact to the person’s own cultural identity. In the long run, McDonaldization leads to the
eclipse of cultural diversity and the dehumanization of social relations. Towards the end of the
paper the writer talked about how globalization was influenced by the Americans because of the
‘Americanness’ of globalization. Also I couldn’t help but notice that in the first article most of
the elements of globalization is being tackled and being briefly discussed.
3. What other topics/issues and activities would you like to be integrated in this class to
make it more interesting and relevant to future students who will be taking this course?

As a student studying health sciences and the art of nursing, and as an aspiring medical
student I find issues and topics about health and anything in the medical field very interesting
and relevant to the future students. Since this subject is a general course, which means that all of
the students regardless of their courses would take this subject, they would be educated not only
how globalization affects politics, economics, culture, religion, technology, and others, but they
would also be aware on how globalization had a hand in the development of modern health care
facilities and globalization also had a hand in current outbreaks of illnesses. Just like for example
the current viral outbreak, the Novel Corona Virus also known as the Covid-19, the etiology of it
is unknown but some studies say that it was most likely a zoonic infection from bats which were
found out to be a carrier of this virus. Now this virus started in Wuhan China to which some
people were said to be eating bats as a local delicacy, this is probably why the infection was
transmitted into a human. However, the infection can only be spread through droplets therefore
there has to be a human to human contact, the viral particles enters the lungs via droplets. And
without globalization I highly doubt that this virus would become a pandemic. Also there were a
lot of illnesses that became a global problem one of the worst in history was the Spanish
Influenza or the Spanish flu back in 1918 which was caused by the pathogen H1N1 virus. This
virus was said to be the deadliest flu ever discovered. The number of deaths was estimated to be
at least 50 million worldwide. This mortality number is what we are preventing now with the
current viral pandemic. The difference of the pandemic today and back in the 1918’s is that we
have advanced medical technology now to be able to prevent and develop a cure for this virus.
Topics like these would be able to equip the future students about knowledge on how being
globally interconnected can be able to affect health care and the spread of illnesses. They would
also have the knowledge of what to do in case something like these issues ever happen again.
4. What is your most unforgettable experience/moment in this course?

Though out the past few months that while I was taking this course there has been a lot of
unforgettable experiences for me. I’d like to say that the whole semester was a truly
unforgettable experience, it was a rollercoaster ride for me, and were countless of encounters and
moments which I would never be able to forget. Just like for instance, I will never be able to
forget the first quiz that I had in this course which I only got two correct answers out of fifty
items. In my defense it’s not that I didn’t study for that quiz, hell I even kept on re-reading the
article three times just so I can be able to freaking understand that damn article. I really found the
first reading so complex because the concept is so new to me. I wasn’t aware that the mode of
quiz would be based on memorization. Another unforgettable experience for me is having the
right minus wrong quizzes, it was a nightmare. It was the only subject in my entire life that I had
encountered a right minus wrong policy. I mean I totally understand why the no erasures rule
was appropriate for the exams and quizzes but I thought the right minus wrong rule was just dead
absurd but then again I wasn’t the teacher hence I don’t get a say in any way about the rules.
Another instance is when we had to put an extra effort for the readings because one night is not
enough time and it will not be able give us sufficient understanding of the readings but when we
got our first prelim grade, and I got an F and it was my first ever failing mark in my entire life. I
guess that failing grade gave me the drive to strive harder for the midterms and true enough I had
a way better grade for the midterms. This course also made me feel like it was hell week every
week since it was scheduled in the first period on a Monday. I honestly used to like Mondays
because it’s the day that I’d get my weekly allowance but then I had to deal with this subject
which meant that every Monday I had to make sure that I had understand the reading well before
I go to class even if it meant that I had to skip breakfast. This is also one of the reasons why I fail
to always recite in class. It’s not because I’m afraid to say the wrong answer I’d rather say the
wrong answer and be corrected than not being able to know at all. This course also made me feel
challenged and push me through my limits, it also made me feel a lot of mixed emotion. It made
me truly understand how our upper class men would say that academic hardships before college
education wasn’t that hard at all it was barely the tip of the iceberg.
5. What is your greatest personal learning from this course?

I think the greatest learning experience from this course was to read read read read and to
manage our time properly. As I’ve said this course also made me feel challenged and push me
through my limits, it also made me feel a lot of mixed emotion. It made me truly understand how
our upper class men would say that academic hardships before college education wasn’t that hard
at all it was barely the tip of the iceberg. It was never truly enough to just read a given article
once, you wouldn’t understand it, I meant you could understand it but you wouldn’t be able to
get a grip of it, internalize it, absorb it. Like for example there had been a notice to totally stay at
home about the current Covid-19 that half of the population in the Philippines had been infected
and you failed to read the notice, this puts you at risk. Or if you failed to read the rules,
guidelines and regulations about this community quarantine and you continued on wandering the
streets, this does not only put you at risk of acquiring this virus but you also give the governing
officials the authority to sanction you because ignorance of the law excuses no one. Also another
great learning experience is that it’s not okay to make mistakes because one mistake would
apparently cost you four points. Growing up I always thought it was alright to commit mistakes
because there will always be an eraser for you to correct those mistakes but I think that’s not
applicable in real life. Like for example a cardio-thoracic surgeon in an operating room about to
operate on a heart and to perform a bovine valve replacement, which is one of the most
complicated surgical procedures, one wrong incision, one wrong move, one wrong detail on the
person’s heart would be able to cost the patient’s life. Though in reality an mistake free world is
impossible given that we are only humans therefore we are bound to commit mistakes. So
another great lesson that I learned is that committing mistakes is inevitable because there will
always be room for improvements, however it is important and possible to create a lesser room
for mistakes to have minimal errors. I’ve come to realize in real life there are no do overs, it
doesn’t give you the chance to erase your screw ups and make it better. However it is important
to learn from those so that you don’t commit the same mistake over and over again.
6. General Evaluation of the Course Instructor

Throughout the semester I guess I could say that the instructor had displayed an excellent
way of presenting the topics in class. During discussion I would think that no one was more
suited to teach this subject than the instructor himself. I think my classmates would be able to
agree with me that the instructor had a brilliant mind and he was very knowledgeable in his field
of expertise. He broke down the long and the complicated readings into pieces to be able to make
it more easier to understand tor students. He talks so spontaneously in class as if the topics and
readings are still so fresh from his mind. The way he presents the topic made me wonder if he
had also memorized the topic like it was at the back of his hand or maybe the professor was just
able to fully internalized and absorb the topics the most more than anyone else. During the class
the instructor would discuss the lesson present it in a well structured manner and if would get
lost you could be able to keep tract with what he was saying with the article reading. He was also
been able to relate the topic with the current public affairs and the current issues circulating all
over the world. Compared to other general education instructors, our contemporary world
instructor was more competent than them because he can be ale to present the topic in class
without taking minute to look at what was the reading about and to keep tract of what he was
saying. The instructor indeed comes to class preparedly.

At the first day of class the instructor was able to present what he wanted out of the class
and he laid out his class rules for the students. As to the way the instructor manage the class, I’d
say he did a very good job at it. I’ve been with my classmates since the first semester of the first
year and the way that they behave in the contemporary world class is no where near the way they
behave in other subjects. My classmates were so unruly in other subjects that’s why it surprised
me how behave and quite they were in the contemporary world class. I guess they were just tired
from duty given that the subject was a thee hour class which is scheduled at the first period on a
Monday morning, and maybe some of them were exhausted from last week’s clinical duty. He
kept on encouraging the students to get over their fear of speech and talk in class even if they
were wrong. However, sometimes I think that he just goes overboard when he would expect the
class to be able to come up with an answer right after the moment he finished asking his
question. It’s not that the class didn’t want to answer some of them just need at least a small
amount of time to organize their thoughts or formulate an answer to the instructor’s questions.

Our class and the instructor had started on the wrong foot. We heard negative rumors
about the teacher’s ways in class. Rumors like his quizzes were dead objective, and he was
known for failing a whole class of architecture students. I honestly didn’t believe it, I always
wait and see before I judge, but I couldn’t have blamed my classmates for believing in those they
were just too paranoid and stressed out. We wouldn’t have any other choice since it was the
nursing department that did the scheduling for us due to the fact that we had a very weird
schedule because we divide the school week into two, which gives us about three days for
general education and professional courses to which we all sit in the class room for the lesson,
and for the other half of the week we spend it in the hospitals for our clinical learning exposure
which we had an eight hour shift each day excluding the endorsement time before and after the
shift. My classmates well, the president along with a few others had passed a complaint letter to
our department administration like the dean and I think they also sent the letter to the dean of the
social science class, a move that they chose to do without consulting everybody in the class. I
only found out about this complaint when the instructor had confronted the class about it. I think
from then on there had been a gap on the student teacher relationship of the instructor and the
students. Personally I had no problem with the professor but I just feel like the student and
teacher relationship had been already tainted even before there was a relationship to begin with.
And whenever there was a dead silence in the air the instructor would blame it on the previous
tension between the class and the instructor.

Throughout the semester I guess I could say that the instructor had displayed an excellent
way of presenting the topics in class. He broke down the long and the complicated readings into
pieces to be able to make it more easier to understand tor students. The instructor also presented
the topic in ways where it was easier to grasp the concept and related it in to some of our interest.
Most of the examples of the instructor involved modern day ideologies. Up until I took up the
contemporary world subject I didn’t really think that eating to such places like McDonalds,
Starbucks, Burger King, dairy queen, Coffee bean, going grocery shopping at S&R or SM or
Abreeza, and using products like Philip Stein, Dr. Martens, Armani Exchange, Jo Malone had a
deeper meaning and impact to society. I liked how the instructor would relate the topic to the
emergence of such establishments in the city.
7. General comments/Message

Overall I think we all had a nice run throughout the semester. There had been a lot and I
mean that had happened in this semester. I surely did learn a lot of lessons throughout the
semester. I’d like to give the instructor credit for adjusting to the very demanding and difficult
schedule even though you really hated Mondays because of the students but you try your best to
go in our class and discussed the lessons. I would also like to commend the instructor for also
giving his all even though the student and teacher relationship was already tainted from the start
of the class. Though there were times when I would disagree to his ways in class and there were
also times when I would feel so frustrated whenever I get a low score I mean it’s not that we
didn’t study for the quiz, believe me we had spent a lot more time in understanding readings
more than any subject. I also fee l frustrate when I see the number of pages that I have to read for
the next objective quiz but I had no choice but to do it any way. Also I think that it was greatly
unfair to have a right minus wrong system of grading students, I mean yes I get why there should
be no erasures but the right minus wrong was just plain absurd, it makes it harder than it already
is. Though towards the end this policy was removed, I think it would help the students pass more
if it weren’t there in the first place. I sure do hope that the class would end without a heavy
baggage and on a peaceful note. I had fun during your class, and I contemplated many things and
realized many things. This subject made me realize how lucky I was to be living in a globalized
era, I never once thought of globalization in a negative way. I liked the rate of progress that
Davao city is going through. I like the fact that there are a lot of McDonald’s branches around
Davao city because local food chains no tent to become more competitive and more innovative
of what they had to offer. I also like the fact that there are now a lot of Starbucks branches all
over the city, some would just go there and sit and post on social media to uplift their status, but I
just simply love Starbucks cause the make a mean cup of coffee. Also, this subject made me love
traveling even more, it made me see the things I take for granted whenever I travel to different
countries. Also this subject made me love America and Europe even more, even as a kid I love
the trips we make to go there and now that I have a bigger view of things I’d like to re-explore
the places I’ve been to.