MN3040QA
Orientation for Success in Higher Education
Assignment 3: Reflective Commentary
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Word count: 1500
Introduction
Success in Higher Education requires the development of several skills and knowledge which would enable learners to efficiently grasp, retain and apply knowledge in appropriate scenarios. To improve academic performance, a set of skills called academic skills are essential. According to Rabiner et al. (2016), academic skills, and attention skills are effective predictors of academic achievement.
The reflective essay would review those activities that I have performed in this module and thereby identify the ways in which they have helped me to develop my academic skills. Furthermore, their implications from an employability perspective would also be conducted for understanding the way in which I have increased my employability skills. This essay will also be discussing the challenges that I have faced in identifying the key scopes of development that I have. Identification of my weaknesses would help me to overcome them with proper steps and action. My current strengths are communication skills and team working abilities, while my weaknesses are presentation skills and time management skills.
Analysis of Performance
Reflective writing is an effective practice for reminiscing on performed activities and analysing them for better comprehension. According to Hewlett (2019), Gibb’s Model of Reflective Cycle is an effective tool that helps in promoting reflection, identifying barriers, and encouraging brainstorming action plans. I will be applying this reflective cycle for an effective analysis of my strengths.
Figure 1: Gibb’s Reflective Cycle
(Source: Hewlett, 2019)
Strengths
I will be reflecting on my communication skills and team working abilities.
Description: In Week 3, I was expected to work in teams with my classmate and this has positively impacted my ability to collaborate with others. Working in teams required all of us to contribute equally and showcase the individual skills that we possess and thereby helping the team members to learn from one another. Sufficient levels of communication were also required for ensuring that the team members understand one another and their motivation to work in teams improve. Good manners, listening skills, speaking skills and emotional intelligence has been identified as the prerequisite for ensuring friendly relations and optimal collaboration within teams.
Feelings: I feel that I have bonded well with all my team members and consequently, I could hold meaningful and efficient communications with each. I also feel that I have developed my ability to interact with others and collaborate for meeting the shared goals and objectives of the team. I have also felt that my teamwork ability has improved as I could optimally contribute and at the same time seek requisite support from others in improving the quality of my work.
Evaluation: Evaluation of my experience and feelings would help me to identify the benefits and weaknesses associated with them. It can be assessed that teamwork skill helps in improving academic performance as it enables optimal utilisation of the skills that each team member possesses. As per Britton et al. (2017), teamwork skills is of utmost importance in the team-based work culture of the current times. Consequently, it can be assessed that teamwork skills would also serve as an employability skill. It can also be evaluated that communication skills play a major role in teamwork as building interpersonal relationships smoothens up the collaboration within the workforce. Rabiner et al. (2016) stated that communication skills help in improving the flow of information. Consequently, it can be evaluated that communication skills also play a major role in improving the learning ability of learners and consequently improve academic performance.
Analysis: It can be analysed that I have improved my communication skills as I could maintain a proper flow of information with others. Communication skills have therefore become a strength of mine which has helped me to understand concepts better and grasp knowledge faster. Teamwork skills have increased my academic performance as I have successfully completed the Team Reflection task in Week 3.
Conclusion: I, therefore, conclude that the semester has played a major role in developing my communication and teamwork ability by providing me exposure to working in teams and consequently, my employability and academic performance has improved.
Action Plan: I believe that I can further improve my communication skills by developing my emotional intelligence. According to Lievens and Chan (2017), emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor and comprehend the emotions of self and others for the purpose of using the information to guide self's thinking and actions. I will do so by interacting and socialising more using online platforms such as LinkedIn.
Weaknesses
For discussing the two challenges that I faced, I will be reflecting on Presentation Skills and Time Management skills.
Hewlett (2019) commented that Gibb’s Reflective Cycle also helps in coming up with action plans that can help in overcoming the identified challenges. Consequently, I will be aiming to identify two weaknesses that I have and thereafter come up with action plans for overcoming them.
Description: As a part of this module in Week 6, I participated in the Presentation Activity, in which we were expected to develop presentation skills. Presentations play a major role in education as well as a professional career and consequently, designing a clear and engaging presentation for communicating ideas and opinions is essential (Keiling, 2021). In the subsequent 2 weeks, evaluation of post-presentation and pre-presentation was performed. In Week 4, lectures and techniques of reading and note-taking were taught and while doing so, I understood the importance of time management as well.
Feelings: During the presentation, I feel that I am not sufficiently artistic and confident enough to efficiently convey my ideas and opinions. I feel that I should work on my confidence levels during delivering presentations and make sure to engage my audience. During the reading and note-taking activities, I realised that my time management skills are sufficient as I faced difficulties in competitive the assigned tasks in time. Furthermore, focusing on note-taking has also impacted my ability to follow the lectures and consequently, I should have been able to manage them better.
Evaluation: It can be evaluated that my time management skills have negatively impacted my reading skills as it is taking me more time than expected to cover textual information. According to Adams and Blair (2019), time management skill is important for improving academic performance as it helps in optimal time utilisation to learn, understand and retain information. It can be evaluated that poor time management skills would negatively impact academic performance and consequently, learners must develop this skill. In absence of this skill, it would be difficult to complete assignments by deadlines and also to perform well in the workplace and consequently, would be a threat to professional life. Presentation skills are also an important work skill that must be developed for delivering a presentation in front of stakeholders and getting others on board with ideas and opinions. In absence of this skill, it would be difficult to handle professional responsibilities.
Analysis: Upon reflection and evaluation, I have understood that I have poor presentation skills as I am not confident enough to speak publicly. Understanding my weakness would enable me to target that and overcome it. Introspection has also helped me to assess my time management skills and understand the serious implications it can lead to if I do not develop my time management skill. Accordingly, I would have to plan activities that would help me overcome this challenge. Analysis of the lessons I have learned in the module has helped in understanding that Prioritisation matrix tool can be instrumental in helping me to prioritise activities as per their deadlines and significance and this would help me to improve my time management skills.
Conclusion: It can thus be concluded that poor time management skills and poor presentation skills are the two weaknesses that I have noticed in this module.
Action Plan: According to Carnegie and Esenwein (2017), practising speaking in front of crowds helps build confidence which positively impacts presentation skills. I plan to volunteer in different public speaking events to improve my public speaking skills. Pomodoro Technique and Prioritisation matrix have been noted to be exceptionally helpful in improving time management skills. I will be practising this technique to do the same and thereby overcome my weakness.
Conclusion
An appropriate conclusion for this reflective essay would be that the activities and lectures included in this module has been exponentially beneficial in improving my employability and academic skills. I have noted that my communication skills and team working ability have improved which has led me to become efficient in a team-based work environment where I can actively contribute to meeting team objectives. It has also been noted that reflective practices play a major role in evaluating, analysing and identifying areas of improvement in different experiences. Gibbs’ reflective model has been useful in identifying the weaknesses that I have faced while participating in the activities. It has been noted that time management skills and presentation skills are the two areas of development that I must focus on for improving my academic performance. It can thus be concluded that I have benefited from this module and I look forward to improving my academic skills and employability skills even further.
Bibliography
Adams, R.V. and Blair, E. (2019) Impact of time management behaviors on undergraduate engineering students’ performance. Sage Open, 9(1), p.2158244018824506.
Britton, E., Simper, N., Leger, A. and Stephenson, J. (2017) Assessing teamwork in undergraduate education: a measurement tool to evaluate individual teamwork skills. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(3), pp.378-397.
Carnegie, D. and Esenwein, J.B. (2017) The art of public speaking. Mineola: Courier Dover Publications.
Hewlett, S., 2019. Practice: The Necessary Preparation for working with People. Integrated and Open Interpreter Education.
Keiling, H. (2021) 10 Tips for Giving a Great Presentation. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/tips-for-giving-a-great-presentation (Accessed: 4 March 2022).
Lievens, F. and Chan, D. (2017) Practical intelligence, emotional intelligence, and social intelligence. Handbook of employee selection, pp.342-364.
Rabiner, D.L., Godwin, J. and Dodge, K.A. (2016) Predicting academic achievement and attainment: The contribution of early academic skills, attention difficulties, and social competence. School Psychology Review, 45(2), pp.250-267.
