Name: Dipo Awojide
Reflective
Essay
PPD1
BUSI12200 EPORTFOLIO
Dipo
Awojide
James
Matthews N0647717
BAB
9
Personal
and Professional Development
Introduction
In
this this essay I will be talking about my experience at university
and what I have learned. By reflecting on my past at university it
will improve my understanding of myself. I will learn what my
weakness, strengths and how to improve them.
Main
body
-Learning
style
Learning
styles are very important for me to know, this is because when I am
studying at university I need to know what techniques and methods I
should use to learn at the optimum level. My results from the VARK
questionnaire show that I am more of a visual (7) and reading (5).
This means that when I learn, a visual approach will be appropriate
for me. From a professional perspective I will apply my work with
pictures, graphs and diagrams. This is because it is easier for me to
learn which will give me a bigger understanding when I present the
information.
-Skills
From
my skills diagnostic, test it shows that my highest skill is in
organisation. This is because I like to organisation my tasks and
plan out my day. This will have a direct correlation on my learning
style, for example if I do not structure and plan my day I could have
an effect on my ability to learn. Within a professional environment I
will organise my tasks. By doing this I will understand what tasks
need to be done and at what time, therefore it will minimise the risk
of mistakes such as forgetting to perform a specific task.
-Academic
knowledge
Academic
knowledge is very important for my ability to learn. If I widen my
academic knowledge I will understand the topic at hand thus improving
my chance for a higher grade in my diploma. If my academic knowledge
is low it will have a direct impact on my understanding of the
course. At a professional perspective academic knowledge is very
important for an employer’s perspective. The higher the academic
knowledge I have the more options and tasks I can perform for my
employer, increasing my value to the organisation.
Throughout
my time at university I have had feedback on summative and formative
assessments. Some of those feedbacks where based on my academic
knowledge. The feedback shows that I have some understanding of
academic knowledge (reading and writing), however, it needs to be
improved as I could implement more of the theory into my essay.
(Oxford
Brookes University, 2015)
This
is the Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle. The purpose of the Gibbs
reflective cycle is help the user to self-improve. They will think of
an event and go through the steps. At the end of the cycle (Action
Plan) you should know how to improve your experience when the event
arises again.
My
experience that I have come across during university in my formative
assessment for operations management. I (Description) was required to
write a 2,000 word essay on rationalisation in the 1900’s
industrial revolution. To do this essay I had to addend lectures,
seminars and read academic theories. My learning style is mainly
based on reading (5) and visual (7), therefore I understood the
reading but I found that I was not able to read it all. When I was
writing the essay there was some problems that troubled me. Looking
at my skills diagnostic test (ePortfolio) on analytical /problem
solving I scored a 3. Which means that I need to improve on my
problem solving. Whilst I was reading the materials for the essay I
would widen my academic knowledge, however, I was not able to read it
all.
During
(Feeling) the event I thought that I would get a grade/feedback that
I was satisfied with, however, the feedback was not. This did not
upset me as I am now able to improve.
The
(Evaluation) good points about this experience is that I was able to
find out what I can do and what I cannot do. However, I have found
out that I struggle when it comes to academic reading. I struggled to
do all the reading and implementing my findings into the essay.
Now
looking back (Analysis) at the situation and knowing my skills,
learning style and academic knowledge I know what went wrong, what
actions I took that led to good and bad aspects of the event.
Now
looking back (Conclusion and Action plan) there are aspects that
would change. Look back I have noticed that I have not used all of
the materials and support available for me, which I would like to use
for my next essay. For example the Boots Library offers lots of
support which will help with my spelling, grammar and structure.
This
is Development plan which has my SMART (Specific, Measurable,
Accurate, Realistic and Timed) objectives. My objective is to get a
GCSE in English.
Development
plan/SMART objectives
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BA |
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Conclusion
Throughout this essay I have
talked about my skills, experience and areas what I would like to
improve. When writing this essay I have found out what my preferred
learning style which is visual and reading. I have expressed an event
at university and applier the Gibbs Reflective cycle so if the event
arises again, I can be better prepared. The last section was about
improving myself using SMART objectives. This objective was to get a
GCSE grade C in English, I now know what steps I need to take and
what resources I will use to reach my objective.
References
Oxford
Brookes University, 2015. Reflective writing: About Gibbs reflective
cycle. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/upgrade/study-skills/reflective-writing-gibbs/.
[Accessed 04 February 2016].
ePortfolio,
James Matthews. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/eP/presentations/presentation_preview_popup.d2l?ou=6605&presId=116943&contextId=116943&pageId=0&fromRedirect=1.
[Accessed 29 January 2016]
