Reflective Analysis of Higher Education - Essay Example

Reflective analysis of higher education of the Department Reflective analysis of higher education My presence in Staffordshire University has enhanced my professional attributes when handling different academic and professional matters, changed my view of the world and enhanced my interaction capacity. By studying biosciences, I have managed to be an avid professional planner and an individual who can apply what is theoretically taught in academic spheres into practical applications in real work or employment situations. Basing on Staffordshire graduate attributes that include being professional, disciplined expert, enhanced communication and team work skills, critical and reflective learner, global citizenship, and Life long learner, I have managed to develop appropriate skills that are essential in adapting and dealing with challenging in work environments (GREENHAUS &CALLANAN,2006,P.79). Managing and Developing Self Before joining the university and undertaking bioscience courses, I was not able to manage my schedules and so I had to depend on what had already been planned by teachers. However, my life in the university enabled me to understand how manage my self, plan my time for different activities and manage my work in a professional way to ensure optimal use of financial, academic and time resources. The professional attribute of the university has assisted me in understanding how to manage my work, follow instructions closely with minimal supervision, plan my work schedule well in advance and ensure that all tasks are completed in a responsible and professional manner. For example, when conducting biological experiments, I ensure that I have read all procedures in advance before commencing the real practical work unlike in the past when I used to conduct experiments without reading all instructions. However, although I am able to manage my schedule well, the only problem that needs a lot of effort is in categorizing issues on the basis of priority. In many instances, I have been giving priority to relatively less difficult issues thus ignoring higher priority but difficult issues. The consequences have been dire .For example, when choosing elective courses, I have been choosing less difficult courses at the expense of highly competitive courses which are in most cases difficult(OHLSSON &BORG,2010,P.67). University education has given me varied opportunities for self development through constant learning and being a critical learner. I have come to understand that learning is not only about gaining knowledge about a specified subject, but also to develop critical skills that would enable one to solve problems, make use of the available opportunity to develop the society, and be a continual learner through a number of avenues such as the internet or part time education programs. Further, University education has changed my notion from being a job seeker into being a job creator through a number of business courses that have enhanced my entrepreneurial skills (POSTMAN,1995.P.68) . Communication Communication is an essential aspect of professional development and human interaction. Through good communication strategies, it is possible to develop positive relationship with people in the learning institution, places of work and the society in general. One of the important aspects of communication I have learned from Staffordshire University is the use of information and communication in getting sufficient information within a short time and passing messages promptly and efficiently. Since when I joined the university, I have learnt many aspects of using the internet to get information that would have been cumbersome to search through conventional means such as physically looking for a specific topic among a variety of hard copy journals. I can easily go the internet and get information within a shot time. Further, online libraries has assisted me in learning different topics in biology within a short duration of time and use the information to enhance my professional skills and assist others (KVANVIG,2003,P.71). By interacting with my fellow students and tutors, I have developed proficient communication skills and can manage to work as a team without fear. Before enrolling for a bioscience study in the university, I did not have enough courage to work as a team. My lower learning levels such as high schools, learning was teacher centered and there was little room for group work. However, I can currently work as a team. Further, my communication skills have improved tremendously because I understand different characters of people and so I communicate with them depending on situations. The essential values that I employ in my communication processes include honesty, empathy, humility, understanding, responsibility and professionalism. As such, any information that I transmit to other parties are usually sensitive, well researched and accurate in order to receive a positive feedback from the receiver (OHLSSON &BORG,2010,P.97). Communication as an important attribute of professionalism has enabled me to master different styles of communication and how they can be utilized both in academia and non academia arenas. My communication skills involve understanding the types and importance of verbal and non verbal communication and how they impact on different receivers of the information. In addition, I have learned how different styles of communication can be used when searching for jobs and enhance one’s chances of getting employed. For example, I got a part time job in a laboratory due to my innovating approach I employed when looking for the job. I attached a photo that I had taken while conducting a biological experiment to my application letter. The professionalism of the application and the photo enabled me to secure a good part time employment. The attributes of Staffordshire university have enabled me to be a proficient and professional communicator who can use innovative means of transmitting messages and obtain positive feedback (RICARD,1993,P.69). Managing tasks and solving problems University and college students are required to uphold high levels of professionalism and responsibility. Diverse tasks and the need to keep up to date with changing university curricula require good managerial skills. Since joining the university, I developed good skills of managing my tasks by planning for them in advance, seeking for the necessary apparatus or tools for a specified task, to make inquiries on issues that are not clear well in advance, allocate reasonable time or cost to a specified task or components of the task, revise the task before submission to ensure that it contains all contents and submitting the assigned task on time. As such, I have become a disciplined expert in biosciences who understand the essence of excellent work planning and good time management in ensuring successful completion of tasks. Further, my skills of managing tasks will enable me to work in any work environment no matter how challenging it may be as long as I have the expertise and experience of managing my work schedule and time well(BALAN,1992,P.103). Before joining the university, I never took a decisive resolution to a specified problem and was poor in problem solving. However, since I started my bioscience career in the university, I interacted with different types of people, which enhanced my problem solving skills. When working as a team, members are bound to face myriad of problems because each individual is entitled to his or her opinions. As such, there must be an appropriate problem solving techniques in order to promote harmony in the team. The main problem solving skills I learnt while working as a team includes mediation, brainstorming to reach an optimum solution after considering a large number of possible solutions, trial and error until a right solution is found, use of proof and hypothesis testing. However, the problem solving techniques that I have been using to solve social problems among feuding parties in the university is mediation (GREENHAUS &CALLANAN,2006,P.72). My ability to apply different problem solving techniques is essential in any professional life because it will offer me an ardent tool of handling different conflicts in work places and the society in general thus preventing escalation of problems or misunderstanding on issues that be solved easily (KVANVIG, 2003, P.71). Working with and Relating to Others To fulfill the attribute of being a global citizen and ability to communicate and work as a team, it is essential for any professional to appreciate that people are different and should be good at working and relating with others. The contemporary work environment is taking a global trend and there have been increased calls to accommodate and promote diversity. As such, one should appreciate other people’s cultures, be tolerant and be able to relate one’s values with those of other people. The university is made up of people from different countries, cultures and religious backgrounds. This diversity has enabled me to be tolerant to other people’s culture, appreciate that through diversity, it is able to learn different aspects of life and one can use diversity to develop and enhance his or her own values (POSTMAN,1995.P.68) . Team work has played a key role in shaping my social and professional attribute in regards to how a team can be used to complete tasks easily, how they can be used to develop new ideas and how they can promote one’s career. Through teamwork, I have managed to develop leadership skills that are essential in ensuring that goals are met, help in motivating others to achieve the goals of the team and can solve group problems through appropriate problem solving technique (GREENHAUS &CALLANAN,2006,P.72). Applying design and creativity University education has enabled me to develop a strong sense of creativity. Through a number of experiments in biology, I can apply my theoretic skills in real life work situations. Being a bio scientist, I can present my skills by creating creative methods and design of marketing myself to potential employees through a number of verbal and non verbal communication styles. For example, I managed to get a part time job as a result of attaching my photo while in a biology lab on my application form (BALAN,1992,P.23). Since I joined university, I learnt about different methods of communication and so through the use of different avenues such as social media, I have great opportunity of using them and getting a good job. Having learnt about different aspects of information and communication technology, I am capable of developing creative strategies that can be used to conduct a number of tasks and solve problems easily. For example, I am capable of developing a number of arithmetic software that can be used to solve complex data analysis processes in a specified biological research (POSTMAN,1995.P.68) . In conclusion, my university education and life has been beneficial to me as it has instilled relevant skills and values in my professional life. It has improved my communication skills, enhanced my professionalism, and made me a responsible profession who can handle challenges in work places and life in general. References OHLSSON, H., & BORG, H. (2010). Career development. New York, Nova Science Publishers. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=333519. GREENHAUS, J. H., & CALLANAN, G. A. (2006). Encyclopedia of career development. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage Publications. BALAN, K. (1992). Education and employment. New Delhi, Ashish Pub. House. POSTMAN, N. (1995). The end of education: redefining the value of school. New York, Knopf. KVANVIG, J. L. (2003). The value of knowledge and the pursuit of understanding. Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge University Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=120737. RICARD, V. B. (1993). Developing intercultural communication skills. Malabar, Fla, Krieger Pub. Co. Read More