A Reflective Learning Log Book - Essay Example

A Reflective Learning Log Book The weekly learning journal Time: Introduction Learning in higher education is based on the knowing of the subject as well as developing in critical thinking, then the critical analysis within the area of study for personal and career development. This is very important since the knowledge acquired is applied somewhere else outside the classroom context, even though I sometimes find it hard to apply the knowledge I have learned in the daily life. Though, in my previous lectures, I have tried as much as I can apply such concepts in the normal life. It was my second lecture where we learned about some of the skills of critical reading in the English lesson. My lecturer was brief and clear and demonstrated all the skills that were required to acquire a good study habit. In her lecture, there were demonstrations, reading and writing notes. I found the lesson to be quite interesting as the topic we were learning touched my area of weakness, and from there I knew what to do in order to improve and develop a good study habit. In this lecture, I learned about the critical thinking and reading skills. In the first part of the lesson, the lecturer defined the term critical reading, as in-depth reading and analysis of what the reading material states. Initially, I always read the books and academic materials very partially and recklessly. However, from the lecture, I realized that it was not the best way of reading; therefore, I learned that I needed to sharpen and improve on my skills of reading and learning, in this case I had to learn and implement the new reading skills that would lead to a good performance. After learning this, found my reading of the books very easy and very effective. For instance, in my course, of study that I am currently taking, I realized that I needed to read the whole chapter in order to grasp the theme of the book, this helps me to gain more knowledge and the concept of the topic am reading about. According to my lecturer, critical reading involves in-depth reading and analysis, therefore through this knowledge; I realized needed to critically and analyze the topic from the chapter that I was reading. However, it is not always easy for me, since I find the sentences to be long and complicated as well as somehow hard to comprehend. For instance, the topics of politics and business, some of the topics from these are somehow hard to analyze and comprehend. According to the lecturer, when we read we need to write down short notes on what we are reading. This happens especially from each paragraph as normally, each paragraph always carries an idea, and therefore something must come from the paragraph. The reader has to identify the key points and note the key concepts. Therefore, to develop these reading skills, one has to read and re-read so that they do not miss a point to note. I also agree with the lecturers point, for example, when I was in the fourth form, I had a physics exam, when was studying for the exam, on that day, for instance, I was really noting down the main points, I re-read the book and realized that there were some of the points that I had missed. Therefore, from that, I also referred from other textbooks, then on my final day of the exams, I only used the summary of the notes I had put down. My summary was easy to read and understand as well, I did not have to carry many books to the library to revise; I only managed to carry my summary book. Even though writing notes takes time, but I also realized that through those short notes, they kept waking, and I focused the writing of the notes also breaks the monotony of reading continuously. During the exam time, I realized that the method was very effective as I had covered all the topics, and I was able to answer questions correctly on the exam paper than what I used to do before. Initially, my reading has been just partially, therefore by the time of the exam, I realized that I needed to read many books and notes, but I could only grasp very few important points, hence the questions on the exam paper could not be fully answered. Therefore, from the lecture on the reading skills, I realized that reading while writing short notes is very effective. While reading, people need to have questions or statements that they can based on to argue for or against a point. I also realized that motivation and confidence are the key issues to a good performance, generally, I like it when I work hard, I get some motivations to work extra hard. For instance, in my high school, there were some days set aside for prize giving, at first, I wondered it was all about, until when I was among the best performer in biology, and when I was given a present, that was when I realized how motivating it was to be at the top. I started working extra hard so that I could enjoy more benefits, like going for a trip, winning prizes at the same time it was prestigious to be among the top students. This gave me the confidence to continue shinning, and developing my careers. My aim in the career development and personal planning is to have the confidence and comprehension of the topic. I always share healthy practice and experiences with my members of the group. I also believe in the individual development, professional, and personal training. Learning is a progressive strategy through the milestones, for instance, the child learns how to talk slowly, at a given period of time and progresses positively step by step before he become a serious and a fast talker. Therefore, we also learn thorough steps that are why even a syllabus is planned and written in such a way that, it always starts with easy topics, which are mainly the basics of the other topics in the book and build up, or expands as the syllabus progresses to the more complicated topics. This implies that an individual learner must go through topic one in order to understand how to deal with topic two. Every step in this case plays a key role without mastering the basics, then the other complicated topics cannot be understood. In order to develop and improve on the learning and performance, I learned that I was expected to create an understanding the proper skills that were relevant to the study to assist in the completion of all the assignments and perform successfully. I then realized that it is very important that the improvement of the skills had to be based on personalization. In this case, personalization is not a very new term. Personalized learning involves the basic achievement of Improving Own Learning and Performance (IOLP) since it enables a person to set a given target. For instance, in my physics class I set a target that I needed to get the highest grade, which enabled me to have the drive to add more effort in order to attain the set target. This applies in all other subjects; the following are some of the important ways to improve on the performance of an individual. Active learning I also realized that t active learning is very essential. This involved dialogue, discussion answering and asking questions, demonstrations, among others. Since this skill is based on the application of acquired knowledge, the active learning strategy is very important. Such skills that can be attained in this method of learning are planning, practically doing; review of the learned material, then reflecting what has been learned. I learned that through active learning, an individual does not get bored very easily; at the same time, things like demonstration boast the memory for the learner. Collaborative learning The other thing I learned was collaborative learning, in this case, it is learning through group work and discussions, but all the same, the individual has to set his own target despite working in the group. The teacher assessed all the work done in the group personally so that they could understand our areas of weakness. I also learned that learning through groups is very good since we all need to share from one another as a fellow student may have a better idea than what I had thought was correct or the best. Through the groups also enables one to express himself effectively, hence the members of the group get used to one another and develop confidence. Conclusion Conclusively, learning in higher education is based on the knowing the subject as well as developing in critical thinking, then the critical analysis within the area of study for personal and career development. This is very important since the knowledge acquired is applied somewhere else outside the classroom context, even though I sometimes find it hard to apply the knowledge I have learned in the daily life. Some basic learning skills should be applied in order to have an effective learning and reading, that is, through active learning, I realized that the active learning is very essential. This involved dialogue, discussion answering and asking questions, demonstrations, among others. Since this skill is based on the application of acquired knowledge, the active learning strategy is very important. The second strategy is through group learning or collaborative learning, in this case, it is learning through group work and discussions, but all the same, the individual has to set his own target despite working in the group. References Cottrell, (2008). The Study Skills Handbook, 3rd. (Palgrave Macmillan) Main library 371.2270941 FAN Moon, J. (2006) Learning Journals: Handbook for reflective practice and professional development (Rutledge) St Luke’s Library 153.42 MOO) Moon, J. (2008) Critical Thinking: an Exploration of Theory and Practice (Rutledge) St Luke’s Library370. 152 MOO) Read More