Reflective Learning Diary - Assignment Example

Reflective Learning Diary Name: Student Number: Course Code: Word Count: Date of Submission: Week 1 - 21stSeptember - Introduction In this first week, I have created a development plan, using knowledge background from a CIPD course which I attended in 2011. I work to follow this development plan and to continue my degree was one of the goals of the scheme. I am proud and happy to be following that plan and realizing my goals one after another. In the beginning, I thought it would be difficult getting back to the university and continuing my studies, especially in a different country and a different culture. The first week was filled with mixed feelings for me since I was not sure of what to expect I was worried and excited at the same time. Interestingly, when I arrived at Bournemouth, I was welcomed by a great faculty and great people, even though I still needed some time to familiarize with the new environment. Week 2 - 28th September The second week was characterized by augmentation of induction, a continuation of the orientation in the late days of the first week. I met with the classmates and course mates for the first time in the exact class where would be for the rest of Year 1 of learning. Besides familiarizing with the university and its environs, the gathering in class provided an opportunity of getting to know each classmate at a closer level and making friends as well. In reference to the development plan designed in the first week, in week 2 I got to know about the units that I will be taking in the International Management course, in the first year. With this information on groups, I was able to draw a timetable for my personal studies, besides the classroom schedule. I also completed the acquisition process and settled in the hostels for accommodation. In this way i got to develop the right attitude and get a positive motivation as well. Week 3 - 5th October I began, and I had three units, International Marketing Management (IMM) and Contemporary Issues in Management (CIM) as the first two, and I chose People Resourcing and Development as the optional third unit. In the first week, it was an introduction week to the units for IMM as well as the CIM. In addition, we had a brief of the assignment on CIM, that was a single assignment worth 100% score. This was challenging because I had never had a single unit with one assignment. I knew from the third week that I had to work hard, research and draft the assignment. The right attitude and positive motivation came in handy in embracing the challenging changes. I was also familiar with the PRD, as mentioned earlier, and I had attended a CIPD course in 2011 and with it, and I learned almost all the material in that course. So, I decided to drop the unit and chose the advanced academic units, the reason why I chose AAE to improve my English skills in terms of communication, academic writing /and referencing and also what I like about that class it is a mix student body so I can learn about different culture as well Week 4 - 12th October I have started my ACC with the goal of learning effective presentation skills. There is a theory part of this unit and a practical part where I prepared a presentation on racial discrimination and presented in front of the class. This practice helped to grow confidence and achieve the goal of sharpening my presentation skills. Even though I had taken a marketing research course in the college in 2009, it was surprising how the marketing courses updated. In CIM, I have learned about employability and the factors that make employability necessary. The course I pursue has units and elements that will help me to develop skills in communication, relation, research and information, which eventual aim to make me employable. In AAC, I have learned how to conduct professional meetings, and that include things such as achieving high level of linguistic and stylistic competence. These tools enabled me to complete complex academic tasks efficiently, with the appropriate use of specialist terminology. In addition, I also learned about personal responsibility in relation to academic work and developed a comprehensive understanding of some of the requirements of academic performance and the criteria of such in the UK context. Week 5 - 19th October To enhance the information analysis prowess, I considered learning about communication and presentation skills in every assignment and even did a submission of the same through various formats of academic communication. The ease access to the university’s library and information technology resources facilitates research, and this helped a lot. I also improved my cultural understanding and tolerance, hence, intercultural communicative ability to interact expressively with fellow students, most of whom had different cultural and geographical backgrounds. In IMM, I have learned about Marketing Research; marketing strategies require comprehensive research of the target market for making organizational decisions. Another important lesson that I got is that exploiting a competitive advantage is categorically a primary goal of every firm that aims at advancing. Week 6 - 26th October In AAC I have learned about referencing and understanding of the professional report, which are essential tools for academic writing and researching. I learned that referencing and expert report, alongside writing skills, will improve my research skills and foster originality in my writings. In CIM, I have learned about Toxic Leadership and the dark side of the leadership. Such a leader is dysfunction because they leave the organization in a poorer state than they found it just by abusing the leader-followers relationship. Therefore, I learned that leader-follower relationship is an important element. In IMM I have learned about social media in marketing, and how the combination of the two can be used to enhance business growth. It reminded me that almost all of my family members are registered to one social site, or another and one could easily sell things through the media. At one point a friend chatted with me on Facebook and told me on his phone that he wanted to sell. I was interested and arranged for a meeting to look at the phone. Week 7 - 2nd November In ACC I have learned about report writing and the academic referencing styles such as APA, MLA, Harvard, Oscolar, Turabian and Chicago. To enhance my learning in this, I did more personal research besides the class work. I also practiced more report writing aside from class assignments. IMM I have learned about market entry, which helped in completing the assignment on Cider's accession to the Russian market, specifically to the youth age group. Relatively, CIM taught me about leadership gender and diversity. The consideration of such factors in leadership is vital to the modern society. Week 8 9th October This is a reading week in it I get to practice my reading skills, especially in the English language. Reading weekly newspapers and magazines in the school library helped me to develop the right attitude towards the english language. This is necessary for the Academic English and academic essay writing in ACC. At this point, I learnt to practice the referencing and academic style acquired in the previous weeks. In IMM, I have acquired product and services introduction into a new market. I have also heard about brand as marketing tool. These lead to another lesson in CIM about organization culture. It is about the common procedures and policies of an organization that enhances cohesiveness. Week 9 - 6th November In ACC, I did an examination of my Academic Report Writing skills. This is the second assignment on this subject, meant to give a view of my progress. There was also a review of tutorials on the same before and after the examination, to highlight weak points. All of these helped to put a mark on my progress in the learning process. In IMM I examined my international communication progress in marketing, and also examined my understanding of organizational change in CIM. This week was mainly about tracking learning progress and marking the milestones of goal achievement. Week 10 - 23rd November After the first and second assignment, ACC has helped me in developing confidence and the right approach to examinations. This week is about sharpening my exam techniques through reflective learning, thus reflective learning diary. On that note, I revised and reviewed my past exams to know how to answer examinations appropriately. Otherwise, lessons from IMM were about product distribution logistics. In addition, CIM in this week, was about psychological contracts and work expectations. In these topics I enjoyed the discussion on the different generations such as baby boomers, Millennia’s, generation G and Z Week 11 – 30th November For the business oriented, IMM advanced more and in this we tackled Global strategies and Niche Marketing for SME’S. It gave a global perspective on international business, hence international management. On the other hand, we had a guest lecture for CIM, who talked about a GM discussing leadership and management, and his experience in one of the biggest companies in the world. That was an enjoyable experience as it reminded me of the goals and objectives I had set to achieve. For ACC, I did a review of reflective learning tutorials. © 2014 Grammarly, Inc. Read More