Personal Development, Self-Management and Reflection - Book Report/Review Example

Self Evaluation Page Skills needed for higher education learning. The skills necessary for higher education learning have traditionally been readiness to learn, examination technique skills, library skills, maturity, note-taking skills, motivation, referencing skills, presentation skills, writing skills and honesty. Also important are cognitive skills, such as ability, motivation and achievement (Haggis, 2009). Maturity and honesty are included in this analysis, because immaturity may lead to a student who does not take his or her coursework seriously, preferring to “party” at night instead of studying, and preferring to miss class instead of attending. This is probably particularly true in Universities which are not in the same town that the student grew up, which means that the student will be on his or her own for the first time in their lives. Away from parents’ prying eyeballs, these students might run wild, which would lead to missing classes, examinations and failing out of school. “Honesty” is also on this list because of the risk of academic dishonesty. Students may miss classes and buy notes for the classes, may not write their own papers and buy them from a service, may pilfer former examinations to study for current examinations, etc. While any or all of these transgressions may result in higher grades for the student, the fact is, the student is “cheating” him or herself by not actually developing the learning skills that are necessary to get ahead in today’s post-university world. These are all skills which are either self-explanatory, intuitive or cliched. Most everybody knows that to succeed, one should have some kind of examination skills, or know how to organize a report or essay. To probe a little deeper, however, in what makes an academic career successful, one must look to the research on this. One of the skills that research had indicated is important in today’s world is on-line learning. Students may not know how to learn online, and it would seem that conducting courses or lectures on-line might be a challenge for some. However, as online learning is a learning technique which has been used increasingly, and will be moreso in the future (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004), this is a skill that students should master. Thus, students need to become tech savvy, which would enhance their online experience, and should learn how to cooperate and collaborate with one another, and the instructor, online. Related to this is that students also need to have an overall working knowledge of today’s technologies, as educational facilities are increasingly using laptops, blogs, vlogs, podcasts and educational software to disseminate information (Ricks et al. 2011). While this covers what today’s students must know before embarking in higher education, there are also traditional skills which are maybe not as intuitive as the skills mentioned above. Nevertheless, these skills are still important. For instance, students need to be able to be reciprocal and cooperative with one another, and know how to work and learn with one another in a group (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). Research also shows how important facilities such as laboratories and libraries are to student learning, so knowing how to navigate these facilities is also an important skill to have (Astin, 1999). Based upon self-evaluation, identify the skills gap that exists for me personally. One of the skills that I sometimes struggle with is motivation. I understand that it is a marathon, not a sprint, and that higher education is a valuable process. Nonetheless, I find that my motivation starts to flag about halfway through the semester, as everything starts to become a grind. The first week, or so, of school, is great, and I am excited to learn, but, the day after day of coursework, homework, and trying to fit in a social life makes things difficult. Beyond that, I also know that I need to brush up on some of my technical skills. Since technology is such an important part of learning, I realize that there will always be innovations based upon all the newest technology which comes out. While I have mastered the current technology – computers, blogs, podcasts, etc. – I know that technology is always changing and that education will change with it. Therefore, I feel that I need to be better attuned to changing technology so that I can keep up with the educational and learning changes that might come with these new technologies. Reflective Writings Referencing conventions – I have learned that there are different kinds of referencing, depending upon the subject matter. Some of the more popular kinds of referencing are Harvard, MLA, and APA. While APA and Harvard are somewhat similar, there are minor differences, as far as the reference list at the end of the paper. MLA is quite a bit different from these two methods of referencing. What the benefits of learning these referencing requirements is that they will possibly be necessary in the working world, as different disciplines will require different referencing requirements. Therefore, it is possible that knowing these referencing requirements will give me an advantage over somebody who was not taught these different referencing requirements. Also, having to do different referencing requirements forces me to pay attention to details, as these referencing requirements are very different in their details. The challenge for this topic is that there are so many different kinds of referencing, not just the major ones that I listed, and each of these have different requirements not just for the referencing list, but also for citations and headings. It sometimes gets confusing, and, also, it seems that, every year, there is a different method for the referencing requirements, so I have to make sure that the particular citation method that I am observing is the latest edition. It sometimes gets confusing, and I find that, even though I know the basic rules, I am still having to constantly look up the different citation requirements. Report Writing I have learned how to research, write and organize reports. This has been very helpful because it has taught me how to outline my thoughts, as I am researching a topic, and it is also very helpful in that I have learned how to research well through learning how to write a report. I found that, before I learned how to research and write a formal report, that my thoughts were often haphazard. I would research topics, then not be able to put them down onto paper in a coherent fashion. However, through formal training in writing reports, this has become less of a problem for me, and my writing has flowed better because of it. I believe that my skills that I have learned through report writing will carry me through post graduation, because, as I stated, I have learned to organize my thoughts much better through this kind of training. This has obvious implications for real-life, even if I am not necessarily involved in a job that might involve report writing. For instance, just e-mailing a colleague will be easier for me, as I will be better able to succinctly, and in an organized fashion, state what it is that I am needing from my co-worker. I will be better able to write memoranda to my superiors as well. Learning how to research will also bear obvious fruits in my working life, as researching is a key skill in any kind of job endeavor. Presentation Techniques Presentation techniques is another very beneficial skill which I have learned, and it is one which will carry me through my career after I graduate. Presentation techniques involves mastering the art of using Power Point to make polished and professional presentations. As with report writing, learning how to make presentations has been beneficial not just because I have learned how to use Power Point to make these presentations, but also I have learned how to organize my thoughts. More importantly, I have learned what nuggets of information are the most important to present to people. This is important because reports are important, as are the details, but there is a core message in every report. This core message is what needs to be fleshed out in a Power Point presentation, so learning how to identify and present this core message is a skill which has been learned, and this is perhaps the most beneficial skill learned. Of course, learning presentation skills has not been without challenges. The largest challenge, besides learning how to identify the key principles in any message, was learning how to use the Power Point program. This is a very intricate program, but is a powerful one. However, since it involves so many different commands and ways to make presentations, it was somewhat difficult to learn to master. However, I have found that, once you master it, it is a tool that can be used throughout one’s career. Therefore, I am happy to have mastered this program, and I feel that it will give me a leg up over my competition if my competition does not also have this skill set. Learning Process Lastly, I have learned much just through the basic learning process. For instance, I have learned that there are cognitive skills which should be mastered, including some memorization techniques. I have also learned that I tend to be a tactile learner, which means that I learn by doing a project. Other things which have been helpful is learning how to collaborate with others in groups - sharing information, etc., and how to lead and follow in these groups. This has also been a challenge for me, as far as group learning goes. This is because it is sometimes difficult to do group projects and group learning, because everybody learns at a different pace, and everybody works in a different pace. At the same time, however, it has been helpful to learn how to delegate and learn that what to assign to which member of the group, as they need to be assigned a skill or report that might not only complement their strengths, but shore up their weaknesses, and this is important as well. That said, in a future work placement, knowing how to collaborate will be an invaluable skill. This is because I would envision that I will be a part of a team in my organization, and this is always a challenge to learn how to delegate projects throughout the team. I would imagine that I would also use my other learning process skills as well – knowing that I am a tactile learner will be very helpful to me as I know how to process the information that comes my way. References Astin, A. 1999, “Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education,” Journal of College Student Development, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 518-529. Chickering, A. & Gamson, Z. 1987, “Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education,” Washington Center News. [online] Available at: http://www.uis.edu/liberalstudies/students/documents/sevenprinciples.pdf Garrison, R. & Kanuka, H. 2004, “Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education,” Internet and Higher Education, vol. 7, pp. 95-105. Haggis, T. 2009, “What have we been thinking of? A critical overview of 40 years of student learning research in higher education,” Studies in Higher Education, vol.. 34, no. 4, pp. 377-390. Ricks, J., Naquin, M., Vest, A., Hurtt, D. & Cole, D. 2011, “Examining the results of podcast relaxation techniques in higher education,” Journal of Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 68-73. Read More