Skills and Experiences Acquired In the Past 12 Months - Lab Report Example

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT APPRAISAL SCHEDULE Skills and Experiences Acquired In the Past 12 Months In the last twelve months, I have managed to acquire different language; Chinese. In addition, I have gained a lot of knowledge relating to how business is being accomplished in different parts of the world. My success in learning a foreign language was a thing of joy to me because I was consistent in studying vocabulary and grammar from different sources like books and the internet. Moreover, I used to practice with fellow foreign individuals with whom I used to work with on a daily basis. I proved my language skills through writing different tests as they were good motivation which pushed me forward in learning to master the different foreign languages which initially I was not aware of. Likewise, in the mastering my new language skills, I listened to podcast as it enabled me to develop a positive feeling for the language in question while also allowing me to learn more and more words. The use of such devices like the podcast enabled me to understand how different sentences are put together hence enabled me to learn my new language skills just like a baby learns to talk a mother’s language (Dyer, Gregersen & Christensen, 2011). Skills to Develop Throughout the Inquiry Through my inquiry for innovation networks, I found it important since it is like to develop skills for discipline because fostering innovation skills in any area is greatly dependent on the disciplines taught. This will include having the grasp of technical skills, skills in thinking and creativity, behavioral and socials skills. Likewise, through the inquiry, I would like to develop skills in pedagogies which will constitute problem based learning at site, cooperative learning, and meta-cognitive learning. This will be tremendously essential to me because it will enable me to focus on different aspects of innovation like design thinking amongst others. In addition, throughout the inquiry I would like to attain the skills of assessment in order for me to develop and assess various creativity aspects and other habits of the mind related to innovation. Lastly, I would like to develop the skills for international mobility through the inquiry because it will be crucial in enabling me foster skills I have acquired from different sources to match those of the globalised economy (Kuhlthau, Caspari, & Maniotes, 2007). Description of My Contribution to Learning My contribution in the learning process towards innovation networks would be placing myself at the center of what happens in all situations. This will enable me to achieve both cognition and growth as I will be self regulated hence able to control my mind and emotions to set various realistic goals and monitor my progress throughout the process. Moreover, I will also make the process of learning a social practice therefore through interacting with different individuals; I will be able to gain new knowledge and ideas (Alonzo & Gotwals, 2012). Moreover, I will make my emotions part of my learning process because by positively believing in my capabilities, I will be able to understand several aspects which learning without emotions cannot achieve. Likewise, my positive emotions towards learning will play a great role in pushing me to further learn and discover new things by myself or through interactions and research. Moreover, I will also be stretched in my learning process because by experiencing challenges in my course of learning, I will be able to develop the urge to know about things. Thus will always be engaging in such things like group work and interactions amongst other things to improve my skills or acquire new skills in different aspects. I will also connect my learning process across several disciplines in order to reach out into the real world because most skills when studied singly are much more theoretical than practical. This will also enable me to develop the skills of transferring skills and adapting in different environment and situations I find myself in (Lencioni, 2013). How to Improve My Contribution to Learning I might improve my contribution to learn through such ways as stopping any blame game that may arise in the process of learning a new idea or exercising a skill. This will greatly be essential as I will be able to take responsibility of my learning process. I will also improve my contribution to learn by understanding the learning process in question and critically analyze the best method or way to achieve it. This will give me an idea of things expected from me in the learning process or exercise. Moreover, to completely improve on my contribution towards learning I will analyze my strengths and weaknesses related to my learning process and try to amend the weaknesses while exploiting the different kinds of strengths I have. Likewise, I can improve on my contribution towards learning by developing the right attitude to enable me achieve the desired aptitude needed for effective learning. I will also improve on the situation by understanding that the process of learning is self discovery therefore I will be able to do a lot of things for myself and without relying on the help of others to complete or achieve various aspects of my learning process. Lastly, I will concentrate on what works best for me and what does not work for in the learning process. This will be essential towards my contribution to learning as I will be able to identify areas or strategies of learning which are not productive on my side (Kanaga & Kossler, 2011). Challenges Experienced During the Inquiry During my inquiries concerning innovation networks, I have experienced challenges in that most individuals i interacted with were deductive in their reasoning or thinking making it extremely difficult for me to grasp or understand the various issues they were addressing. Secondly, most individuals and resources came across or researched about presented their ideas in a lecturing format yet I was accustomed to the use of visual cues. This made it difficult initially as I was forced to slowly adapt to the mode of type of popular communication method which was being used by the majority. Thirdly, in the course of inquiry most individuals and resources I came across presented their ideas by thinking and talking globally yet I preferred sequential steps especially when an idea or phenomenon was being explained to me. Lastly , the course of inquiry also proved to be challenging for me because a much as I understood some of the points or issue being debated, I needed an extra assistance from my mates to better understand the concepts which were initially not clear to me (Govindarajan & Trimble, 2010). Addressing Challenges Experienced In The Course Of Inquiry However, I have addressed the following challenges through initiating the following steps. The first step I have taken is to identify the goals of the inquiry and this has helped me a lot in determining what idea is to be achieved hence enabling me to capture the knowledge behind the inquiry, skills and values that I am expected to acquire in the entire process. The second step I have taken is to identify the objectives of the inquiry and in this I have been able to evaluate my progress in the inquiry process hence taking steps which are essential in meeting the goals of the inquiry. The third step I have taken towards addressing the challenges I have encountered involves specifying different approaches used and those to use in tackling the inquiry. This has enabled me to develop different and effective methods to address various aspects of the inquiry and to evaluate the approaches I took towards the inquiry. An example is that in specifying the approach to use in my inquiry, I have been able to consider time issues which is extremely significant towards inquiries. The last step I have taken towards addressing the challenges I have encountered involves evaluating and sharing the results of my inquiry. This has been resourceful to me because I have found assistance from various parties hence making my inquiry process easier as I gain new knowledge and ideas on the different aspects where I might have been wrong. How My Group Is Managing Inquiry My group manages the inquiry through a systematic understanding and action in all major aspects. The group achieves this by bringing together those who share similar concern towards the inquiry by talking about interest and concerns and agreeing on the focus of the inquiry. Likewise, the group creates a set of questions which they wish to find answers through the inquiry and then take various actions or practices which contributes to the greater results achieved in the process of the inquiry. Secondly, the group manages the inquiry by incorporating the actions or steps which have been selected and record the outcomes of the inquiry through understanding each person’s experience in the process. Thirdly, the group then decides to immerse itself in the experiences gained from the inquiry. This implies that they start to understand what is going on in the inquiry and in the process learn new ideas or reshape their earlier perceptions of experiences towards the inquiry. There are two outcomes which the group always looks out for on the purpose of the inquiry. First is that they ensure that they are not led away from the original ideas and proposals of the new innovations and second, that they do not lose their awareness and remove their focus on the inquiry group. After achieving all the above stated, the group assembles again to consider the original question of the inquiry while considering their new experiences throughout the entire process. The end results of this is that they may always decide on reshaping the focus or question of the inquiry or reject the question and post totally new questions for the inquiry. Moreover, throughout the whole process, the group always ensures that it engages in reflection in the different actions they decide to use in the inquiry process. My Preferred Roles/Tasks/Skills within the Group My preferred roles, tasks or skills within the groups is always the ability to showcase deeper understanding of how to use contemporary, inquiry based approaches in the groups setup. This always proves resourceful to the group because I am always able to direct them to apply the different strategies or questions they want to address in the inquiry into practical or real life scenarios therefore enabling them to have a perfect understanding of how the inquiry may prove to be useful in real life. Secondly, I am always interested or tasked with the responsibility of reflection, collaboration and planning for the groups. Whenever, my group is conducting an inquiry, I am always the one to oversee the whole process by ensuring that each and every group member contributes towards the inquiry and assist the group in reflecting the outcomes of the inquiry. through my reflection, I am always able to provide various solutions or raise specific questions which might not have come to the group’s attention at the initial phase. Lastly, my skills within the group always center on my ability to offer strategies which are essential for the group especially those which encourage other group members to become increasingly independent in the inquiry. My Biggest Mistake during the Project My biggest mistake during this project has been failing to keep a to-do list. I have always felt that in the course of this project there are some important aspects which I was expected to do but failed by not doing them. Prioritizing the task on things to do for me has always been a challenge because at times I picked on other tasks which were not important and left those which were important and needed my attention in the project. My second regret during the project was that I experienced difficulties in setting personal goals at the first stages of the project. This prevented me from achieving a lot during the project because I was able to accomplish certain things like managing my time effectively in the course of the project and separating distractions from important things. My third regret in the course of the project was procrastinations. I used to postpone or put off task which I was supposed to be focusing on and later felt guilty for not accomplishing the task in question. The result was that I developed a difficult feeling in doing the work and the result was that I never achieved the task on time or completely fail in achieving it. Lastly, through the project, I regretted taking too much especially from my fellow group members. I used to find it difficult to say not to my fellow group members even when the point or request they were making was impossible. This increased stress and performance levels during the project and the end results was that I found myself undertaking lot of task even for my group mates in the project. What I Have Learnt From My Mistakes From the mistakes made in the project, I learnt never to take too much of anything especially when conducting or participating in a project. This I know will greatly aid towards reducing stress levels I experience while undertaking a project and my general performance in the course of the project. Secondly, I have learned to avoid procrastination by accomplishing task within or specified deadlines to avoid completing task later or not ending up participating in the task. Likewise, I believe that this will really assist me in not dreading tasks allocated to me during projects no matter how challenging they may seem. Thirdly, I have learnt to prioritize on different aspects of my project to avoid regrets and failure associated with not prioritizing on different aspects at the end of the project. This I know will work for me in future because I will able to identify important things and work on them first before shifting my concentrations to things which are of less importance. Lastly, I have learnt on the importance of keeping a to-do list while conducting or participating in a project. I know this is resourceful to me because I will be able to determine what I am expected to do at different stages of the inquiry or project therefore saving myself with the problems associated with what one is expected to accomplish at different stages in the projects. Likewise, I do believe that this will be resourceful towards improving my performance throughout the project (Govindarajan & Trimble, 2010). Things I Have Found Valuable during Experience During my experience in the project, I found the value of my work experience with foreigners and group members very valuable. This is because my experiences during the project prepared me for a transition state which today has made me a better person because I have learnt new ideas and expanded the ideas I earlier had. Likewise, I gained career readiness because the experience of working with foreigners and group members has taught me a lot on how to interact with other employees in different working environments and conditions as my occupational skills have been tremendously increased. My second valuable experience in the project was to have an opportunity of participating in the project itself. I was impressed with the different tools my group used in making various decisions and implementing them. I also loved how we talked individuals into participating in the project as this provided me with valuable learning experience that I could take back from them and share with my group. Moreover, I really found my participation experience in the project a very valuable aspect because through it we talked different individuals into participating in job related knowledge and discovered new skills and knowledge of innovation methodology which are affective and applicable in a real world scenario (Snyder & Duarte, 2003). Business Skills Learnt From the Inquiry From the inquiry, I have learnt various business skills like job and company knowledge which is extremely important to me as it has prepared me to enter into the job market by knowing what to expect from different employers and the skills they expect from me while working for them. Secondly, I have acquired the skills of knowledge and innovation methodology as I am now able to think logically and come up with new ideas and innovations which are extremely important in the business world. Likewise, through the inquiry, I have learnt to identify initiatives which are critical to the development and concentration of various business strategies used by companies and organizations today (Tønnessen, 2014). Bibliography ALONZO, A. C., & GOTWALS, A. W. (2012). Learning progressions in science current challenges and future directions. Rotterdam, SensePublishers. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1030927. DYER, J., GREGERSEN, H. B., & CHRISTENSEN, C. M. (2011). The innovator's DNA: mastering the five skills of disruptive innovators. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&A N=674863. GOVINDARAJAN, V., & TRIMBLE, C. (2010). The other side of innovation: solving the execution challenge. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&A N=675062. KANAGA, K., & KOSSLER, M. E. (2011). How to Form a Team Five Keys to High Performance. New York, NY, John Wiley & Sons. http://nbn- resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201412062442. KUHLTHAU, C. C., CASPARI, A. K., & MANIOTES, L. K. (2007). Guided inquiry learning in the 21st century. Westport, Conn, Libraries Unlimited. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&A N=226615. LENCIONI, P. M. (2013). The five dysfunctions of a team a leadership fable. San Francisco, Calif, Jossey-Bass. http://rbdigital.oneclickdigital.com. SNYDER, N. T., & DUARTE, D. L. (2003). Strategic Innovation. New Jersey, Jossey-Bass. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=162826. TØNNESSEN, T. (2014). Managing Process Innovation through Exploitation and Exploration A Study on Combining TQM and BPR in the Norwegian Industry. Wiesbaden, Imprint: Springer Gabler. Read More