Introduction
In this essay, I will be talking about my experience at university and what I have learned. Reflecting on my past at university will improve my understanding of myself. I will learn what my weakness and strengths are and how to improve them.
Main body
-Learning style
Learning styles are very important for me to know, this is because when I am studying at university I need to know what techniques and methods I should use to learn at the optimum level. My results from the VARK questionnaire show that I am more of a visual (7) and reader (5). This means that when I learn, a visual approach will be appropriate for me. From a professional perspective I will apply my work with pictures, graphs and diagrams. This is because it is easier for me to learn which will give me a bigger understanding when I present the information.
-Skills
My skills diagnostic, test shows that my highest skill is in the organisation. This is because I like to organize my tasks and plan out my day. This will have a direct correlation with my learning style, for example, if I do not structure and plan my day it could have an effect on my ability to learn. Within a professional environment, I will organise my tasks. By doing this I will understand what tasks need to be done and at what time, therefore it will minimise the risk of mistakes such as forgetting to perform a specific task.
-Academic knowledge
Academic knowledge is very important for my ability to learn. If I widen my academic knowledge I will understand the topic at hand thus improving my chance of a higher grade on my diploma. If my academic knowledge is low it will have a direct impact on my understanding of the course. From a professional perspective, academic knowledge is very important for an employer. The higher the academic knowledge I have the more options and tasks I can perform for my employer, increasing my value to the organisation.
Throughout my time at university, I have had feedback on summative and formative assessments. Some of that feedback was based on my academic knowledge. The feedback shows that I have some understanding of academic knowledge (reading and writing), however, it needs to be improved as I could implement more of the theory into my essay.
This is the Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle. The purpose of the Gibbs reflective cycle is to help the user self-improve. They will think of an event and go through the steps. At the end of the cycle (Action Plan) you should know how to improve your experience when the event arises again.
My experience that I have come across during university in my formative assessment for operations management. I (Description) was required to write a 2,000-word essay on rationalisation in the 1900’s industrial revolution. To do this essay I had to addend lectures, seminars and read academic theories. My learning style is mainly based on reading (5) and visual (7), therefore I understood the reading but I found that I was not able to read it all. When I was writing the essay there were some problems that troubled me. Looking at my skills diagnostic test (ePortfolio) on analytical /problem solving I scored a 3. This means that I need to improve on my problem-solving. Whilst I was reading the materials for the essay I would widen my academic knowledge, however, I was not able to read it all.
During (Feeling) the event I thought that I would get a grade/feedback that I was satisfied with, however, the feedback was not. This did not upset me as I am now able to improve.
The (Evaluation) good points about this experience is that I was able to find out what I can do and what I cannot do. However, I have found out that I struggle when it comes to academic reading. I struggled to do all the reading and implementing my findings into the essay.
Now looking back (Analysis) at the situation and knowing my skills, learning style and academic knowledge I know what went wrong, and what actions I took that led to good and bad aspects of the event.
Now looking back (Conclusion and Action plan) there are aspects that would change. Look back I have noticed that I have not used all of the materials and support available for me, which I would like to use for my next essay. For example, the Boots Library offers lots of support which will help with my spelling, grammar and structure.