This means that I tend to look at things from several different points of view before coming to a conclusion. Although this can be considered a good thing, there are also drawbacks associated with It. For Instance, a reflector Is usually quite quiet during group discussions as I listen what everyone else has to say before speaking up myself. I also scored quite highly in the theorist’ section. Again this has its pros and cons. An advantage of being a theorist is that I work through things in a logical way, analyzing data to come to an objective conclusion.
A drawback is that theorists don’t tend to accept things that don’t fit patterns and consider them to be outright wrong. The two styles I scored low in were ‘activist’ and ‘pragmatist’. Some things I could do in order to develop my activist style are: taking the lead in group discussions; making myself change activities frequently throughout the day in order to fragment it more and trying out new things on a regular basis. Additionally, some things I could do to become more of a pragmatist are: producing action plans in meetings and finding new practical ways of doing things.
Another questionnaire we undertook was the Modified Beeline Group Role questionnaire, this helped me learn what type of group worker I am, a ‘monitor evaluator’. This means that I am very analytical and listen to what everyone has to ay. This is consistent with my high score in the reflector section of Honey and Uniform’s questionnaire. However, being a monitor evaluator also means that I can be critical of other peoples ideas and come across In a negative manner. Using the VS..’ model, I realized that I am a kinesthesia learner.
This means that I learn best by doing activities around the learning. Useful techniques to develop this learning style are to teach what I have learnt to other people, this will help to cement the Information I have learnt. Another thing I could do Is attempt practice tests and see here my strengths and weaknesses Ill In what I have learnt and go over the topics I need to again. Throughout the semester, I have Identified many different ways of Improving myself through releasing where my weaknesses lie.
One of my major weaknesses is that am something until I am completely sure that I have all the relevant information needed in order to do it correctly. Often the consequence of this is that my assignments can be left to the last minute as I have planned things with a lot of detail and gone over all the relevant notes until I am completely satisfied, leaving me stressed at the last minute trying to get it done. I have developed a ‘SMART’ plan to help develop and better myself. SMART stands for: specific; measurable; achievable; realistic and time-bound.
One of my objectives is to keep on top of my work so that I don’t get stressed at the last minute. I can do this by going over lectures straight after, while the information is still fresh in my mind. Additionally, I can create a revision timetable so that I split my time between modules correctly as I usually end up focusing more on one module. A revision timetable will also help me to manage my time better and not leave things until the sat minute. A way of measuring my efforts is through coursework and exam results.
Being organized is important and useful in every aspect of life, ensuring things get done on time and in the correct manner. Hopefully a consequence of better time management will be excellent exam results. I am hoping to attain these in order to apply for a semester to study abroad next year, as a requirement is to have a high average result in the first year. Therefore I hope to have improved on my time management by the end of February, allowing me to have more than enough time to revise properly for my examinations and coursework. Another one of my objectives is to become more confident in public speaking.
I have always been a quiet person and find the idea of speaking in public quite scary. Something I could do to help improve myself in this area is making sure I am completely calm beforehand using some techniques learned throughout this semester, such as breathing exercises. Another way I could improve my confidence is by practicing the presentation in the mirror. Becoming a more confident speaker will be useful to me specifically as I hope to become a management consultant in the future, which will consist of many presentations to clients.
Therefore, by improving this skill now it will be very beneficial for me in the future. As part of the SD module, I have been required to undertake a plagiarism course. This consisted of several lectures and then finally an online test, in which I achieved almost full marks. This course has been very useful as before I came to university, I did not know how to correctly Harvard reference, which most of my coursework require. I learnt that even images from websites have to be correctly referenced in presentations and how to cite Journals and websites.
Plagiarism awareness is very important as it allows the people who have done the work to gain the relevant credit and avoids examiners thinking that you have copied someone else work and attempted to pass it off as your own. This could have detrimental effects, causing your work to be reported and possibly even being thrown out of university. Being able to correctly reference means that I can use other peoples work in order to I feel this module has helped me learn many things about myself: my strengths and weaknesses; what type of learner I am; how I can develop in my areas of weakness. And better myself.
