Units Selected and the Reason For My Choice
The units I have decided to undertake are:
Unit 1: Career Management Skills this unit helped me to accurately study my skills and ability and taught valuable lessons. Undertaking this unit helped me as to how I can promote my skills to potential employers in the future when I go into the graduate market.
Unit 4: Relating Knowledge to the Work Situation This is allowed me to develop a focus on the specific jobs I am doing in terms of the skills, knowledge and experience (and motivation required. Completing the unit has allows me a better understanding of the skills required to undertake my jobs using theories of interpersonal behaviour.
By the end of the unit I did not only analyse my present job, but I also had the skills to analyse future jobs. This is a really useful skill in seeking employment.
Unit 6: Working With other in this unit I examined how my work colleagues and me interact in a variety of situations. In particular, I identified group behaviour and developing ways of making contribution to groups and teams more effectively.
At the end of this unit, I got a deeper understanding of the issues, by the end of the unit I was be able to demonstrate my ability to:
Identify individual work relationships;
Recognise the nature of team working and your own contribution to the team;
Adopt appropriate team working behaviour according to developing group dynamics;
- Identify any personal barriers to effective working with colleagues.
Unit 8: Self-Management Skills. This unit emphasised on my ability to set myself sensible, measurable, achievable, realistic, time related goals. It offered me the opportunity to research into my own goals assuring I had the ability to monitor them successfully. Completing this module has really helped me to organise myself and assure I am able to manage my time more effectively.
Analysis
Undertaking the units explained above brought to my attention, that vast improvements were required to further develop my team working and critically thinking skills. Completing the units it continuously appeared clearly how much I needed to build on my team working skills, particularly through completing unit six. Completing the units also clearly outlined my ability to think critically needed brushing in order to assist me within my career and my time during university.
Completing these units has made me realise how important team working skills are not only within my current employment but also within university. Building on these skills will not only help my ability to perform effectively at university and work, but will also assist me when I go in to the graduate market. As I have been conducting research into the graduate market it has continuously shown how important it is to have the ability to think critically and work as part of a team. Therefore it will be an advantage for me to assure I improve these skills whilst I am at university to assist me within the future and also through my time remaining at university.
To assure I can work as part of a team successfully communication skills are amongst the most important personal transferable skills I need to develop.
If you can explain your own ideas and learnt from those of others, you will be able to get the most of your time in higher education and your working and social life.
I have come to learn the most important tasks when working as part of a team are, being supportive by talking about my difficulties and concerns as others may feel the same way, and help each other to find solutions. It is important to be encouraging by letting team members know when they do well and assure I ask their opinion. It is vital I am cooperative with constructive criticism if I disagree with another persons ideas and if the issue needs to be addressed, I will assure I phrase my suggestions in a positive way, I will suggest ways forward for improvement.
The most important part is I communicate effectively by assuring I am clear about what I want to say. I will make sure I am getting my message across by using the right language for my audience capturing and keeping their attention, and making sure that my body language backs up what I am saying, watch and understand other peoples reactions, listen and understand other peoples reactions and follow their train of thought, respond to what they say and how they act.
The other skill which I felt needed vast improvement was my ability to think critically.
Critically thinking means weighing up the arguments and evidence for and against. Edward Glaser, who devolved a test of critical thinking, defined it in this way (1941):
Critical thinking calls for a persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed from of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusion to which it tends.
Cottrell. S (1999)
I believe completing these units has offered me the opportunity to think analytically through additional processes. I now have the ability to stand back from the information given exam it in detail from many angels, checking whether it is completely accurate, checking whether each statement follows logically from what went before, and looking for possible flows from reasoning, the evidence, or the way the conclusions are drawn. Comparing the same issue from the point of view of other theorists or writers, being able to argue why one set of opinions results or conclusions is preferable to another one and assuring I check for hidden assumptions.
Reflection Development and Conclusion
Completing these units it has brought to my attention that my weaknesses within my career and university life are my critical thinking and team working skills.
This has been a great advantage as it has enabled me to identify my major weaknesses and develop them into strengths. This has not only had a positive effect on my employment, but also offered me the opportunity to strive for success within university when completing modules or undertaking exams. I feel I am know able to work as part of a team more effectively assuring that everyone’s efforts are recognised and view points are heard.
I also feel I have the ability to critically analyse and think issues over in a clear and concise manner. I feel I have the ability to question and challenge viewpoints, ideas and concepts and to make judgements about the value of evidence, concepts and ideas has defiantly improved. I have the ability to think independently as completing these units has offered me the opportunity to criticise my skills and abilities, through which I have gained a lot more knowledge as to what my weakneses are and how to develop them using them to my advantage.
I have really enjoyed this module it has offered me the opportunity to enhance my current skills at the same time learning new skills, helping me mange myself within my employment and university life. I believe I have learnt some very valuable lessons completing this module which will not only assist me within the last year of my degree, but also when I research into the graduate market.
Teamwork and critically thinking are core areas within any career; therefore improving these skills will enable me to present myself to future employers successfully being at an advantage to other graduates.
I have also really enjoyed the way the module leader Gill Gollins as structured the units and summative report, Gill Gollins and I discussed dates as to when each unit was to be completed and handed in. Therefore the workload was not as extensive as majority of the units were completed before the deadline. I believe this has offered me the opportunity to adapt better time management skills, as I feel I have learnt a valuable lesson to assure I complete my units before hand setting myself deadlines. Completing this module has taught me this is possible and a very effective way to organise yourself.
