Learning Skills

Learning is referred to a process of acquiring knowledge or skills by an individual (Boud and Feletti, 2013). Learning performance, behaviour, and experiences shape an individual’s personality and support his/her academic career. I have learned various skills and techniques while studying in BA (Foundation Year) at Bucks New University which are necessary for gaining academic strengths and which enable me to become a successful student. These learning skills enable students to address the issues faced by them during the academic career and improve the abilities to effectively understand the subject and achieve expertise in the same. This essay will focus on evaluating the factors which are necessary for university students to become successful. In this essay, I will analyse my academic strengths and weaknesses and whether they are suitable for making me an effective university student. In this essay, I will also make strategies to address the issues which I face to improve them in the future.

Students create PowerPoint presentation (PPT) in the university which assists them in developing the skill of presenting their work. I learned how to develop a presentation while working with my team members and watching videos on YouTube. I learned how to make PPTs by watching online tutorials and practicing on my own by checking different settings and options. Referencing is the process of acknowledging another person’s work which is used while preparing an assignment to give them proper credit. While preparing the PPT, I read and understand the theories given in the book. I paraphrased those theories and provided a reference by citing their work. While presenting an idea or working on an assignment, it is important to learn how to work as a team.

Teamwork is an important skill which I have learned by making my own presentation with other pees on the case study of BWM. While working as a team, we divided the roles as per the theory of Belbin’s team roles (Belbing, 2012). I was the co-ordinator of the team since I was engaging actively with other members and directing them to achieve our targets. I was playing the role of the monitor evaluator as well since I was free from the influence of emotional factors. I weighed up the facts to ensure that each fact is focused on achieving our common goal. I worked with four other students on this report in which we evaluated the internal and external environment, the impact of globalisation and corporate social responsibility of BMW. While working in a team, all team members have to clearly distribute the work which they are going to do and form a basic plan to ensure that all members are on the same page. I was excited to work with my peers since I learned different perspectives and how to work in a team. We learned how to reference a book or other works which we have used in our assignment.

The first key skill which a successful university student is required is academic writing. As a student, we have to prepare reports, write essays and create presentation which requires a thorough understanding of academic writing. During my studies, I have realised that academic writing is all about critical evaluation of the facts to create my own personal opinion rather than just agreeing with the author. I learned how to write reports and prepare essay which are crucial skills for university students in which they have to evaluate secondary data such as books, articles, and online resources. While learning how to make a report, I had to go through the lecture notes provided through VLE and Bucks Blackboard access, and I also looked at some sample of previous assignments. I gained thorough information about essay and report writing through VLE and Bucks Blackboard access which helped me a lot.

Teamwork Skills

The second key skill which I have developed to become a successful university student is how to present my work to others. The university students have to present their data in front of others including teachers and peers; therefore, effective understanding of how to present an idea or concept is substantial for a student. Time management is a key skill which is necessary for becoming a successful university student. As a student, I have a busy schedule since I have to prepare my assignments, learn new topics, attend classes, and also find time for personal hobbies. Effective management of all these skills are necessary for successful university students, therefore, time management is a key skill. I have found difficulty in managing time as a university student. Many times I felt pressured and frustrated because I am unable to manage my time in order to achieve my desired goals. However, I am working hard to improve my time management skills by developing a strategy. I used Remente app to manage my time and set goals. The app helped me plan my day and bring a balance into my life by setting relevant goals. Through this app, I track my daily goal progress which helped me achieve them. I have also decided to read books on this topic such as Control Your Stress & Manage Your Time by Georgios P. Piperopoulos and Daily Planning by Sarah Simpson.

The skill to effectively write an assignment is very important for the students since they learn by making assignments on different topics. It is expected from the university students that they know how to prepare assignments since it is a key part of their learning process. I have realised that in the beginning, I had faced many difficulties relating to the preparation of assignments since I did not know how to prepare reports. I found it difficult to use and understand the tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel which are necessary to prepare assignments. However, I overcome these issues by reading lecture materials provided by Bucks New University and researching on my own. I watched online tutorials to check out different options and features available in both these tools which helped me in preparing my assignments. Microsoft Word is my favourite application which I used the most while preparing my reports and essays. Firstly, I add a cover page of the assignment in which I include title of the report or essay along with my information. I also use the option to header and footer to include page number and student information. I referenced my work through the citations and bibliography option given in the references tab in Microsoft Word.

Students can identify their personality in order to understand the most effective way for them to learn new concepts and subjects which will help them in becoming a successful university student. I have realised that I am an activist as per the principles of Honey and Mumford theory. An activist is defined as a person who learns by doing things (Moon, 2013). I have realised that I learn something better if I experienced it by myself rather than listening or watching the experience of another person. I have an open mind, and I prefer to seek challenges during my learning. I prefer to brainstorm in groups to find solutions to different problems during learning. I also regularly engage with my teachers and peers to understand their opinions and find solutions for different academic problems. After evaluating my learning behaviour, I have realised that I did not prefer to stand back to gather and process that data. I prefer to engage in the learning activity to challenge myself to find new solutions and learn along the way. I prefer to work in teams, and I prefer puzzles and role-playing rather than coaching and observational activities. I have realised that university students are required to understand their personality since it assists them in finding out ways which are most suitable for them to learn and achieve success in their academic career.

As per my experience, I have found that there are various skills and abilities which a student needs to develop in order to become a successful university student and pass the undergraduate exams. As per Brown, Bull, and Pendlebury (2013), by developing solid arguments, students can critically analyse the data which they gather and find solutions for different problems. I realised that all I was doing was reading about these tools rather than using them. As I am an activist, I started to engage in the activities to learn these tools by experiencing them myself rather than just reading about them. Now I have overcome my fear, and I have learned how to use these tools while preparing my assignments. With practice, I started experimenting with different options in order to improve my presentation. A good example in the PowerPoint presented which I made on BMW. Our team used Microsoft PowerPoint to improve our presentation by adding pictures and changing the overall design.

In conclusion, these are different skills which are necessary to become a successful university student. I had learned many of these skills while studying, and I am currently working on some to become a better student. My strategy is to improve my performance by working on my time management skills and engaging more in the research process to develop more solid arguments while preparing reports and presentations.

Miroslava Marinova

BA (Foundation Year) Group B

Personal Analysis: 

• An activist who is willing to engage in academic activities in order to learn new topics and build my academic strengths.
• I have successfully adopted many skills which are necessary to become an effective university student.
• Teamwork is my forte, and I improved my skills while working on a project with four other peers.
• I applied the principles of Belbin’s team roles while working on the project in order to find my role in the team along with other members.
• I learn new things by engaging in the process and experiencing them rather than reading about them.
• My preferable way of learning includes solving puzzles, brainstorming, problem-solving, role-playing and others.

Setting Goals:

• My goal is to learn and master the key skills which are necessary to become a successful university student.
• I wanted to improve my ability to develop arguments while preparing reports by critically analysing the data and asking questions of myself.
• My goal is to improve my time management skills so that I can effectively manage my studies and personal life.
• Increasing my contribution to the class by engaging with teachers and fellow students to build confidence and build my academic strengths.
• Read more books on the topic of time management to learn this skill thoroughly which will assist me in balancing my life as a student.

Key Skills:

• During my presentation, I learned how to present my work in front of others, and during the process, I also learned how to prepare assignments.
• I learned how to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint while working on the report which I prepared while writing in academic style.
• While preparing the report, I was able to coordinate between members while directing them to ensure that we remain on the same page to achieve our goal.
• These skills are crucial for a university student to learn which assist in building academic strengths and improving overall academic career.

Personal Objectives:

• I wanted to build my academic strengths by mastering the skills which are necessary for academic students.
• Learn new skills which will help in achieving my career goals, and they will also support me in reaching my goals which I have set as a university student.
• Increase my engagement with teachers and fellow students to build strong relationships with them and learn from their experiences.

References

Belbin, R.M. (2012) Beyond the team. Abingdon: Routledge.

Boud, D. and Feletti, G. (2013) The challenge of problem-based learning. Abingdon: Routledge.

Brown, G.A., Bull, J. and Pendlebury, M. (2013) Assessing student learning in higher education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Moon, J.A. (2013) Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Abingdon: Routledge.