Preparing for Success Knowledge and Creativity: Reflection on Personal Performance

Reflection on my individual performance, behaviour, and experience in education at LSST

The following essay will elaborate on my experience as a foundation year student at London school of science and technology. During my time studying the PSKC module, I will reflect and evaluate on my strengths and weaknesses as an academic student whilst furthering my knowledge regarding the health and social science course. References will be made in accordance with the learning styles and reflective strategies such as Driscoll’s model of reflection (1994) and Kolb (1984).

In week 1, the purpose of the study session was to introduce us to the programme we will be studying throughout our time at LSST. In the session we were given the course overview and told the aims of the program and the foundation year. We were also told what modules we will be studying throughout the programme and the structure of the BNU course and the attributes we should acquire as a future graduate. This allowed me to gain knowledge of what is expected of me as a student and how the course is going to proceed. This session allowed me to discover that I feel as if I already possess a number of the attributes required of me as a BNU graduate and I am positive I will be able to develop the rest. In the future I will use the BNU graduate attributes as a guide for the skills and knowledge that I should be acquiring, ensuring to refer to them to check my progress.

In week 2, the purpose of the session was to introduce us to digital literacy and technology skills. In the session we were taught to perform tasks in a digital environment. Using the computers, we were able to learn how to find, process and share information whilst learning how to stay safe in the digital world. A new set of knowledge I gained from the session was the ability to check whether digital information is relevant, current, and reliable. This session allowed me to improve the BNU attribute of knowledge and its application as I was able to learn how to do an investigation using digital resources. In the future I am going to address a weakness of mine in evaluating digital information critically. I will use the skills transferred to me in this session to ensure this e.g. checking the domain name.

In week 3, the purpose of the session was to improve our academic writing skills. We were taught to ensure our writing is accurate, impersonal, and evidenced, and how to structure essays, reports, and portfolios. Before this session, I was not aware of what a portfolio was, or how to create and structure one. This session taught me how to convert the files into the correct format for the portfolio, which is a word document. This session also introduced me to the academic sandwich. In the future I will definitely use this model to ensure that my academic writing is correctly evidenced by making sure that every time I make a statement, I back it up with evidence and then comment on that evidence. This will allow me to improve on my BNU attributes, particularly the self-development attribute. (Drisdol model of reflection and relate it to your experience at LSST).

In week 4, the purpose of the workshop was to improve our reflection skills. We were taught the benefits of reflection, the practicalities of reflection and different models of reflection and how to apply these models following a study session. A new set of knowledge I gathered this week is the reflective process, which is split into 4 stages of do, think, reflect and plan (Kolb, 1984). In the future I will be able to use my reflective skills to reflect in action whilst I am studying in a session and reflect on action when I am reflecting on a previous study session. These skills will allow me to think about what I am learning, how well I am learning, and how I can change my learning skills in the future to further develop as a learner.

In week 5, the purpose of the study session was to discuss the concept of research and how to find, evaluate and produce information effectively. A new set of skills I improved on in this session was the ability to break down research into a linear process of different steps. This is a helpful skill as it helps me to be able to break down the process of research allowing for more accuracy. We also looked at how to formulate a research proposal, how to find gaps in my knowledge, where to find the relevant information and how to present the evidence. This is an important skill to have as a university student, and I will be able to use this skill in future assignments and will be especially useful in my final year project.

In week 9, the purpose of the study session was to discuss the different teaching strategies and methods, demonstrate different types of learning style, and examine the different models of learning styles. Through this topic I was able to identify my learning style which is combination of Visual, auditory, and Kinaesthetic learning. This has helped me to be able to identify and strategize on ways to improve my learning journey in my courses. During the class I learnt Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence which proposes that “people are not born with all the intelligence they will ever have rather intelligence can be learned throughout life”. This theory personally has been very encouraging for me because this knowledge is very helpful for me as it will help me to know how intelligent I am and this will help me to put in my best in adjusting and adapting to what I have to learn throughout the duration of my course

List of References

1. Driscoll. J. (1994). The reflective practice of practice. Senior nurse. Vol.13 Jan/Feb.47-50
2. Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3. Gardner, Howard (1983; 1993) Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences, New York.
4. Dylan Anyalewechi