Academic and Research Skills Report

This report examines the importance of academic and research skills, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an individual. It outlines a personal development plan to enhance communication, research, and time management skills. The report includes a detailed reflection on the progress made and the strategies employed for improvement.

ACADEMIC AND
RESEARCH SKILLS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Reflection of own strengths and weaknesses........................................................................1
1.2 Assessment............................................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
3.1 & 3.2 Note taking..................................................................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
4.1, 4.2 & 5.1 Academic research project...................................................................................3
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
6.1 & 6.2 Reflection on own progress.........................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
......................................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
A person in an organisation is known by way of doing a work. When individuals used to
get knowledge from everything surround them then they can develop own skills in a better
manner. In addition to this, for attaining success and gain higher achievement, persons are
required to analyse what they are good at and how could be improved in other field. This will
help them in setting an achievable target so that they can develop required skills and become able
to face any type of difficulties (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). In this context, a report has been
prepared on academic and research skills which is divided into five tasks. These parts will
describe strengths and weaknesses of a persons and personal development plan accordingly.
TASK 1
1.1 Reflection of own strengths and weaknesses
To gain success and growth in life as well as make good impression on others, a person
should evaluate own skills and abilities. It would help in understanding in which field they are
good and where need to be developed. Similarly, in this process personal and professional
development plan helps them in reducing weaknesses and improves own identity. It includes
various activities through which they can develop own abilities in a certain period of time. In
addition to this, such processes also aid an individual to gain higher achievement and enhance
own career in a particular field (Wright, 2014). In this manner, for evaluating myself, I have
evaluated my skills as described below:-
Strengths Weaknesses
 The main strength of mine is that I am a
good learner and always try to learn
something new. For this process, I used
to go through different-different
subjects and read them in proper
manner. It enhance my knowledge and
makes me able to resolve problems of
others easily.
 In terms of academic skills, I am a good
 As examining my own skills, I have
evaluated that my writing skills are not
so impressive as others. I always feel
little bit confused in making
relationship among phrasing words
properly which includes verb
agreement, tense, pronoun reference
and more. In addition to this, I am also
unable in managing grammatical
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statistician which may help me in
conducting a proper research, analysing
the data, understanding statistics of
descriptive type, make interferences as
well as determine probability behind
occurrence of obtained outcomes.
structures i.e. where to use adjectives or
adverbs in a proper manner etc.
 Whenever a new project has allotted to
me, I have never ever completed it on
time (Wernersbach and et. al., 2014).
So these things reflects major
weaknesses of mine on which I need to
make improvement in an adequate way.
1.2 Assessment
SMART objectives: -
 To develop own skills and knowledge for making better career go through proper
learning session which will take 4 to 5 months.
 To gain effective interaction, interpersonal and communications in 45 days by taking
English Speaking Classes.
 To develop time management skills in 6 months.
TASK 2
3.1 & 3.2 Note taking
Note taking consider as major skill in which a person used to record information or
prepares notes from sources available at near by. It is a type of self-discipline in which an
individual usually makes notes by recording the essence of data in free state of mind. Generally,
people grabs information by taking a class, meeting or anything surround them (Rardin and
Rardin, 2016). The term talking notes reflects a procedure which give permission to a person to
get record of a lecture in written form which is present in different from a textbook. Therefore, to
get such skill, an individual need to be active, a proper listener and learner as well.
In order to improve own communication and time management skills, I need to improve
my listening skills first. It will help me to achieve set target in a given period of time. For this
purpose, it needs to observe how people around me make interaction with other, the way they
communicate and share ideas or opinion on a particular topic. This would aid me to directly
improve my speaking abilities and increase confidence level of mine. In addition to this, while
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attending sessions, conferences and seminars, I can ask easily ask about my queries to lecturer
without any fear.
For enhancing communication skills more, another option a person can used is
newspapers and literature or language parts. Reading such things aid me to increase my
knowledge and improve my grammatical mistakes too. It would help me in getting mix with
others easily and representing myself in more better manner.
In terms of paraphrasing, this type of skill is also essential for making good notes. After
attending a lecture or session an individual is required to put these information given by a
professional on a paper (Herr and Anderson, 2014). In this procedure, a person using
paraphrasing techniques can cover the collected information in a summarised way. On the other
hand, an individual can write information in bullets points as well. These types of data help them
in reminding important points whenever they need to recognise. This would aid in regaining
good opinion which indirectly enhance my knowledge.
Thus, it has analysed that note taking skills aid me for making work in concise manner.
For acquiring this ability, various sources are available such as reading literature books,
newspapers and more. While to improve listening abilities some sources are available on internet
too that are –
 Learning English through Skype- In this procedure, I can talk persons who have known
other languages. It will help in understanding and learning new languages. This
procedure will give best result if I continue go through it for at least 6 to 10 months.
 Listening to Audio Books- It is considered as a best source which would help in
improving pronunciation and speech practices. This process is easy and affordable for
any person which can use in free time. Along with this, for developing communication
skill, this procedure will take around three months.
 Attend English Speaking Classes- By attending this kind of class, I can develop my
interaction ability as well as reduce my fear too. It increases my confidence level and I
can introduce my self in front of many persons easily.
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TASK 3
4.1, 4.2 & 5.1 Academic research project
Research refers to a procedure of collecting data through which an individual can analyse
entire information in a proper manner as well as find solution of particular problem (Löfgren,
2014). This type of project reveals a concept of creating a plan in a systematic order to attain a
set target on time. This type of plan is a written document which reveals many activities done by
a project maker for competing his research. Along with this, in such type of activities, various
kinds of tools, techniques and strategies are used that enhance information gathered by a
researcher. Therefore, in order to make a proper research on a specific topic, there are various
sources available which can be distinguished into two main parts that are- primary and secondary
method.
 Primary research: It is one of the most popular research method which gives real
outcomes of a particular data. It is conducted by going directly to a source and gather
information through it in a proper manner. There are various methods are available such
as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, visiting to location on which topic is based and
more. These processes help in getting original and reliable data but requires much cost
and time too.
 Secondary research: This method consumes less time and money as compared to
primary one. It doesn't need a person to go on location directly. They can go through on
various networking sites or grab information to other published data. Therefore, it drives
better outcomes but for this process, researcher needs to go through authenticate sites
only. As all published data is not reliable also.
In addition to this, for preparing a proper research, investigator needs to find the right
supervisor who will help in giving suggestion when needed. In addition to this, the topic chosen
for research should be given in clear and concise manner (Best and Kahn, 2016). It should be
interesting as well as achievable too. The most essential part in this process is to set a timeline
through which effectiveness of such research can be enhanced. Beside these, a typical research
plan requires some essential elements like Specific objectives- Should be in one line which reveals the whole concept of research Research Strategy- it includes three sections which are significance, innovation and
approach
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 Resources- it can b manpower, equipment, facilities or finance Biographical Sketch- it is a personal statement Research support- Federal or non-federal support
 Exploratory studies- it provides a list of publications, patents and other type of printed
materials.
The main steps which is being followed to have a perfect research plan. In addition to this, some
more points research in a plan
Research Plan
 Overview of research plan
 Title of project
 Targeted aims and objectives
 Research strategies
 Suggestion for opting a right strategy
 Significance, approaches ans research
 Proper Budget Plan
 Progress Report
 Risk Assessment
 Project evaluation
 References
 Appendix
TASK 4
6.1 & 6.2 Reflection on own progress
I have possessed many kind of weaknesses which are needed to be improvised in a
proper manner. There are various methods available which can be utilised in order to develop
academic and personal skills (Bhatia, 2014). It include seminars, conferences, group activities. In
this process, a personal development plans helps me to achieve my set target in a proper limit of
time. This type of technique basically includes a set of activities along with particular time
period. So, conducting such plan, a person can evaluate own progress as well as analyse if given
activities are completed in a set time. As I have mentioned that major weaknesses of mine is lack
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of communication and interpersonal skills. Along with his, in terms of time management, I am
ineffective also. Therefore, in this manner a PPD of mine is explained as below:-
Skills which is
learned.
Why it was
required to be
learned
Sources required
to learn skills
Time taken to
learn
Did applied
somewhere in
working
Communication
skills
It is an essential
skill of a person
that gives first
impression.
Through this type
of ability an
individual can
make good
interaction with
others and mix as
well.
Communication
skills can be
developed by
involving in a
group making
activity, talking
with such persons
who are good in
that. Along with
this, a person can
use audio books
also (Kim and
Shumaker,
2015).
Time required in
improving
communication of
a person is 5 to 6
months.
Through
communication
skills, a person
can understand
problems of
others as well as
give solution also.
Research skill This type of skills
is necessary in
those areas where
a person is
working or
making a project.
It helps in
identifying
problems in
completing a task
Research skills
can be gained by
reading out some
theories given by
professionals and
reading novels.
It intakes a lot of
time i.e. near
about 8 to 10
months
Research skills
can be executed
in an organisation
where all
processes are
done after making
a proper research.
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and find solution
as well.
Time
management
skills
It is the most
important skill
that every person
needs to be
learned. As it is
my main
weaknesses, so
after reducing it
help me to
complete a
project in given
set period of time.
By engaging in
group task, I can
determine how
team members
complete a
project on time.
5 to 6 months Through this skill,
a person can
accomplish task
in a precise
manner as well as
in given period of
time (Gandrud,
2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that personal development plans are useful in order
to develop new learning skills which are beneficial in achieving effective results. Therefore
communication and research skills are beneficial in order to achieve better results. Different
learning sources are beneficial in order to achieve growth in their operations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Best, J. W. and Kahn, J. V., 2016. Research in education. Pearson Education India.
Bhatia, V. K., 2014. Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings. Routledge.
Gandrud, C., 2016. Reproducible research with R and R studio. Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Herr, K. and Anderson, G. L., 2014. The action research dissertation: A guide for students and
faculty. Sage publications.
Kim, S. U. and Shumaker, D., 2015. Student, librarian, and instructor perceptions of information
literacy instruction and skills in a first year experience program: A case study. The
Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(4), pp.449-456.
Löfgren, O., 2014. Routinising research: academic skills in analogue and digital
worlds. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 17(1), pp.73-86.
Rardin, R. L. and Rardin, R. L., 2016. Optimization in operations research (p. 919). Prentice
Hall.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Wernersbach, B. M., and et. al., 2014. Study skills course impact on academic self-
efficacy. Journal of Developmental Education, pp.14-33.
Wright, M., 2014. Academic entrepreneurship, technology transfer and society: where next?. The
journal of technology transfer, 39(3), pp.322-334.
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