Academic Skills Practice Assignment 1 for Arden University Students

This assignment is a comprehensive exploration of academic skills, encompassing a skills audit, time management strategies, and academic integrity principles. The student conducts a self-assessment, identifying strengths in communication, writing, and teamwork, while recognizing areas for improvement such as problem-solving and time management. The assignment delves into academic integrity, emphasizing its importance at Arden University, and provides practical advice on achieving it. The student then discusses time management techniques, including creating timetables and prioritizing tasks. Finally, the assignment includes reflective writing using Gibbs' model, evaluating the learning experience and highlighting the development of academic skills, note-taking, and referencing. The student also reflects on the challenges faced and outlines plans for future improvement.

Academic skills practice

CONTENTS
ASSIGNMENT – 1....................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 Introduction to Academic Study Skills........................................................................1
Conducting skills audit...........................................................................................................1
List of strengths and areas of improvement...........................................................................2
Key things to do to improve the areas of improvements........................................................3
Action plan.............................................................................................................................3
TASK 2 Academic Integrity and Referencing...........................................................................3
Academic integrity.................................................................................................................3
How to achieve academic integrity at Arden University........................................................4
TASK 3 TIME MANAGEMENT..............................................................................................4
TASK 4 Reflective Writing and Academic Writing..................................................................6
ASSIGNMENT – 2....................................................................................................................8
Re-drafted and improved four tasks with task reflections......................................................8
Annotated bibliography........................................................................................................12
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................14

ASSIGNMENT – 1
TASK 1 Introduction to Academic Study Skills
Conducting skills audit
Skills Evidence Ranking from 1 to 5
Time management I need more improvement as I
am unable to allocate needed
work hours.
2
Leadership skills I can identify team-mates
strengths to allocate them in
the right position and give
them work according to their
experience
3
Academic skills I can enhance my skills and
knowledge level with this
academic skills such as content
and creative thinking
4
Active listening I am able to pay attention on
people and also provide
feedback to people as it takes
time I sometimes lose
concentration which can create
issues
1
Researching skills I am good at research which
helps me to enhance my
knowledge level
3
Problem solving With the help of this skill I am
able to determine why an issue
is happening but I need more
improvement to resolve issue
with effective solution.
1
Communication skills I can communicate effectively 4
1

with my team-mates
Critical thinking skills I am able to identify the
problems in particular situation
4
Team working and
collaboration skills
I can work effectively in a
group and consider other
people input just as much as
my own
4
List of strengths and areas of improvement
Arden's university degrees are designed so that students can develop a number of
academic and employability skills throughout study on the programme. With references to
Arden university graduate attributes I have list out some of my strengths which helped me a
lot achieve my academic goals (Cottrell, 2019).
Strengths
 Communication skills- with the help of communication skills I am able to build
relationship with my team mates and also create mutual respect and trust between
each other.
 Writing skills- my greatest strength is my writing skills. I note down every important
points which is needed to compete the work. Team work and collaborative- I am very collaborative and loves to work in team. I
have always enjoyed working on teams which helped me a lot in academic settings. It
is one of my strongest attributes.
Areas of improvement- I want to improve technical skills which is important transferable
skills.
 Problem solving- my weaknesses are interlinked with each other whenever I am
given a task related to problem solving case studies, I am very goals oriented and
hard-working to complete that task. However, when something new come across my
plate, I sometimes mess up and unable to solve issue because I fail to identify the
main points. Due to this I tend to be overly critical of myself which hinders my
performance.
 time management- I need some improvement in time management skills because I
sometime feel stressed when the work is not managed properly (Chaiyama, 2019).
2

Key things to do to improve the areas of improvements
In order to improve time management skills, I will make effective time table and
avoid multitasking as it will help me manage my personal and professional life. Also, with
the help of time management apps like Todoist, I will priorities my daily activities and sort
tasks which is more important than others.
With the help of brainstorm method I will enhance creative solutions and practices
regularly to solve problems via case studies and online classes (Cottrell, 2020).
Action plan
Areas of
improvement
Actions to be
taken
Resources Success criteria Time taken
Problem solving Brainstorm
creative solutions
Online classes Able to solve
critical problems
2 months
Time
management
Avoiding
multitasking and
making priorities
list
Workshops Able to manage
academic,
personal and
professional life
3 months
Technical skills Regular practice
of using tools to
increase
efficiency
Attend technical
classes
Able to use
important tools
needs in academic
settings
4 months
TASK 2 Academic Integrity and Referencing
Academic integrity
Academic integrity plays a vital role in education field as it is the expectation that
students, teachers, staff members and researchers of the academic community act with: trust,
respect, mutual understanding, honesty, fairness, responsibility. If members of academic
community does not follow academic integrity then misconduct occurs which is not
beneficial for reputation of institution. For students, academic integrity is very important as it
allows them to build new ideas, creative works and knowledge level while respecting the
work of others. Breaching academic integrity is not acceptable in education field as it can
hamper the reputation of university (MacLeod and Eaton, 2020).
3

How to achieve academic integrity at Arden University.
 Meeting academic integrity at Arden university is important because it illustrates
student credibility, the credibility of university and the academic research. It is
essential to perform academic research in order to explore and learn about the subject
topic. The major purpose behind using this method is to get the right answer.
 Using credible and relevant evidence will be helpful for Arden university. Selecting
credible sources will help students to be accurate, verifiable and authoritative.
Therefore, it is said that with the help selection of sources universities can improve
academic integrity (Bernacki and et.al., 2020).
 Avoiding all forms of plagiarism will help university to improve academic integrity
this can be done by encouraging students and teachers to avoid cheating. University
must make important rules such as produce your own work for assignment and do not
share assignment with others as this can help them to avoid plagiarism. It is also
advisable to focus on continual improvement as continuous learning will help students
to meet academic integrity.
TASK 3 TIME MANAGEMENT
I think I am not alone who is more concerned about striking a balance between
personal life and study. As we all know that time management skills is very important for
students as it helps them to manage their personal and professional life together. Students
should always understand important of time in their life, balancing personal, academic and
professional life will help students to reduce their stress level. It is very important for students
and teachers both to organise their work in such a manner that they are free from stress.
Working under pressure will hinder the performance of people, so for students it is essential
for students to divide their time between different activities properly. With the help of time
table students can prioritize their work and different activities as it helps them to get more
done in less time even when time is tight and pressure are high such as examination time. In
that time table they must add their morning routine to night routine till they fall asleep.
Students should cover breakfast, shopping, yoga classes, study time, watching TV, listening
music, practice and revision, dinner, writing and reading, many more things to manage their
daily activities (Won and Shirley, 2018).
In order to manage study and other responsibilities and commitments, I am following
few steps which helped me a lot to manage my studies and personal life together. With the
help of time table I am able to meet my deadlines I have never missed any deadlines and
4

events. Building a calendar will help students to keep track of different tasks and activities. I
have used to do list method which makes it easier for me to stick to my schedule. Now I am
able to prioritize tasks. The best way to handle studies is to manage the stress, whatever the
situation is learn to manage the stress for this exercise and yoga sessions is helpful. It is
essential to remain focused and concentrate which helps to reduce stress. It will also help
students to work with full potential. Always make a note about what is more urgent and
important and what is not urgent this will keep you informed about daily responsibilities. For
this planning tool will be helpful such as wall charts, index cards, phone apps and pocket
notebooks and diaries. They must note down which subjects need more practice and revision.
For example- if student want to learn more about mathematics and science then he must note
down about it in planning tool.
In order to complete studies successfully, students much manage time wasters which
means that they must know about what should be eliminated and which activities should be
taken into consideration. For this, the best way to manage studies is to avoid multitasking,
because working in various task together does not save time instead it will create confusion.
You lose time when switching from one task to another, resulting in a low productivity, lack
of knowledge and create confusion. So, students must focus on one task at a time by keeping
area clear of distractions, including they must turn off the notification on mobile phones.
5

TASK 4 Reflective Writing and Academic Writing
Gibbs model of reflection has helped me to express my feelings and evaluation about
the learning during the studying of module (Adeani, Febriani and Syafryadin, 2020).
Studying this module have developed my academic skills, which helps me a lot to achieve my
academic goals and objective. With the help of skills audit, I am able to know about my
strengths and areas of improvement which support me to complete my task. Also I am able to
take measure steps which could help me improve my areas in which I need more
improvement such as technical skills, problem solving skills and time management skills.
Self reflection helps me a lot as it enable me to move from just experiencing about things into
understanding. During the module, I have developed my self awareness and self-confidence
which helped me to gain more knowledge about academic integrity. I have learned about
academic integrity, plagiarism, critical thinking and employability. In the weekly module I
have also developed note making skills and referencing which helped me a lot to complete
my assignment without making any mistake. When my teacher has given me one assignment
in group task that was presentation, I was so excited and even nervous as this was my
presentation on topic of plagiarism.
Everything went well, even my tutor told me that I am doing great work, but one thing
that was not went well is something every student is facing that is technical issues (Adeani,
Febriani and Syafryadin, 2020). I was facing technical problem when presenting slides in
front of my team. Lack of technical skills has created confusion for me, so I am working on
this skill with the help of online classes and regular practice. I have learned that effective
time management is important while studying academic skills practice as it helps to manage
both the personal and academic life. I have also learned that effective communication is very
important for the students and regular practice is much-needed. Using sources and
referencing will help students to learn more about the ideas that they include in the study.
Citing sources consistently and accurately will help me a lot to avoid committing misconduct
and plagiarism in writing. Also, I have learned that working in team is important as it helps
me to know strengths and weakness of team members. Using Belbin team roles' framework
with longer projects has helped me to deal with challenges. When I am working with my
team in the future I will talk to them by using open communication method and encourage
each other to use effective time management and critical thinking skills with mind mapping
and brainstorming method. Potentially I will practice technical knowledge to avoid any kind
of problem. I will focus on continuous learning and improvement that will take me forward to
year 1 of my degree programme.
6

Academic Writing and Note Taking
Note-taking- basically it is a method used by people to record information from
different sources and platforms. During the lectures, students make notes which helps them in
their academic examination and even helps them in future studies. Effective note taking will
help students to focus and better understand main concepts regarding subject learned in the
classroom. Students who actively take notes during their class room will help students
achieve their academic goals. It helps students avoid feelings of distractions and also engage
their mind so that they actively involved with what they hear in the classroom (Stoesz and
Los, 2019).
Gathering up the notes
From this overall week, I have learned different things in relation with the reflecting
as well as academic writing. I have reflected in the skills being developed by me using the
Gibbs model of reflection and also learned about the note taking and its importance in the life
of student.
Cornell method
Learned about reflecting and academic writing skills
Learned about ways of writing reflection
Grasp knowledge in regards with the importance of note
taking
Determining the lessons learnt from the experience of studying
academic skills practice
Advantages and disadvantages of notetaking
7

ASSIGNMENT – 2
Re-drafted and improved four tasks with task reflections
a).
Task – 1
8

Task – 2
9

Task – 3
Task – 4
10