Developing as a Learner and Reflecting on Future Challenges at University

This essay reflects on personal development as a learner during the preparation for success, knowledge and creativity (PSKC) module. It covers communication skills, digital technology, presentation skills, and SWOT analysis. The essay also discusses how to approach future challenges and expectations of a university course.

Preparing for Success
at University:
Knowledge and
Creativity Reflective
Essay

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Developing as a learner (How and why you have developed as a learner during this module?)
................................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Reflection: (How to approach future challenges and expectations of a university course?)..3

TASK 1
Developing as a learner (How and why you have developed as a learner during this module?)
Personal development refers to a series of activities that helps in developing a person's
abilities, skills and potential in order to develop them as human capital, enhance their
employability and improve overall quality of life. In this essay I am going to reflect on my
learning during the preparation for success, knowledge and creativity (PSKC) module and
provide a short explanation for all the lessons that were learnt by me during the first 4 weeks.
The knowledge and creativity helps an individual to understand, create, express, innovate and
enhance their personality.
In the first week I learnt about the communication skill which is the ability to exchange
information with others in an effective and efficient manner. I learnt about how to communicate
effectively and efficiently with team members and my colleagues in order to stay updated and
exchange information to enhance learning during my course work (Miller and et. al., 2019).
Also, I realized how better communication skills could help to influence others in my student life
as well as my professional career. I understood that self-development is crucial for which I need
to communicate with others and enhance my learning and development with the help of effective
communication. It also taught me that I should gain effective listening skills and ability in order
to understand other people and what they want to say so that I could answer them strategically.
With the help of effective group discussion activities I have developed a good communication
skill that helped me to become a better speaker. Now I have developed a very effective
communication skill that helps me to influence others and interact with people more effectively
and efficiently. It also helped me to listen to the people and understand their views more clearly
and improve the reliability and authenticity of my work.
Second week was about understanding the use of digital technology available within the
institution. I learnt about using basic digital technologies such as e-books, electronic mails,
digital library etc. present at the institution to enhance the learning and development of students.
Moreover, I learnt about various digital technologies of promotion and advertisement that are
utilized by the institution to create awareness among the students and bring in the notice about
the institute. I understand that digital technology plays a very significant role in the rapidly
changing global economy as it helps to be connected to the people in more effective ways to
1

interact with them easily (Nagarajah and et. al., 2020). With the various uses of digital
technology such as e-mail, social media, mobile apps it would be easy for restitution to interact
with students and enhance their performance continuously. I also understood that digital
technology could be used by the companies in order to create brand awareness and influence
their customers easily.
In the third week I learnt about presentation skills and its applications that are helpful in the
life of students as well as professional career. Presentation skill is all about enhancing the ability
to create an effective message, properly encode it, by ensuring clarity and authenticity, good use
of language and detailing in order to make others understand something (Niño and Alemán,
2019). I observed that presentation skills are very essential in order to create an effective and
efficient impact on people about certain things. The presentation skill is also helpful for me to
develop knowledge of using Excel, Word and PowerPoint that would be beneficial for my higher
studies and professional life.
In the fourth week I learnt about SWOT analysis during the course work and gained new
knowledge and understanding about the internal and external factors that affect an organization
in many ways. I learnt that SWOT analysis is an effective tool that is used by various individuals,
groups and organizations in order to examine the external opportunities and threats along with
the internal strength and weaknesses (Hines and Dieker, 2021). The learning of SWOT analysis
has taught me how to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, a group or an
individual which could be helpful to use the potential within to conquer the external
environment. It was difficult for me to constantly understand the concept of SWOT analysis as a
whole therefore I first understood about the concept of strength and weaknesses that has to
identify at what places our potential lies and at what places we lack. Another aspect of SWOT
analysis that was learnt by me was about the external opportunities and threats which could be
helpful to take advantage of the opportunities that arise in the external environment. On the other
hand, identification of threats could help me to be prepared for waging a war against all odds and
conquering them. The course work also demonstrated the use of SWOT analysis in
understanding the external and internal environment of business which will be helpful in starting
a new business by evaluating the factors affecting it. The SWOT analysis will be useful in
developing an idea about starting establishing a new business by understanding the external and
internal, macro and micro environment factors that could influences the startup.
2

TASK 2
Reflection: (How to approach future challenges and expectations of a university course?)
From the PSKC module I understood that the communication skills are very important to be
developed in order to participate in the activities of higher studies and it is beneficial to crack
interviews and communicate with other people in a more effective and efficient way. I think that
better communication skills will help me to influence and attract people for doing projects,
assignments, teamwork etc. and assist me in my professional career. From the above learning I
understood that digital technology has a great impact on our life and has become an integral
aspect in everyday work. I think that the proficiency of using digital technology would help me
during my academic and professional career as it would support in expanding my knowledge
through quick search and better understanding through various digital platforms. It will also be
helpful to create effective communication with the people and create awareness among them
without increasing the cost. Presentation skill was improved and I think it would be helpful in
enhancing the performance of creative, authentic, reliable and appropriate things. I think that
learning SWOT analysis will be helpful to evaluate the self-standards and what the external
environment could provide for the growth and what we should be aware of.
3

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abrosimova, O.L. and Voronova, L.V., 2021. Basic principles of preparing foreign students for
the “Writing” subtest TORFL-I. Russian Language Studies, 19(3). pp.346-360.
Hines, R. and Dieker, L., 2021. S5 E3: Preparing Students with Disabilities for College.
Miller, A. and et. al., 2019. Preparing your paraeducator for success. Journal of Physical
Education, Recreation & Dance.
Nagarajah, J. and et. al., 2020. Life Skills in University Curricula: Preparing Graduates to Thrive
in the 4th Industrial Revolution. In Preparing 21st Century Teachers for Teach Less,
Learn More (TLLM) Pedagogies (pp. 82-106). IGI Global.
Niño, J.M. and Alemán, E., 2019. Preparing leaders for Latina/o academic and language success:
Frameworks, perspectives and strategies. In Dual language education: Teaching and
leading in two languages (pp. 133-146). Springer, Cham.
4