Reflection Report: Comparing School and University Education Systems

This reflection report provides a comparative analysis of school and higher education environments, focusing on the transition from a structured school setting to the independent learning environment of a university. The report highlights key differences, including student responsibility, independent learning, class sizes, and the role of teachers and lecturers. It discusses the importance of self-motivation, time management, and critical analysis skills in higher education. The author utilized various sources, including academic resources, questionnaires, and online platforms, to gather information and support the analysis. The report also reflects on the author's personal development, including improved research and critical evaluation skills, and concludes with plans for future learning and academic improvement.

Higher Education Skills
and Competencies

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reflection Report: ...........................................................................................................................1

Reflection Report:
School and University are two different forms of education centre that provides different levels
of education. They differ in Size, Culture, Responsibility and Way of Learning. Presently,
reflection report is based on my viewpoint of distinction between learning in School environment
and Higher Education. I found it quite easy at first to see differences between School and Higher
education. The main differences which I have found between University and School is the
independent learning. In School Student needs to motivate themselves while studying in
university as there is no one to prompt or tell them what they should do. Another difference that I
found is in terms of responsibility at high school is that the teacher is more responsible to teach
students about particular subject but at university, students need to be more responsible for
identifying the best way to study and complete their assignments (How university differs from
school.2017).
Students are responsible for making their own class schedules and need to follow them
more precisely. I have found that it is very different studying at University than at School where
we attend classes from 9 in the morning till 4 in the evening every day and was told what to learn
and how to prepare for exams and assignments. At university, students have less contact time as
compared to school where an average student spends 30 hours a week.
The next thing, which I found as major difference between School and University is in
terms of Size. Classes are usually larger at university than those in secondary schools and they
found more students on the University Campus than in School. Classes are facilitated by labs or
tutorial sessions and these are located separately with the facility of a teaching assistant. The
workshops conducted within our university shows distinction between School and University.
The rules at School are strict as compare to universities as in the School little things are
been considered in individual student. There is a particular dress codes that need to be followed
by each student. It is important to report in the school but it is not mandatory to attend classes at
Universities. But, it is important to maintain proper behaviour and not discrimination is
supported at any of the places. Further, teachers are concerned for the reasons of not attending
the classes but no such concern is given at Universities as students are free to attend the classes
whenever they want (Differences between High School and University.2018.).
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Testing in school is frequent and covers all amounts of material whereas at University,
testing is usually infrequent and may be cumulative covering large amounts of material. Teachers
rearrange test schedules in order to avoid conflicts with any school events. However, I have
found that Lectures of different courses usually schedule tests without keeping in demand of
other courses or outside activities.
I evaluate many documents while researching for my topic and found that Universities
are not about teaching and learning; they also encourage other activities. In my research, I found
that Universities perform major tasks i.e. research as such Universities are been attended by so
many experts across range of field and they play an important role in supplying Industry and
Government with innovative solutions to real issues.
I have done critical evaluation of Education System at School and Higher education
where I found that Students have less contact time with their teachers and lecturers. Further, less
familiarity between Lecturers, Students due to which they are unable to discuss there issues, and
problems with their Professors.
In University, Lecturers expect students to synthesis unrelated topics and expect them to
identify important points in their notes. In school, teachers approach students when they believe
that students are in need of help and provide information when missed. Teachers are always
available for conversation before, during or after class and they presented materials to understand
the relevant topic. Unlike, in Universities Teachers at School conduct review sessions and point
out the most important concept for students.
I have collected information from various sources to conduct my Reflection report. The
most information which I collected was from academic resources which I gatherd from Library.
These sources of information from which I gather data was reliable and accurate as they were
Copyright sources and was written by qualified authors. Further, I conducted a Questionnaire to
get opinion of students of both School and University on how teachers and Lectures attend them
and how they respond to their issues and problems. They were asked to fill 10 questions about
education system about University and School. Students were asked to share their viewpoints
regarding their learning skills and how frequently they contact to their Professor. Further, I
recorded appropriate information in the form of notes and kept a written record of data that I
gathered from different sources. I searched for reliable sources over online platforms and used
various sites like Google, Wikipedia to support the evidences in my report.
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I began the paper by discussing the differences between School and Higher Education on
the basis of Responsibility shared by students, role of teachers and lectures in shaping career of
students and their familiarity between them.
The sources of information from where I collected my data was reliable as they all our
copyright sources. The data was gathered by interviewing Students from School and Higher
Education, which provides better understanding of the topic and can generate more accurate
information. Further, the information collected by me was in form of Primary research that I
collected from Library texts, research articles on differences between School and Higher School
Education. The information is accurate as I used various Referencing Works to support my topic.
The academic journals provided more reliable data as they were written by expert audience and
thus, they are been used by me to support the report.
The authors of various Journals and Books are recognised person and have credibility for
writing their information. This justify that information collected was from reliable sources.
Further, information collected was from reliable sources as they were published earlier and was
tested and verified as these sources were written by Experts in that particular field.
I have observed that my reading skills are effective and can do critical analysis of things
more effectively. I could analyse different sources of information before interpreting this report
and did a detailed reading of all Journals and Library text that I used to form my reflective
report. I have observed that my researching skills are good and I can find relevant information
regarding my topic.
Further, I have used keywords like Differences in education system in School and Universities,
Distinction in learning within School and Higher Education, etc. Thus, the keywords used in
research finding help me find relevant information to complete my report more accurately and
effectively. I have made relevant notes of Questionnaire conducted by me and used them step by
step to form my Reflection Report.
Self reflection is the way of assessing oneself on how to study or perform a given task. It
helps an individual in strengthening their emotional intelligence by building self awareness and
self regulation. By performing the task of Self reflection I found that I can perform with integrity
and can make better decision in compare to others. While conducting this task I found that I
have the potential to review my key decision and actions more effectively. Further, I can easily
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redirect my disruptive emotions and comfortably I adapt to required changes when I performed a
particular task with my team members.
There are chances to improved my performance and can perform better than I used to
perform now. These changes can be achieved by me bringing a confident approach in my
personality and evaluating my self to see the challenges I face and try to overcome them. Further,
self- awareness can help in understanding my emotions, weaknesses, values and goals which I
want to achieve. More over there is a need of being have a confident approach for managing a
given task and assignment more effectively than others. It helps in realising strength and closing
the gaps in my areas of weaknesses.
Thus, self reflection proved as powerful tool in analysing my Strength, Weaknesses and
Competencies.
CONCLUSION
Lastly, I conclude that the learning outcome of conducting this file shows great change in
my personality and way of conducting a given task. I have seen more progress in my way of
Critical Evaluation in the period of 11 weeks. The task performed in team help me to understand
value and objective of team efforts and how it can help in achieving the desired goals and
objectives. The plans for improving learning in next modules is to Focus moreover the lectures
and take up notes to prepare any report or conduct any task. To learn on how to collect and
gather information from different sources in order to be more effective and reliable.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
How university differs from school.2017. [Online]. Available Through.
<https://futurestudents.curtin.edu.au/undergraduate/university/university-differs-school/>
Differences between High School and University.2018. [Online]. Available Through.
<http://welcome.uwo.ca/parents/high_school_vs_university.html>