Personal and Professional Development Reflective Report

This reflective report provides information about the ways in which attending university and the module personal and professional development have contributed to improvement in study and employability skills. The report utilizes Gibb's reflective cycle to analyze past experiences and identify personal capabilities. The report concludes with an action plan for continuous professional development.

Personal and
Professional
Development
Reflective Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Gibb's reflective cycle.................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
University level education has numerous benefits for students and provides them various
opportunities to learn and develop skills which can be helpful in future professional
development. This reflective report provides information about the ways in which attending
university and the module personal and professional development have contributed to
improvement in study and employability skills.
MAIN BODY
Gibb's reflective cycle
Reflection is defined as the process of using meta-cognition processes to learn from past
experiences and occurrences of an individual student. In educational field reflection is conducted
by students with the help of various models such as Kolb's reflective model, Schon's reflective
model, Johns reflective model etc (Sekarwinahyu and et. al., 2019). I have utilized the Gibb's
reflective cycle for completing reflection on past experiences of participating in the module
personal and professional development and attending University. Gibb's reflective cycle
describes 6 stages which need to be completed in order to effectively learn from a past
experiences. The application of Gibb's reflective cycle is provided below:
Descriptions
In the first stage of the reflective cycle, the main occurrences of past experience which
are points of concern are described in a detailed manner (Sekarwinahyu, Rustaman and Widodo,
2019). This helps clearly recollect the past experience for further examination. I attended
University for completing my higher education degree and participated in the module personal
and professional development with the aim of achieving skills which support success in my
private life as well as professional career. Team based tasks, class discussions and sage of virtual
learning environment technology were some of this things which supported my university
experience.
In case of the module personal and professional development, gained knowledge about
managing my personal and professional development along with the concept of continued
professional development. In addition to this, I learned about personal and professional
development tools with the help of this module and ways of effectively applying various tools to
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initiate personal and professional development. This module a provided me a new perspective on
the role of professional and personal development in context of managing own and others.
Feelings
This part of the reflective model focuses on exploring the feelings created because of the
past experiences. It is important to look at and analyse the feelings before, after and during the
experience in order to come to a clear conclusion about the impact of the experience on the
learner (Kousar, Khanam and Azhar, 2021).
Before the experience: I had positive feelings about attending the University and was
genially exited about the new skills I will be able to develop because of University education. I
was also feeling enthusiasm towards getting the opportunity to participate in team tasks and
classroom discussions because I have effective communication skills and team management
skills.
In case of the feelings before starting the personal and professional development module,
I was concerned about the level of research I have to complete on my personal capabilities and
he current employability requirements because I am not able to complete a profound research in
a timely manner.
During the experience: During my University experience the positive feelings were
related to written and verbal communication activities as communication skills are my key
strengths and helped me perform magnificently during the tasks. In addition to this I also enjoyed
the team assignments as it helped me build my network with like minded peers.
During the module personal and professional development I felt quite frustrated while
using virtual learning environment technology as I was not able to become completely familiar
with this technology. The positive feeling associated with this molecule were the problem
solving skills I was able to improve on because of this module.
After the experience: Looking back at the experience of attending the University, the
overall feelings are positive as I was able to participate in new activities which have helped me
understand my personal potential and capabilities in a better way. Completing scholarly research
in a timely manner and ineffective self-management were the main areas which created barriers
in fully enjoying the University experience. Research skills are significant foe effectively
performing in the University as every assignment and project requires some amount of research.
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The experience of participating on the module professional and personal development
included both positive as well as negative feeling. I was able to use my communication and
problem solving skills to perform effectively during the module which impacted me positively.
On the other hand the inability to adjust the the virtual learning environment and increase
familiarity with ICT technologies increased my frustration. I need to work on my ICT skills in
order to perform effectively in other modules.
Evaluation
It is essential tat the past experience is evaluated on the basis of areas which provided
positive results and areas which provided negative results. This supports learning as students are
able to identify which actions will support betterment in the future if similar experience occurs
again (Yaacob, and Asraf, 2021).
What went well: The primary areas which worked in my favour during University
experience include academic writing and group discussions. I was able to use my strengths as an
effective communicator to give exceptional results. In addition to this, my problem solving skills
and team management skills supported my in contributing positively during team activities and
assignment. I was able to use my extroverted nature and networking skills to connect and build
relationships with peers as well as faculty members. This was the best part of the University
experience as I can use such network to advance in my academic as well as professional career.
During the module, personal and professional development, I was able to apply communication
skills to develop an effective understanding of the personal and professional development tools.
What did not go well: University level projects and assignees require research on
various topics to analyse relevant data and reach suitable conclusion (Berthelsen and Hølge‐
Hazelton, 2018). I faced difficulties during usage of my research skills as finding accurate ad
relevant sources which are suitable for the target audience of the academic writing piece.
Because of this I was not able to effectively manage my time and commit to my professional and
personal responsibilities. This inability to use research skills, effectively manage time was the
main area which negatively impacted my University educational experience. I was not able to
effectively utilize the virtual learning technology during my personal and professional
development module. In addition to this my lack of knowledge in the area of information and
communication technology also stopped me from delivering high quality results to the faculty
during this module.
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Analysis
The Gibb's reflective cycle in this stage focuses on critically examining and analysing all
the information and reflection conducted before in order to start learning from the experience
(Fathelrahman, 2019). I have analysed by examining my feelings and different aspects of
studying at University and participating in this module that my key strengths are my
communication skills, problem solving skills and team management skills. In addition to this I
also have effective networking skills which can help gain success in my future professional
career. The main areas which need to be improved in order to succeed academically and
professionally are time management skills, researches skills and ICT skills.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it is concluded that persona and professional development can
be completed by taking immediate action for improving weak capabilities which are demanded
for employability. This includes time management skills, research skills and ICT skills.
Action Plan
Goals Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely
To
improve
Research
skills
This objective
is particular as
it is concerned
with
improvement
in ability to
complete
profound
research under
given time.
The improvement
in research skills
will be measured
by betterment in
ability to conduct
deep research on
various topics.
This goal can be
attained by usage
of CRAPP test.
This tool can be
used to easily
identify suitable
sources for
research and
supports timely
completion of this
research (Garcia
and et. al., 2018).
Research skills
are essential for
succeeding in
academia which
makes it relevant
for improving
this skill.
3 months
To
develop
ICT
The focus of
this objective
is on
The criteria used
for measuring
betterment in this
The action for
improving ICT
skills is to learn
ICT skills are not
only needed for
academic work
2 months
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skills improving
familiarity
with ICT to
build ICT
skills which is
specific.
objective is the
ability to
effectively utilize
virtual earning
technology and
ICT tools used in
academia such as
PowerPoint
about application
of various ICT
tools.
but also required
by employers.
This makes
development of
ICT skills
relevant.
To build
Time
manage
ment
skills
Time
management
betterment
makes this
objective
specific in
nature.
The betterment in
building time
management will
be measured with
the comparison
between time taken
previously to
complete academic
assignments and
projects to the
current time.
This objective
will be attained by
using Pomodoro
technique.
Time
management is
relevant skill as it
is used fr
completing
academic and
career objective
in a timely
manner.
3 months
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that personal and professional development can be
completed by reflecting on past experiences and identifying personal capabilities The Gibb's
reflective model can be used for looking at past experiences and reaching a conclusion to create
an action plan for the future. This reflective model provides clear knowledge on current strengths
and weaknesses so that immediate action can be taken which supports continuous professional
development.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Berthelsen, C. B. and Hølge‐Hazelton, B., 2018. Caught between a rock and a hard place: An
intrinsic single case study of nurse researchers’ experiences of the presence of a nursing
research culture in clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(7-8). pp.1572-1580.
Fathelrahman, A., 2019. Using reflection to improve distance learning course delivery: a case
study of teaching a management information systems course. Open Learning: The
Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 34(2). pp.176-186.
Garcia and et. al., 2018. Critical assessment of pediatric neurosurgery patient/parent educational
information obtained via the Internet. Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, 21(5).
pp.535-541.
Kousar, S., Khanam, A. and Azhar, H., 2021. Reflective Assessment of a Facebook Mediated
Course of Instructional Technology: A Case from a Women University. Journal of
Educational Research and Social Sciences Review (JERSSR), 1(4). pp.56-64.
Sekarwinahyu and et. al., 2019, February. Development of problem based learning for online
tutorial program in plant development using Gibbs’ reflective cycle and e-portfolio to
enhance reflective thinking skills. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1157,
No. 2, p. 022099). IOP Publishing.
Sekarwinahyu, M., Rustaman, N. Y. and Widodo, A., 2019, November. Problem-based learning
skills and reflection skills of biology education students through the problem-based
online tutorial. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1280, No. 3. p. 032004).
IOP Publishing.
Yaacob, A. and Asraf, M., 2021. Empowering Learners' Reflective Thinking through
Collaborative Reflective Learning. International Journal of Instruction, 14(1). pp.709-
726.
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