Study Skills & Portfolio: Reflective Journals and Portfolio

This project showcases a student's exploration of study skills, encompassing reflective journals and portfolio development. The student delves into various academic skills, including time and stress management, note-taking, critical thinking, and effective communication and writing skills. The reflective journals cover topics such as academic integrity, plagiarism, and strategies for improvement. The portfolio section includes tasks related to academic research, paraphrasing, essay planning, and understanding the impact of tobacco and vaping on young people in the UK. The project demonstrates an understanding of research methodologies, essay structure, and the importance of critical analysis. The student also explores topics like Brexit, and the student uses Turnitin to check for plagiarism. The project covers many aspects of academic life, from research to writing, and offers insights into the development of crucial skills for academic success.

Study Skills & Portfolio

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
A. REFLECTIVE JOURNALS.......................................................................................................1
B.) PORTFOLIO..............................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
Introduction.................................................................................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
Skeleton essay plan.....................................................................................................................5
TASK 5............................................................................................................................................6
TASK 7............................................................................................................................................6
TASK 8............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 9............................................................................................................................................8
COVERED IN PPT.....................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Study skills is considered to be as an array of several skills which mainly focuses on
tackling the process of organizing and considering new information. Study skills mainly consists
of active listening, reasoning, comprehensive skills, note taking stress management, effective
communication skills, test taking, stress management skills, digital skills, critical thinking,
academic integrity, plagiarism, referencing, researching for information, etc. this study will
highlight on reflective portfolio which will help in outlining the various academic study skills
which an individual possess and it also helps in determining the academic study skills which is
needed for further development of an individual. This study also focuses on portfolio which
helps in understanding the problems of the research study.
A. REFLECTIVE JOURNALS
Academic integrity and plagiarism
Academic integrity is a commitment of students which tends to focus on completing
scholarship with honesty and integrity during academic course (Responding to plagiarism using
reflective means. 2015). Plagiarism is considered to be as an effective part of academic study. I
have evaluated that, academic plagiarism tends to occur when the writer uses more than 4 words
from printed sources or internet. I completely understand that, being fair and honest in relation
with the academic interest
. It is mainly associated with the cheating, plagiarizing, academic misconduct, duplicate
submission, bribery, conspiracy, copying, fabrication, obstruction and misrepresentation. I focus
on complying with the academic integrity policies which helps in carrying out all the academic
activities within stipulated time. I have determined the fact that, plagiarism is considerer to be as
an effective measure as it helps me in having valid degree in order to attain higher academic
goals and efficiency. I possess academic integrity as it is the commitment to demonstrate moral
and honest behaviour. I believe that, I have the sense of respect, honesty, fairness, trust and
responsibility which is considered to be foundational in order to achieve my academic goals and
objective with utmost accuracy and efficiency.
Time and stress management
I tend to focus on eliminating distractions where the individual will focus on prioritizing
the task accurately. This helps me in organizing my work beforehand which in turn helps me in
submitting assignment before deadlines. I am quite organized and I tend to use calendar and
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checklist in order to keep track of the activities which I am supposed to do. I also focus on
eliminating distraction which in turn helps me in completing the task beforehand. I need to
develop stress management skills by keeping up with the positive attitude. Learning and
practising various relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, etc. helps me in relieving stress
which h in very crucial for me to carry out the activities by being calm and composed. In order to
manage stress, I tend to focus on exercising regularly and maintaining well balanced diet by
eating healthy. This in turn helps me in carrying out the stipulated project with utmost accuracy
and efficiency. I will tend to focus on organizing my academic life by stopping procrastination. I
tend to focus on taking small breaks in order to keep my mind fresh.
Note making
I have an effective note making skills. I remain quite engaged and active during my
lectures. I focus on reading and revision which helps me in improving my performance in the
academic interest. In order to improve my note making skills. I will focus on minimizing
distraction which in turn is useful in preparing accurate notes for the study. I also tend to focus
on making clear and accurate set of notes which helps me in remembering the key details of the
study (Improving Your Note Taking, 2019). I focus on coming to class prepared which will help
me in gaining better context for learning and in case of any confusion it can be further asked
from the lecturer. This in turn helps in better understanding on the subject matter. I also compare
notes with other students in the class. This will help me in jotting down relevant information
which I might have missed during lectures. I must focus on using abbreviations and symbols
while making notes.
Critical thinking
This is the skill which I need to develop. This will help me in better analysis, explanation,
problem solving skills, interpretation, open- mindedness, reflection, problem solving skills, etc.
Developing of this skill helps me in examining the various set of problems and gaining
reasonable judgements. This will help me in reaching valid conclusive points and gain logical
insight on the subject matter. In order to develop critic al thinking skills, I will tend to focus on
developing foresight and become a self critic. This will help me in brainstorming and analysing
the information. Development of critical thinking skills mainly focuses on developing the own
set of judgement, problem solving abilities, improvement in academic performance, evaluation
of problems, etc. this helps in attaining higher academic goals and performance. This also helps
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in decision making which in turn leads to long term sustainable growth and efficiency. C rtical
thinking skills helps me in approaching several problems and find logical and reasonable
solution to the problem. This also helps me in understanding the links associated with the ideas.
It is useful in identifying errors and inconsistency in reasoning. Development of critical thinking
skills will also help me to reflect on the justification of my own beliefs, assumptions and values.
There are several skills which are needed for critical thinking which includes structured
reasoning, recognition of weakness in argument, determining the viewpoints of an individual to
determine how strong their viewpoint is, identification of several arguments which are necessary
for resolving specific issue.
Effective communication and writing skills
I am very fluent at communicating English clearly and effectively. This is considered to
be said that a good communication tends to require effective understanding and listening skills
which in turn helps me in communicating with the colleagues and other individuals. In order to
improve my communication skills, I focus reinforcing active listening. I use integrated advanced
technology where I can watch films and movie which leads to long term sustainable growth of
individual. I also get engaged in various academic assignments and presentations which will
help me in performing the task in an appropriate and systematic manner. I need to focus on
improving my vocabulary which will help in better and effective communication. I have
complete and clear knowledge associated with the spelling, grammar and punctuation which
helps me in delivering quality work free from errors. Writing skills helps me in fostering the
ability to refine my own ideas to others which in turn leads to clearly transmitting the message to
the targeted audience. I use right words and end to avoid abbreviations in order to clearly
transmit the information.
B.) PORTFOLIO
Task 1
The value of academic research is important because it helps in seeking new, valuable
and truthful information which in turn helps in enhancing the development of carious knowledge
and skills among individual. Academic research helps students in better understanding of the
published work. This helps in investigating the well written arguments of various authors. This in
turn leads to higher sustainable growth an efficiency (Cottrell, 2019). This helps in improving the
intellectual behaviour. Students who tend to have new ways of researching which helps in
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gasping to newer and relevant information about the particular subject matter. This helps
students in building better understanding on the subject matter by exploring several articles and
journals.
Article: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon
General. 2019. [ONLINE]. Available
through:<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK99240/>
TASK 2
Original Paragraph: Mass media campaigns have increasingly become a key strategy in efforts
to reduce smoking among youth and young adults. Able to reach large proportions of the
population, mass media messages have the potential to influence not only individual behaviors
but also social norms and institutional policies, which in turn can shape patterns of population-
wide tobacco use.
Paraphrasing: Mass media campaign is considered to be one of the effective strategy which
helps in reducing smoking among young people. Mass media campaign helps in reaching large
number of individuals (Simatele, 2015). This strategy has the biggest influence on the behaviour
of an individual, institutional and social policies. This is very useful in shaping the pattern of use
of Tobacco.
TASK 3
Introduction
TOPIC: “Analysis of how tobacco and vaping use affects young people and their breathing
issues between ages 16-20 in the UK.”
BACKGROUND
This study highlights on the topic how tobacco and vaping use affects young people and
their breathing issues between ages 16-20 in the UK. Tobacco is the preparation of the rich
nicotine leaves which helps in process of fragmentation for smoking (De Jong, Parrottand
Retzlaff, 2016). Vaping is the process of exhaling and inhaling the vapour products.
ESSAY MAP
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The scope of the study is very wide because it helps in demonstrating the various
elements and variables of the study. This study helps in- depth analysis of how tobacco and
vaping use affects young people and their breathing issues between ages 16-20 in the UK.
THESIS STATEMENT
This tool is useful in determine the breathing issues faced by the young people aged
between 16-20 years due to tobacco and vaping (Viswam, and et.al., 2018). This also helps in
determining how this affects young people. This study helps in determining the challenges faced
by the young people and also find effective stratgies due to use of tobacco and vaping.
TASK 4
Skeleton essay plan
Activitie
s
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8
Reflectiv
e
journals
Note
taking
Paraphra
sing
Identifica
tion of
topic and
thesis
statement
Paragrap
h writing
Referenc
ing
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Avoiding
plagiaris
m
Critical
analysis
with
valid
argument
on
subject
matter
Final
submissi
on
TASK 5
Topic sentence helps in determining the key idea of the particular paragraph. It helps in
directing and anticipating the paragraph (Heldman, 2018). It is very useful in linking up the
ideas.
Brexit has been considered as ongoing process from June 2016 when UK voted to leave
EU. Brexit helps countries in experiencing immediate cost savings. It helps in reducing issues
associated with the forced immigration. The major disadvantage associated with the Brexit is
that, it helps in creating more highly skilled job offering to the employees (Simatele, 2015). It
helps in potential access to the new market which is useful for the economy. On the contrary, the
major disadvantage associated with the Brexit is that, it tends to eliminate protection of safe
workplace, maternity leave and equal pay. This in turn also results in labour shortage. Another
major disadvantage associated with Brexit is that, it results in reduction in the foreign direct
investment.
TASK 7
Turnitin link is used to check plagiarism.
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1. Composing of paragraph by adding new words and make the data coherent whole by
effectively taking short phrases of around 10 to 15 words. This is considered to have weak
plagiarism because whole new information is made by adding new words.
2. Copying sentences, paragraphs and phrases and making small changes like replacing verbs,
adjectives with synonym and include citation. This is considered as plagiarism because whole
para is copied and replacing verbs does not make any difference (Assiter, 2017).
3. Quoting a para by placing in block format tends to have fine plagiarism.
4. Paraphrasing a paragraph by making substantial changes in organization and language tends to
result in good plagiarism.
5. Cutting and pasting para, sentences and words is considered to be a poor practice and results
in plagiarism.
TASK 8
Nhac, and La, (2018, September) said that, Vaping results in major serious issue among
the young adults. This leads to serious damage to the people who vape. Smoking and vaping
tends to put nicotine into the body which in turn results in slow brain development, no self-
control, better learning experience, change in mood, ineffective learning process, etc. It tends to
raise blood pressure and it also leads to high rate which in turn largely affects the health
outcomes of young adults. Viswam, and et.al., (2018) sough to determine the fact that, Smoking
tends to result in reduced physical fitness and this turn also results in wheezing, shortness of
breath, increased phlegm, coughing, etc. When teenagers tend to smoke at the young stage they
tend to increase the risk of dying prematurely because of smoking and vaping. This in turn also
results in various range of immediate health problems among the young people. Pears, and
Shields, (2016) sough to determine the fact that, Smoking and vaping tends to cause several
damages in the small air sacs and airways which in turn leads to severe breathing issues.
Smoking cigarettes also results in causing lung cancer which in turn largely affects the health
problem of young people. Drew, (2018) argued that, Chemicals in tobacco tends to increase the
chance of cardiovascular disease ad heart problems. Smoking tends to increase risk of
developing Alzheimer disease and risk of dementia. Smoking and vaping among young people
in turn relatively damage vessels and in turn results in blood clot. Nicotine tends to spike up the
adrenaline which in turn increases the heart rate which in turn results in heart attack. Gotts,
(2019) evaluated that, Smoking and vaping at a young age tends to potentially affect the lung
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growth and also results in severe respiratory illness and deceased physical fitness. In order to
reduce the urge of smoking and vaping, young people should focus on nicotine replacement
therapy, practising relaxation techniques, get engaged into physical exercise, etc.
TASK 9
COVERED IN PPT
CONCLUSION
This study summarizes that, Study skills are necessary as it helps in attaining higher
academic goals and objectives. This study helps in demonstrating the reflective study skills
possessed by the individual and various other skills which are to be developed. Furthermore, this
study creates a complete portfolio which in turn helps in analysing the importance of academic
research, plagiarism, paraphrasing.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abafalvi, L and et.al., 2019. Perceived health effects of vaping among Hungarian adult e-
cigarette-only and dual users: a cross-sectional internet survey. BMC public health.19(1).
p.302.
Assiter, A., 2017. Transferable skills in higher education. Routledge.
Cottrell, S., 2019. The study skills handbook. Macmillan International Higher Education.
De Jong, T.C., Parrott, T. and Retzlaff, M., 2016. Acute Effects of Non-Nicotine Vaping on
Vo2max, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, and Lung Volume.
Drew, S., 2018. The student skills: guide. Routledge.
Gotts, J.E., 2019. High-power vaping injures the human lung. American Journal of Physiology-
Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.316(5). pp.L703-L704.
Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley &
Sons.
Li, D and et.al., 2019. Association of smoking and electronic cigarette use with wheezing and
related respiratory symptoms in adults: cross-sectional results from the Population
Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, wave 2. Tobacco control,
pp.tobaccocontrol-2018.
Nhac, H.T. and La, M.N.B., 2018, September. The Effects of Portfolios on Developing Writing
Skills of English Major Students at Hanoi Law University. In VietTESOL International
Convention 2018.
Pears, R. and Shields, G.J., 2016. Cite them right: the essential referencing guide. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Simatele, M., 2015. Enhancing the portability of employability skills using e-portfolios. Journal
of Further and Higher Education, 39(6), pp.862-874.
Viswam, D and et.al., 2018. Respiratory failure caused by lipoid pneumonia from vaping e-
cigarettes. Case Reports, 2018, pp.bcr-2018.
Online
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Improving Your Note Taking. 2019. [ONLINE]. Available
through:<https://www.educationcorner.com/note-taking.html>
Responding to plagiarism using reflective means. 2015. [ONLINE]. Available
through:<https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s40979-015-0002-6>
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