Summative Assessments: Strategies for Improving Academic Skills and Managing Stress Levels

This report discusses strategies for improving academic skills and managing stress levels. It includes a personal SWOT analysis, SMART goals, and stress management techniques such as better sleep, visualisation, exercise, breathing exercises, PMR, listening to music, eating healthy diets, positive thinking, and time management.

Summative assessments

Table of Contents
Introduction:.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Task-1..............................................................................................................................................3
Assessment -1:............................................................................................................................3
Task-2:.............................................................................................................................................5
Discussing about stress management strategies that can help students in managing their stress
level:............................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:.......................................................................................................................................9

Introduction:
The academic skills is termed as the learning strategies, habits as well as capabilities that
can support student in succeeding in their respective academic areas. The development of
academic skills is important for any student as it will lead them to improve academic writing
skills as well as presentation skills. In addition to this, the academic skills also assist students in
developing their critical thinking skills and knowledge. This report will discuss the SMART
goals in order to improve the required academic skills in most effective manner. Moreover, the
report will also explain about stress management techniques that will help students in managing
their stress level in best manner.
MAIN BODY
Task-1
Assessment -1:
My personal SWOT analysis:
Strengths
 I possess great communication skills as
I am able to draw attention of other
students as well as professors. I have critical thinking skills that
supports me in dealing with complex
problems in most effective manner.
Weaknesses
 I am not good at managing my time
effectively as I suffer greatly in
completing task on timely basis.
 I am also not good at managing my
elevated stress levels as I get under
pressure easily while performing
complex class projects.
Opportunities
 I am learning about the computer skills
as well as coding skills which will help
Threats
 The pandemic situation can affect my
learning process as I am not good at

in gaining competitive edge in job
market. I am also doing digital marketing
certification course as this field is
growing tremendously due to rise in
social media platforms (Akhmetshin
and et.al., 2019).
learning through use of digital
platforms which can negatively impact
my learning process.
 The competition in job market is
increasing very rapidly with each
passing day due to which my CV can
become outdated in near future.
SMART Objectives:
Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time
I want to become
expert in
managing my
time.
This objective
will be
measurable as I
will start
implementing
tasks within set
time.
The set goals will
be achieved by
practising by
completing tasks
within the set
time period by
taking help of
time management
applications.
This objective is
realistic as I am
working for
improving this
skill from the past
1 month.
5 months
I have to stay in
calm state of
mind while
performing under
pressure.
This objective
will be measured
by observing the
type of behaviour
arises during
stressful
situations.
The set goals will
be achieved by
undertaking stress
bursting exercises
such as Yoga.
This set objective
for managing
stress level is
quite realistic as I
am already taking
stress
management
course in order to
manage high
stress levels in
optimum level.
4 months.

Personal development Plan
What I want to
improve?
What I have to do? What resources as
well as support I will
need?
Deadline date
Time management
skills
I have to seek new
ways so that I can
manage my time in
effective manner.
I will need time
management books so
that in can gain insight
about tricks to manage
time in better manner.
In addition to this, I
will focus more on
completing critical
tasks on priority basis.
August, 2022
Stress management
skills
I have to learn
effective stress
management
techniques so that I
can improve my stress
management skills.
I will undertake some
breathing exercises
which will help me in
releasing my stress
levels. In relation to
this, I will also take
part in stress
management related
seminars.
July, 2022
Task-2:
Discussing about stress management strategies that can help students in managing their stress
level:
The student may develop critical amount of stress levels that can negatively impact their
health, lifestyle as well as academic grades. In addition to this, the elevated stress level can also

hamper their healthy sleep patterns as well as diet level. The stress level can be generated in
students from any situations such as homework, social challenges or relationship issues. Hence,
it is crucial for the students to control higher stress level in order to perform better in academic
life. Moreover, the stress management techniques can support students in lowering down their
high stress levels in effective manner (Alipichev and Takanova, 2020). The following
explanation is related to stress management strategies for students:
Better Sleep:
The best method to manage high stress level is to sleep adequately for at-least eight hours
in a day. The disturbed sleep pattern can negatively effect the mood of students making them
dull as well as less motivated to perform daily task optimally. In relation to this, the low sleep
time can also hamper the health of students by making them lethargic as well as increased risk of
several health diseases. Moreover, the inadequate sleep can make students less productive in
their exams. Hence, in order to manage elevated stress levels in appropriate manner the students
must sleep properly.
Practising Visualisation:
The other important stress management strategy that students can adopt in order to reduce
their high stress levels is by practising visualisation technique. This strategy can support students
to detach themselves with stressful thinking by focusing on positive sides of situation. It helps
the student to calm down and can effectively minimise their body's stress response. Moreover,
the visualisation strategy can also help students in thinking positive side of every situation which
can reduce their elevated stress level to significant extent (Pasiali and Clark, 2018).
Doing exercise regularly:
The other crucial strategy that student can adopt in order to reduce high stress levels is
exercise. The regular exercise can support the students to generate positive feelings in their mind
due to the rise in feel good hormone such as dopamine or serotonin. These hormones can help
students in doing every task of university in high motivation and positive level. In addition to
this, by doing regular exercise in the form of Yoga, morning walk or cycling, the student can
successfully minimise their high stress level in most effective manner.
Performing breathing exercise:

This strategy is considered as the critical activity that can support student in significantly
minimising their high stress level. In this, the student can practise breathing exercises for
improving high stress levels. The breathing exercise in the form of meditation can help students
to view positive side of every circumstances as well as assists them in reducing their anxiety
level. In relation to this, the breathing exercise can also lead student to perform better in every
aspect of life rather than student life. Hence, this strategy can be a great technique for students in
order to effectively manage high stress levels (Son, Choi and Kwon, 2019).
Practising Progressive Muscle Relaxation(PMR):
This stress bursting technique is also termed as the effective strategy in order to minimise
elevated stress level. By following this technique, the student can relax all muscles by sitting at
the comfortable position until the body is completely relaxed. This strategy can be very helpful
for students in order to foster deep sleeping. In addition to this, the practise of PMR exercise can
also support student in effectively relaxing their mind before any exams. This help students in
releasing their high stress level within seconds.
Listening to music:
The other famous strategy that students can follow to reduce high stress level is by
listening to calm music. The studies have showed that listening to calm musical beats is the most
effective stress releaser that student can practise in order to improve their performance in
academic exams. In addition to this, the listening of sweet melody musics can help students to
relieve from high stress levels in fastest manner. Moreover, the listening of music before going
to bed can also boost deep sleep habits which makes it a great anti- stress technique (Kissi and
et.al., 2020).
Eating healthy diets:
The change in dietary habits can also greatly support students in managing high stress
levels in effective manner. The consumption of junk food is considered as the major cause of
high stress among students as it suppresses the production of feel- good hormones. On the other
side, the healthy eating habits such as eating green veggies, beans or eggs can support students to
in reducing their high stress level to the great extent. Moreover, the addition of fruits in the daily
diet chart also assist students by boosting their mental power which will lead them to manage
high stress levels in effective manner.
Positive thinking:

The positive thinkers are able to manage their high stress levels in most appropriate
manner as they see every situation by using a positive lens. It is crucial of the students to practise
positive thinking by imagining the positive attributes of situations rather negative attributes. This
strategy will make students succeed in every parameters of life which can be student life or
professional life. Moreover, the positive thinking can also boost feel good hormones such as
dopamine in students which will make them effective to handle any kind of stress levels. Hence,
by thinking positively the students can greatly level up their motivation level which in turn will
support the to manage elevated stress levels (Menz, 2020).
Time Management:
The most crucial technique that can help student to stay away from high stress levels is
by managing time appropriately. The student who manages their time effectively by dividing the
task on the basis of important and less important activities are able to keep their high stress levels
at bay. In addition to this, the effective time management strategy can also allow students to
focus more on completing critical class projects rather than engaging in unproductive activities.
This support student to complete their class work in timely basis which further boost their
confidence level.
Conclusion:
From the above report, it has been analysed that academic skills are critical in order to
gain better marks in exams as well as performing better while giving presentations. This report
has covered my personal SWOT as well as also developed my action plan in order to improve
academic skills within the set time frame. In addition to this, the report has also highlighted the
strategies through which students can manage high stress levels effectively.

References:
Books and Journal
Akhmetshin and et.al., 2019. Entrepreneurial skills development through distance
learning. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 22, pp.1-12.
Alipichev, A.Y. and Takanova, O.V., 2020. Independent research activity of MSc and PhD
students: Case-study of the development of academic skills in FFL
classes. XLinguae, 13(1), pp.237-252.
Kissi and et.al., 2020. Underlying strategies for improving entrepreneurial skills development of
technical and vocational students in developing countries: using Ghana as a case
study. Education+ Training.
Menz, M., 2020. Integrating Academic Skills and Employability-Revisiting the Learning
Journal. Journal of Research in Higher Education, 4(2).
Pasiali, V. and Clark, C., 2018. Evaluation of a music therapy social skills development program
for youth with limited resources. Journal of music therapy, 55(3), pp.280-308.
Son, S.H.C., Choi, J.Y. and Kwon, K.A., 2019. Reciprocal associations between inhibitory
control and early academic skills: evidence from a nationally representative sample of
head start children. Early Education and Development, 30(4), pp.456-477.