Learning Theories and Educational Design

This assignment delves into the realm of learning theories and their practical application in educational design. It examines numerous theoretical frameworks, including cognitive, behavioral, constructivist, and social learning theories. The analysis highlights how these theories can inform the development of engaging and effective learning environments, instructional strategies, and assessment methods. The document also discusses the relevance of learning theories in diverse educational contexts.

PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT..............................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
a) Approaches to self managed learning................................................................................1
b) Encouraging lifelong learning in the personal and professional context...........................2
c) Benefits of self managed learning to both individuals and organization...........................3
d) Identifying the need of individual training.........................................................................3
e) Implementation of learning styles at various levels...........................................................4
f) Different time management strategies................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
a) Current skills and competencies against the professional standards and...........................5
organizational objectives........................................................................................................5
b) Planning activity to meet the requirement of above identified personal and professional
skills........................................................................................................................................7
c) Development opportunities to meet the current and future needs......................................8
d) Implementation of a personal development plan...............................................................9
e) Recognition of short term and long term objectives..........................................................9
f) Documentation of the planned activities..........................................................................10
g) Discussion of own learning against the required aims and objectives.............................10
h) Updating the above PDP..................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development can be defined as a method where individuals get
indulge in the learning process in order to face the challenges and meet the desired goals and
objectives. The personal development within the individuals will help them to gain necessary
skills and these skills will give them a healthy future both in form of wealth and standard.
Individual can enhance their learning through varied sources and they will be able to achieve
their future objectives (Chen, 2014). This present report has been prepared in order to understand
that self-managed learning helps in enhancing the lifelong development.
TASK 1
a) Approaches to self managed learning
There are various approaches that can be used by individual for the purpose of self managed
learning. However, these approaches have its own pros and cons as per the degree of their
usefulness. Some approaches have been discussed down: Seminars and conferences: I can increase my learning with the help of seminars and
conferences as by attending them, I will be able to improve my efficiency and will be
able to present myself in near future. These seminars and conferences will also boost my
morale and will make me confident in speaking in public. Apart from it, i will also be
able to develop my presentation skills which will help in undertaking any organization
working. Further, with these conferences, I will be able to know the functioning and
working of the big leaders. This will boost my morale and will be able to work with best
of my efficiency and capacity in near future. Social media: Social media is most recent trend and with that I will be able to share my
stuff across the globe with friends, family and different other people. Social media
includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, etc (Clarà and Barberà, 2013). Further,
this is also fact that people spend approximate more than an hour in using social media
daily. Further, I can get connected with them and learn many a new things by chatting
with them. Moreover, by checking the profile of successful people, I will be able to imply
their knowledge in my life and will be able to get success in my career.
 Internet: Internet is the most popular source of enhancing the knowledge and by
searching the content of my career, I will be able to grasp the opportunities of my career
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and with that i will be able to achieve my individual goals and objectives. Further, by
accessing Google scholar, I will be able to assess the academic journals and articles of the
authors who are specialized in their fields. Individual like me who is in early stage will be
able to get more of the knowledge within no time period and get specialized in the field
which I have obtained.
b) Encouraging lifelong learning in the personal and professional context
Lifelong learning is considered as a part of continuous learning and by identifying
oneself efficiently, one will be able to encourage their lifelong learning to achieve their
individual goals and objectives (Corno and Anderman, 2015). Further, by doing such type of self
analysis, this will help me in improving confidence, communication and relationship with the
people whom I will interact. In relation to this topic, I will be doing SWOT analysis of myself by
taking the help of my friends, family and other close members with whom I am in contact. This
is explained down under:
 Strength: Strength of me that I am quite organized and well dedicated towards the
work which is assigned to me. Along with it, this shows that I am much
responsible towards the task which is assigned to me. Further, as in my bachelors
studies I was having good command over finance and accountancy which makes
me expert in that field of work. Moreover, I have good knowledge of Microsoft
and other software’s which brighten up my career.
 Weakness: Weakness of me is that I am very short tempered and used to lose my
patience quite early. Along with it, I have fear of speaking to public in front.
Along with it, I have less knowledge of practical aspects which acts as a major
drawback for me.
 Opportunities: Opportunities available for me that I can improve my IT skills
along with make a flow of English to communicate with individuals easily.
Further, by taking help on internet and other sources, I will be able to have grasp
on particular subject which will make me expert in that field.
 Threats: Major threat for me is the income of my family as I do not have that
much of money to invest in studies (Hedges and Cullen, 2012). Along with that,
recession and low economy is acting as a major drawback for me in order to
enhance my skills.
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c) Benefits of self managed learning to both individuals and organization
Self managed learning to have its great importance in the personal and professional
development of individuals and this tool is making its effective impact on the expansion of
organization as well. At the personal level, self managed learning can be done through varied
ways and also the academic curriculum give base to the success for individual. Further, with
having effective command on specific field, people can earn a good amount of package which
will satisfy their personal and professional life.
Being a Human Resource student, I have great extend on knowledge regarding the
subject which were there in this field (Jiménez and et. al., 2015). I have learned the concept of
human resource management along with planning of human resource management within the
business enterprise. Along with it, I have great knowledge of recruitment and selection process
and by effective implement of that I will be able to give the best result to the business venture
where I will be working in the near future.
By working within organization, it will give me a platform to extend the knowledge
which all I have learned through academic and various other sources. Moreover, organization is
always in need of multi skilled and talented employees. Further, by giving the best of me at the
time of interview will secure my place in the best of the hospitality firm of my choice within UK.
Moreover, I will be giving my best of the performance throughout my career to increase the
revenue and profitability of the venture and with that I will be able to achieve my individual
goals and objectives as well.
d) Identifying the need of individual training
Presently, I am pursuing my final year in Human resource management. Along with it, I
have just joined as a trainee in the HR department of Hotel Marriott. Me and one of my
teammate interacted with few executives of front office management. There I recognized a
purpose of training and development session for them to enhance their technical skills. Due to
which, I too noticed a hesitation among them to make a profound communication with their
clients and customers (Jonassen and Land, 2012). Marriott uses all the latest means of advance
technology in their billing systems, but the new joiners were unable to operate those systems. As
a result, they were quite slow in their work and the customers were feeling irritated and getting
offended of this behavior. Many of the customers also made certain complaints against those
executives. However, in order to remain competent in today's technological advancement, it is
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mandatory for the organization to keep its employees updated with there technical skills.
Therefore, to enhance those skills in their employees, it is important for the company to timely
conduct various training and development sessions.
e) Implementation of learning styles at various levels
Different individual adapts different learning styles, as per his own capability of learning
and recognizing things. However, an organization mainly consists of three various levels of
management specified as- strategic, tactical and operational level. These levels are categorized
on the basis of their delegations and responsibilities of performing a particular organizational
role. As per my own conception, I found Honey and Mumford theory as one of the best method
to apply on all these levels.
Honey and Mumford is a learning style which defines total four varied kinds of
individual characteristics, according to which he grasps a particular thing. In the present
scenario, the strategic level refers to the top level management, who are responsible to take the
important organizational decisions. Like in the above scenario, they will recognize the need of
training session (Lau, 2014). Therefore, as per the above chosen theory, they play the role of
activists who has an optimistic nature and tries to implement something new. Another level of
tactical management is for middle level employees who plays the role of reflectors and needed a
brief before proceeding with a certain thing. Thus, after determining the need they are required to
organize the session. Lastly, there are operational level people who are the workers of the
organization or lower level employees for whom the stated firm is conducting the training and
development session. They effectively play the roles of theorists or pragmatists who need a
practical example for implementing their work.
f) Different time management strategies
To make an optimum utilization of the available resources, time management is
considered as an effective strategic tool. It works in both the personal and professional life of an
individual. It requires a close supervision of the total number of tasks along with how much time
its takes. Building a profound time management strategy also helps in accomplishing a task in
less amount of time (Lloyd, 2015). Therefore, there are certain steps which are needed to be
determined before building an effective plan of carrying numerous work in the given period.
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 Avoiding multitasking- It is a foremost task to know what we do entire day and how do
we spend our time. It will help to reduce the multitasking work by focusing on one
particular thing and completing it first. Setting priorities- It is equally important to know the work priorities, as what is needed to
be done first. It helps in differentiating the important work and an urgent work. It helps to
assign an appropriate time to accomplish each work.
 Utilization of a planning tool- One can also make an effective utilization of a to do list by
copying down the required tasks into a diary. It helps in being organized and executing
task in the allotted time schedule.
TASK 2
a) Current skills and competencies against the professional standards and
organizational objectives
Currently I am a trainee HR executive in Marriott and soon after completing the training
period of 3 months, I am willing to join the organization on a permanent basis. Focusing upon
the organizational goals of the cited firm, I found that its main objective is to serve their
customers in the best possible way. They always find new ways to enhance their customer
service by adapting the latest technologies and considering the present consumer needs and
demands. It hires candidates who always aims at attaining the SMART objectives in both his
individual and work life (McAlearney and et. al., 2012). I too found it an exiting approach of
serving people in this field of customer service.
Therefore, to recognize my own personal and professional skills, I have specified my
pro's and con's by forming the below mentioned table-
Professional
skills
Present level
(Ranging from
1-weak and 5-
strong)
Example Improvement
Communication 4 I agree to have a good reading and
writing skills due to which I can
easily communicate with all.
Communication
can further be
improved by
reading books and
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novels, etc.
Leadership 3 I found difficulty in managing my
team and make proper interaction
with them.
It can be improved
by making more
interaction with
the employees and
motivating them.
Time
management
2 I have poor time management skills
and require enormous focus in it.
By using the
planning tools and
a strategic way of
managing time.
Professional
knowledge
5 I can't deny being a good researcher,
for which I have attained numerous
certificates in my field.
Team work 5 By working in a team, we always
share each others potent skills and
generate innovative approaches to
tackle work by resolving issues.
Problem Solver 5 Followed by a team work, I have
achieved an effectual skill of problem
solving.
Planning and
organizing
3 However, I am good at planning my
work but lacking in the skills of TM,
I couldn't organize it well.
Work can be
easily organized
by maintaining a
planning tool and
jot down the tasks
in it.
Presentation
skills
2 Being scared of public interactions, I
too don't possess appropriate
presentation skills.
Attending
seminars and
taking part in
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group discussions
can quickly
improve these
required arenas.
Curriculum Vitae
Tee Fernandez
E_mail- [e-mail]
Career Objective and Summary
Currently working as a trainee in the HR department of Marriott.
The main objective is to achieve a position matching to my skills and competencies by
contributing to the HR profession.
Educational Qualification and Experience
Presently pursuing final year in HRM with few experiences in recruitment and manpower
planning.
Achievements
Certificate holder in power point presentation of Human resource policies.
Skills
Good interpersonal skills and research work.
Languages Known
English, French and Spanish
Declaration
I hereby confirm the relevancy of the above mentioned details.
Undersigned
Tee Fernandez
b) Planning activity to meet the requirement of above identified personal and professional skills
The above report has helped me to successfully recognize my strengths and weaknesses
in terms of carrying a positive approach in both my personal and professional life and effectively
meet the required outcomes. However, I need to follow certain steps which will help me to
overcome those weaknesses.
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Personal skills depicts the poor time management skills of mine. To rectify the same, I
need to carry a strategic plan of time management, which comprises various steps. It includes the
utilization of a planning tool to jot down the total number of tasks, one needs to accomplish in a
day. It also specifies the need of prioritizing the work, as per its level of urgency.
Professional skills refers to my inferiority of giving presentations to my team. It is
because I am restricted towards making public interactions (Mitchell and Hall, 2014). To
overcome this deficiency of mine, I am hitching myself to various seminars and group
discussions programs at the workplace, where each one has to present his own knowledge and
come up with his views and ideas to share among all.
c) Development opportunities to meet the current and future needs
By identifying the above requirements, I have come across the need of certain
developmental programs to combat both my current and future requirements. According to my
own competent skills of being a quick learner, I adapt and grasp things more quickly than others.
However, still there's a need of building more effective plans by together organizing and
managing tasks for a timely achievement of targeted goals.
Future requirements states the need of taking my personality development skills to a next
level of improvisation (Mitchell, Myles and Marsden, 2013). It includes building more
interaction with people and aspiring them towards the attainment of organizational goals and
objectives.
Various development opportunities to meet the above requirements are- Seminars and conferences- Participating in group discussions, one can effectively
enhance the presentation skills. It also helps to come up with innovative approaches. Social networking sites- In today's competitive business environment, these social
networking sites plays a major role in interacting people. It then builds the power of
communication and helps to develop and maintain a healthy relationship.
 Internet- With the help of internet, I can easily search for numerous books and articles on
leadership and follow few remarkable leaders of the world. By doing so, I can quickly
enhance my leadership skills.
d) Implementation of a personal development plan
Personal development plan is also named as PDP, which is an action plan to achieve the
desired goals and objectives of one's life. Be it a personal objective or professional objective,
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PDP works for the improvisation of both the arenas. It too defines the need of exact time to work
on the specified areas (Patton, Higgs and Smith, 2013). It is due to the fact which states that
nothing can be attained quickly, without making any investment of appropriate time and efforts
in it. In the present scenario, I came up with a shortfall of two major qualities of mine that I need
to improve on an immediate basis.
Therefore, Below I have developed a PDP for myself to determine the three important
levels of targeting areas.
Areas to improve Activities Time period
Leadership Skills Going through varied websites
to study journal on it and
personality development
sessions, etc.
Within 2 weeks
Time management skills Taking part in Seminars and
conference programs.
Within 1 month
e) Recognition of short term and long term objectives
In the above PDP, I have divided my goals in two parts of short term and long term
objectives. It is based on a specific time frame which states the requirement of enhancing the two
major areas of concern. It has effectively analyzed the need of improvement in the skills of
leadership and time management. In accordance to which, my long term goal is improving the
time management skills and the short term goal is to enhance the leadership quality.
Aiming at the required arenas, I need to comply the below mentioned procedures-
 Assess the skills which needs improvement- To implement the above PDP, I first need to
assess the total number of skills which I need to improve. In the current situation, there
are two major skills of leadership and time management. Indulging into the activities to enhance the required skills- It is the next step after
determining the required areas of improvisation. It involves the identification of the
activities needed to carry out for enhancing the above recognized skills (Pedersen and
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Digby, 2014). For example, for improving my leadership qualities, I am planning to study
numerous articles of leadership, written by different authors.
 Allotting a time frame for carrying a proper improvisation- Followed by the above two
steps, it is the last process of setting the required amount of time to improve the required
areas. It defines the exact time frame into which I need to attain the desired goal by
working on my deficit skills.
f) Documentation of the planned activities
Documentation is aimed at jotting down the above plans and their applicability in the
actual life. Here, I need to compare the standard plan with the actual implementation. For this
purpose, I need to record the planned activities and their varied manners in which I have
implemented it. For example, to improve my leadership qualities, I have decided to read books
and journals written by famous authors of different fields on a daily basis. Now, along with it, I
also need to record the details of it (Pritchard, 2013). My another implementation plan was to
attend various seminars and conference programs to effectively learn time management, in which
I am again supposed to note down the minutes of carrying each activity.
By compiling these above activities, I could easily and quickly enhance my professional
skills to further give a quality performance in the intended workplace of mine. It will also raise
me as an aspiring individual with all the required skills and competencies.
g) Discussion of own learning against the required aims and objectives
In this section, I have carried out a critical analysis of my own learning objectives aimed
at the fragmentation of the PDP. As per the PDP, my first and foremost task was to improve the
leadership skills of mine. In regard to which, I did notice a visible improvement in it. However, I
am still facing certain issues in handling and managing my team, which is due to the low time
frame of 2 weeks. In this allotted period of 2 weeks, it seemed difficult for me to interact more
number of people (Reigeluth, 2013). Thus, there's a requirement of more time to improve the
required area.
On the other side, I am now able to promptly manage my time and thus, do not found the
requirement of further improving the specific skill.
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h) Updating the above PDP
On the basis of the above evaluations, I have updated my PDP, which depicts the below
mentioned plan-
Skill require improvement Activities needed Time frame
Leadership skill I will follow few mentoring
sessions to build more
interactions.
Within 3 months
CONCLUSION
The above report depicts the need and importance of development in one's life. It
showcases the benefits of self- managed learning to both individual and business enterprise. This
document also helps in identifying the development opportunities to meet the current as well as
future needs by building one's own personal development plan which also enhances the
professional life of an individual.
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REFERENCES
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Hedges, H. and Cullen, J., 2012. Participatory learning theories: a framework for early childhood
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Reigeluth, C.M. ed., 2013. Instructional design theories and models: An overview of their
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Taylor, D.C. and Hamdy, H., 2013. Adult learning theories: Implications for learning and
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