Reflection on Academic Skills Development: First Two Semesters

This reflective paper examines the development of academic skills during the first two semesters of university, utilizing Gibb's reflective cycle model and SMART goals. The paper details the student's experiences, including challenges with accents and strategies for overcoming them, such as borrowing notes and seeking peer assistance. It evaluates the student's dedication, motivation, and performance in class tests, highlighting the importance of analytical and observational skills. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of academic skills like honesty and integrity. Furthermore, the paper outlines a specific action plan for continued improvement, focusing on revising notes, completing assignments on time, and achieving high grades. The paper also discusses the requirements for being an effective university student, emphasizing dedication, motivation, and a focus on coursework completion and revision. The paper includes a list of relevant references to support the reflection.

REFLECTION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Reflection on the development of academic skills.................................................................1
Reflection on requirements for being an effective university student....................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
This is a reflective paper which comprises of Gibb's reflective cycle model to carry out
reflection upon development of academic skills along with SMART goals for improvement of
those skills. Also, it includes prerequisites for becoming a good university student.
Reflection on the development of academic skills
This reflective paper will provide an in-depth knowledge of development of my academic
skills during first two semesters at college. Gibb's cyclic model is used to conduct personal
reflection to gain more knowledge about the overall skill development within first year at
university (Pereira and Costa, 2017).
Description: I had always been a keen observer to little things and possessed utmost
dedication and motivation to pursue my higher education at university. While attending my first
lecture, the only thought that revolved around in my mind was to focus upon the coursework and
keep questioning the authenticity and validity of what I learned each day. I always challenged
myself to dig deep into the course material in order to notice and remember each little detail
required for examinations. In this regard, I possessed no issues with any tutors except one whose
accent was different from mine which caused difficulty for me.
Feeling: I was an individual who found it tough to perceive Welsh English accent which
was spoken by one of my tutors. This is the primary reason why I always possessed issues
related to comprehensibility of course material due to which I was unable to pen down notes of
that class.
Evaluation: Being an absolutely motivated and dedicated student having immense
confidence in my academic skills and capabilities, I used to borrow notes from my peers during
initial two months at university. During the meantime, I used to get assistance from my friends to
understand the accent properly.
Analysis: By properly utilising my willingness to learn new things, I soon learnt Welsh
English accent and started penning down my own notes to refer at the time of class tests or
semester exams. This provided assistance in performing well at weekly class tests by taking into
account the analytical and observatory skills (Ghanizadeh, 2017).
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Conclusion: On the basis of above situation, it could be concluded that I was able to
display good performance in my weekly class tests owing to my dedication, loyalty and integrity
towards my academic career.
Action Plan: To make sure that I do not face any such complex situations in future
context as well as to track my academic skill development regularly, I have devised SMART
goals which are described beneath:- Specific: To do revision of my class notes and complete class assignments on time. Measurable: To revise the notes written in lectures on a daily basis . Achievable: To allot 2-3 hours to revision of coursework every day. Result focussed: To get over 75% grades in class assignments as well as semester exams.
 Time Bound: To be able to complete the whole course revision thrice within a time span
of six months.
Reflection on requirements for being an effective university student
According to my perception, a good student has high level of dedication, motivation, zeal
and enthusiasm to carry out significant and relevant development of one's academic skills.
Besides this, the vision of a student within university should the completion along with the
revision of coursework to get high knowledge about subject matter (Gee, 2017).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it is concluded that academic skills such as honesty,
punctuality, integrity are the key to one's academic career and must be possessed at all times.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ghanizadeh, A., 2017. The interplay between reflective thinking, critical thinking, self-
monitoring, and academic achievement in higher education. Higher Education. 74(1).
pp.101-114.
Pereira, O. P. and Costa, C. A. A. T., 2017. The importance of soft skills in the university
academic curriculum: The perceptions of the students in the new society of
knowledge. International Journal of Business and Social Research. 7(3). pp.25-34.
Gee, N., 2017. A study of student completion strategies in a Likert-type course evaluation
survey. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 41(3). pp.340-350.
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