Reflective Report on Higher Education Skills Development (UGB003)

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Report on my progress in developing the knowledge and skills for
study in higher education for the module: UGB003 Higher
Education Skills and Competencies
Student’sName…………………………………………………………
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Student’s Identification
Number…………………………………………......................................
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Group Number:
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Date of
submission..................................................................................................
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Declaration that this is your own work – a simple statement such
as:-
I declare that this report is my own work.
Name of
Tutor……………………...........................................................................
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Analysis..................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
I have learned many things and expanded my knowledge regarding the system of education in
schools and higher education from this assignment. It has aided me to improve my skills in
critical reading. This assignment has enhanced my ability to gather information and data from
various sources. I read a variety of books and journals in order to collect data and information
that helped me to improve my skills and expanded my knowledge. The experience that I had
while completing this module has been explained in this report. This assignment has aided me to
enhance my skills by providing me a means to evaluate my skills as well as competencies. It has
aided me to improve the ways that I use to handle situations. It has been great learning
experience for me as it aided me to develop knowledge and learn new skills as well as assisted
me to do self-analysis.
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Main Analysis
1. The distinction between learning in the School environment and Higher Education: the
time management and learning style worksheets.
The learning experiences that I gathered in higher education is very different in comparison to
the experience that I gathered in school in terms of the syllabus and the time for completing the
syllabus since, in school, the syllabus was not so huge as compared to the syllabus in higher
education. Moreover, in school there was sufficient time to cover the whole syllabus during
school days while in higher education the syllabus was huge and the time to complete it was less.
In school, it was easier to complete the syllabus and manage time since the topics were not so
huge and tough (Bell et al., 2018). I used to complete the worksheets that were assigned to us
with the help of my parents as well as teachers.
However, the assignments that I received in higher education were difficult though I received
help from my teachers to complete them but many questions I had to solve on my own since the
assignments had many questions and it was not possible for teachers to help every student for
every question.
2. Engagement with critical reading and thinking: Lidl and Aldi, VW emissions scandal
Critical reading and thinking is a very important aspect of education. It aids to improve the
thinking capability of the students and increases their capability of thinking as well as analysing
the things or topics in a proper way. However, it is not required in school since the topics are not
so huge and it requires the students to learn or answer from what is written or covered in the
textbooks. It was not necessary to do thorough research to answer the questions since the
questions could be easily answered by referring to the textbooks (Berzosa et al., 2017).
However, in higher education I had to gather information and data from several books and
resources in order to answer the questions. I had to critically think on the topics to answer the
questions in the assignments. I had to read data from several sources and critically think as well
as read to answer the questions asked on topics like, LIDL, ALDI and the emission scandal of
Volkswagen (Guetterman, 2015). Without conducting proper research on the topics, it is not
possible to answer the questions of the worksheets in higher education.
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3. The ability to locate, collect and record appropriate information using a range of
academic resources: the Volkswagen team task.
In order to solve the questions in higher education, it is necessary to read various books and
journals because one can answer the questions only if a person has thorough knowledge of the
topics. Initially, it was difficult for me to research and gather information from various sources,
since I had no idea of the sources that can help me with my assignments. The teachers helped me
a lot with this and gave me idea of the sources from where I can collect information. The
Volkswagen team task was the first task where I had to critically evaluate and think in order to
answer the questions of the assignments (Boud and Soler, 2016). Each student in the team was
given a different portion of the topic on which they had to answer the question after proper
research. It aided me a lot to gain experience on proper researching capability, proper evaluation
and critical thinking.
4. Evaluation of the reliability of information: material related to the group tasks and
theory and evidence in relation to study skills and reflection.
The questions that were asked in the assignments in higher education required proper research
from authentic sources. However, it is important that the data so collected is reliable and the
sources from which the data is collected is authentic. Initially, when I conducted research in
order to gain proper knowledge and information in order to answer the questions there were
instances when I made mistake. Nevertheless, my mistakes taught me more since it gave me the
opportunity to learn about the sources that are not authentic. My teachers helped me a lot to
recognise the sources that are authentic as I discussed with them while I was conducting research
and gathering information and data (Raaper, 2016). I also discussed with my teammates on the
authenticity of the sources and got the opportunity to learn many other things like how to do self-
analysis and improve my ways of conducting research.
5. Reading skills: Speed, comprehension and critical reading of a text
Reading is another very important aspect of education. It is necessary to develop good reading
skill since it aids a student to understand the topic in a better way. It also aids the students to
learn the pronunciation of words and enables him or her to develop an efficient way of speaking.
Students are trained to develop efficient reading skills from a very young age and it starts from
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school itself. Regular reading practices assist children to develop a speed of reading and make
their pronunciation of words loud and clear. I did not face any problem in reading since I was
trained on this from a very young age (Assiter, 2017). My teachers in school and my parents
inculcated the habit of reading in me from a very young age therefore I faced no problem in
reading in higher education.
6. Self-reflection: what could have been improved? What was really good?
Higher education and school education were completely different from each other as the syllabus
was not so huge and difficult while the syllabus of higher education was too huge and tough. In
school, reading and learning from my textbooks were sufficient to answer the questions in
assignments and examinations. However, in higher education, I had to research on several topics
and mere reading and learning from textbooks were not sufficient to score well (Lombardi et al.,
2018). It demanded effective time-management skills along with proper research on the topics
from several sources. It was necessary to have thorough knowledge on the topics else, it was not
possible to answer the questions due to the diversity of the syllabus. It was difficult for me
initially to manage time and conduct research but slowly and steadily I learnt and it made me
responsible and disciplined.
7. Evaluation of your progress over the module
While doing the module, I got many opportunities to improve my knowledge and developing
new skills. This experience made me do self-analysis and perform through research on any topic
that I intended to learn. It made me realise the differences that exists in the style and approach of
education in school and higher education (Medland, 2016). I realised that school education was
much easier as compared to higher education, however, when I was in school I felt that the topics
taught in school are very difficult and tough. I got the opportunity to improve as well as expand
my knowledge in higher education. It changed my way of approach towards study and education
and aided me to develop new skills. It assisted me to gain thorough knowledge on the topics by
conducting proper research and helped me to identify the authentic sources. It made me realise
that mere reading from textbooks does not aid to have proper knowledge on any topic therefore it
is necessary to conduct research in order to have proper and thorough knowledge of the topic
(Hinton and Higson, 2017). Higher education aided me become more responsible and disciplined
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in addition to this, made me realise the importance of conducting proper research in order to
learn.
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Conclusion
This assignment is a reflective report on the differences of approach towards education in
schools and higher education. It highlights the experiences that are gathered in school and higher
education in terms of the systems that are followed in the field of education. It analyses the ways
through which a student learns and improves his or her own skills and expands his or her
knowledge. It discusses the difficulties a student faces while learning new skills and the ways,
which he or she uses to overcome or conquer his or his mistakes. The exact difference that exists
in the way of teaching and the syllabus that is taught in schools and higher education has been
described.
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Reference List
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Boud, D. and Soler, R., 2016. Sustainable assessment revisited. Assessment & Evaluation in
Higher Education, 41(3), pp.400-413.
Raaper, R., 2016. Academic perceptions of higher education assessment processes in neoliberal
academia. Critical Studies in Education, 57(2), pp.175-190.
Assiter, A., 2017. Transferable skills in higher education. Routledge.
Hinton, D.P. and Higson, H., 2017. A large-scale examination of the effectiveness of anonymous
marking in reducing group performance differences in higher education assessment. PloS
one, 12(8), p.e0182711.
Medland, E., 2016. Assessment in higher education: drivers, barriers and directions for change in
the UK. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(1), pp.81-96.
Lombardi, A., Gelbar, N., Dukes III, L.L., Kowitt, J., Wei, Y., Madaus, J., Lalor, A.R. and
Faggella-Luby, M., 2018. Higher education and disability: A systematic review of assessment
instruments designed for students, faculty, and staff. Journal of Diversity in Higher
Education, 11(1), p.34.
Berzosa, A., Bernaldo, M.O. and Fernández-Sanchez, G., 2017. Sustainability assessment tools
for higher education: An empirical comparative analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 161,
pp.812-820.
Guetterman, T.C., 2015, May. Descriptions of sampling practices within five approaches to
qualitative research in education and the health sciences. In Forum qualitative
Sozialforschung/forum: qualitative social research (Vol. 16, No. 2).
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