Academic and Research Skills Assignment: Self-Assessment and Planning

This assignment delves into the core concepts of academic and research skills, emphasizing their crucial role in personal and professional growth. It begins with a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses, followed by a detailed discussion on note-taking techniques and strategies to enhance communication skills. The assignment then outlines a comprehensive research plan, differentiating between primary and secondary research methods, and providing a framework for a typical research plan. Finally, it culminates in a personal development plan, setting long-term and short-term objectives, outlining activities to achieve them, and identifying necessary support systems. The report concludes that academic and research skills are essential for individuals to perform their duties effectively and attain their goals, facilitating both personal and professional advancements. The assignment uses various sources, including books and journals, for research and reference.

Academic and Research Skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Evaluation of own strengths & weaknesses................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
Note taking..................................................................................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
Research plan..............................................................................................................................3
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................4
Personal development plan.........................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Academic and Research are the skills which are all about activities as well as strategies
that are implemented to learning (Ahn, 2012). It supports a person in becoming an effective
learner and facilitates in their personal development and growth. This assignment includes
evaluation of own weaknesses and strengths so that improvements can made. A research is
carried out, SMART objectives are set and personal development plan is developed in this
project.
TASK 1
Evaluation of own strengths & weaknesses
In order to improve weak areas, it is very essential to assess own weaknesses and
strengths. Proper understanding of these makes it easy to recognize those areas which I need to
improve (Becker and et. al., 2014). My strengths and weaknesses are as follows:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Critical thinking skills is one of my
strong point that assists me in
evaluating things properly.
 Team working is my another strength
that facilitates me in my personal
growth and development.
 Good reading skills is also my strength
that enables me to understand written
text in more easy way.
 One of my major weakness is poor
communication skills that sometimes
creates problems for me.
 Time management and organising skill
of mine are not good because of which
I am not able to meet deadlines.
 Lack of effective listening skills is my
another weakness due to which
sometimes I am not able to picturing
out things clearly.
SMART Objectives:
 To improve my listening skills in 4 months.
 To enhance my communication or presentation skills within 6 months.
 To maximize time management skills within 9 weeks.
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TASK 2
Note taking
Note taking is identified as a practice in which all the informations that are gathered by
other source are recorded. It assists an individual to make proper records of own working by
which they can measure their performance on regular basis.
 I take active participation in conferences and seminars in order to enhance my
communication skills. I note down all the essential points that speaker says so that I can
enhance my skills (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2012).
 For improving my communication skills, I start to watch videos, English movies etc.
Apart from that, I also read English newspaper. All this helps me enhancing my skills
and enable me to understand meaning of sentences and works in proper way.
 I also interact more with my family members and friends and share my views & opinions
with them which helps in improving my communication. I also takes back feedbacks
from them so that I can know the areas on which I need to work upon.
 I prepare notes on regular basis in which I note down all the crucial points that helps me
in practising things appropriately.
Note making skills enhance ability of learner to acquire more knowledge and learn things
by writing. Vocabulary and grammar is improved by this practice that helps in developing
personality. For enhancing my skills, I do following things:
 Take participation in conferences and seminars, pay attention towards speaker and listen
them carefully (Haddow, 2012).
 Note down summary regarding each learning point.
 Try to acquire knowledge of diverse area.
 Try to link subject matter with past knowledge.
 Takes time to reflect.
 Take feedbacks from others.
 Try not to interrupt & criticize.
 Respond appropriately.
Above mentioned points helps in improving skills and supports in development and
growth. LISTEN means:
L: Lead
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I: Ideas
S: Summarize
T: Talk
E: Ends
N: Notes
These are the key components that facilitates in adapting such aptitudes in persuasive
manner (Nonthacumjane, 2011).
Paraphrase: It is identified as the process which helps in rephrasing all kinds of contents
in proper and efficient manner. It will help me in saving my time and cost of attaining
predetermined targets and objectives within specified period of time.
Summarised: This is the process in which all the data is shortened as relevant and
significant information. It is a brief representation of complete data that provides core
information only.
TASK 3
Research plan
There are various techniques that a firm use for advertising and in such way it helps in
collecting information in culminate way. It supports in overcoming my shortcomings by
attending conferences and workshops. In addition to this, it provides various opportunities
including meeting with management, attending sessions, taking feedbacks from customers and
others.
Research plan:
Research plan is the primary part of granting application & defines principles of proposed
research of investigator (Thornes, 2012). It provides an opportunity to researcher to discuss
about proposed research, defining its importance and the way it will be carry out. There are two
types of research which are defined below:
Primary research: It is a research that is carried out to answer particular issues. In this,
fresh data is collected by the help of surveys, questionnaires, interviews or by interacting with
people personally. All the data collected by primary research is completely new and first hand
data.
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Secondary research: In this, research is conducted on the basis of previously collected
data. It includes summary, collation or synthesis of existent research. As a source of information
or data analysis, primary research is used in secondary research (Nelson and et. al., 2011).
Some elements that are require in a typical research plan are as follows:
 Specific Aims.
 Research Strategy.
 Biographical Sketch.
 Resources.
 Research Support.
 Preliminary Studies & Progress Reports.
At the time of preparing research plan, there are some points that needs to be
incorporated by researcher. Some steps that should be taken into consideration are as follows:
 Design and framework of research
 Research should have appropriate title
 Points should be specified and clear
 Proper Procedure should be followed to investigate for research topic
 Direction for end results
 Require to have proper or decent recording & structure for research
 Advancement and approach
 Track spending plan on regular basis
 Preparation of report beforehand
 Put reference also
 Survey regarding research work
TASK 4
Personal development plan
Personal Development Plan refers to the process of establishing goals and objectives that
a person wants to achieve within its defined time frame that further help in its career growth and
development (Schindler, 2011). It helps in identifying current realities i.e. existing skills,
competency or knowledge of a person. The main objective for drawing this plan is to improve
individual's job performance. Discussed below is my personal development plan:-
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My personal
development
targets
Long
or
short
term
targets
How will I
attain my
targets? What
activities do I
applied to
undertake to
accomplish
my objectives?
What support
do I need?
Date
of
review
Progress made
towards target
Further action
needed
Actual data of
accomplishing
targets
Communication
Skill:
Long
Term
In order to
improve my
communication
skill, I need to
attend
meetings,
lectures,
classes where I
participate
effectively and
takes initiative
in context of
communicating
with others.
3
months
After 3 months,
my
communication
skill gets
improved by 40
% and I will be
able to
communicate
with others in a
better manner.
Further I can
invite my co-
worker on lunch
who have good
command in
communication.
This keep
motivating me
to interact with
them and
enhance my
communication
skill.
Approx. 1 year
Listening Skill: Both
short
and
long
term
For enhancing
my listening
skills, I need to
attend seminar,
lecturers. I
4
months
Later on It has
been figure out
that, I progress
near about 25%
towards my
I do not disrupt
when speaker is
saying
something. I
have to wait
I year
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need to keep
my mind open
when speaker
is expressing
anything.
defined
objectives. I
can start
interacting with
others and
listens their
opinion first.
until the
presenter is
done with its
turn.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that academic and research
skills are very essential for an individual to have as it helps in their personal and professional
growth. These skills help an individual in performing their duties in well manner and attain
objectives effectively.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahn, H., 2012. Teaching Writing Skills Based on a Genre Approach to L2 Primary School
Students: An Action Research. English Language Teaching. 5(2). pp.2-16.
Becker, D.R., and et. al., 2014. Behavioral self-regulation and executive function both predict
visuomotor skills and early academic achievement. Early Childhood Research
Quarterly. 29(4). pp.411-424.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P.R., 2012. Management research. Sage.
Haddow, G., 2012. Knowledge, skills and attributes for academic reference librarians. Australian
Academic & Research Libraries. 43(3). pp.231-248.
Nonthacumjane, P., 2011. Key skills and competencies of a new generation of LIS
professionals. IFLA journal. 37(4). pp.280-288.
Thornes, S.L., 2012. Creating an online tutorial to develop academic and research skills. Journal
of Information Literacy. 6(1). pp.82-95.
Nelson, K.E., and et. al., 2011. Language delays of impoverished preschool children in relation
to early academic and emotion recognition skills. First Language. 31(2). pp.164-194.
Schindler, V.P., 2011. Using service-learning to teach mental health and research
skills. Occupational Therapy in Health Care. 25(1). pp.54-64.