Reflective Development Report - HNC Construction, Semester 1

This report offers a comprehensive reflection on personal and professional development within the construction and built environment field. The student begins by examining their learning styles, specifically the Auditory and Read and Write styles, and how these impact their ability to acquire new knowledge and skills. The report then details the methods used to acquire new skills, including the use of a telephone for information gathering and the importance of reading instructions. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to continual personal development, outlining activities such as improving learning skills, examining career goals, and utilizing technology. Furthermore, the report addresses the importance of training and development needs, particularly in relation to the competitive job market, and emphasizes the need for computer-based management and design skills. The student evaluates their own skills and competence, providing examples of their experience and qualifications, and also outlines a personal development plan spanning three years. This plan includes short-term and long-term goals for leadership development and construction management. Finally, the report concludes with a future development plan, highlighting the importance of adapting to technological advancements and improving skills to increase job opportunities, including short-term plans to enhance learning skills and long-term plans to improve leadership and technical skills.

Personal professional development1
PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Name of student
Course
Date

Personal professional development2
Introduction.
The purpose of this transcript is to provide a critical reflection of the skills developed in the
construction and building faculty which will be important for me as I continue my personal and
professional development in this field of study. This assignment information basically provides
some of the importance of reflective development in study work. In the study, a brief evaluation
of learning styles and how they implicated my learning, evaluation of own skills and
competence, personal development plans and other development progress have been discussed.
Learning styles and their implications on personal development.
In this construction field, different learners have a number of strategies on how they go about
their learning activities. In order to improve private learning behaviors, it is important keep
record of objective observations encountered. Learning styles are unique tools important for one
in gaining new knowledge through understanding and implementation of instructions given1. For
my learning, I used the VARK model of learning styles with me specifically adopting the
Auditory and, Read and Write styles. The Auditory style makes me understand new content
better through speaking and listening in different lectures and a number of group discussions. On
the other hand, Read and Write style is important to me as it facilitates my learning through
words and can I be able to translate the new concepts I gain into figures and essays. These two
are really important to me as I usually prefer to learning personally or through other people's
guidance. By engaging myself into different activities, I can gain new concepts which my
mentors wants me to learn and apply to improve my skills and understanding of situations or
things I am recommended to do. It is important to note that the learning environment should be
1 Fadoul, A., Tizani, W., Koch, C., and Osorio-Sandoval, C. A. 2018. A constructability assessment framework for buildings design
using Building Information Modelling (BIM). In 17th International Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering
(ICCCBE), Tampere, Finland, July

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bearable to all learners and should not discriminate a group of leaners but instead accommodate
everyone.
Acquisition of new skills.
For a construction engineer beginning or looking for further career success, it is important to
acquire essential skills necessary in the modern job market. Technology has brought with it a
number of advancements which can be used in collecting information on various fields of
interest. Among these tools include computers, mobile phones among other smart devices which
have made it easier for researchers to collect data in a more advanced and creative way. For my
case, in order to acquire new skills or information which is relevant to my field of study, I used a
telephone. This had a number of advantages including acquiring information more quickly, being
cost-effective as you just call and get the information and also being cheap to buy. These
advantages had a number of impacts on my project study as I was able to receive proper training
way much faster and a handful of experience on how to effectively communicate with people2.
Moreover, I was able to create a healthy relationship with those I interacted with and I believe,
this will help me find a number of career opportunities available to me through those seniors. this
method of acquisition new skills was however not effective in some ways especially in situations
where I needed to practically observe some procedures that should be carried out in operation of
some machines relevant to my field of study and therefore, I had to change to another method of
data collection and reading instructions3.
2 Stamatiadis, N., Goodrum, P., Shocklee, E., Sturgill, R., and Wang, C. 2013. Tools for Applying Constructability Concepts to
Project Development (Design).
3 Khan, S. 2016. Study of design and construction practices of sustainable architecture in India based on the concept of
constructability (Doctoral dissertation, Aligarh Muslim University).

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Reading instructions before the start of any activity has been of great importance in this field of
study. This helps in ensuring accountability and achievement of higher standards when followed
accordingly. They also guided me accordingly in planning, assessing and implementing certain
concepts in my faculty4. To achieve all these, takes me back to my learning methods I have
previously noted above, that is, auditory style, which requires me to understand new content
better through speaking and listening in different lectures and a number of group discussions.
Continual personal development.
This process involves me improving my learning capabilities through the development of
professional knowledge or skills by active learning process5. These skills are acquired either
through training or watching my seniors do them. As my career develops, I will have to develop
new knowledge and skills with time. This will be important, especially in coping to this
competitive job market related to my field of study. Some of the activities I have done and will
continue to develop to improve my skills include:
 Improve my learning and listening skills to various current trends related to my field of
study.
 Examining career goals and understanding what is needed in achieving them.
 Making use of the new technology appropriately in improving my career knowledge and
skills through performance of work related activities to my field of study.
4 Novak, V. M., and Monson, C. 2013. Rethinking construction education: lessons learned from industry innovations. In Proceedings
of the 49th ASC Annual International Conference, Blacksburgh.
5 Nguyen, Thaison. "Structural, Building Science, Sustainability, and Constructability Study of a Transparent Residential Wall
System." 2016.

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 Keeping record of the things I have learnt in a diary and making references often on
situations, the skills learnt and some of the things will need to do to improve results.
These activities are easily achievable through my learning styles, which are auditory and read
and write learning styles I have previously mentioned above6. The diagram below shows the
continual personal development cycle.
Figure: continual personal development cycle.
6 Islam, Hamidul, Guomin Zhang, Sujeeva Setunge, and Muhammed A. Bhuiyan. "Life cycle assessment of shipping container
home: A sustainable construction." Energy and Buildings 128 2016: 673-685.

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Training and development needs for my employer.
Competition for job places in this field is increasing in the modern world and largely depends on
performance in projects allocated to employees by an employer. Professional development is
therefore essential for me in improving my performance in this field of study7. In order to
improve our training and development needs, it is important to learn from various construction
industries on the ways they are guiding their employees as a way of upgrading career
performance and skill enhancement in this field. This will additionally help improve
competency8. Training initiatives are important at improving design management skills and
delivering quality services to employers. It is important for me to be essentially trained on the
various modern design management practices in order for me to develop a framework of
interacting with the latest design systems while making use of the new technology9. Among the
professional development programs I need to acquire include computer based management,
administrative skills and also computer based designing. This will increase my chances of getting
a job in the future in this field of study.
7 Chang, M. C., Shih, S. G., and Schmitt, G. 2017. Information theory-based approach for constructability assessment in truss
structural systems. Automation in Construction, 82, 84-102
8 Li, H., Harvey, J. T., Holland, T. J.,and Kayhanian, M. 2013. The use of reflective and permeable pavements as a potential
practice for heat island mitigation and stormwater management. Environmental Research Letters, 8(1), 015023.
9 Jin, R., Yang, T., Piroozfar, P., Kang, B. G., Wanatowski, D., Hancock, C. M., and Tang, L. 2018. Project-based pedagogy in
interdisciplinary building design adopting BIM. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management.

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Evaluation of my own skills and competence.
Competency test are important in this field of study especially in examining my strengths and
weakness and there is need to be evaluated more often. I have however evaluated myself based
on a number of common work related competencies10. Making a decision on the kind of
competencies I need to adopt is quite simple and will form part of the annual appraisals
procedures at a workplace. The following diagram shows how competency data are collected.
Figure Competency data collection.
I have worked partly as a Construction Engineer on a number of construction industries, and on
two of them, I was awarded certificates of participation. These in addition to my course merit
certificates have been important for me, as they can act as evidence that I am qualified enough to
10 Perdomo, J. L., and Cavallin, H. 2014. Transforming Building Design through Integrated Project Delivery in Architectural and
Engineering Education. In Construction Research Congress 2014: Construction in a Global Network pp. 359-368.

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be entitled a particular job in this field by any company in future11. While working in those
companies, I gained a number of skills. I have grown into a good listener to instructions, able to
communicate effectively with my employers and also grown to be a good team player. In
addition I have learnt computer skills in building management, modern design techniques and
analysis of reports, maps and data.
However, I would like to acquire leadership skills and other technical skills in the near future.
This means I would have to learn from my mentors. Asking them to take me through a number
of sessions they engage people in, and writing down important notes would be appropriate for
reference in future.
I would have to develop a personal development plan for the next couple of years to come. This
plan will guide me on how to go about achieving my goals while following specific procedures
towards those targets. It is important to know the beginning, the steps to follow and the endpoint,
and having a personal development plan helps in guidance through these. Efforts made will,
therefore, be more deliberate and it will be easy for me to make decisions while following these
plans or guidelines. Development plans can either be long term or short term12.
A personal development plan for a period of 3years
The target time for completion. Short-term plan.
November 2020 Applying for leadership development training
at Darlington school of Leadership
11 Grondzik, W. T., and Kwok, A. G. 2019. Mechanical and electrical equipment for buildings. John Wiley & Sons.
12 Konkel, M. T. 2014. Build‐to‐Learn: An Examination of Pedagogical Practices in Interior Design Education. Journal of Interior
Design, 39(2), 1-16.

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development.
May 2021 Enroll and Voluntarily work at least one
leadership mentoring organization.
June 2021 Engage my mentor in various mobility plans.
Target time for completion. Long term plan.
October 2021 Become a mentor on how to apply various
leadership skills.
November 2022. Take assignments related to construction
management at a related facility near my
location.
In the table above, I have stated my personal development and explored some of the skills I wish
to have gained by the end of a three year period. Acquiring those skills would be important in the
modern-day job market.
As part of my further personal development in the future, I would like to gain much more skills
which would give me a higher chance of employment in this field of study. The modern job
market being highly competitive, being a civil engineer requires that I acquire proper training
and educational skills to stand a chance in the job market. I feel having those skills would give
my future employees further reasons to consider me job opportunities arise. Therefore I would
like to gain the skill of making effective decisions. In order to achieve this, I’ll have to make use
of the available information or resources, adopt professional ethics and consider safety measures
which can be used in a site of work. This will help me in providing useful and accurate

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information which will boost the confidence of my employers in me. Making the correct
decisions would also mean accepting mistakes and guiding the project in the right direction13.
Adopting modern strategies in making these decisions and developing new ones could help me
land my dream job or lead to promotion in my existing place of work.
Future development plan
With current changes bought by new technology around the world, companies have grown and
intend to employ the most qualified personnel for their success and cope with competition in the
marketing of goods and services. In order to increase my chances of being considered for any job
opportunity in the future, it is important that I make a future development plan that can guide me
towards achieving my goals. It will also help me in recognizing my strengths and weaknesses
and what kind of efforts I should make towards success in the future. A future development plan
is therefore important for this purpose14. The following development plan is based on the things I
have discussed above and what I wish to make improvements to better my career opportunities in
the future.
Short term plans.
On a short term basis, I have a number of goals I wish to develop in my career. Firstly, I want to
improve my learning and listening skills to various current trends related to this field of study.
Secondly, learn how to apply mathematical functions in designing. Lastly, my plan is to
13 Halawa, E., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., Trombley, J., Hassan, N., Baig, M., ... and Ismail, M. A. 2018. A review
on energy conscious designs of building façades in hot and humid climates: Lessons for (and from) Kuala Lumpur and
Darwin. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 2147-2161.
14 Dharmapalan, V., Gambatese, J. A., Fradella, J., & Moghaddam Vahed, A. 2015. Quantification and assessment of safety risk in
the design of multistory buildings. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(4), 04014090.

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frequently engage my mentors or lecturers to help me in understanding some of the concepts
related to this field of study. This will help me in ensuring competency and could favour me in
the job market15.
Long term plans.
In relation to the long term plans, I have an obligation to improve my leadership skills which will
be important in management at places of work in future. Secondly, I want to learn to learn how
to make use of technologically advanced equipment and machinery in carrying out some
activities at a construction site. Moreover, I also want to improve my designing skills in building
technology through continuous learning from my mentor, and frequently practicing to improve
my understanding. Lastly, it is crucial that I learn computer-based designing. Learning these
skills will increase my chances of getting employment in various construction related
companies16.
From these plans, the importance of creating a future development plan is clearly seen. These
plans will help guide me towards my goals while undertaking various procedures and efforts for
success. It is important to note that making a future development plan and following it
accordingly can have an impact on one growing a competent individual which could increase
chances of employment.
15 Zhang, L., and El-Gohary, N. M. 2016. Discovering stakeholder values for axiology-based value analysis of building
projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(4), 04015095
16Fakhimi, A., Majrouhi Sardrood, J., Mazroi, A., Ghoreishi, S. R., and Azhar, S. 2017. Influences of building information modeling
(BIM) on oil, gas, and petrochemical firms. Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 23(6), 1063-1077.

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Conclusion.
This part reflects on my learning during this course. This reflective development report has
covered a number of skills I have developed or I need to develop in this field of study. For
example, I have developed the skill being able to communicate efficiently with my seniors which
have created a good relationship between me and them. Different kinds of learning styles I have
been able to apply have also been included in this reflective development report. Furthermore, I
have also created a future development plan I wish to use in guiding me towards my goals of
being a top professional in future. My learning so far has been a success and my hope is that this
will continue to be the case. Learning a number of skills especially in mathematics has been of
importance while making designs for projects to be set up. I, however, need to improve my
leadership skills which will be important in management as discussed above and therefore I need
to change my approaches on leadership I have used previously.