Higher Education Skills: Reflection on Personal Development

This reflective report examines the development of crucial skills in higher education. The report begins with an introduction that highlights the importance of skill development for students. It then delves into the reflection of learning higher education skills, covering academic writing, presentation skills, team cooperation, and IT skills. The author emphasizes the importance of structured academic writing, effective presentation techniques, and the benefits of teamwork. The report also addresses the role of IT skills in organization, problem-solving, and decision-making. The conclusion summarizes the importance of skill development for future career success and personal growth, including references to books and journals. The report provides insights into the skills needed to thrive in a higher education environment and beyond.

REFLECTIVE REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Reflection of learning higher education skills.............................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The file is on skills being developed in higher education. File focuses on skills which are
required in a student pursuing higher education. The demonstration of higher education skills has
been done as to how they are developed.
Reflection of learning higher education skills
As a school student, I have learnt that one has to mix up with people to grow, take ideas and
implement some of them in own personality. A school student can basically learn from the
teachers the manner of conduct, discipline and communication as skills which help in moving
ahead in life. When a student advances in age and education, higher education presents a
different environment which requires different set of skills to be developed. Higher education
provided in colleges and universities is a platform for different people to come, study, discuss on
future and career ideas and develop skills which are required of their age and education (Tang,
2018). Higher education like professional courses require many form of assignments to be done
in form of presentations, classwork assignments and projects. These assignments firstly require
academic writing skills in a structured order. The presentation of the assignment has to be one of
clarity, point wise details been given and summary of the assignment. A higher education student
has to now differentiate from previous work done at school and become more organised and
precise in academic writing. I have made my work structured while doing assignments with help
of my teacher’s advice, internet modules and friends and seniors advice. The presentation skills
have been also a part of learning in higher education (Heron, 2019). This time period is when
students come together in a group to give a team presentation, they learn the basics of how to
work together as a team, build cooperation among selves to make the presentation a success.
This is the skill which I think is the most beneficial while in college. I have gone through the
experience of group formation where we used to discuss our parts in the group, structure it in a
manner and do rehearsals before giving the presentation. I have learnt that confidence in
delivering a speech before an audience comes from preparation of the content. If one has hold
over the content, confidence will show up in self. One has to take team member’s opinions in
rehearsals on what feedback would they like to give and what questions can the audience put up
regarding different parts of the presentation. I have always believed that it is the team’s effort
which creates an impact in making the presentation applaudable. It has to be made relatable to

the audience from their daily life examples and audience should get hooked with the simplicity
of the way presentation is being given without use of technical jargons. The presentation has to
be coordinated before presenting as in between of parts of others, a team member can speak up at
relevant times a few sentences to connect own part spoken previously by him. The visuals of the
presentation have to be attractive and related to the content. As I emphasised, team building
skills are a part of the presentation and it may happen that there is a storming of ideas and one
can disagree with other’s opinions (Tang, 2018). At this juncture, one has to try to understand the
difference in other person’s approach and also put up own opinion in a convincing manner which
can avoid conflict and build team cooperation keeping the vision to achieve the objective in
mind. The assignment of project is the next which I feel helps build team cooperation skills
along with a scientific approach of putting things together in the project. For instance, to build an
electric project, one’s ideas to go about the project may differ from another. One can form an
opinion and others may like to go about it in a different way. When everybody sits together and
discuss the best way in which it can be done realistically along with keeping budget constraints
in mind, it puts a picture in mind of individuals how to go about it and organise things
accordingly. I think through interaction with team members one can learn to communicate
assertively and through presentation learn to communicate confidently. Communication is a
combination of one’s body language, the manner of speaking and expressing views in a friendly
and pleasant manner which engages audience (Ehlers,2020). Another higher education skill is
that of IT which is prevalent in today’s world of technology. People who are effective in
computers and know the usage of different functions such as word, power point and excel get an
edge over others. They are able to manage their work in a presentable, more organised manner
and in less time. Also, this is the need of the hour in today’s era of competition. Information
Technology is a skill which I believe is one of the tools which can be acquired through self-
interest and practice. It will need guidance from the tutor to learn the usage of function most
common in use, and then it depends on the learner to be curious about different other functions
which can help make the work look better and take technology’s help in problem-solving skills.
Problem solving and decision-making skills are also helped by IT. I have felt that problems can
be solved by setting coordination in the team and considering each other’s advice to come to a
decision with flexibility in approach keeping the vision to succeed as a group. This can be

developed with participation in more group-forming activities and making decisions collectively
as a team.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that skill development in higher education is the time when one can hone
them in order to succeed in future career phase. It can also help cultivate qualities for a
personality which is all rounded and appropriate for requirements of modern scenario.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ehlers, U.D., 2020. Future skills: The future of learning and higher education. BoD–Books on
Demand.
Heron, M., 2019. Making the case for oracy skills in higher education: practices and
opportunities. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 16(2), p.9.
Tang, K.N., 2018. The importance of soft skills acquisition by teachers in higher education
institutions. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences.
Valletta, R.G., 2019. 9. Recent Flattening in the Higher Education Wage Premium Polarization,
Skill Downgrading, or Both? (pp. 313-354). University of Chicago Press.
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