FY001 - Reflective Learning Portfolio: Success at University - Bucks

This portfolio presents a reflective account of a student's learning and development during their BA (Foundation Year) at Bucks New University. It evaluates key skills necessary for university success, including academic writing, presentation skills, and time management. The student analyzes their strengths and weaknesses, identifies their learning style as an activist according to Honey and Mumford's theory, and sets personal objectives for improvement. The portfolio also includes a project on BMW, showcasing teamwork and the application of Belbin's team roles. The reflection emphasizes the importance of actively engaging in learning and developing strong arguments through critical analysis. The student aims to enhance their time management skills and research abilities to achieve academic excellence and personal growth.

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Portfolio

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Part A–Essay
Learning is referred to a process of acquiring knowledge or skills by an individual
(Boud and Feletti, 2013). Learning performance, behaviour, and experiences shape
an individual’s personality and support his/her academic career. I have learned
various skills and techniques while studying in BA (Foundation Year) at Bucks New
University which are necessary for gaining academic strengths and which enable me
to become a successful student. These learning skills enable students to address the
issues faced by them during the academic career and improve the abilities to
effectively understand the subject and achieve expertise in the same. This essay will
focus on evaluating the factors which are necessary for university students to
become successful. In this essay, I will analyse my academic strengths and
weaknesses and whether they are suitable for making me an effective university
student. In this essay, I will also make strategies to address the issues which I face
to improve them in the future.
Students create PowerPoint presentation (PPT) in the university which assists them
in developing the skill of presenting their work. I learned how to develop a
presentation while working with my team members and watching videos on
YouTube. I learned how to make PPTs by watching online tutorials and practicing on
my own by checking different settings and options. Referencing is the process of
acknowledging another person’s work which is used while preparing an assignment
to give them proper credit. While preparing the PPT, I read and understand the
theories given in the book. I paraphrased those theories and provided a reference by
citing their work. While presenting an idea or working on an assignment, it is
important to learn how to work as a team.
Teamwork is an important skill which I have learned by making my own presentation
with other pees on the case study of BWM. While working as a team, we divided the
roles as per the theory of Belbin’s team roles (Belbing, 2012). I was the co-ordinator
of the team since I was engaging actively with other members and directing them to
achieve our targets. I was playing the role of the monitor evaluator as well since I
was free from the influence of emotional factors. I weighed up the facts to ensure
that each fact is focused on achieving our common goal. I worked with four other

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students on this report in which we evaluated the internal and external environment,
the impact of globalisation and corporate social responsibility of BMW. While working
in a team, all team members have to clearly distribute the work which they are going
to do and form a basic plan to ensure that all members are on the same page. I was
excited to work with my peers since I learned different perspectives and how to work
in a team. We learned how to reference a book or other works which we have used
in our assignment.
The first key skill which a successful university student is required is academic
writing. As a student, we have to prepare reports, write essays and create
presentation which requires a thorough understanding of academic writing. During
my studies, I have realised that academic writing is all about critical evaluation of the
facts to create my own personal opinion rather than just agreeing with the author. I
learned how to write reports and prepare essay which are crucial skills for university
students in which they have to evaluate secondary data such as books, articles, and
online resources. While learning how to make a report, I had to go through the
lecture notes provided through VLE and Bucks Blackboard access, and I also looked
at some sample of previous assignments. I gained thorough information about essay
and report writing through VLE and Bucks Blackboard access which helped me a lot.
The second key skill which I have developed to become a successful university
student is how to present my work to others. The university students have to present
their data in front of others including teachers and peers; therefore, effective
understanding of how to present an idea or concept is substantial for a student. Time
management is a key skill which is necessary for becoming a successful university
student. As a student, I have a busy schedule since I have to prepare my
assignments, learn new topics, attend classes, and also find time for personal
hobbies. Effective management of all these skills are necessary for successful
university students, therefore, time management is a key skill. I have found difficulty
in managing time as a university student. Many times I felt pressured and frustrated
because I am unable to manage my time in order to achieve my desired goals.
However, I am working hard to improve my time management skills by developing a
strategy. I used Remente app to manage my time and set goals. The app helped me
plan my day and bring a balance into my life by setting relevant goals. Through this
app, I track my daily goal progress which helped me achieve them. I have also

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decided to read books on this topic such as Control Your Stress & Manage Your
Time by Georgios P. Piperopoulos and Daily Planning by Sarah Simpson.
The skill to effectively write an assignment is very important for the students since
they learn by making assignments on different topics. It is expected from the
university students that they know how to prepare assignments since it is a key part
of their learning process. I have realised that in the beginning, I had faced many
difficulties relating to the preparation of assignments since I did not know how to
prepare reports. I found it difficult to use and understand the tools such as Microsoft
Word and Excel which are necessary to prepare assignments. However, I overcome
these issues by reading lecture materials provided by Bucks New University and
researching on my own. I watched online tutorials to check out different options and
features available in both these tools which helped me in preparing my assignments.
Microsoft Word is my favourite application which I used the most while preparing my
reports and essays. Firstly, I add a cover page of the assignment in which I include
title of the report or essay along with my information. I also use the option to header
and footer to include page number and student information. I referenced my work
through the citations and bibliography option given in the references tab in Microsoft
Word.
Students can identify their personality in order to understand the most effective way
for them to learn new concepts and subjects which will help them in becoming a
successful university student. I have realised that I am an activist as per the
principles of Honey and Mumford theory. An activist is defined as a person who
learns by doing things (Moon, 2013). I have realised that I learn something better if I
experienced it by myself rather than listening or watching the experience of another
person. I have an open mind, and I prefer to seek challenges during my learning. I
prefer to brainstorm in groups to find solutions to different problems during learning. I
also regularly engage with my teachers and peers to understand their opinions and
find solutions for different academic problems. After evaluating my learning
behaviour, I have realised that I did not prefer to stand back to gather and process
that data. I prefer to engage in the learning activity to challenge myself to find new
solutions and learn along the way. I prefer to work in teams, and I prefer puzzles and
role-playing rather than coaching and observational activities. I have realised that
university students are required to understand their personality since it assists them

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in finding out ways which are most suitable for them to learn and achieve success in
their academic career.
As per my experience, I have found that there are various skills and abilities which a
student needs to develop in order to become a successful university student and
pass the undergraduate exams. As per Brown, Bull, and Pendlebury (2013), by
developing solid arguments, students can critically analyse the data which they
gather and find solutions for different problems. I realised that all I was doing was
reading about these tools rather than using them. As I am an activist, I started to
engage in the activities to learn these tools by experiencing them myself rather than
just reading about them. Now I have overcome my fear, and I have learned how to
use these tools while preparing my assignments. With practice, I started
experimenting with different options in order to improve my presentation. A good
example in the PowerPoint presented which I made on BMW. Our team used
Microsoft PowerPoint to improve our presentation by adding pictures and changing
the overall design.
In conclusion, these are different skills which are necessary to become a successful
university student. I had learned many of these skills while studying, and I am
currently working on some to become a better student. My strategy is to improve my
performance by working on my time management skills and engaging more in the
research process to develop more solid arguments while preparing reports and
presentations.

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Part B–Portfolio Project
Miroslava Marinova
BA (Foundation Year) Group B
Personal Analysis:
 An activist who is willing to engage in academic activities in order to learn new
topics and build my academic strengths.
 I have successfully adopted many skills which are necessary to become an
effective university student.
 Teamwork is my forte, and I improved my skills while working on a project
with four other peers.
 I applied the principles of Belbin’s team roles while working on the project in
order to find my role in the team along with other members.
 I learn new things by engaging in the process and experiencing them rather
than reading about them.
 My preferable way of learning includes solving puzzles, brainstorming,
problem-solving, role-playing and others.
Setting Goals:
 My goal is to learn and master the key skills which are necessary to become a
successful university student.
 I wanted to improve my ability to develop arguments while preparing reports
by critically analysing the data and asking questions of myself.
 My goal is to improve my time management skills so that I can effectively
manage my studies and personal life.
 Increasing my contribution to the class by engaging with teachers and fellow
students to build confidence and build my academic strengths.
 Read more books on the topic of time management to learn this skill
thoroughly which will assist me in balancing my life as a student.
Key Skills:

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 During my presentation, I learned how to present my work in front of others,
and during the process, I also learned how to prepare assignments.
 I learned how to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint while working on the
report which I prepared while writing in academic style.
 While preparing the report, I was able to coordinate between members while
directing them to ensure that we remain on the same page to achieve our
goal.
 These skills are crucial for a university student to learn which assist in building
academic strengths and improving overall academic career.
Personal Objectives:
 I wanted to build my academic strengths by mastering the skills which are
necessary for academic students.
 Learn new skills which will help in achieving my career goals, and they will
also support me in reaching my goals which I have set as a university student.
 Increase my engagement with teachers and fellow students to build strong
relationships with them and learn from their experiences.

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References
Belbin, R.M. (2012) Beyond the team. Abingdon: Routledge.
Boud, D. and Feletti, G. (2013) The challenge of problem-based learning. Abingdon:
Routledge.
Brown, G.A., Bull, J. and Pendlebury, M. (2013) Assessing student learning in higher
education. Abingdon: Routledge.
Moon, J.A. (2013) Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and
practice. Abingdon: Routledge.