The ministry of public education

2.3. Study skills achievements

This course work has taken a broad approach to academic development. For example, it has offered opportunities to:

- develop your understanding of a range of concepts that can assist the learning process;

- undertake reflective activities that can increase your awareness of your own learning development;

- learn how tostudy successfully while working with other people;

- develop skills of prioritising, action planning and self-evaluation.

Most of these developmental skills will remain important in advancing your academic,personal and professional success. The next step is to identify which of these skills would be usefully developed further.

The following questionnaire will help you explore your experience and skills at a more advanced level than that covered by this course work. This should help identify your next set of personal targets.

Knowledge, skills, qualities and experience

Understanding success

- understanding personal approaches to success;

- using sources of inspiration;

- using personal values as sources of motivation;

- being aware of the ingredients of success;

- co-ordinating your efforts

People skills:

- developing rapport;

- listening skillfully;

- developing mutual trust;

- contributing to teamwork;

- using 'Action sets' for group work;

- offering constructive critism;

- receiving critism with openness;

- being assertive;

- dealing with difficult people;

- negotiating skills;

- exercising leadership;

Creative thinking:

- using the brain effectively to improve performance;

- thinking with the whole brain;

- developing confidence in personal creativity;

- using creative thinking strategies;

- creative problem solving;

- generating ideas;

- creativity and risk-taking;

Problem-solving and task management:

- elaborating a problem;

- basic approaches to problem-solving;

- applying strategy to complex problems;

- identifying solutions to problems;

- drawing up an action plan;

- becoming a good self-starter;

- following through an action plan;

- managing tasks;

- managing projects successfully;

- finishing jobs;

- using performance indicators (PI)

- evaluating personal competitiveness;

Self-management:

- using your life story to understand yourself better;

- making the best use of learning styles, habits and preferences;

- applying areas of personal expertise to new problems;

- evaluating your own emotional intelligence;

- managing change, confusion and uncertainty;

- identifying barriers to personal success;

- developing construstive attitudes to achieve personal goals;

- managing 'goal inertia'

- working at your 'personal edge'

The art of reflection:

- understanding more about 'reflection'

- understanding what is meant by the 'reflective practitioner'

- being aware of different methods of undertaking reflection

- being aware of different ways of recording reflection

- presenting reflective work to other people

Successful job applications:

- choosing a graduate job

- knowing what you what from an employer;

- using pogress files and personal records

- preparing good job applications

- writing good covering letters;

- making good competence-based applications

- writing a good curriculum vitae (CV)

- using the Internet to find a job

- applying for jobs if you have a disability;

- preparing for job interviews

- effective interview techniques

- starting a new job

Recording achievement:

- developing effective personal records;

- recording evidence of competence for graduate jobs;