PLANNING AND REFLECTION

Planning and Reflection

Abstract

The challenge addressed in this paper is the Importance of Planning and Reflection Skills at Postgraduate Level. Postgraduate students need to develop knowledge on planning and critical reflection skills automatically throughout their postgraduate studies. Planning, critical thinking and reflecting are the key skills at the postgraduate level, managerial duty and sustainable professional development. Gibbs (1988) once said that only experience is not sufficient enough for learning. Learning is made by a person throughout his life through different course of actions. Learning is made when one see and experience different events in his or life. But in order to have a better grip on learning, it is necessary to have reflection. Reflection is quite important, when reflection is implemented in unison with learning then it become strengthened otherwise it get forgotten quite quickly. It is due to the thoughts and feelings being generated from concepts or generalizations. In addition to it, it is due to generalization that potential situations get dealt with. Reflection is a key element in any successful planning. You are probably a successful graduate student and already have multiples skills required for postgraduate study. However, there are some skills that have more importance, like Planning and Reflection Skills.

Planning and Reflection

Task One: Development of a Research Strategy

Objective of the Assignment

The objective of the Assignment is to demonstrate many of the skills I have learned throughout the course of this module in general and to understand the critical importance of planning and critical reflection in both reading and writing. To translate these into action, a strategy should be designed as to how to conduct the research.

Get organized

The first thing to do is getting organized in terms of time and resources availability. Organising one's own self involves planning my time and developing a learning space where I can leave things that others won't move. Good time management is about working SMART and not about working long hours. My time should be Specific, Manageable, Appropriate, Relevant and Timely (Corbetta 2003, 99-123).

In order to be an effective learner, I need to understand how I learn and how I manage myself to learn. Sue Drew from Sheffield Hallam University (Drew, 2001) reported that students came up with four main areas to help or hinder their academic achievements:

Self-management, including taking responsibility for their own learning ;

Motivation to study;

Understanding and reflection of their learning experience; and

Support from their tutors and the institution.

Get Clear Concept of the Topic

Critical thinking and reflection are the heart of skills required at the postgraduate level. Before starting searching for literatures/academic works, it is important to:

Set-up the mind to map the resources and materials to be used for the research;

Understand the topic by using effectively the concept of moving from general to specific approach.

Analyse the topic to make sure covering all aspects of the question and conducting its analysis that helped clarify what is required;

Identify the question under which learning best occurs; and

Carefully evaluate your list of conditions so that you only ...