Unit 3.25 Academic and Research Skills

Submitted by: Maria V.

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Table of Contents

Task 1...............................................................................................................3

1.1 Assessment of personal strengths & weaknesses..................................3

Personal skills............................................................................................3

Academic skills..........................................................................................3

Academic English language skills..............................................................3

1.2 Targets for self-improvement..................................................................4

Task 2 – note taking.........................................................................................6

3.1 Noting key points of information..............................................................6

3.2 Paraphrasing and summarising the information......................................6

Task 3 – carry out an academic research project.............................................6

2.1 & 2.2 Process for primary and secondary research................................7

4.1 Research plan.....................................................................................7

4.2 Drafting the work.....................................................................................7

5.1 Producing the academic work.................................................................8

Task 4...............................................................................................................8

6.1 Review of work........................................................................................8

6.2 Action plan for development....................................................................9

References.....................................................................................................10

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Task 1

1.1 Assessment of personal strengths & weaknesses

From the analysis I have done, resulted that my main strength, is my flexibility

to handle any kind of change in any situation. I have some specific skills to

build rapports with people and build connections and also to create positive

atmosphere around me, because I am organised, down to Earth, I like to put

things in balance before I take a decision and I always try to be the best in

everything I do. As weaknesses, I feel that I should improve my IT skills and I

should stop trying to please everyone around me.

Personal skills

I have good communication skills, I can communicate with various kind of

people, on different level of subjects, also I know how to manage, organise

and make a presentation for a business, an event or personal life.

I am self-motivated person, that create objectives and do everything is

possible to achieve my goals on time. On IT part, I have knowledge about

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Search engines, Social media networks-

manage and run adverts, I know how to run an effective marketing campaign

for a business, using tools as, PPC, Banner advertising, Flyer advertising and

social media adverts.

During my course of business management i learn to create flyers for any kind

of business and i improve my academic research skills, but also to analyse

myself and my personal life.

I also study computer programming on my spare time and I setup a goal to

achieve doing coding on the next twelve months.

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Academic skills

My academic skills have improved significant since I started business

management course. My research skills have improved also I know how to

take notes and summaries information’s that interesting me, from any text. I

have good English writing skills, but I feel that I want to advance in this field so

I become even more confident. Giving and receiving feedback is something

that I find very easy and I know very well how to do this task, because I have

reviewed many businses, throught Facebook pages, Ebay sellers and various

shops where I interact with them. I have worked in a company where I had to

handle and respond to customers feedback.

Academic English language skills

After I analysed myself and I receive opinions from other people, like my

friends, relative and teacher, has proven that my academic English language

skills are very good, I can write, spell and communicate at an advance level,

in any subject. Internet has helped me a lot to learn academic English skills

and I will continue to take an online course for a short time, to improve my

academic English language.

1.2 Targets for self-improvement

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My personal developmenttargets?

Short or long term target?

How will I achieve my targets? What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives? What support do I need?

Date of review

Progress made towards target Further action required

Actual date of achieving target

To improve my

English spelling

Short

term

target

I will take a free English

course in my town and

also, I will learn on the

Internet English class

website.

13th

May

2017

Improved Take another

English course

for advanced

English

learners.

06.07.20

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To learn how to

develop a

business

( research and

business plan)

Long

term

I will do online research, I

will analysis professional

website for business

start-up.

I will join forums to

discuss with other people

and I will hire a business

consultant.

01.07

.2017

Still learning, gained some

knowledge, but still more

information needed to

achieve this goal.

I will join

seminars and

start to apply

what I learned

01.07.20

18

5

I want to learn

French language

Long

term

I will join a local French

class I my town, I will

listen French music, radio

and I will buy French

dictionaries and books to

learn to read and

understand new words.

10.01

.2017

Still learning. I just learn very

basic words.

I will continue

my local

French class

and I will start

to watch

French

movies, which

is helping me

to process

faster my

French

learning goal.

30.02.20

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I want to learn It

programming.

Long

term

For this task, I already

bought some coding

books, I will collect

information’s from the

internet, I will join forums,

use apps that help

beginners to understand

basics about IT

15.07

.2017

I gained some skills, but I

have long way to achieve my

goal.

I will continue

reading books,

magazines

and I will

practice what I

learn at my

online course.

01.09.20

18

6

programming and I will

enrol into an online

course at Birmingham

College.

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Task 2 – note taking

I find note taking, one of the easiest tasks during, business management

courses. This skill helps me on my study, but also on my personal life too.

3.1 Noting key points of information

Note taking is my main skill and here are some examples of my notes during

the business management course.

In this picture is showing how I take notes for Business Functions. This note

provides clear view of business functions information’s such as:

- HR (Human Resources)

- Sales and Marketing

- Research and Development

- Production/ operations

- Customer Service

- Finance and Accountants

- Administration and IT.

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This note provides short information’s about customer service functions.

These functions are:

- Monitoring distribution

- After sales advice

- Handling enquiries from customers

- Offering advice

- Dealing with complaints

- Publicity and Public Relations

3.2 Paraphrasing and summarising the information

• Here is a text that I found on the internet through searching how to start

learning programming.

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It seems that more people than ever before have decided to learn to code.

The abundance of high-quality educational materials, tutorials, and mentors

on the internet means that self-starters from many different backgrounds can

teach themselves programming, whether their goal is to build an app, create a

website, solve a particular problem with technology, or become a software

developer. Having so many learning resources available is a good thing, but it

also presents a problem.

When you want to learn to code, where should you start?

What do you learn, and what don’t you learn?

What’s the best way to practice, and the fastest way to improve your skills?

Here is how I paraphrased this text, for me and others to understand better:

• This paragraph explains about learning programming and basics that a

learner must know before starting on this task. For somebody that want to

learn programming is advised to answer some questions that will help learner

to clarify wheatear programming want to follow.

Some questions that a learner must answer are such as:

When and where want to start coding, what a student is expecting from

learning programming and what is the easy and fast way to lean coding.

Here is the link resource of the original text:

https://www.codementor.io/learn-programming/how-to-learn-to-code-fast

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Task 3 – carry out an academic research project

2.1 & 2.2 Process for primary and secondary research

On the marketing assignment task, I did both primary and secondary research

for a coffee shop. For primary research I did surveys, group discussions and

interview.

Here is one of the survey I did to collect this information for marketing

research:

Market research survey:

1) Your gender?

female ■

male □

2) How old are you?

16-19 □

19-25 ■

25- 35 □

35- 45 □

45+ □

3) What city you live in?

4) Do you drink caffeinated beverages? (ie. coffee, tea, energy drinks, pop,

etc.)

yes ■

no □

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Northampton

5) What is your preferred caffeinated beverage?

Coffee/tea ■

pop/carbonated drinks □

energy boosters (5-hour energy) □

Energy Drinks (Monster, Redbull, etc.) ■

6) When do you have the most consumption of caffeine?

morning ■

afternoon □

evening □

night □

7) How much caffeine do you drink in a week? (This includes ALL caffeinated

drinks)

I don’t drink caffeinated beverages □

less than 1 a week □

1 a week □

every other day □

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1-2 a day ■

3+ a day □

8) Do you feel caffeine consumption has increase in the past 5 years?

yes ■

no □

I don't know □

9) Could you go 48-72 hours without caffeine?

yes □

no ■

10) What type of coffee do you drink/buy? (check multiple if any)

Cappuccino ■

Espresso ■

Americano □

Mocha □

Latte/Café Latte □

Macchiato ■

Ristretto □

Iced coffee ■Other, please specify:

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12) How often do you visit coffee shops?

All the time □

Often ■

Sometimes □

Rarely □

Never □

13) What is your favourite coffee shop?

14) On average, how much do you spend daily in a coffee shop?

Less than £5 □

£5-10 □

£11-15 ■

£16-20 □

£20+ □

15) What other items do you buy with your coffee?

I don’t buy anything else □

Sandwich ■

Biscuit □

Crisps □

Panini □

Muffin □

Cake □

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CC-House

16) When purchasing coffee (at a shop), what’s the most important part of

your coffee experience?

Price □

Customer service ■

Location □

Taste □Other, please specify

17) How important is Wi-Fi in a coffee shop?

not that important □

very important ■

I won't visit a coffee shop that don't offer free Wi-Fi □

Thank you!

For secondary market research I have searched information through internet,

libraries, magazines and from friends.

4.1Research plan

For this task, I choose marketing research plan to open a coffee shop. To achieve this research plan, I will need a short period of time. This project start on 21.05.2017 and has been reviewed on 21.06.2017. To carry this research plan, I did surveys, which I shared them to people on 23.05.2017 and I collect them on 17.06.2017. During this period of time, I collect information’s from library and magazines for secondary research, followed by findings from surveys, I have reviewed all the work on 21.06.2017. For further research, I will do an interview and find new information’s on group discussions.

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4.2 Drafting the work

This is the draft of my research project and the resource that I use for this

survey:

http://www.marketest.co.uk/market-research-questionnaire/344/coffee_shop

1) Your gender?

female

male

2) How old are you?

16-19

19-25

25- 35

35- 45

45+

3) What city you live in?

4) Do you drink caffeinated beverages? (ie. coffee, tea, energy drinks, pop,

etc.)

yes

no

5.1 Producing the academic work

In order to produce this academic work, I use the internet, paper

questionnaires, I use my verbally skills to communicate with the people that I

interact during this research project.

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Task 4

After I analysed my personal skills, academic skills and academic English

language skills, I fell that I see some improvement and I will continue to

advance all these skills, that will help me for future studies, career and

personal life.

6.1 Review of work

6.2 Action plan for development

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My personal developmenttargets?

Short or long term target?

How will I achieve my targets? What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives? What support do I need?

Date of review

Progress made towards target Further action required

Actual date of achieving target

I want to improve

my English

spelling

Short

term

target

To achieve this goal, I

started an evening

English course and an

Internet English courses.

06.07

.2017

I had achieved my target to

improve my English spelling.

I will use my

English

spelling skills

on my studies,

my work and

my personal

life.

06.07.20

17

I want to learn

French language

Long

term

I will take a French class,

I will buy dictionaries and

use apps that help me

learn French language.

30.06

.2017

I did learn some basic French

language, but I need to

continue my studies.

For the rest

period of time I

will continue to

improve my

French

language, with

the help of

internet and

the French

30.02.20

18

18

class that I

attend in my

town.

I want to learn IT

programming.

Long

term

To complete this target, I

register at college in my

town for one-year course

and I study on my spare

time, with the help of

books and internet

information’s.

15.02

.2018

I have some knowledge

about IT programming, but I

am far away from having

strong understanding of

coding.

I will continue

the course that

I have started

for IT

programming

and I will join

groups and

forums to

collect more

information’s

about

programming.

01.09.2018

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References

Codementor. 2017. How to Learn to Code, Fast | Codementor . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.codementor.io/learn-programming/how-to-learn-to-code-fast. [Accessed 5 July 2017].Customer Behaviour in Coffee Shops Questionnaire - Market Research Survey. 2017. Customer Behaviour in Coffee Shops Questionnaire - Market Research Survey. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.marketest.co.uk/market-research-questionnaire/344/coffee_shop. [Accessed 5 July 2017].barista magazine online. 2017. Boston's Behind the Bar Opens Discussion on Identity and Otherness in Coffee - barista magazine online. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.baristamagazine.com/behind-bar-boston/. [Accessed 5 July 2017].Top tips for running a successful coffee shop. 2017. Top tips for running a successful coffee shop. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.liminicoffee.co.uk/top_tips_running_coffee_shop.html. [Accessed 26 July 2017].

Guidelines for assessors

The assignments submitted by learners must achieve the learning outcomes and meet the standards specified by the assessment

criteria for the unit. The suggested evidence listed below is how learners can demonstrate that they have met the required

standards.

Tasknumber

LOs and ACSuggested evidence PASS

Suggested additional evidence MERIT

Suggested additional evidence DISTINCTION

1. LO1

AC 1.1, 1.2

The learner must provide a comprehensive

assessment of their own strengths and

weaknesses. Both academic skills and

academic English language skills must be

The learner provides a detailed

plan to show how the intended

targets will be achieved. This will

include dates by which personal

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included. The self-assessment must be

based on evidence, be honest, realistic

and agreed with the tutor. The targets for

improvement reflect the strengths and

weakness exercise. All targets are

SMART (Specific, Measurable Achievable

Realistic and Timed) and agreed with the

tutor.

development activities will be

completed, an indication of the

importance of each target (e.g. to

their course or their long term

future) and a priority order

2. LO3

AC 3.1, 3.2

The learner notes provided will have been

taken from both oral and written sources. It

will be evident that key points are clearly

understood and the learner has the ability

to both paraphrase and summarise both

written and oral information. All notes will

be easily understood. The notes may be

taken by hand or using technology.

Appropriate information about the sources

of the information provided will be clearly

indicated.

3 LO4, LO5

AC 4.1, 4.2,

The learner must show that they have

planned their research. Dates and sources

It will be evident that the tutor has

seen the draft work and provided

feedback. The learner uses this

The analysis of good

practice in research

must consider the

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5.1 are included for the research activity.

The outline of the methods used to carry

out both primary and secondary research

should be extensive with a comprehensive

range of sources provided.

A first draft of a piece of research work will

be provided. All sources will be correctly

referenced.

The first draft will be used to submit a final

draft of research work in a good standard

of academic English, which also meets the

requirements of professional academic

work. The report will be presented in a

style appropriate for the audience.

feedback to improve their final

submission of their research

project and the changes should

be identifiable. This may be

evidenced by track changes or

use of different colour or similar.

The learner presents their

academic work orally making use

of technology to present the

findings. The presentation will be

organised, logical and

appropriate for the intended

audience The approach taken will

be professional with a high

standard of both presentation and

communication skills evident.

strengths and

weaknesses of the

different methods used

by researchers. The

learner must use

examples to illustrate

the points which are

made and make some

conclusions regarding

the appropriate use of

different methods for

different purposes.

At the end of the

presentation the learner

engages the audience

in a discussion about

their research project.

They will demonstrate a

high standard of

communication, good

English language skills

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and a detailed

understanding of the

project. This must be

evidenced by a tutor

observation record

sheet so that

judgements are made

against the relevant LO

and the stated criteria

4 LO3

AC 6.1, 6.2

The learner reflects on the targets and their

progress towards them. They identify

specific factors which have helped to

achieve progress and those which have

prevented the achievement of targets. The

learner provides a plan to show how

targets will be met in the future

The learner will work with a

colleague/fellow student to

provide realistic feedback

regarding progress towards

targets. The feedback will be

specific, constructive and

examples will used to illustrate

the points made. The feedback

must be evidenced either by full

written documentation and/or

recorded.

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Sample Personal Development Plan

Use this Personal Development Plan (PDP) to identify your key areas of learning and development. This will help you to either

acquire new or develop existing skills and behavioural attributes.

Prior to completing the Personal Development Plan you should undertake a skills analysis activity to determine your learning and

development needs and identify development targets to meet those needs. (Task 1a) Think about your

o personal skills

o your academic skills (e.g. research, note taking, summarising , paraphrasing)

o your academic English language skills

We recommend that once you have done this you agree it with your tutor. Ideally you should do this at the beginning of your course

(e.g. during your induction)

How to complete your PDP

Development Targets are targets that you have identified to enable you to meet the learning and development identified in your

skills analysis

Short term or long term. You should identify whether your target is:

1. critical to completion of course (and therefore a short term target)

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2. beneficial to completion of course (i.e. it would help you achieve a higher grade and therefore short term)

3. critical to your progress in the future (long term)

4. beneficial to your progress in the future (long term)

Activities/support can be any learning or development activity that will enable you to achieve your development targets e.g.

tutorials, additional learning, an on line course, formal training, support from your tutor etc.

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Progress and further action required. This is when you need to:

Assess your progress

Reflect on your learning

identify any factors that may have prevented you from achieving your development objectives

Identify whether your development objectives need to be amended

Identify factors that may have prevented you from achieving your development objectives

Plan how you will meet your agreed target date in the future.

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My personal developmenttargets?

Short or long term target?

How will I achieve my targets? What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives? What support do I need?

Date of review

Progress made towards target

Further action required

Actual date of achieving target

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