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To become an effective Distance Education student by expanding my skills and confidence using the *institution name website.
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Lack of experience with *institution name interface, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate and other online resources.
The time required to locate and familiarise myself with *institution name website.
Low self-efficacy from previous university failure.
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Attend Week 1 lecture and tutorial to develop skills.
Use *institution name study guides, Lib guides, Navigator, Blackboard Collaborate on a weekly basis to familiarise myself with *institution name available tools.
Dedicate 2 hours per week to navigating my way through the *institution name website to increase familiarity.
Be prepared for the weekly lectures and tutorials, completing all homework prior to attending lectures and tutorials.
Regularly participate in the online discussion board and contribute to class discussions.
Commence using Turnitin this session and submit assessments a minimum of 2 days prior to the due date.
Using session planners to plan my units week by week to provide breakdown of workload.
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I have received feedback throughout the session that has indicated that I will be able to successfully achieve this learning need. I have learnt how to successfully use Blackboard and Blackboard Collaborate.
I am more aware of the expectations and challenges set at a university level and how to best manage my future units.
I can readily access the *institution name website to attend lectures, tutorials, submit assessments, view grades and access information when necessary. This learning need that I identified at the beginning of this session, I have achieved.
I believe as I continue with my studies the skills I have learnt in this unit will support my future learning and underpin my future success at *institution name.
The constraints I identified at the beginning of the unit, such as my lack of experience with the *institution name interface, Blackboard and Blackboard collaborate and a strong feeling of low self-efficacy I no longer consider a constraint to my learning goals.
I have used my time management skills to allocate the necessary time to spend preparing for lectures and tutorials and I have found session planners to be an excellent tool for visualising workloads.
I have found that continually attending the weekly lectures and online tutorials has been of great benefit as it has provided me with strategies to become a self-regulated learner and to be accountable for my own learning.
Throughout this unit, I have been able to improve my feelings of low self-efficacy brought upon from previous study. I have been applying myself and investing the time and efforts to ensure my assessments have been to a high standard. This has been achieved by using the skills and strategies gained from this unit such as critical reading and thinking, referencing and academic writing. Consequently my marks have reflected this effort supporting the growth mindset theory that time and effort does yield results.
I have achieved my learning need and I will be able to apply skills such as time management, critical thinking and report writing skills in future units and in my current position.
After completing this unit, I feel confident that I will be a highly effective distance education student.
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To improve my Academic writing skills
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I have not studied at TAFE or University for a long period of time.
Inexperience with academic writing at a University standard.
Weaknesses in my ability to convert thoughts into text.
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Review the weekly lecture and tutorial relating to Academic Writing skills.
Read and paraphrase all required information from weekly Study Guides, notes and readings.
Leave sufficient time to complete a draft assessment, submit it to Turnitin, and paraphrase the documents if necessary.
Break down assessments into smaller parts, create a plan of how to address the questions using mind maps.
Regularly review and reflect on assessments.
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Improving my academic writing skills will continue to evolve and improve throughout the session and in turn throughout the remainder of my experience at *institution name.
By reviewing the weekly lectures and tutorials, my knowledge and understanding of how to write and structure topic sentences, create paragraphs, paraphrase information and use academic language have already improved as reflected in my marks and assessment feedback.
Feedback from Assessment 1 and Assessment 2 indicate that I have a good grasp of how to write to a University standard.
The use of mind maps has been helpful as it assists with gathering ideas and logically creating a flow or order for my assessments.
I have found managing my time effectively using Turnitin prior to deadlines is very helpful in submitting strong assessments.
The topic of Academic writing has been very rewarding for me as I struggle to write clear and concise topic sentences, but I now have skills such as using linking words that has greatly assisted with creating assessments with a clear structure and that flow logically.
I have come to realise that the most important park of writing assessment is to understand what the question is asking and how to best answer the questions using task words, content words and limiting words. This has directly benefitted me being able to achieve success in my learning need as I know what I am looking for and how to provide an appropriate answer to the question.
The hamburger analogy was a great tool to help me remember the structure of paragraphs. I find this will be valuable for when writing reports in the future.
I found the information on paraphrasing in the lecture and the *institution name quick guide really useful as I am new to the concept of paraphrasing. I am no longer fearful of plagiarising information and, with practice, I hope this skill will continue to improve.
Learning to summarise, paraphrase, evaluate and synthesise information has improved the way I construct reports. I always find it difficult to get my thoughts across on paper, but by taking notes, doing mind maps, creating clear topic sentences, thesis statements and paragraphs and linking it back with a conclusion has helped me to mentally and visually map out how to write logically. These skills also link back to Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning theory as these are higher order skills in learning.
Finally, critical reading and critical thinking have helped me to develop an inclusive approach not only to my studies, but to my life. I am now asking more questions and not taking anything at face value. When I am now presented with information, I am actively trying to comprehend, analyse, interpret and evaluate it so I can make informed choices in my life.
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To develop a Growth Mindset
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Overcoming low self-efficacy from previous failure at University.
I previously identified with some of the Fixed Mindset learning style and low self-efficacy.
The time, money and effort associated with University study which takes away from other commitments.
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Refer to Dweck’s learning theory of Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset for positive reinforcement.
Review Lecture and Tutorial from Weeks 1 and 2 to develop my understanding of the different styles of learning.
Build high self-efficacy through success in assessments.
Reward myself mentally and emotionally for achieving set goals.
Embrace challenges by breaking down seemingly overwhelming tasks into smaller more manageable goals.
Set aside 1-2 hours per day to attend to University requirements.
Use session planners and time management Matrix to visualise daily, weekly goals, and session deadlines.
Review personal and professional goals regularly.
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Throughout this unit I have been diligent with my studies, attendance, homework and readings trying to build deep learning and improve my self-efficacy through hard work and persistence.
I would argue that I have taken the necessary steps to shift my learning style from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset based on the facts that I have attended all the lectures and tutorials, made notes, asked questions, reflected on the information and set realistic goals for myself.
Despite the niggling self-doubt that continues, I strive to make my goals of earning a university degree a reality by applying myself and rewarding myself for small wins along the way.
I continue to try and manage my time effectively using a diary and session planners so I can maintain a healthy life/work balance.
I am very pleased that I elected to complete this unit at the beginning of my degree as I believe it has created a platform for my future success at university.
This learning need has proven to be the most difficult for me to achieve. Developing a Growth Mindset has been a far harder goal to achieve as it is not based on factual or concrete skills that can be studied or taught. This learning need is more of a mental and personal journey for me.
I really identified with the Fixed Mindset when I was learning about the different theories as I always wanted to obtain a degree, but in the fastest, easiest way possible. Now that I am a mature student, I recognise and relate to Dweck’s (2008) theory as my goals and priorities have changed and I have adopted a Growth Mindset.
I recognise the importance of setting goals and goal realisation and being accountable through SMART targets. I can apply this to my personal and professional life.
I found learning the theory of self-efficacy has directly helped me to achieve my learning need. I was basing my current abilities on previous failures which were detrimental to achieving success. However, being able to acknowledge my past experiences, control and understand my body’s responses, ask for feedback and watch and compare it with others, my self-efficacy has greatly improved with my feelings towards learning being very positive and I am eager to learn.
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To learn to practice Academic Integrity
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Lack of experience with referencing using APA 6th Edition.
Inexperience with University expectations.
Unawareness of what is considered Plagiarism, Cheating and Collusion and the severity of the issues at University level.
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Attend week 4 online lecture and tutorial to develop knowledge and understanding of what is Academic Integrity.
Learn how to reference correctly (APA 6th Edition) for assessments 2, 3 and 4 of this course.
Thoroughly read and comprehend the *institution name Library guide APA Style guide.
Complete the referencing practice sessions in Week 4 Study Guide.
Be consistent and continually practice paraphrasing skills to all readings.
Identify when it is appropriate to use direct quotes in assessments or essays without over using direct quotes.
Refer to previous examples of the APA 6th Edition referencing style for help.
Submitting assessments to Turnitin prior to deadlines to help identify any issues or concerns with the content, allowing for sufficient time to go back and amend any problematic parts of the document.
Diligent note taking – using the Cornell Note taking system which will help with paraphrasing and putting ideas into your own words, thus avoiding plagiarism.
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I have learnt a great deal about academic integrity. I came into this session with a lot of misconceptions about what academic integrity was and how it affected me.
By attending and reviewing the material from the lectures, the Lib guide, study guide and *institution name quick guides, these helped me to clarify and understand what it is to practice Academic Integrity and how to avoid plagiarism.
I may need to adapt my skills to learn the Harvard system of referencing in addition as this style is used more in the Business discipline.
I have learnt that Turnitin is not a tool used to identify plagiarism.
While my referencing skills are still developing, the tools available through *institution name and the Lib guide have been extremely helpful to use as a guide.
I will continue to submit documents prior to the deadline as I use this as a key strategy to help practice academic integrity and avoid plagiarism.
Prior to this unit my understanding of academic integrity was solely based on trying not to plagiarise others’ work. I felt nervous about submitting assessments for fear of being accused of plagiarising. I had no idea that you were required to paraphrase, and I was also surprised to learn that it is not appropriate to use a lot of direct quotes throughout assessments.
The only experience I had for submitting assessments was though TAFE and they do not use Turnitin, so I was not overly concerned about Academic Integrity. This unit has highlighted the importance of taking responsibility for your own actions and work to show a complete depth of your understanding and maturity to achieve your learning goals.
Using the Libguide has been so beneficial to use as a reference guide and to help with learning the APA 6th Edition style of referencing. However, I have chosen to study the business discipline and, as a result, I will need to learn the Harvard style of referencing in addition to APA.I am pleased that I have learnt APA as it will help me to adapt these skills and apply them when learning the Harvard style of referencing.
Turnitin has been very reassuring for me when submitting assignments. This has not only made me accountable for my time management, but has reinforced the skill of referencing correctly, both in text and in a reference list.
I am no longer fearful of referencing and with practice and persistence this is a learning need that I am sure will be easily adapted.
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