Financial accounting (Reflection Writing )

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

T1 2018

Assessment 2: Group Assignment

(Part A and Part C)

DUE DATE AND TIME: This assessment comprises of 2 separate submissions Part A 5:00pm, Thursday 29 March 2018 Part C 10:00pm, Monday 13 May 2018

PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 10% which consists of two parts.

Learning Outcome Details

Unit Learning Outcome (ULO)	Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO)
ULO1: Comprehend accounting as a language of business	GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge
	and capabilities
ULO4: Evaluate the treatment of items in the financial statements	GLO6: Self-management
and appreciate the impact of accounting standards on business
organisations.
	GLO7: Teamwork

Part A is a hurdle item. It is imperative that Part A is submitted, otherwise Part C will not be marked, and the student forfeits 10% of the overall marks for this unit.

Submission Instructions

1. It is compulsory to submit Part A. Students who fail to do so will not have Part C marked.

2. The assignment must be submitted using MS Word.

3. Part A should be a maximum 400 words and Part C should be a maximum 600 words.

Objective

The objective of this reflective piece is to enhance students’ engagement in their own learning by reflecting on their performance while working in teams. You are asked to write about your own performance within the team in regards to team communication, constructive teamwork and self-management within the team. This will involve evaluating and describing your own learning experience in this assignment.

This assignment will help students develop their skills in the process of collection, selection, curation, direction, evaluation and reflection.

Threshold learning standards (TLSs) for accounting graduates were developed collaboratively across Australia in 2010 with input from the professional accounting bodies, various business practitioners and accounting academics. Five TLSs were developed for the Accounting discipline of which the self- management standard is relevant for this assessment task.

Bachelor graduates in Accounting will be able to 'reflect on performance feedback to identify and action learning opportunities and self-improvements'.

In this assignment, you are required to reflect on your learning in the group assignment (Assignment 2 Part B) with an emphasis on team work and self-management. You will also need to identify and action learning opportunities and self-improvements.

In this unit, self-management refers to skills and strategies by which individuals can effectively identify and action learning opportunities and self-improvements to direct their own learning activities toward the achievement of personal and professional learning goals.

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Self-management skills include:

setting a future plan and establishing clear personal goals; reviewing and monitoring one's own performance;

taking responsibility for one’s own learning;

setting priorities and milestones; and

clearly articulating personal ideas and vision.

Team work, in this unit refers to being able to work collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. This involves:

communicating effectively;

supporting team members through respectful feedback; and

delegating the tasks and deciding who is the most appropriate to undertake them.

Teamwork encompasses maximising the individual strengths of team members to bring out their best.

What is reflective practice?

Reflective practice is about taking personal responsibility for actions, self-reflecting and critiquing your own performance and identifying and planning future development needs. In order to take personal responsibility for your actions you need to initially record the goals you wish to achieve when working in a team, past team experiences and ways in which you can improve your performance while working in your team for Assignment 2 Part B. It is also important to keep evidence of your experience in working with a team, as this will help you reflect back on your performance within the team. Evidence can be as simple as recording your thoughts after team meetings or after communicating with individual team members or staff. This evidence will help you to put together your final reflection on your performance in the team.

Task

Your task is to develop a reflection that highlights the work you have done in achieving the goals you have set for yourself while working in a team for Assignment 2 Part B.

There are two parts in the task:

Part A (maximum 400 words): This is due 5:00pm, Thursday 29 March 2018 in the Assessment folder, Assessment 2 Part A. Record your initial thoughts about working in teams. In doing so please answer the following:

1. Consider past teamwork experiences and discuss how you could improve the outcomes achieved. In your response, include a justification for your opinion, and how you intend to implement these improvements in this teamwork activity.

2. During the team experience in MAA261 (Assignment 2 Part B), what skills are you going to rely on and why.

3. What skills are you hoping to improve during your MAA261 team experience? How do you think you are going to be able to do this?

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In answering questions 2 and 3 it is a good idea to determine two goals that you wish to achieve in relation to your performance. The two goals must be focused on developing team work skills and include how you will achieve them using self-management skills.

When setting your goals consider stating them as SMART goals. To set a SMART goal make sure it is:

Specific - Consider who, what, when, where, why and how in developing the goal.

Measurable - Include a numeric or descriptive measurement.

Achievable - Consider the resources needed and set a realistic

goal. Relevant - Make sure the goal is consistent with the

mission.

Time-bound - Set a realistic deadline.

Learning how to frame goals as SMART goals and being willing to adjust them to get SMARTer is an important skill that would help every student. Here is a practical example, starting with a typical, but not especially SMART, goal:

I will do better on my report card in the next marking period.

This goal is time-bound in that it states “the next marking period”, but does not address the other components of a SMART goal.

Here is a way to make it SMARTer:

In the next marking period, I will get at least a C on all my math tests, and at least a B on most of my quizzes and homework assignments.

Notice how the goal has become more specific, by providing a guide to the result intended. But it's not completely SMART yet because it has no action plan or benchmarks. Here is a pretty SMART goal: In the next marking period, I will take careful notes and review them at least two days before tests and quizzes so that I can ask the teacher questions about what I don't understand. I will do my math homework before I do things with friends, and when I hand it in, I will ask the teacher about anything I am not sure about. When I get anything wrong, I will make sure to ask the teacher, or one of my classmates how they got the right answer.

Take time to review the goal and determine which parts relate to being

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

The goals set must relate to team work in Assignment 2 Part B in MAA261, Financial Accounting. For example a team work goal could be: in Trimester 1, 2018 I would like to improve the way in which I support my team members. This will include providing mutual support and tolerance to my fellow team members. I will ensure at each meeting that I provide respectful feedback and also establish deadlines to which I can provide feedback to fellow team members on their work on the team assignment.

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Part C (maximum 600 words): Due by 10:00pm, Sunday 13 May 2018 in the Assessment folder, Assessment 2 Part C. After you have submitted Assignment 2 Part B (team assignment) you must reflect back on the experience using your initial reflection from Part A to compile your final reflective piece. The reflective piece should tie together the learning experiences that you have completed with regard to Team Work and Self-Management. Reflect on where you performed well while working with your team as well as where you did not and if you made any changes along the way to your approach. For example, you needed to extend the deadline you set for providing feedback to team members as you received their work later than expected.

Within the reflective piece, you are required to include your two SMART goals from Part A at the beginning of the reflection.

In your reflection, you may wish to answer the following questions:

1. Did you achieve the 2 goals that you set in Part A? Why or Why not?

2. Did you set new goals or slightly change your existing goals?

3. What self-management tools did you use to help you work towards your goals? Were they helpful?

4. Were you able to learn from your past experiences with self-management and team work in order to apply knowledge and skills to enhance your performance in the team?

5. What was your role in the team and how did your actions help the team complete the tasks on time?

Please note that students will not be awarded marks for discussing what questions in the report (Part B) they and their group members worked on. Marks will also not be awarded for reflecting on the team’s goals and what the team did. The purpose of Part C is to reflect on your individual performance within the team, how you personally contributed to team communication, commitment and constructive team work and how you applied self-management tools to help you work towards your goals.

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