University of Westminster Westminster Business School REFLECTION BRING IMPROVEMENT Student Name: Davide Carmelo Sciuto Student ID number: 152014651 Module code and title: BKEY401 Professional Competences Seminar leader name: David Hitchcock Word Count: 846 words The passage from college to university, for students, sometimes can be a shock. There are many challenges that each student must face within the university life. The first challenge is with their selves. The second is the one that is faced with the group or team that they are working with. Since the beginning of the year with Professional competences I have faced many difficulties when it came to learn about studying independently. Meyer states that: “The concept of ‘independent learning’ is associated with, or part of, a number of other educational concepts and wider policy agenda of contemporary relevance such as ‘personalization’, ‘student-centered learning’ and ‘ownership’ of learning”. In order to get the “ownership of learning”, Kolb has studied a learning style for individuals, which is divided in four steps: “concrete experience” (emphasize personal involvement with people in everyday life), reflective observation (people understand ideas and situations from different point of view), abstract conceptualization (learning involves using theories rather than feelings), active experimentation (experimenting with changing situations), (Mobbs, R, undated). When I was studying at
Transitioning into higher education presents challenges for all students, whether it’s their age or previous educational history. Numerous individuals are extremely nervous as they are entering into an advanced environment such as higher education. This because college is a new learning environment at a completely different level. However, freshmen find college to be difficult at first because it’s harder for them to adjust. That’s why many universities should have student centers in place to help students. Student centers give students the pathway for flexible learning as it results in being successful in higher education (Baužienė & Vosyliūtė 2015).
Independent learning is a solution presented by DiCarlo and Lujan to fix the current curriculum problem: “it is clear that active processing of information and not just passive reception of that information leads to learning” (19). Students must become active learners to encourage cognition. Furthermore, students will succeed when they stop memorizing information and begin understanding it; this begins with shortening curriculums and encouraging independent
The transition into college can be one of the most exciting times in a young adult’s life. They are starting a new chapter in their lives that may have a lasting effect on their future. Many new friendships will be made, along with countless amounts of changes in their life including new habitat, change in income, workload amounts, and
David Kolb developed a learning theory that involves concrete concepts which learners process experience. Kolb’s theory is based on intentions that learning takes place through four linear cycles based on experience and the personal changes that occur throughout that experience. As Kolb (1984) states, “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (p. 38). Similar to other scholarly theories of learning, Kolb has many critics. I will discuss Kolb’s theory and summarize some of the critics to this theory. Also I will use Kolb’s theory and the critic’s comments to improve my approach to teaching.
From an early age I found learning hard and in my early educational years I
Studies in Higher education. The purpose of this research is to elicit information from the direct entrants themselves about the transition into university and to uncover factors to help them succeed.
Institutions of higher education pride themselves in their ability to educate, serve, and meet the needs of the students in which it serves. This analysis shows collaboration on college/university campuses to foster success among first year students. With higher education today being in a state of dynamic change, it becomes crucial that faculty members recognize that their long time traditional roles have become somewhat non-existent. That is to say that there must be a relinquishing of past ideas and procedures.
For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can
In the reading Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development by David Kolb (1984), he proposed that learning is a cycle process in which individuals learn through their own experiences in life. This notion of the learning cycle in which he was influenced by the ideas of three other theorists (Piaget, Dewey, and Lewinian) called it Experiential Learning Theory. Kolb’s theory was based on how people learned by imputing information and processing the information. Within this two abilities, there are four steps in which Kolb’s believe the learning process occurs. The first one he calls “concrete experience”, in which one actually does the learning right then and now. The second one is “reflective observation” when the learner thinks about what they did as a reflection of the experience. The next step is the “abstract conceptualization”, where the learner makes a generalization of the experience. The last step is “active experimentation”, where the learner puts to practice his/her understanding and adapts to it. The learner does this by taking all the first three steps of the learning cycle and seeing the results (pg. 30). Learning is a process in which individuals learn through trial and error. This process can then be reused with our prior experience to strengthen the outcome of our first experience. It is shaped as a cycle in the way we process information cognitively. This is how I understood of the reading on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.
This essay will look into the issues, challenges and approaches about transition into university by looking at support systems available at an institutional level, examples stated in academic literature and to look at tips that first year students can take into university. By looking at the various academic literature I can look into the student experience, support systems available at Westminster, approaches that universities can utilise for support and to look at how these academic literature gives advice into successfully transition into university.
Student personnel point of view encompasses the student as a whole. The concept of education is broadened o the student’’s well rounded development- physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually as well as intellectually. (sppv) Student affairs not only emphasize on academic excellence but to shape each individual as a unique human by providing a holistic learning and living environment. Student Affairs professionals play a pivotal role in the development of the students. By applying different theories in student development, they can foster student learning to help them shape their identity. Student affairs staff members must view themselves as educators to refute the belief that learning is held only in the classroom. (contested issue, 29). Learning does not only occur in the classroom but through out of class activities as well. Student affairs staff should talk about student learning and development to enhance the multiplicity of growth areas for students in higher education. These learning and development experiences do not simply happen to students. They happen with their active involvement. There are numerous branches of fields in student affairs that attend to the unique needs of each individual. Residence Director trains Residence assistance to cater to the needs of first year students who are new to the college environment. RA plays a major role of introducing the life of college through building relationships and community to help them develop their sense of
This essay argues that in general that in the transition to university, students will face many problems that academic skills cannot help. It also points out that social skills and personal attributes are required to succeed university. For example, students need communication skills as forms of social skills and the capability of time managing, stress controlling and organizing.
Although this limitation can become a barrier for the experiential learning theory Rogers’ developed, it is possible for this to overcome this with patience. As the main purpose of this theory is to allow personal growth within the student, we must note that personal growth appears differently for each individual learner. The role of the facilitator is to help engage all types of students in self-motivated learning to help them improve their overall growth from significant information.
The inquiry training model was developed by Richard Suchman in 1962 (Calhoun, Joyce, and Weil, 2009). The inquiry model has been adapted and used in classrooms all around the world as a powerful tool to develop independent learners. This paper will discuss how the inquiry model is formed to help make learners independent by using the five phases. This paper will then discuss how the model is structured to develop independent learners. Finally, this paper will give an example of the usage of the model.
1. Autonomous learning is a unique innovative technique which is actively implemented in the academic transaction process. It implies gradual switch from traditional teacher-centered studies to a self-learning process, when students are placed in such conditions where they are to employ their critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication skills in addition to the problem-solving skills that will make them experts on a subject studied through project- work, group work etc. For Example- A project on garbage disposal in class V was given to make them learn about environment and sustainability.