Learning Critical Skills Through The Fundraising Activity: A Reflection Essay.

Audit and Evaluation of Key Skills

This assignment requires you, as an individual, to write a report which reflects upon an extended group exercise. Preparation for the assignment starts with (GROUP TASK) – FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT – NO MARKS AWARDED The purpose of the group activity is to provide you the opportunity to develop your skills (termed a ‘formative’ task in education, it carries no marks but develops your skills). You need to have participated in the group exercise first before writing individual report. You will be working in teams of 3 - 4 Working as a team is a key part of your studies and employment. As such, it is therefore essential that you maximise opportunities to improve your teamwork skills and thereby reflect upon your development. You will receive feedback from your tutor at various stages of group activity, but no mark will be awarded for the group activity.

The workshops will focus on: -

• The allocation of teams for effective team work.

• Explore effective teamwork approaches and practices

• Provide details for the required stages/processes and documentation for the team work. It is therefore essential to attend both lectures and workshops. GROUP TASK The group activity involves participating as a team in a fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London which is dedicated in helping people understand the needs, numbers and experiences of people affected by cancer, to develop and influence better care and services.

First and foremost, YOU must work in teams to identify fundraising ideas, set targets, prepare to undertake these activities over the period agreed upon with your tutor. The evaluation of team performance over the project will take the form of a formative assessment in-class presentation using PowerPoint. This preparatory group activity has stages; you will work on these in class workshops as advised by your tutor. Details of the fundraising activities are detailed below: - Fundraising to support Macmillan Cancer Research Please note that some of the details on fundraising schedule are subject to updates:

ALL teams must come up with a team name and decide on what activity they want to do to raise the money.

? Team Agreements must be completed, then signed by each member of the team. This must be shown to the module tutor by 14th February 2014.

? Teams must then meet to prepare and plan, check progress for the fundraising - you CANNOT begin fundraising before the team agreement is completed, signed and approved by module tutor.

Effective Communication

? Teams MUST keep minutes of their meetings.

? Any issues within the teams should be brought to the attention of the module tutor

? Teams must collect their Fundraising pack from the Macmillan Cancer Support in Greater London or get one from the University before starting the fundraising.

? Wednesday 28th February - This is your first week of fundraising to support Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London. Each team must keep clear and accurate record of money collected during your fundraising activities.

? Wednesday 7th March Final day of fundraising – give it all you’ve got! Each team must again keep clear and accurate record of money collected during your fundraising activities.

All monies to be handed over to the module tutor, recorded and signed by all members of the team before handing over to the module tutor. Evaluation of team performance over the project. Team to start working on team report presentation/Power point slides ? Team continue working on their presentation during class workshops.

? 14TH March - Presentation of team fund-raising report during class – Presentation will be 10 -15mins per group using PowerPoint – the slides should have a brief narrative - Formative Assessment. (NO MARKS AWARDED).

PLEASE NOTE: Your group should keep minutes of your meetings. You will need these for your individual reflection. You are then required to undertake an audit of your development in an individual report – details below.inutes of the meeting from each team will be submitted by each member of the team as an appendix in Assignment 1 MORE CLARIFICATION ON THIS WILL BE GIVEN IN CLASS BY THE MODULE TUTOR Task - ASSIGNMENT 1 You must write a report (2300 words +/- 10%) which requires you to: • Examine and evaluate the development of your skills through this formative exercise o You will decide upon the key skills that you will examine, but it is expected that these will include teamwork, communications, research, planning, decision-making, problem solving, organisation, time-management, for example

• Assess your individual contribution and the overall team performance

• Demonstrate your development with specific examples and evidence

• Reflect upon 2-3 experiences in the team project process using a cycle/model of reflection to support your discussions, e.g. Honey & Mumford

• Refer to qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the above, e.g. feedback from peers, team targets (stats)

• Refer to suitable extracts from key reading (core academic texts)

Teamwork

• Use Harvard Referencing style You should include:

• Short tables in the body to detail your skills audit and the reflection of experiences

• Appendices to your report to include key evidence, e.g. team agreement, minutes, work and your personal contribution) Support will be given in the workshops and on Canvas Learning Outcomes The following learning outcomes will be tested in this assessment: K1. An understanding of essential information search, report-writing and presentation processes for Higher Education study. K2. An understanding of various types of quantitative and qualitative data, its representation and its use in the analysis and presentation of Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and business assignments and projects. S1.

An ability to work effectively in problem-solving (under the guidance of their tutor) a series of group and individual study and employment skills related tasks which apply the knowledge shown in the knowledge outcomes of the module. Format, Structure and Referencing Referencing –

• As part of the report process you are expected to cite core textbooks, journal articles AND internet-sourced information

• These musts ALL be correctly referenced within the main body of the report and listed in full at the end of the report under 

• You must use and Cite them right and the HARVARD referencing system Structure – Your report should be written in a recognised academic format, including the following: (FRONT PAGE)

• Module Code and Module Title

• Title of Assignment

• Module Leader’s Name

• Your Tutor’s Name (this person will mark your work) 

• Your name (Family name underlined)

• Your Student Number

• Date of Submission Contents Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 AUDIT AND EVALUATION OF KEY SKILLS (MAIN BODY OF REPORT) - use sections and sub-sections.

3.0 CONCLUSION REFERENCES (using Cite them right and HARVARD system) APPENDICES Format – Make your assignment easy to read – some guidelines

• Make all general typeface 11pt Arial, Calibri, Tahoma

• You should use line spacing of 1.5

• All pages should be numbered Please note –

• correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are also expected

• grammar/spell check and proofread your work Submission details YOU MUST SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY BY THE DEADLINE through UGB160 Canvas module page for checking with ‘Turnitin’ and to JIRA for marking a. Accessible in the assessment section b. Students may submit drafts prior to submission and generate reports. i. The last submission prior to the deadline is deemed to be the final submission for assessment purposes Non-submission through Turnitin and JIRA: Students who do not submit their work through Turnitin and JIRA will automatically receive a 0% Please refer to Student Guide to the Academic Regulations:

 PLAGIARISM/INFRINGEMENT STATEMENT All Assessments are subject to the University’s Policy on 'Cheating, Collusion and Plagiarism'. Students found guilty of this are subject to severe penalties. This is an INDIVIDUAL piece of work - If there is evidence that the work is not wholly attributable to you, the University's policy on 'Cheating, Collusion and Plagiarism' will be applied Link to University Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy

•EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES If you are affected by any extenuating circumstances and cannot submit your work, for example illness or severe personal difficulties, you must inform your programme leader, personal tutor, module leader or module tutor immediately.

IMPORTANT – ‘FIT TO SIT’: Any student who presents themselves at an examination and takes that examination, or who submits a piece of coursework, or attends and takes part in a presentation, practical session, or any other form of assessment cannot then put in a later request for extenuating circumstances. They will be deeming themselves 'Fit to Sit' if they thereby engage in the assessment and no allowance will be made for any difficulties they later wish to claim affected their results. For information or to discuss an issue you are having, please contact the programme leader or personal tutor in the first instance.

As part of the Essential Study and Employment Skills unit module, we were assigned group tasks that aim at building student skills on various aspects. It is worth pointing out that working as a team is not only an essential part in the study process but also provides one with the opportunity to develop critical skills required in employment. One of the requirements of the unit was to attend and participate as a team in a fundraising for the Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London. The foundation is dedicated to helping people understand the needs, numbers and experiences of people affected with cancer (What we do n.d.).

Additionally, it seeks to reach and improve the lives of those living with the disease while inspiring millions of others to follow in the foundation’s footsteps. Thus, my team and I took an active role in the fundraiser by engaging in activities such as raising money and keeping clear and accurate records of the money collected during the entire fundraising activity. Throughout the process, the team kept an updated record and minutes of all meetings conducted. Afterwards, all the money collected was handed over to the module tutor and signed off by the team members. As a whole, the fundraising activity was an interesting and informative learning experience for the team and me.  It is also imperative to point out that the group work activities undertaken this semester has offered me a great opportunity to gain and develop critical skills such as communication, teamwork, planning, research, problem solving, organization and time management.

2.0 Audit and Evaluation of Key Skills

                By and large, taking part in the fundraising activity as part of a team was a great learning experience for me. Fundamentally, I learnt various key skills through the process that I believe would come in handy not only in class but also in the future during my employment. In a nutshell, the key skills that I acquired during the activity comprise of effective communication, teamwork, research, decision-making, time-management and problem-solving.

2.1 Effective communication   

                As a whole, my communication skills have improved tremendously after engaging in the group activities with my team. Mainly, one can attribute this to the fact that effective communication is necessary for groups to function successfully. As a result, all team members tried to enhance their communication techniques in order to interact well with the rest of the group. As such, group work requires members to explain their ideas and express their feelings openly in order for the rest of the members to understand their concept. In addition, it requires members to listen carefully to the ideas and feelings of others in order to contribute to the. It is also necessary for group members to ask questions as a means of clarifying the ideas and contributions made by their peers.

Effective Communication

What is more, non-verbal communication plays an important role in group work as it allows team members to determine the feelings and emotions of the others towards a particular view (Communication behaviors, n.d.). Aside from these qualities, by the end of the activity, the team members offered feedback and suggested that they had noticed that my communication skills had improved significantly since I was now able to initiate conversations about the group activities, something that I was unable to do before the beginning of the task. Therefore, the group activity helped me gain some fundamental communication skills that will not only useful in the classroom setting but also the outside world.

2.2 Teamwork

                As noted earlier, a large portion of the assignment for this module entailed working in a group of four students in order to enhance learning. As a result, I had an opportunity to work in a team with my peers. In my experience, working as a team enhanced cooperative learning characterized by positive interdependence positive interdependence among members. Through the activity, we discovered that better performance by each group member results in better performance by the entire group.  As a result, the spirit of teamwork was enhanced, encouraging each member to make a contribution on their part in order to enhance the overall group performance.

                In addition, working towards the fundraising for the Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London allowed me to develop the skills of working collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal (Teamwork Skills n.d.).  In this case, the group was working towards the common goal of raising as much money for the organization. Apart from working towards a common goal, the activity allowed us to work in support and respect of each other (Teamwork Skills, n.d.). As such, we all learnt how to demonstrate support for one another in order to accomplish the goals of the group. Furthermore, the team was able to offer constructive feedback in a respectful manner. It is worth noting that constructive feedback often requires listening well, asking for clarifications when ideas are unclear and being open to change (Brame & Biel 2015). Consequently, the team activity enabled us to develop a sense of collaboration in our meetings and activities. Therefore, in general, the fundraising activity played a critical role in improving and enhancing my sense of teamwork.

2.3 Problem-solving

                In addition to team work and communication skills, the group activity helped me gained critical problem solving skills. As such, it offered the group an opportunity to develop and use strategies in order to work towards the group’s objectives. It also allowed us to work together to devise solutions for problems that we encountered during the group activity. Primarily, the problem solving process comprised of sharing thoughts and holding discussions about the problems that occurred during the group assignment (Problem Solving n.d.). By the end of the task, the group commented and provided feedback indicating that I had gained vital problem skills through cooperating and collaborating with the views of my peers in the group. As such, I learnt that the problem solving process comprises of first defining the problem at hand, analyzing it, generating all the possible solutions, evaluating the solutions for viability, and finally implementing the solution.

Teamwork

                It is worth noting that we faced various problems while completing the assignment. The first problem we encountered was on how to mobilize funds and collect as much as possible for the fundraising activity.  Therefore, to solve this problem, we came together as a group and brainstormed on the ideas to encourage people to contribute towards our course. As part of the solution, the group members came up with the idea to hold a garage sale at one of the team member’s houses. In the sale, all members brought things that they no longer used and sold them to the members of the community at a good price. At the end of the day, we were able to raise some money for the cancer fundraiser. In the future, when I work in a group and we encounter financial constraints, I would suggest various income generating activities that would help the group raise funds for the course. Therefore, the group activity allowed me to gain and exercise problem-solving abilities.

2.4 Time-Management

                It is also worth noting that I gained critical time management skills over the period we conducted the group activity. Unlike individual time management, team time management is somewhat different and difficult as the schedules of all members have to be synchronized in order to get a common time when all members are free and available. Therefore, in order to ensure that we created time for group work activities, the group developed weekly timetables and schedules indicating the time when the group will hold meetings.

One other time management issue that came up while working as a team involved the fact that some group discussions took a longer time than the intended and scheduled time. As a result, we spent a lot of time in the group as some members took a lot of time discussing matters not pertinent to the agreed activity when we first started holding the meetings. In order to resolve this issue, the team unanimously agreed that we would be writing an agenda prior to meeting.

During the meetings, the team was advised to stick to matters that were included in the agenda without diverging in order to save on time. With the introduction of an agenda for every meeting, the group was able to successfully complete all meetings within the schedule, and even have time to spare for other activities. In the future, if I encounter a similar problem while working in a team, I would ensure that we implement the same agenda rule in the meetings to save on time and avoid wastage (Reflection models n.d.).

Problem-solving

In this respect, I can say that working as a team member helped me recognize the value of time and time management. Today in my daily life, I make schedules and plans to organize my day’s activities in order to save on time. In this regard, working as a group in the fundraising activity played an important role in enhancing my time management skills, not only in the classroom setting but also the real world in preparation for the employment world.

2.5 Decision Making

                Decision making is a critical skill in the human society. Primarily, it refers to the process of choosing between two or more actions. It relates to choosing the best possible solutions to problems experienced. While conducting the fundraising activity for the McMillan Cancer Research in Greater London, I was able to develop vital decision making skills while solving problems that came up as we worked as a team. It is worth pointing out that there are various instances when the group had to make a collective decision. Primarily, our decision making was a step by step process to ensure that we made deliberate and thoughtful decision by organizing relevant information and defining alternatives and weighing them before choosing the best alternative among them (Honey & Mumford n.d.).

It is only after a collective and unanimous decision had been made that the group took action. By going through this process before making a decision, the group ensured that the decision made was the best and most satisfying one. In this regard, performing the course work through group was very useful to me as it helped me discover the best ways to make decisions about important matters in order to guarantee that the decision chosen is the best alternative at the time of decision making.

2.5 Planning

                Planning is an important aspect and a vital process in both business and personal life. Primarily, it entails thinking about the activities required to achieve the desired goal. Thus, it involves creating and maintaining a plan. It is important to note that the group activity played an important role in improving my planning skills. As part of the assignment, we had to engage in proper planning for the activities of the fundraiser. First, we had to plan for the garage sale to raise some funds for the fundraiser. Afterwards, we had to plan for a door to door fundraising campaign in at the campus’ hostels to get fellow students to contribute to the course.

Time-Management

By and large, the planning process involved identifying the goals and objectives to be achieved from the activity. In this, the objective was to conduct a garage sale and door to door fundraising campaign to raise the needed funds for the fundraiser. After that, we formulated the strategies that would work towards achieving these goals. We also had to organize and arrange the means to achieve the goals successfully. After the planning process was set in motion, we ensured that on the day of garage sale and door to door campaign in campus we implemented the activities as planned.

2.6 Research

It is imperative to note that the team activity was a major learning experience and allowed me to take part in a research activity. As noted earlier, the group task involved attending and participating in a fundraising activity for Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London. As a result, the team was obligated to do some research on cancer in order to gain a better understanding of the disease in order to contribute more to the course and even help others who had little knowledge about it to understand it better. Thus, the group undertook a lot research on the disease in order to explain to well-wishers and contributors that life with cancer is still life. We also had to conduct a lot of research on the Macmillan foundation and cancer centre in order to tell those contributing to the fundraiser what the project was all about without leaving out important information. In this regard, it is important to point out that the group activity played an important role in sharpening my research skills.  These skills would be beneficial not only in the classroom but later after I am employed into the labour force.  

  Conclusion

                All factors taken into consideration, the group activity has helped me gain important skills. Particularly, working as a group and participating in the Macmillan Cancer Research in Greater London was mind opening and full of experience. The project was dedicated to helping people understand the needs, number sand experiences of people who suffer from cancer. As part of the assignment, we helped in raising funds for the organization. Thus, my team and I took an active role in the fundraiser by engaging in activities such as raising money and keeping clear and accurate records of the money collected during the entire fundraising activity. As a whole, the project offered me an opportunity to develop critical skills such as effective communication, planning, time-management, research, problem-solving, decision-making, and teamwork. In this respect, taking part in the fundraising activity as part of a team was a great learning experience for me. . Fundamentally, the key skills through the fundraising and group activity would come in handy not only in class but also in the future during my employment. 

Reference List

Brame, C. J., & Biel, R. (2015). Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively.

Communication Behaviors for Effective Group Work. (n.d.).

Group Decision Making. (n.d.). [Online] University of Waterloo.

Honey and Mumford. (n.d.).[Online] University of Leicester.

Reflection models and frameworks.. (n.d.). [Online] University of Bradford. 

Teamwork Skills: Being an Effective Group Member. (n.d.).[Online] University of Waterloo.member [Accessed 4 May. 2018].

What we do. (n.d.). [online] Macmillan Cancer Support.