Reflective Account of Goal-Setting for Studying on K219

Question:

Drawing on module materials and Gibbs’ reflective model, write a reflective account of the goal you have set for studying on K219. (800 words) Guidance This TMA asks you to write a reflective account of the study goal you have set yourself in relation to your learning on K219. As this is a reflective piece of writing, you may use the first person to author this assessment.

In your assignment, you should use theories about resilience and wellbeing to reflect on how you will work towards your goal. You should also reflect on how you think setting this goal will help you develop your resilience and wellbeing as a learner. It will help if you also think about some of the ways the community of students and tutors on K219 can provide you with the support to help you find a way forward with your studies. You must substantiate your answers with material you have encountered in K219 and your learning to date on wellbeing and developing your resilience as a learner. Your assignment will be assessed on how you use the module materials to plan how you can achieve your goal.

Key sources for this question Learning Guide 2, Activity 2.10: Gibbs’ reflective model During the welcome week you started to think about your study goal on K219 Learning Guide 1, Activity

1.11: Goal-setting tools Learning Guides 1 and 2: in this guide you explored theories for understanding resilience and wellbeing Learning Guide 2, Activity

2.11: this might be useful for thinking about your resilience as a learner Structuring your answer You have 800 words to complete this task so you will need to be concise. As this is a reflective piece of writing you are permitted to write in the first person. Give your answer a title ‘Drawing on module materials and Gibbs’ reflective model, write a reflective account of the goal you have set for studying on K219.

In your account, reflect on the factors that will affect your ability to achieve your aims and goals and how you plan to develop your resilience and wellbeing as a learner.’ Write a short introduction setting out your chosen goal: Briefly describe yourself (to the extent you are willing to share information) in terms of your work/home situation, prior educational experiences and whatever else you feel is relevant to set out why you have selected this particular goal.

Guidance

Be specific here and include only information about those things that are relevant to your goal. Limit this whole section to around 150 words. In the main section of your account, you should note the skills and resilience that you bring to your studies on K219 and the areas that you need to develop further in order to achieve your goal. You will need to do this using Gibbs’ reflective model. You might like to consider things such as: Your personal circumstances and the factors that are going to impact your ability to study.

What issues might be sources of stress and vulnerability for you? What protective factors can you put in place to increase your resilience and capacity to study? How can you minimise those factors which may make studying more difficult? You should conclude your answer with a short paragraph that summarises your main points. Don’t forget to include a word count. Referencing guidance Be careful not to ‘cut and paste’ material from module sources (or any others) into your essay, as this will be detected by the university’s plagiarism software (even if you insert a few of your own words in amongst the pasted material) and could result in disciplinary action. Instead, put the ideas into your own words crediting their source with a reference.

For all ideas and examples used from K219 material you must make sure you include in-text references to identify the sources. References should be presented in full at the end of your TMA in a reference list. The reference list is not included in your word count. Do look at HWSC’s Referencing guidance in order to credit your sources of information correctly. Learning outcomes The learning outcomes assessed by this TMA are to: develop the ability to support your written work using theories and concepts from the module material develop the ability to reflect on your experience make realistic goals to support your study journey consider issues which might affect your ability to study and resources which you might put in place to enable resilience.

Learning Guide 2,

Activity 2.10: Gibbs' reflective model. Gibbs’ cycle has become adopted as a way to facilitate reflection in health and social care learning. This model will be particularly useful for you when working on K219 activities and to structure TMA 01, which is a reflective discussion of your learning goals for the module. Thinking about your future learning Whatever your educational journey has been up to this point, we want to help you move forward with confidence on K219.

Key Sources for this Question

Resilience is a topic you will learn more about in the first block of teaching. Here all you need to know is that resilience is all about your ability to bounce back in the face of challenges and adversity. Research shows that resilience is largely developed as a result of your past experiences. This is why we have encouraged you to reflect on your learning journey so far in Activity 1. Research also shows that developing a sense of responsibility and agency and having a set of goals you are working towards and are essential for resilient learning. A reflective mindset can encourage you to see how the decisions you take about where, when and how you study may affect your ability to achieve your educational goals. However, thinking about things can sometimes only get us so far and during times of stress it can be hard for us to disengage with a negative or anxious mindset.

Flow charts and mind maps are useful tools that allow you to document the processes of how you study in a concise way. Reflecting on how you study in the form of a flow chart or mind map and knowing what works well for you (and what to avoid) when you’re studying) can help you develop reactive study plans ahead of time to avoid feeling overwhelmed as you progress in your studies. Think about the last time you studied and try to visualise the process.

Where did you study, how did you study and what resources did you use? What problems did you come across and what worked well? What would you like to improve on, possibly while you’re studying K219? You can use the example I have provided as inspiration. ‘resilient ways of studying’ flow chart is the example chart One of the tough things about being a university lecturer is that I can empathise with Open University students because I can see the challenges that you face in finding time, space and confidence to complete your studies. However, it can be difficult to help you see that there is light at the end of the study tunnel. As lecturers we can support you, but only you know best how you can get to where you want to be.

Goal setting is a skill that can help you increase your chances of succeeding. Setting small achievable goals are important in allowing you to achieve long-term goals and you will learn more about these in your first two weeks of teaching (Learning Guides 1 and 2) on K219. Long-term goals can be important in keeping you motivated during times of stress and adversity. Here we want you to think specifically about the long-term goals you have for your studies on K219.