Reflective Essay Assignment Sample
Introduction
The reflective practises can be referred to as the process of increasing self-awareness levels within researchers and practitioners for improving higher levels of self-awareness and overall impact over the performance levels. Moreover, the impact on performance is found to create further opportunities for personal and professional development that shall be discussed within the current study. The present reflective essay is focused on determining relevant accounting theory for practises in further improvement of skills and knowledge within a professional context. The previously filled up log books shall be accessed for maintaining accurate accounts of work activity through critical reflection. Recommendations to apply problem solving and communication initiatives for highlighted problems shall be made for better outcome of employer.
Body
Academic theory
The current study is focused on the understanding of both personal and professional skills depicted by me through the logbooks recorded previously. Moreover, focusing on the implementation of Kolb’s experiential learning theory, it is found to incorporate a cyclical procedure of dialectic four stages namely, experiences, observation, abstract reconceptualisation and experimentation (Osterman and Kottkamp, 2004). Experiences are further found to be associated with the learning of context; it is an essential medium to hereby incorporate reflection within the study. However, reflection should also be associated with action as highlighted in figure 1 below,
Figure 1: Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle
(Source: Influenced by Bolton, 2010)
The figure depicted above highlights the experiential learning cycle theory that is further implemented within the study for better experiencing the situation, problems and the efforts made to reduce the same. According to the words of Idkhan and Idris (2021), concrete experience is associated with the problem identification of the learning procedures through further improvement in the quality of professional performance. Moreover, the major problems being identified from the current study are my incorporation of password encryptions within SHA512 and setting up the database for model classes of user registration procedures. Although the problem of password encryption was readily available and mitigated through the usage of spring security, I had to focus on health motor property utilities and update or save the functionalities for later usage which required additional time and concentration levels.
Observation and analysis stage is found to be further associated with the incorporation and recording of the observational data highlighting upon the emotional and cognitive aspects of behaviour (Harrop et al. 2018). Moreover, focusing on the observational data, I have significantly used various interface technologies like JSP, HTML and CSS along with Javascript for development of GUI in application. I have also incorporated frames and CSS for providing a better view of web pages along with implementation of windows based applications and interaction of frontend and backend JSON objects. Therefore, the experience in incorporating the interface technologies has been time consuming and content as I could attain the desired results I was looking for. I was also able to create a robust and flexible template for styling the menus through Javascript as I imagined it to be.
The next process of the experiential learning cycle is associated with abstract conceptualisation that deals with the involvement of theories and ideas of the concerned study. Moreover, words of Peterson and Kolb, (2018) states that abstract conceptualisation helps in the understanding of already identified problems towards a solution from the observational research made. Moreover, there were situations where I faced production bugs like “session out errors for users”, longer transaction errors that were associated with connection timeouts and test account password remedies.
Therefore, I focused on the development of the aforementioned issues for reducing the vulnerability through effective updation of jar file versions. I also worked on the new features of adding or removing filters and columns along with the implementation of default view options in the grid for reacting components. Moreover, the final stage of the cycle is active experimentation that helps in testing out our reconceptualised behaviour through the incorporation of different theories. As highlighted in the situations above, I have tried to conceptualise the problems highlighted within the abstract conceptualisation stage and hereby incorporate spring boot microservices for developing effective communication levels with third party APIs. I also emerged to divide into daily and monthly rates of exchange within tables that has helped me to assess the problems easily due to a formation of template or structure. This stage has essentially helped in the development of proper solutions from understanding and learning about the problems faced in previous stages.
Account of work activity and critical understanding
Moreover, now focusing on the work activity carried out by me throughout the span of 11 months shall be discussed to analyse upon the development of personal and professional skills. According to the words of Gairín-Sallán and Rodríguez-Gómez (2010), personal and professional development helps individuals in the assessment of their own set of skills or abilities according to their long term achievement of aim to maximise and realise their truest potentials. Upon closer analysis, the first activity I performed was associated with introducing my team and manager along with setting up a one on one interaction with the manager for setting up of account logins and introduction to payrolls. During the end of the first month, I was able to gather possible requirements set out through analysis of business and also created the “Jira tickets” for sprint plans and other tasks. Therefore, it has helped me to understand the situation of the employer along with making proper introductions with the higher authorities to the employees.
The second and third month was spent on the usage of different interfaces and technologies like JSP, HTML and CSS that has helped me to develop the technical skills regarding the development of web pages. Moreover, the usage of frames, desktop applications and the implementation of interaction in JSON objects for both frontend and backend data has provided me ample opportunities to work across various operating systems like Linux or Windows. Therefore, the technical expertise gathered during the completion of current tasks has significantly helped me to develop my personal skills.
The fourth month was spent on focusing on developing a client based support team to help the current organisation process a million processes related to claims after effective usage of a Microsoft development stack. Moreover, I have significantly emerged to develop and consider encompassing various softwares like ASP.net, MVC. SQL server along with the Entity framework has helped in the development of professional skills that has further helped my concerned organisation in further improving their client support system. I have further focused on the code review for the development teams along with designing the websites through researching and implementation of the same performance improvements within the data grids. This feature has also helped millions of queries and data rows within the span of thirty hours. The aforementioned incorporation of SQL servers has thereby improved the overall efficiency level for the organisation along with proper data management and quicker solutions to the data management issues highlighted before.
The fifth month was spent by me in planning the program increment variables associated with developer testing, sprint plans along with redeployment of user stories. I was also able to segregate huge amounts of data into multiple tables using the triggers of PostgreSQL database helping in the efficient management of data. Thus, incorporating the aforementioned techniques helped in removal of production bugs like connection time out, user’s session out or the long running transaction errors. Moreover, it has also helped me to enhance the working environment of the organisation through efficient updation of jar versions for increasing vulnerability. The sixth month was also found to be associated with working on new features for further filtering the data procedures. I had emerged to successfully optimise the queries associated with the reporting towards other departments and proper buildup of connections and triggers required for the efficient management of data through implementation of MS SQL server 2008 software application.
Moreover, I focused on the development of various enhancements like the updation of Jar files along with adding prominent features towards the UI grids like better filters or adjustments of columns for data segregation. During the last week of month six, I have been able to perform an overall performance review of the codes through three different designing and development teams. Thus, focusing on the personal and professional developments achieved, I have helped in the efficiency in the data management procedures and have also reduced chances of additional data queries that have solved problems for millions. Therefore, this has hereby improved both the professional and personal improvement levels for me as an employee of the concerned organisation.
Seventh week was found to focus on the generation of reports which were further found to be used by other departments created through the triggers or other procedures of effective data management using the SQL server. According to the words of Mohanty and Mohanty (2018), working together in teams with better and improved synergy levels are associated with collaborative working across all departmental needs. Moreover, the team members or employees are found to be provided with ample space in tackling new challenges and possible opportunities occurring within the organisation. Thus, the proper maintenance of the interdepartmental communication levels has helped in improving overall efficiency levels of the employees and increased inter-dependency levels for the same.
The eighth week has focused on the working and completion of major business requirements through the firm’s business analysts and also registered new tasks on Jira. Further coding requirements along with testing the modules to verify scenarios through cross-browser helped me to further maintain the overall transparency levels. Jira software has further helped me to test and fix any problems or bugs detected during the testing phase. I have constantly focused on testing the relevant codes through the incorporation of the Mockito testing framework. The functionality and reliability checks through the aforementioned framework has helped in both ways of developing the test driven and behaviour driven approaches for the organisation (Turner et al. 2016). The entire applications were configured by me through the usage of Tomcat8 software and after the providence of technical documentation.
The tenth week was focused on the development of ScrumFramework that was further found to be a part of agile methodology. Moreover, I also focused on developing the UX-library consisting of Dropdown, button, checkbox along with the input of icons. In addition to that, in the current week I have remained to be focused on the designing and coding of the module to further implement and test the same for the generation of csv file as output from dashboard. Thus, my research and continued focus on developing the configuration of the coding procedure helped in maintenance of adequate efficiency levels within the firm.
Key personal and employability skills
Personal skills are found to be associated with the innate capabilities of an individual for further developing the communication levels with other employees. Moreover, employees with strong personal skills are found to deliver positive attitude levels at their respective workplaces which can be a key factor for a healthy work culture within organisations. On the contrary, words of Di Gregorio et al. (2019) states that employability skills are the attitudes or influences depicted by an individual which further influences on the overall interaction level with others. Moreover, employability skills are assessed by employers to understand the level of efficiency to be depicted by the employees in communicating with others and handle overall job performance aiming at a successful career.
Self awareness skill refers to the abilities of an individual of being aware regarding his own beliefs, behaviours, emotions and motivation levels along with his innate strength and weaknesses (Kabiri et al. 2019). Moreover, throughout the completion of this course, I have significantly highlighted competitive strength in regularly checking the validity and reliability of the codes over the months of operation to keep the organisational process functionable. In addition to that, I have also developed the organisational efficiency through regularly maintaining and repairing the websites with the incorporation of various softwares like SQL, Javascript and others. Therefore, my self awareness skills have reduced chances of additional challenges to be faced by the organisation during the concerned period.
Communication skills within the employees are essential in creating an environment of transparency and also help in understanding the conveyed information by other employees or subordinates easily (Karnieli-Miller, 2020). Therefore, poor communication skills may significantly lead towards a position of increased frustration or misunderstanding within the employees. I have hereby improved the communication levels with the incorporation of spring boot microservices that further helped in the development of communication with third party APIs.
Interpersonal skills are considered to be major social skills associated with facilitating the average interaction and communication levels within a workplace occurring in both non-verbal or verbal modes (Schmid Mast et al. 2018). In addition to that, some of the interpersonal skills highlighted during the process are the major problems associated with the password encryptions within SHA512 and setting up the database for model classes of user registration procedures. Although the problem of password encryption was readily available and mitigated through the usage of spring security, I had to focus on health motor property utilities and update or save the functionalities for later usage. This has significantly helped in improvement of the overall efficiency levels for the firm.
Research and information literacy skills are found to locate and understand along with proper evaluation levels using respective information from the workplace for working on particular problems (Sural and Dedebali, 2018). Moreover, I have significantly emerged to literate myself through the different technological and software implementations like JSP, HTML or CSS softwares for the development and maintenance of the web pages. In addition to that, I have also focused on using desktop applications, frames and maintaining interaction levels through JSON objects in connecting both frontend and backend data. Moreover, the experiences gathered while working with various operating systems like Linux or Windows have enhanced my technical abilities and personal skill development.
Moreover, the problem solving skills were implemented when I developed a client based support team that was found to improve the overall organisational processes helping in the improvement of efficiency through meeting various processes using a Microsoft development stack. In addition to that, I also focused on incorporating various softwares like SQL server, ASP.net and MVC which has facilitated in the development of professional skills for the improvement in client support systems. In addition to that, the efficiency levels of the organisation were improved through the incorporation of SQL servers to properly incorporate millions of data queries and rows during the thirty hour span. Thus, the aforementioned skills and techniques implemented by me to solve along with reducing the overall problems associated within the organisation in the development of services and facilities.
Management and leadership skills can be further associated with the delivery of abilities and strengths to oversee the processes needing special care or attention and through providing adequate guidance for steering the employees towards organisational success (Iordanoglou, 2018). Efficient leadership skills are also found to inspire and delegate the employees with effective communication for maintaining stability in organisational efficiency. Moreover, I have managed the setting up of database models relating to the registration of users and insurances. In addition to that, I have constantly maintained the transparency and reliability of the coding process regularly over the months that has highlighted my strong management skill.
In addition to that, I have also indulged myself within working with UI screens for facilitating the functioning of health property, motors and utility insurances. I cannot deny my indulgence of working for a dashboard being used for recording the active and expired policies helping in efficiency and smooth functioning of the organisation.
Autonomous evaluation of tasks applying effective communication and problem solving skills
There are various strategies and skills imparted and highlighted by me along with my team in working with the respective softwares and databases over the years. There are various communication skills that can be depicted within the organisations that emphasise the issues and problems along with putting proper focus on the same for its mitigation and through utilisation of affirmative responses of the employees. However, concerning the different communication skills depicted by me, I have managed to improve the overall efficiency and communication structure of the organisation through implementing JSON objects that has significantly improved the interaction levels between backend and frontend designs.
Additionally, effective implementation of USB base and PCI for the network cards over the Linux platform helped me to increase communication levels. I also performed a thorough code review during the ninth month among three different designing and development teams. This has helped in the improvement of interpersonal communication and reduced chances of data redundancy within the same. According to the words of Brown et al. (2020), interpersonal communication skills are found to be beneficial within the workplace scenarios as it facilitates in building a strong and effective relationship with fellow employees thereby improving the overall productivity and profitability levels of the organisation. Thus, my association with different teams has also emerged to improve overall communication levels within the company.
Some of the significant leadership skills highlighted are taking whole control of checking the coding issues with utmost importance to improve the efficiency levels for the firm. I have also provided empathetic levels of services and help towards fellow employees and also focused on my creativity levels for incorporation of softwares in development of the webpages for the organisation.
Conclusion
The current study has hereby highlighted upon the reflection of the different communication and leadership skills incorporated during the recording of logbooks over the period of eleven months. Both the personal and professional development has been highlighted within the study from focusing on regular checking of the coding for maintenance of its transparency and reliability levels. Kolb’s experiential theory has been incorporated within the study to further highlight the personal effectiveness of the experiences gathered during the completion of different tasks over the time period.
Reference List
Osterman, K.F. and Kottkamp, R.B., 2004. Reflective practice for educators: Professional development to improve student learning. Corwin Press.
Bolton, G., 2010. Reflective practice: Writing and professional development. Sage publications.
Idkhan, A.M. and Idris, M.M., 2021. Dimensions of students learning styles at the university with the kolb learning model. International Journal of Environment, Engineering & Education, 3(2), pp.75-82.
Harrop, J.A., Casey, R. and Shelton, M.E., 2018. Knowles, Kolb, & Google: Prior Learning Assessment as a Model for 21st-Century Learning.
Peterson, K. and Kolb, D.A., 2018. Expanding awareness and contact through experiential learning. Gestalt Review, 22(2), pp.226-248.
Gairín-Sallán, J. and Rodríguez-Gómez, D., 2010. Teacher professional development through knowledge management in educational organisations. In Online Learning Communities and Teacher Professional Development: Methods for Improved Education Delivery (pp. 134-153). IGI Global.
Mohanty, A. and Mohanty, S., 2018. The impact of communication and group dynamics on teamwork effectiveness: The case of service sector organisations. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 17(4), pp.1-14.
Turner, A.J., White, D.R. and Drake, J.H., 2016, October. Multi-objective regression test suite minimisation for mockito. In International Symposium on Search Based Software Engineering (pp. 244-249). Springer, Cham.
Di Gregorio, A., Maggioni, I., Mauri, C. and Mazzucchelli, A., 2019. Employability skills for future marketing professionals. European management journal, 37(3), pp.251-258.
Kabiri, G., Ziaei, T. and Vakili, M.A., 2019. The effect of group counseling based on self-awareness skill on sexual risk-taking among girl students in Gorgan, Iran: a randomized trial. International journal of adolescent medicine and health, 31(5).
Karnieli-Miller, O., 2020. Reflective practice in the teaching of communication skills. Patient education and counseling, 103(10), pp.2166-2172.
Schmid Mast, M., Kleinlogel, E.P., Tur, B. and Bachmann, M., 2018. The future of interpersonal skills development: Immersive virtual reality training with virtual humans. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 29(2), pp.125-141.
Sural, S. and Dedebali, N.C., 2018. A study of curriculum literacy and information literacy levels of teacher candidates in department of social sciences education. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(2), pp.303-317.
Iordanoglou, D., 2018. Future Trends in Leadership Development Practices and the Crucial Leadership Skills. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 15(2).
Brown, T., Yu, M.L. and Etherington, J., 2020. Are Listening and Interpersonal Communication Skills Predictive of Professionalism in Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Students?. Health Professions Education, 6(2), pp.187-200.
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