Final Competency Reflection: How I Have Grown as a Professional

The first competency learned from the syllabus is identifying, selecting, and using an appropriate documentation style to ensure academic integrity. In the course, one of the aspect that is majorly emphasized is the need to ensure originality and avoid plagiarism. In light of the above, I have learned about multiple search engines from which I can obtain scholarly references to ensure that in all my research undertakings, I can back up my points. The library databases, for example, Ebsco host and Taylor and Francis, are examples of databases that have come handy in my research. Google scholar is also free data that I have utilized in the past to generate sources and avoid plagiarism (Roig, 2006); for example, offers tips on ensuring ethical writing by avoiding plagiarism. The second competency is the 8th one on the syllabus, which has to do with the assessment of personal strengths in writing and strategies for improvement, such as instructor conference, among others. On a personal level, improving writing skills has been a step by step journey. Besides working closely with those at the writing center to ensure the achievement of self-set goals, I have used software such as Grammarly to help me in improving my writing mechanics. Just as Karyuatry (2018) asserts, I have used the software in not only proofreading my work but, most importantly, in following up every single suggestion and understanding the reason behind such a mistake at the beginning of it all. 

Some of the competencies that were a challenge are the incorporation of feedback from the instructor or peer into a written paper and generating, editing, and formatting an article using the appropriate technology. The first competency mentioned above was a problem because, at a personal level, if suggestions are a little bit off the topic, it becomes difficult to expand the initial ideas. The second competency was problematic, especially with editing a document using the appropriate technology. This is because sometimes, I believe in my writing capabilities to the extent that I do not use proofreading software. There are, for example, a couple of times that I have not checked my work for plagiarism using Turnitin, only to find the plagiarism index to be high after a friend reviewed my work(Mphahlele et al., 2019). 

Listening with understanding and empathy is one of the habit of mind that significantly contributed to my ENG101 learning. Active listening is an indispensable skill that ensures effective communication(Vijayalakshmi, 2016). In class for example, concentrating on what is being taught while at the same time pursuing ways that better improve my understanding by asking questions and attending group discussions on the same topic have ensured I achieve course learning objectives. Another Habit of mind that has helped me appreciate the course and even apply some of the concepts learned beyond class is thinking flexibly. One of the essential lessons from this sector is the plasticity of the human brain, hence the ability to rewire or change(Reddy et al., 2017). Given the different concepts inherent in the course, learning about the brain’s flexibility has resulted in a personal conviction that none of the concepts is harder than the other if enough time to learn is allocated to each of them. With writing, for example, sometimes personal biases hinder one from writing about a given topic in the most objective manner(Oeberst et al., 2018). With the concept of flexibility of the mind, I have learned to force myself not to include personal biases by always ensuring in-depth research before undertaking a writing assignment. 

Managing impulsivity is one of the habits of mind that challenged me the most. As a person who makes decisions instantly and rarely ponders on things for long, such personal trait was significantly challenged by this habit of mind. Putting in place an action plan, for example, to study is a personal challenge in most situations because impulsive decision making is a personal trait that effects sticking on a plan(Jelihovschi et al., 2018). Although learning with understanding and empathy helped me, this particular habit of mind equally had its share of challenges. On empathy, in some situations, on a personal level, I am unable to put myself in another person’s shoes, hence the difficulties in empathizing. 

Writing skills learned from this class have been handy both at work as well as social life. In terms of social life, I have been able to analyze different texts on social media and understand their context. On Brexit, for example, rhetorical analysis of different posts on social media made me deeply understand people’s views about the UK’s decision on the issue and the possible effects. As a result, it has been possible to better understand the individuals I interact with on social media(Peldszus et al., 2016). In terms of work, I have been able to apply the skills in the search for different part times jobs. In a recent job application, for example, I was able to articulate my skills and suitability to the job. At the same time, I used online technological tools to ensure there were no grammar mistakes on the application(Nova, 2018). 

Learning in this class has been an enriching experience, mainly because there were assignments after every module undertaking. As a result, it was possible to test the skills gained (Halim et al., 2018). I plan on building on the learning from this class through undertaking online writing classes. By undertaking more advanced classes. It will be possible to gain skills that complement those gained in this class. To transfer the knowledge I have learned to new communication situations in the future, I plan on adopting a communication strategy that incorporates a majority of the aspects learned from the class even during informal situations. 

Go to the link below to have access to the assignment: Go to final Exam 

References 

Halim, A. S., Finkenstaedt-Quinn, S. A., Olsen, L. J., Gere, A. R., & Shultz, G. V. (2018). Identifying and remediating student misconceptions in introductory biology via writing-to-learn assignments and peer review. CBE—Life Sciences Education , 17 (2), ar28. 

Jelihovschi, A. P., Cardoso, R. L., & Linhares, A. (2018). An analysis of the associations among cognitive impulsiveness, reasoning process, and rational decision making. Frontiers in psychology , 8 , 2324. 

Karyuatry, L. (2018). Grammarly as a Tool to Improve Students’ Writing Quality: Free Online-Proofreader across the Boundaries. JSSH (Jurnal Sains Sosial dan Humaniora) , 2 (1), 83-89. 

Mphahlele, A., & McKenna, S. (2019). The use of turnitin in the higher education sector: Decoding the myth. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education , 44 (7), 1079-1089. 

Nova, M. (2018). UTILIZING GRAMMARLY IN EVALUATING ACADEMIC WRITING: A NARRATIVE RESEARCH ON EFL STUDENTS’EXPERIENCE. Premise: Journal of English Education , 7 (1), 80-97. 

Oeberst, A., von der Beck, I., Back, M. D., Cress, U., & Nestler, S. (2018). Biases in the production and reception of collective knowledge: the case of hindsight bias in Wikipedia. Psychological research , 82 (5), 1010-1026. 

Peldszus, A., & Stede, M. (2016, August). Rhetorical structure and argumentation structure in monologue text. In Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Argument Mining (ArgMining2016) (pp. 103-112). 

Reddy, P. G., Mattar, M. G., Murphy, A. C., Wymbs, N. F., Grafton, S. T., Satterthwaite, T. D., & Bassett, D. S. (2018). Brain state flexibility accompanies motor-skill acquisition. NeuroImage , 171 , 135-147. 

Roig, M. (2006). Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: 

Vijayalakshmi, V. (2016). Soft Skills-The Need of the Hour for Professional Competence: A Review on Interpersonal Skills and Intrapersonal Skills Theories. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research , 11 (4), 2859-2864.