Personal Development Planning Report
Academic Skills for Business
BUSN07020

B00235825
Tutor: Heather Anderson
Word count: 2038

Table of Content

1. Introduction 2 2. Personal Development Planning 3 2.1. Benefits of Personal Development Planning 3 2.2. What is Personal Development Planning? 3 3. Personal Goals 4 3.1. What are SMART-Goals? 4 3.2. Goals which I set for myself 5 4. Developing Learning, Academic and Business Skills 5 4.1. Active Learning 6 4.2. Learning Styles 6 4.3. My strengths and weaknesses in learning 6 5. Personal Development Plan and completion of e-portfolio 7 5.1. My evidence so far 7 5.2. Employability 7 6. Conclusion 7 7. References 8

Introduction
This report is going to highlight how important Personal Development Planning in an academic and professional environment is and the affects it will have on me during my university degree. Throughout this report I will be looking at the background knowledge I have of PDP and how I have developed my business and academic skills in my first trimester. PDP is extremely helpful in aiding you in developing skills you already possess or require when it becomes obligatory to be responsible for your own learning, your personal development and your advancement into the world of work. “The kind of jobs that most graduates want to enter requires a range of qualities and skills that take time, support and good planning to develop” (Cottrell, 2003) which is where PDP takes an important role in your learning process. PDP was introduced into universities in order to help students plan their short term and long term goals so that they can plan how to achieve them. PDP is the process of outlining your short term and long term goals and planning a structured way to achieve them. It is also a way of looking back on your learning and personal achievements and to plan your career path.

Personal Development Planning
I feel that setting out goals- both short term and long term- so early on in my time at university has benefitted me greatly as I now have a clear idea of what I am working towards and how to achieve my goals. It has also helped me in terms of personal growth; I feel that I have already, in such a short space of time, grown as a person. To me, Personal Development planning forms the bases of the development of higher education and thanks to PDP I feel that I am more equipped to handle the pressures of university and I feel that I becoming more confident and independent in my learning.
There isn’t one fixed definition of Personal Development Planning, there are many. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education defines Personal Development Planning as “structures and supported processes to develop the capacity of individuals to reflect upon their learning and achievement and to plan for their own personal education and career development” (Cottrell, 2003). According to Cottrell (2003, p.2) “The PDP process is something that has to be lived, thought about, discussed and experimented with over several years.”
Glasgow University describes PDP as: “a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development.” (http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_105176_en.pdf, no date)
At the beginning of each module I set myself goals after learning about Personal Development Planning in week one of my first term in my Academic Skills of Business Module. Throughout my first term I have been trying to achieve the short term goals I set myself. Through the use of the SWOT analysis I was able to set myself goals that I could achieve so that I could compose my very own Personal Development Plan.
I also composed an e-portfolio which is a way for me to keep a record of my achievements and I can also use it to look back on what I have learned. In the future I can also look back to my e-portfolio to show that I am continuously developing. Reflective writing is described as “Reflective learning is the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective.” (http://jhp.sagepub.com/content/23/2/99.abstract, no date)
The Palgrave’s website describes Personal Development Planning as “creating opportunities to think through, in a structured way”. Skills4Study (Accessed: 4/12/12).

Personal Goals
I set myself a number of goals to achieve some of them being short term and others long term. Using s.m.a.r.t goals I was able to categorise my goals as show in the table below as well as in my e-portfolio. Duncan Haughey on the project smart website (no date) defines the s.m.a.r.t goals and their characteristics. * Specific - Well defined, clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the project * Measurable: - Know if the goal is obtainable and how far away completion is and know when it has been achieved * Achievable - Agreement with all the stakeholders what the goals should be * Realistic - Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time * Time-based - Enough time to achieve the goal. Not too much time, which can affect project performance
(http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html, no date)

Goal | Specific | Measurable | Achievable | Realistic | Time-based | A long term goals I set myself was to complete my four year degree with a successful pass of a B. | This goal is specific as it states exactly what I want to achieve. | This goal is measurable because the goal is specific. | I feel that my goal is achievable if I invest enough time and effort into it. | At the moment I feel that a B is a more realistic goal to set at the moment but I hope that during my time at university I can change my goal to obtaining an A. | The timeline of this goal is clear. | A medium term goal I have set myself is to complete first year with a successful pass at a B. | This goal is specific as it states exactly what I want to achieve which is a B at the end of first year. | I have given a specific grade that I am aiming for so it is can be measured easily. | I am very capable of achieving this as long as I put in the effort and study enough. | I feel that a B, at the moment, is a more realistic goal but I hope that later in the year I will confident enough to change my goal to achieving an A. | The timeline of this goal is clear. | A short term goal I have set myself is to achieve a B in each of modules at the end of trimester one. | This goal is specific as it states exactly what I want to achieve. | I have given specific grades that I would like to achieve to it can be easily measured | I am very capable of achieving this providing that I do an adequate amount of studying. | I feel that a B, at the moment, is a more realistic goal but I hope that I will become more confident to change my goal to achieving an A. | The timeline for this goal is clear. | Another short term goal I set myself was to successfully pass all of my assignment in each module. | This goal is specific as it states exactly what I want to achieve. | I have stated that I would like to pass the modules so it can be easily measured. | I am capable of achieving this providing that I do enough studying and put a lot of effort into each assignment. | I feel that this is a realistic goal because I know that if I prepare for each assignment enough there is no reason as to why I shouldn’t pass. | The timeline for this goals is anytime I have a class test to do or coursework to hand in. |

What progress have I made towards achieving these goals?
At the moment, I feel that I have made great progress towards achieving my goals. I started by allocating time for studying and social time. I have begun reading the books from the list of required reading that we were given for each module which will benefit me when it comes to being assessed and it will help to reach the goal of achieving at least a B for each module. At the moment I have done three presentations, one of which was a solo presentation and the other two were group presentations. In my solo presentation I received a B1 grade, in my first group presentation I received another B1 grade and in my second group presentation I received an A grade. I was very happy with these grades and it shows that I am on my way to achieving, If not exceeding the grade I was aiming to get.
Developing Learning, Academic & Business Skills
“The active learner is not overly dependent on a teacher; active learning makes the student a partner in the learning process. Active learners commonly use their teachers as resource people, as guides to the learning process, and as motivators for further endeavours. Active learning, as the term implies, is a process where the learner takes a dynamic and energetic role in one's own education” (http://moodle.urbandale.k12.ia.us/file.php/2341/What_is_Active_Learning.pdf, no date)
I now have a more active learning approach to my education as I have now made it completely my responsibility and do not depend on my lecturers and tutors, although if I do find myself stuck I would be happy to ask the for help. I feel as though I am more confident when it comes to using my own initiative thanks to Personal Development Planning.
According to McMillan and Weyer (2009) learning styles are “the way and individual takes information, processes it, remembers it and expresses it.” Everyone has a different learning style and the way I figured out which learning style I have was by doing the VARK questionnaire. VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinaesthetic. My results showed that I am Read/Write learner which I think is accurate because I feel that I learn best from reading something and then writing out over and over again. This method has been proven to work well for me as I have consistently done well in assessments.
Thanks to my e-portfolio I can now clearly identify my strengths and weaknesses in learning. My strengths are: * I can work well independently * I can use my own initiative * I can use different reading techniques * I can use a variety of different academic resources
My weaknesses are: * I struggle to take notes effectively * I struggle to keep concentration if a topic does not appeal to me * I struggle to keep up to date with the latest news that could benefit me in my modules

Personal Development Plan and completion of e-portfolio
During my time at university to date I feel that I have grown more confident in my academic writing which I am pleased about because when I started at university that was the main thing I was apprehensive about. I feel like I owe that to my Academic Skills for Business lecturer and tutor because we looked over how to develop our skills in classes. I have also become much more confident being around people I don’t know, I have always been good at tailoring my communication to fit with different people for example my peers and my lecturers but I struggled to be myself around people I didn’t know but through Personal Development Planning I have overcome this which can be seen in the grades I was awarded for each of my presentations.
The Higher Education Academy website describes employability as “a set of achievements, - skills, understandings and personal attributes – that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy” ( http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability, no date)
I feel that because I understand PDP more I am able to look back on the skills I already have and it allows me to develop these which then allows me to communicate these to my current or future employers.

Conclusion
I feel that getting used to using Personal Development planning in the early stages of university will give me a clear idea of how to go about planning for the future. I understand now that I am responsible for my own learning and it also my responsibility to be as involved with Personal Development Planning as I can.
To conclude, I now know what my strengths and weaknesses are and how I can develop them thanks to Personal Development Planning. It has been very helpful in helping me set short term and long term goals for my time at university.

References
Boyd, E.M (no date) Reflective learning. Available at:
Cottrell, S. (2003). Skills for success. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Cottrell, S. (2010). Skills for success. 2nd end. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Haughey, D. (no date) SMART goals. Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html (Accessed 6 December 2012)
McMillan, K and Weyers, J (2009). The smarter study skills companion. 2nd edn. Essex: Prentice Hall http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_105176_en.pdf (no date) (Accessed: 4 December 2012) http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability (no date) (Accessed: 6 December 2012) http://jhp.sagepub.com/content/23/2/99.abstract (Accessed 6 December 2012) http://moodle.urbandale.k12.ia.us/file.php/2341/What_is_Active_Learning.pdf (no date) (Accessed: 6 December 2012) http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/pdp/about/index.asp (no date) (Accessed: 6 December 2012)