HOW TO COMPLETE

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Edexcel HND Unit 13 Lecturer: Robson Chihota

LL.B (Hons); LL.M;PGCE

LEARNING OUTCOMES & ASSESSMENT CRITERIA There is a number of learning

outcomes(L.O) on your assignment. You need to cover every learning

outcome Below each learning outcome, there are

bullet points on how you are expected to meet the L.O

These are assessment criteria and you must cover every one of these in your assignment

Assessment criteria will usually be expressed as instructions or questions

UNIT 13, LO 4 Be able to demonstrate acquired

interpersonal and transferable skills. 4.1 select solutions to work-based

problems 4.2 communicate in a variety of styles

and appropriate manner at various levels

4.1 & 4.2 above are the assessment criteria. You will cover the learning outcome by answering all of the assessment criteria and that makes you pass.

UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTION Read the assessment criteria carefully

as these are your instructions about what you must write in your assignment.

Quiz Explain what you need to do in your

assignment when you see the following words:

DISCUSS

Give the reasons for and against something

EVALUATE

Explain how useful or worthwhile something is. Include your personal opinion, supported by evidence.

IDENTIFY

Select and list

JUSTIFY

Give valid reasons for decisions or conclusions

WELL DONE !

LINK THEORY WITH PRACTICE Theories, models and concepts learnt

must be used. This is your chance to demonstrate that

you are aware of these theories, models and concepts

Relate them to what happens in your workplace or another organisation that you’re familiar with

EXERCISE (PART 1 OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT) In small groups discuss your identified

work based problems. Problems must be different from person to person.

Discuss the learning styles which can be implemented to overcome the problems you identified

This is an example of how to approach the question. Use the same strategy to answer part 2 and part 3 of your assignment

WORK BASED PROBLEM EXAMPLE Problem: Employees continually failing

to meet targets Solution:

Mutually agree upon targets as opposed to imposed targets

Regular milestone checks, feedback & support

Give them gifts, recognition lunches, etc., for achieving their targets…make everyone aware

Make working over time mandatory till the work is completed

Cut back on incentives

OTHER EXAMPLES

unimportant meetings; lengthy and

insignificant discussions

people misuse the term "authority"

incompetence in the workplace

too much work to do, too little time in

hand

lack of work recognition; more criticism

(Buzzle)

FULL CITATION Buzzle. Problems at the Work Place.

[Online] Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/problems-in-the-workplace.html (Accessed 11 October 2013)

LINKS WITH THEORY You could refer to the

Conscious/Unconscious Learning Model and show how it will fit in to resolve your problems (Businessballs)

the process and stages of learning a new skill (or behavior, ability, technique, etc.)

a useful reminder of the need to train people in stages.

unconscious incompetence-conscious incompetence- conscious competence-unconscious competence.

CITING INTERNET SOURCES Businessballs. Conscious Competence

Learning Model [Online] Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/consciouscompetencelearningmodel.htm (Accessed 11 October 2013)

You could refer to Honey and Mumford’s Preferred Learning Styles (1982) (Kolb’s)

Activist, Theorist; Pragmatist and Reflector.

These are the learning approaches that individuals naturally prefer

The theorists recommend that in order to maximize one's own personal learning, each learner ought to:understand their learning styleseek out opportunities to learn using that

style

ACTIVISTS Activists learn best when:

involved in new experiences, problems and opportunities

working with others in team tasks or role-playing

being thrown in the deep end with a difficult task

chairing meetings, leading discussions

When do you think they learn less?

ACTIVISTS LEARN LESS WHEN:

listening to lectures or long explanations

reading, writing or thinking on their own

absorbing and understanding data

following precise instruction to the letter

REFLECTORS LEARN BEST WHEN:

observing individuals or groups at work

reviewing what has happened and

thinking about what they have learned

producing analyses and reports doing

tasks without tight deadlines

REFLECTORS LEARN LESS WHEN:

acting as leader or role-playing in front

of others

doing things with no time to prepare

being thrown in at the deep end

being rushed or worried by deadlines

THEORISTS LEARN BEST WHEN: put in complex situations where they

have to use their skills and knowledge they are in structured situations with

clear purpose they are offered interesting ideas or

concepts even though they are not immediately relevant

they have the chance to question and probe ideas

THEORISTS LEARN LESS WHEN: they have to participate in situations which

emphasise emotion and feelings

the activity is unstructured or briefing is poor

they have to do things without knowing the

principles or concepts involved

they feel they're out of tune with the other

participants, for example people with

different learning styles

PRAGMATISTS LEARN BEST WHEN:

there is a link between the topic and job

they have the chance to try out

techniques

they are shown techniques with obvious

advantages such as saving time

they are shown a model they can copy

PRAGMATISTS LEARN LESS WHEN:

there is no obvious or immediate benefit

that they can recognise

there is no practice or guidelines on how

to do it

there is no apparent benefit to the

learning

the event or learning is ‘all theory’

(Mumford, 1997)

FULL CITATION Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (1982) Manual

of Learning Styles London: P Honey Mumford, A. (1997) How to manage

your learning environment. London: P Honey

E.G., ON PART 2 PRIORITISATION You could make reference to the

Pareto’s principle (Koch 2001; Craft and Leake 2002)

The 80/20 Rule should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of your work that is really important.

Don't just "work smart", work smart on the right things.

PARETO ANALYSIS When faced with many problems:

Firstly group together the different types of problems

Count the number of cases of each type of problem

Prioritise the most common type of a problem…solve it first

This clears time to focus on the next set of problems and so forth

URGENT/IMPORTANT MATRIX The urgent/important matrix

underscores the same theme of doing the most important things first as in the Pareto’s principle.

According to Covey (1994): seemingly urgent tasks aren’t that

important Important activities (e.g., working towards

your life goals) are not urgentDo important things first as opposed to

urgent

FULL CITATIONS Koch, R. (2001), The 80/20 Principle: The

Secret of Achieving More with Less, London: Nicholas Brealey

Craft R.C,Leake C., (2002) "The Pareto principle in organizational decision making", Management Decision, (40) 8, 729 - 733

GOAL SETTING According to Latham and Locke (2002),

there are 5 principles of goal setting: ClarityChallengeCommitmentFeedbackTask complexity

Working towards a goal provides a major source of motivation

Specific & difficult goals are more motivating than easy goals

You could also say: There are 5 principles of goal setting (Latham and Locke, 2002)

FULL CITATION Latham, G.; Locke, E.A(2002), "Building

a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation", The American Psychologist 57 (9)707–9

OTHER TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Multi tasking Activity logs To do lists Action programmes Scheduling Identify resources to help you Weekly reviews Avoiding procrastination Breaking down tasks Persevering

PLAGIARISM Unauthorised use or close imitation of

the language and thoughts of another author and the presentation of them as one’s own original work.

To avoid this you have to quote or cite from a document produced by someone else using exactly their words (see referencing)

CONFIDENTIALITY When providing examples from your

work place, it is important that you consider confidentiality especially when you’re writing about a sensitive matter

TipsDon’t refer to people by name Individuals can be referred to by their job

titlesDon’t refer to the organisation by name if

you’re writing something which the organisation wouldn’t want to be made public

REFERENCES It is important to demonstrate that you

are aware of and understand models, theories and concepts and that you’ve read about the subject of your assignment

Use references to:Support your arguments and give credibility

to your workShow the scope & breath of your researchAcknowledge the source of an argument or

idea Failure to do so could result in a charge of

plagiarism

EXERCISEe.g., on the reference list:BooksYou will need to includeAuthor’s Surname and initialsYear of publicationTitleEdition (if not the first) /Place of publicationPublisher

QUOTES/CITATIONS E.g., In 1623, Shakespeare wrote the

words ‘‘To be or not to be’’

Alternatively, you could say ‘‘To be or not to be’’ (Shakespeare, 1623)