Reflection

Introduction

Throughout my academic career, I have learned many materials to prepare me for life and my future career path. While taking courses during my college career, I’ve managed to go through many experiences (educational and personal) and improved some skills that I had problems with in the past. Each experience and skill demonstrated my growth as an individual or person. I had the ability to demonstrate or express about these skills and experiences in many courses, especially in IDS 493. In IDS 493, I have learned many things through the various readings, learning material, and assignments I’ve done. The learning material and readings that have been given to me while taking IDS 493 has gave me a better understanding of the course, allowed to me to reflect on the artifacts and skills that I worked on over my college career, and have prepared me for what I will to need acquire to succeed in my future career path. 

What I Learned in IDS 493

 While having IDS 493, this semester I learned and obtained a lot from the material and readings we were given. In IDS 493, I was taught what is a portfolio (e-portfolio) and the components that make it special to not just only demonstrate the experience you have, but the growth you have acquired over the years as you go through life. Some components of a portfolio that I learned were why you should develop one, the different models of a portfolio, and the meaning of portfolio based learning which I obtained from Forde’s “What is a Portfolio”. In Forde’s “What is a Portfolio”, it explains the purpose of developing a portfolio for multiple reasons such as illustrating achievements, demonstrating development of thinking and practice, collecting evidence, and to provide a means for reflection (Forde 2008). Forde also explains that the central process of developing a portfolio is to gain an understanding of what it feels like or mean to be professional which leads to the creation of a professional portfolio. A professional portfolio provides a space for someone to plan and reflect in more detail on practices, identifying strengths, and finding ways to build (Forde 2008). Another element of a portfolio is the different models which are structured portfolios and open-ended portfolios. In a structured portfolio, it contains programs that lead to the qualifications of a profession and academic achievements in which someone follows helpful guidelines to design their portfolio (Forde 2008). In an open-ended portfolio, someone has control on what is important and meaningful to add to their portfolio (Forde 2008). The final element to developing a portfolio is learning the meaning of portfolio based learning. According to Forde’s “What is a Portfolio”,  portfolio based learning is when the educator is doing the planning, collecting, and reflecting on the process of developing their portfolio as a professional practitioner (Forde 2008). These are the three main elements that I learned when it comes to developing a portfolio. While taking IDS 493, I got an idea on what I would want to display in my portfolio that may seem important and interesting to my reflective journey. Within my portfolio I want to display skills that I improved on throughout my college career and artifacts that helped me got through the process.

Skills/Artifacts

A major incorporation of a portfolio to reflect on is skills. Skills are very important to add to a portfolio because they show what type of qualities you have. I learned the importance of skills by reading Roger Harris and Berwyn Clayton’s “The Importance of Skills-But Which Skills”. In Roger Harris and Berwyn Clayton’s “The Importance of Skills-But Which Skills”, it explains that the nature of work has changed and evolved in which many jobs are questioning the types of skills that are required for workers to remain in the new world of work. For instance, many industries are expecting students to possess or develop generic skills that enable employees to work in an organization in which some studies have discovered that these skills are more needed in new job entrants than technical skills (Harris & Clayton 2018). I have learned that there are many skills that jobs are looking for within new employees. To work on these skills, you should figure out which top soft skills that jobs are looking for within the workplace which is mentioned in Hannah Henry’s “Top Soft Skills In The 21st Century Workplace”. For instance, LinkedIn identified six key soft skills that many jobs are looking for: adaptability, culture fit, collaboration, leadership, growth potential, and prioritization (Henry 2022). These readings taught me on how to display my skills on my portfolio that I improved within my college career through important course artifacts that I have done.

Within my college career, the first skill that I began working on was my communication skills. In the fall semester of my first year, I took a public speaking course. Before I took public speaking, I did not have much confidence to speak in front of a large audience of people. When I was taking public speaking, I got the opportunity to meet new people and collaborate with them in groups. I gained a lot of experience when having public speaking such as learning how to write a good speech, giving an interesting speech, and engaging with your audience. The artifacts that I have from public speaking that are important to me is my descriptive speech and historical speech. After finishing my public speaking course, I gained more confidence to speak in front of a crowd. Another course that improved my communication skills was French. When I first had my French course, I did not know how to speak French and was afraid that I might not do well in the course. As time passed, I began to learn and got a better understanding of the French language. An important artifact that I will display in my portfolio from my French course is a reflection assignment that I’ve done. These are two courses that helped me improve my communication skills which helped me find a part of my identity. For instance, in Dan P. McAdams’s “The Psychology of Life Stories”, he explains about the exploration of ideology within an individual’s identity such as social roles (McAdams 2001). These are reasons why I will incorporate artifacts from my public speaking and French course in my portfolio. 

The second skill that I improved on was my teamwork skills. Before starting my college career, I always enjoyed working in groups on projects or assignments. I enjoyed being able to learn something different from somebody else and get various perspectives from other people. I experienced working in groups more when I took an information literacy research and interdisciplinary theories and concept course. These courses showed me that working in a group can be very beneficial for myself in the future because I learned to put ideas together within a group, educate each other, and organize information together. I learned to integrate ideas amongst my group members, so we can make a well designed project or assignment. Integration is an important aspect to consider when it comes to reflection which I learned from reading “Reflection, Integration, and ePortfolio Pedagogy”. In “Reflection, Integration, and ePortfolio Pedagogy”, the authors are explaining that reflection is like a bridge to integration especially when making a portfolio (Eynon, Gambino, & Torok 2014). For instance, the authors were able to identify four principles that make reflection to be integrative which are reflection as connection, reflection as systematic and discipline, reflection as social pedagogy, and reflection as an attitude toward change (Eynon et al. 2014). Each of these four integrative reflection principles can be used to deepen learning of a student and the input on their portfolio. The artifacts that I would choose for my portfolio to demonstrate how I improved on my teamwork skills are two research papers on the effects of homeless in the US that I did for information literacy research and a group research report that I did in my interdisciplinary theories and concept course on automation transitioning the workforce. These group assignments showed how I was able to organize and put my group ideas together to make well put together assignments in which they also display my leadership skills which I learned from reading Julie Reed and Christopher Koliba’s “Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators”. In “Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators”, Reed and Koliba explains about group dynamics and how to get along while working in a group by creating a safe space, managing disagreements, promoting equality, and being mindful of power and has it (Reed & Koliba 1995). 

The final skill that I improved on that may be beneficial to reflect on in my portfolio is my research skills. I always felt that I needed improvement on my research skills because that will benefit me on my career path. I was able to take a cyber policy and windows systems management and security. I also improved my research skills in my interdisciplinary theories and concepts course that I mentioned before. These three courses required me to broaden my research skills and be more attentive to my thinking which I also learned from reading “Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators”. I learned from reading “Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators” that in order to make reflecting a habit, you have to provide yourself with good reasons on what you are trying to learn, improve, and grow from. The artifacts that gave those good reasons to improve my research skills was my notes that I took about the effects of unemployment brings on an individual for interdisciplinary theories and concepts, cybersecurity policy/strategies research paper for cyber policy, and a research paper about digital safety and social networking in cybersecurity for windows systems management and security. Each of these artifacts required a lot of critical thinking. That’s why I chose them to put in my portfolio. 

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that I improved a lot throughout my college career. I learned how to gain confidence in speaking in front of a crowd, work well in groups, and broaden my research abilities. Each course that I took provided me with artifacts that I can reflect on and display in my portfolio to benefit me in my career path. By having IDS 493, I learned a lot from the material and reading in which I plan to incorporate to my personal and professional goals. These are the various experiences, skills, and material that I can reflect on as I start my journey to my career path.

References

Eynon, B., Gambino, L. M., & Torok, J. (2014). Reflection, Integration, and ePortfolio Pedagogy. CUNY Academics Work. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=nc_pubs 

Forde. (2008, August 1). What is a Portfolio. Sage Pub. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/24497_01_Forde_Ch_01.pdf 

Harris, R., & Clayton, B. (2018). Editorial: The importance of skills – but which skills? International Journal of Training Research, 16(3), 195–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2018.1576330 

Henry, H. (2022). Top Soft Skills In The 21st Century Workplace. Junior Achievement . Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.jasouthflorida.org/top-soft-skills-in-the-21st-century-workplace/ 

McAdams, D. P. (2001). The Psychology of Life Stories. Review of General Psychology , 5(2), 100–122. https://doi.org/10.1037/10892680.5.2.100 

Reed, J., & Koliba, C. (1995). Facilitating Reflection. UVM. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/reflection_manual/