Mind map: Numeracy and quantitative, time management, word processing, Excel, Power Point, Communication, Research and note taking, organizational skill.
Introduction
In this essay I will discuss about the skills to improve my academic level. These skills are numeracy and quantitative skills, time management, word processing, Excel, Power Point, communication skills, organization skills, research and note taking. These are not only important to the academic but also very useful and needed while going out to look for work in the future. According to my further expectations, looking for high achievement helps student’s skill in identifying areas of strength and weakness in school.
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Expectation is a strong belief that explains or predicts what will happen in the future. No expectation in life is equal to a dreary life. However, high achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation. According to Battino, R (2006), “expectation has to do with the future by hoping what is going to happen soon.” For the development in my academic, I set up some expectations which can be classified into short term and long term goals to improve my academic skills.
Numeracy and quantitative skills
Numeracy and quantitative skills are needed for academic. According to Essential Skills Expert Review Paper (2012), “numeracy is the ability to identify, understand, critically interpret and apply mathematical concepts, processes, and representations.” Numeracy is not only seen as a skill to do basic sum but also requires the understanding of numbers entirely and a capacity to solve quantitative or spatial problems which means position, area, and size of things in a variety on contexts. Numeracy also involves you knowing the ways in which date is collected and how it is shown in graphs, tables, and charts. (Wolf, 2011). Quantitative skills can be defined as it involves figures and measurements, and it looks at the size of things. Quantitative measurements can be used for calculating the time, mass, temperature, volume and length. (answer.ask.com)
I think that my analytical skills can be range as average level. For me to get better in my calculations, I have to involve myself in doing a lot of practice. Moreover, I can do research on how to improve and enhance my skills to solve mathematical problems. For example, I did a lot of numerical exercises to improve my analytical skills. Besides that, I can make appointments with my lecturers doing their leisure time for them to explain more clearly to me. Likewise, I created a study group with my classmates. We discuss on how to solve the mathematical problems by sharing our ideas. Moreover, I face some problems to handle my time properly.
Time management
Time management is useful for everyone because well time management shows a meaningful life. According to Power, M. (2008), “time management is usually defined as the management of time in order to use your time wisely and get the most out of it. Time management is referred to as the practices that individuals follow to make better use of their time.”
Barnard, J. (2007) also argued that “time management is about managing your day affectively so you can achieve all that you need to achieve. Being able to manage your time well will leave you with a feeling of mastery and accomplishment, knowing that you put your time to good use.” Time management is concerned to make sure that you are doing the right work in the right time and its can help you meet your core goals. (Jay, R. 2000). As a student, I am weak in time management spending time on unnecessary things that are not related to my studies which can affect my school activities. For me to correct my bad habits of not being punctual I have to set basic guidelines which will help me do my activities at the specific time and this can be done through the use of a timetable. A timetable is a list showing the time at which certain events are expected to take place. Why I need this is because it will help me to plan and manage my time effectively in order to prioritize my work. For example, I created a time table for myself to manage my time. Besides, I use an alarm clock to remind my important activities. Time management to me is very important because it governs the other activities. In addition, I also have some problems in computing skills.
Word Processing, Power Point
Using the computing skills to manage documents and works will be effective and systematic. The following point is the word processing. According to Adeyemi, J (2009), “word processing is the most basic computer programme in the computer that is used in all computer programmes which means creating files in text format.” My ability for this skill is at a good level. For example, I did my assignments by using the Microsoft Word. Besides that, I also did a lot of practice with my lecturer in class. According to Russell, W. (2010), “PowerPoint is a presentation software program that is part of the Microsoft Office.” I’m able to type in words, print out documents, and insert pictures, graphs and charts. It helps me in delivering well organized presentations in class. For example, I did a lot of presentation by using Power Point during foundation. The word processing and Power Point is very important for doing assignment. The other important skill in Microsoft Office is Microsoft Excel.
Excel
Nowadays, the use of Excel is very important especially in academic. According to French, T. (2012), “Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program that can be used for storing, organizing and manipulating data.” Based on my understanding, Excel is also known as a spreadsheet which helps in calculating mathematical problems and storing information. The advantage of Excel is used in calculating total amount of data and also organized clearly. I find it difficult to understand the formulas which I need to calculate the numbers. Every student including me needs to learn how to use Excel properly. For example, I did a lot of practices by learning from the lecturer. Besides, I had learnt to make a personal budget in Excel during the class. Therefore, this skill is important for school works and for getting a job in the future. Anyway, the personal skill development is not enough for me to success. Communication skill is also one of the important skills to develop.
Communication skill
Communication skill helps to build understanding between people. According to Hoffman (2009), “communication is the act of transmitting or exchanging ideas, signals and messages through verbal and non-verbal activities.” Based on my knowledge, communication refers to a system in receiving and sending messages between two or more persons. According to Pradhan (2008), “communication is very important because human beings need as much to communicate with others to lead a normal and fulfilling life, as they need to eat, sleep, and love.” For me, I am very weak in communicating because I’m not confidence of myself. Even though I have ideas in my mind but I will still ignore them. Therefore, in order to be more confidence, I will try to participate myself in more events which allows me to socialize, for example going to camp and joining some school societies. Besides, my communication skill is weak due to my poor language skills. When someone talks with me in English, I cannot present myself even if I know the answer. So, reading and speaking more in English is the best way for me to improve on my communication skill. However, without research and note taking skills we cannot perform well in academic.
Research and note taking skills
Research and note taking skills are important in doing report, assignment and proposal. Research skills can be defined as the investigation of a particular topic using a variety of reliable and scholarly resources. (www.edison.edu). Note taking is the practice of writing pieces of information, often in a formal or unstructured manner. (Wordnik.com). Based on my self-understanding, I am not doing well in research and note taking skill. I am lacking the knowledge on how to make them perfect because I rarely practice on them. Therefore, I should encourage myself to do more research and note taking by reading more journals and books. For example, I read a lot of books and journals every day. Likewise, I jotted down important points during my research. Apart from this, organizational skills are also essential in personal development.
Organizational skills
The organizational skills are good to be developed for future preparation. According to Segura, F. (2005), states that “organizational skills are very important for our daily life as they help in arranging properly the tasks that is needed to be done.” As a leader it is required to be self-disciplined and a person who is organized with a sense of purpose never missing a beat and his mind always focused on something in his life. (Lin, Y. 2009). As Lin said, we must have the goal first, and then only can we start organizing and achieve the goal. Obviously, I have a weakness in time management. It will affect my ability in this skill definitely. For me to change my weakness in organizational skill to strengths there are basically certain activities I must partake in. For example, I made a daily list to live a well planned life in school because if I am organized I will be able to study smart not hard.
Conclusion
Finally, I strongly agree that I have to improve my skill on numeracy and quantitative, time management, word processing, Excel, Power Point, communication skill, research and note taking, and organizational skill. These skills are very important in our life especially the organizational skills because it helps us better in activities arrangement. For me, my organizational skills are very weak. To become well organized, I should first improve my time management skill. I should make a list to remind myself to not miss out anything that has higher priority. In conclusion, I think that having stronger organizational skills would help me to live a better life.
(1635 words)
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