This week is about critical reflection and deliberate practice. It is an opportunity to reflect on both my practice and Critical Reflective Journal. I feel slightly anxious about this highlighting my shortcomings but eager to see how I can apply reflection to improve as I progress through the course.
Challenge Brief:
Step 1
The first part of the challenge activity was to use Reflective Domains to review the Critical Reflective Journal. This will help me to consider how I write and identify areas for improvement.
The Reflective Domains are categorised as follows:
· Dispositional domain – time management, motivation, general behaviour, and discipline
· Affective domain – emotional awareness – empathy (what external factors are making it hard to focus)
· Interpersonal domain – Verbal/Non-Verbal, Listening, negotiation, problem-solving, decision making and assertiveness.
· Cognitive domain– understand as an individual how you prefer to learn.
· Procedural domain – assessing skills you already have and identifying improvements (this can be overly represented in reflective writing)
Step 2
“Tally up the number of times each reflective domain tag is used throughout the journal. This data could be visualised in a table or documented in text form. Note this down and acknowledge any imbalances. Which domain is the most dominant in your journal? Which domain needs more consideration in your reflection? Consider how you can address any imbalances in the future.”
| Week 1- Time Management | Week 1 Creative Challenge | Week 2 UX and AI | Week 2 Creative Challenge | Week 3 Rapid Ideation | Week 4 Rapid Ideation Kick off | |
| Dispositional domain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Affective domain | 1 | |||||
| Interpersonal domain | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Cognitive domain | 1 | |||||
| Procedural domain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Dominate Domains
Looking at the results of the reviewing the domains, Dispositional and Procedural domains are dominant in my journal entries.
I think that Dispositional Domain is highly represented because I have been focusing on time management.
The Procedural Domain also featured in the majority of posts as I am conscious that I need to develop my technical skills to progress on this course.
Underrepresented Domains
I believe that the Interpersonal Domain will be featured more when I begin to work collaboratively. Additional reflection on my decision making when writing will improve my journal entries and increase the Interpersonal Domain content.
The Cognitive Domain only featured once, although I have found that watching online lectures and linked-in learning have been effective, and I tend to struggle to pinpoint the critical material in reference books. I think that incorporating the Cognitive Domain moving forward will be helpful as I can use this information to influence my approach to the course content.
The Affective Domain only features once in my posts. I think that I need to be honest with myself to surface this information. I find it difficult to write about emotions as I am used to a corporate environment where reflecting on emotions is not appropriate. I find this quite confronting as it is more personal than the other domains.
I plan to refer to the Reflective Domains when writing my next journal entry considering each of them and how to integrate them in the journal.
Step 3
“Review the content in your journal. Acknowledge entries that could be used to help formulate a SMART goal. Identify the highest priority entries and create two or three SMART goals that build on the reflection from the journal entries. Remember, SMART goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.”
SMART Goals:
- Specific – no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation (answering the 5 Ws What, Who, Where, when and why + How the goal will be achieved).
- Measurable – (How much, how many (So you know once accomplished)).
- Achievable – (is there enough time, do you have the talent required, are there any foreseeable obstacles to complete the goal).
- Relevant – build around my aspirations, will you need these skills in the future.
- Time-Bound- add time constraints to your goal (how much time each week will you need to reserve for this goal).
Looking back at my blog posts I identified three areas where I would like to set SMART Goals. The first two Goals relate to my Creative Challenge in week 2, where I found I did not have the skills required to execute the design concept. The third goal is concerning the issues that I identified with the design process in week 4 Rapid Ideation.
I will improve my Adobe Illustrator skills so that I can produce professional-looking artefacts for the applications and website designs I create. I will do this by completing the Adobe certified course through the university’s portal. I will complete this course by the end of 2021 and will create a new website or application design using the software once a term.
I will learn how to use Procreate software for digital drawing to improve the look and feel of the websites and applications I design. I will do this by completing a course on Procreate on linked in learning by the end of April. I will use a least one illustration in the artefact I create for RAPID ideation.
I will improve my UX design skills so that I can create designs and prototypes more efficiently and improve the speed of my design process. I will do this by completing a UX foundation of Interaction Design on LinkedIn Learning. I will complete this course by May 2021 and apply the learning to the artefacts I create for the UX Design Module.
Sources:
Week 5: The Five Reflective Domains [course content]. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/911/pages/week-5-the-five-reflective-domains?module_item_id=49171 %5Baccessed 24/02/2021].
Week 5: Smart Goals [course content]. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/911/pages/week-5-smart-goals?module_item_id=49172 [accessed 24/02/2021].
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