Academic level: Masters

Assessment guidelines

Academic level: Masters

Assignment Type: Reflective Report

Title: Reflective Essay on Business Simulation and Professional Development

Word count limit: 3000 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)

File Format: MS Word

Font: Times New Roman size 12 font, double spaced

Referencing: Harvard Referencing format as per "Cite them Right" style. About 15 reference not older than 2015.

All references should come exclusively from academic journals and books and credible sources ONLY.

Task

You are required to Produce a 3000-word report (+/- 10%) (excluding appendices and the list of references) that covers what you have learnt from:

The teaching and learning material covered in weeks 1 to 11, and

your research and analysis while investigating the selected company for Assessment 1

In your report you should cover:

Executive summary of the reflective essay (An executive summary should summarize the key points of the essay. It should restate the purpose of the essay, highlight the major points of the essay, and describe any results, conclusions, or recommendations from the essay/ reflections for future business key actions).

Introduction (The scope of the reflective essay)

Identified events (Reflect your learning while identifying the analysing the events from the selected company in summative 1. Reflect REAL life example from practice as identified in business case/ assignment 1)

Review and Discussion of relevant theories and practices (Critically Review and Discuss the relevant theories and practices found in the selected company in summative 1)

Conclusion, Future Plans, and recommendations (Conclude with the key points of your reflection. State future actions are derived from practice and research)

Reference list

A Critical Self-Reflection on Module SG7003 and Process of Completing Assessment Point 1

Table of Contents

TOC o "1-3" h z u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc112644612 h 31Introduction (300 words) 5 marks PAGEREF _Toc112644613 h 41.1Background Information (2 marks) PAGEREF _Toc112644614 h 41.2Aim/ Objective of the Report (1 mark) PAGEREF _Toc112644615 h 41.3How do we Achieve the Aim/ Methodology (1 mark) PAGEREF _Toc112644616 h 41.4Structure of the Report (1 mark) PAGEREF _Toc112644617 h 52Reflection on Module/ Course Events PAGEREF _Toc112644618 h 62.1Description of Key Course Events PAGEREF _Toc112644619 h 62.2How I Felt Before, During and After the Events PAGEREF _Toc112644620 h 72.3Review of Challenges PAGEREF _Toc112644621 h 72.4Analyses of Evaluation PAGEREF _Toc112644622 h 83Reflection on Assessment Point 1 (1,500 words) 35 marks PAGEREF _Toc112644623 h 94Conclusion (700 words) 30 marks PAGEREF _Toc112644624 h 104.1What was the Aim of this Report? What did you do to achieve the aim of this Report? How Did You Do It? (1 paragraph) PAGEREF _Toc112644625 h 104.2What Did You Find? (2 paragraphs) PAGEREF _Toc112644626 h 104.3Lessons Learned and Skills Acquired (2 paragraphs) PAGEREF _Toc112644627 h 104.4Next Steps (2 paragraphs) PAGEREF _Toc112644628 h 115References PAGEREF _Toc112644629 h 12

Abstract 200 words (5 marks)

The summary should briefly describe the content of the report.

It should cover the aims of the report

How did we achieve the aim

What did we do

What was found and a brief review of the conclusions.

Aim for about 1/2 a page in length and avoid detail or discussion; just outline the main points. Remember that the summary is the first thing that is read. It should provide the reader with a clear, helpful overview of the content of the report

Introduction (350 words) 5 marksThe introduction sets the scene for the main body of the report. The aims and objectives of the report should be explained in detail. Any problems or limitations in the scope of the report should be identified, and a description of research methods, the parameters of the research and any necessary background history should be included. The content in this introduction should be structured into the following paragraphs

Background Information (2 marks)In this section, I want you to discuss the key themes of this report Self Reflection, Course Module SG7003. You need to link these themes to show their relationships and why self-reflection is important to learning i.e., What self-reflection is, what the module SG7003 is about, how can self-reflection help learners. You need to establish a good story to link these key themes.

This should take 1 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long, with some references.

Aim/ Objective of the Report (1 mark)In this section, I want you to discuss the objectives of this report. Example

The objective of this report is to critically reflect on the learning journey of the last 12 weeks on the module SG7003, including the key learning events that defined the module and their impact it made on my personal feelings. Also, the report aims to evaluate the challenges I faced with a view to understanding what went well and what could have been improved. We seek to examine the findings in light of academic literature and identify any areas I may have developed professionally and perhaps areas for future improvements for the me and the course at large

This should take 1 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long.

How do we Achieve the Aim/ Methodology (1 mark)In this section, I want you to discuss the methodology for this report/ personal reflection. Essentially, I want you to discuss how we will achieve our aim and methodology we shall use for the self-reflection. THE METHODOLOGY I WANT YOU TO USE IS THE GIBBS REFLECTIVE CYCLE.

This section needs to talk about some of the basic theories around self-reflection, popular self-reflection models, available (Gibbs, Kolbs, etc.). Underpin some key differences in the theories/ models, and why you have chosen Gibbs as the model of choice. VERY GOOD ACADEMIC CITATIONS NEEDED IN THIS SECTION.

This should take 2 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long.

Structure of the Report (1 mark)In this section, I want you to describe the structure of this rest of the report, highlighting the objective of the sections, the order they are presented, etc. This should take 1 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long.

Reflection on Module/ Course Events (700 words) 15 marks

Section 2 is the main self-reflection section. Introduce this section with a brief introduction of the section. What will this section discuss? What do we want to achieve and how will it be achieved? Section 2 should answer the key questions according to the Gibbs model/ cycle.

This introduction should take 1 paragraph and it should be about 5-6 lines long.

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

Description of Key Course Events (What did I do over the past 12 week/ What did I learn??)

What did I do over the past 12 week/ What did I learn?? - What were the key events of the course over the last 12 weeks. I have provided the module material for each week and the report I wrote in Assessment Point 1. You need to provide a very good summary of the learning points from the materials in order address this section.

You should summarize the learning points/ events into about 7 paragraphs (of 7-9 lines each) according to the learning theme. For example, paragraph 1 can cover learning in weeks 1 3, paragraph 2 covers learning in weeks 4-5, paragraph 3 covers learning from assessment point 1, etc. You should underpin the discussion with references from academic journals that show you have understood/ researched the concepts from the module materials.

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

How I Felt Before, During and After the EventsHow did I feel before, during, and after? Here you need to create a good story around how I must have felt about some of the learning activities over the last 12 weeks. For example, you can develop a story about how I felt uncertain about performing a business simulation activity because it was a completely new concept to me. On the other hand, I was excited about applying some of the theories on business and operations strategy I had learned in previous module, etc. PLEASE DO A GOOD JOB HERE. WE CAN HAVE A CALL TO DISCUSS ABOUT THIS IF NEEDED.

Ideally, I want my feelings from each stage/ paragraphs of the learning from 2.1 to be discussed. Section could take about 2-3 paragraphs and it should be about 7-9 lines long.

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

Review and Analysis of Personal Challenges and Successes during the Course

In this section, I want you to discuss what was good and what was bad with the course. What went well and what are the challenges I faced. What challenges did I face? How did I overcome each of these challenges? What does academic literature say about these type of challenges?

Challenges of time pressures because I had a full time project during the course

Challenges with applying strategy tools such as Porter five forces

Challenges of having never developed a strategic business plan before

New to concept of reflective models,

Etc.

For each point/ challenge or success, I want you to analyse to check what conclusions/ or insights we can draw and what does academic literature say about it. Why did I experience success or why did I experience challenges.

This should take 6 paragraphs and it should be about 7-9 lines long.

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

Reflection on Assessment Point 1 (1,000 words) 15 marksIn this section, I want you to do a special reflection on the Assessment Point 1 and what was learned. Read the report and draw out the insights learned about the business simulation conducted. What have we learned from the business simulation.

Critical analysis is required in this section.

Conclusion (800 words) 25 marksIn the conclusion you should show the overall significance of what has been covered. You shoud remind the reader of the most important points that have been made in the report or highlight what you consider to be the most central issues or findings. However, no new material should be introduced in the conclusion. Remember to specifically answer the initial questions posed

What was the Aim of this Report? What did you do to achieve the aim of this Report? How Did You Do It? (1 paragraph)In this section, I want you to

remind readers of the aim for this report, which was established in paragraph 3 of the introduction

I want you to explain what you did in the report to achieve the set aim

I want you to explain how you went about achieving the report (the technique and methodology)

This should take 1 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long,

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

What Did You Find? (2 paragraphs)In this section, I want you to explain What you found in relation to the section 2 and 3. This should take 2 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long each,

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

Lessons Learned and Skills Acquired (2 paragraphs)In this section, I want you to summarize lessons learned, what professional skills did I pick up from the module, what are the evidence of these skills (i.e. what was I able to do that demonstrates the skill). E.g.

This should take 2 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long each,

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

Next Steps (2 paragraphs)In this section, I want you to summarize the recommendations based on the findings summarized in section 2 and 3 Recommendations must be in tandem with findings. This should take 2 paragraph and it should be about 7-9 lines long each,

Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here. Text goes here

References