Personal Development - Activities

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Personal Development

Activities

0. Do I Need Personal Development Planning?

1. Word Cloud:

2. Employability Skills

Strengths

Willingness to Learn
I am willing to learn from people who are just as willing to teach me. I enjoy the process of learning and try my best to seek out lessons from past and current experiences. I learn concepts quickly and enjoy understanding more about things. This is evidenced by my varied interests in a variety of subjects, having gone through A-Levels and my current design course.

Self-Awareness
I am focused and purposeful in whatever task I set out to do. When I commit to a job I try my utmost bet to see it to completion. However, I am realistic and assess situations based on the context and not mere false optimism. 

Problem Solving
I am capable of following solid logical paths and always take into account the practicality of a project. 

Weaknesses 
Networking
I find difficulty in initiating conversations and building relationships in general. I am working on this by trying to talk to people more.

Leadership
I can be a good leader with my skills of planning and organisation, but when it comes to being a motivator or energetic, I am not the person to look for if you are looking for a peppy leader.

3. Canfield's Learning Styles Inventory

We were made to complete and tabulate the Canfield's Learning Styles Inventory. Here are my results:

We are required to write an analysis for one of each of the aspects (condition, content and mode) based on our scores.

Condition:

Goal Setting and Instructor are my highest criteria in this aspect, followed by a tie between Peer, Competition and Independence. Authority comes in at 40%, Organisation at 20% and finally Detail at 10%. 

Goal setting is important for me because I have the chance to set goals for myself and make my own decisions, but I do appreciate the presence of an instructor to provide feedback and guide me through from time to time. I found it strange that Peer and Independence had the same scores as they contradict each other, but an interpretation could be that I prefer working alone, but I enjoy the group dynamism that comes from working with the right kind of people. I am competitive and I enjoy knowing how the other peers in my level are also performing, and in little ways, this affects my level of outcome.

I enjoy a disciplined classroom and an organised plan. A well-planned learning journey that is sensible and thoughtful is most effective for me. Knowing specific instructions on assignments are important, but more important for me is actually getting started with the assignment. 

Content:

Inanimate was the highest criteria I received, followed by Numeric. Qualitative comes in next at 30% and People are my lowest. 

This is somewhat true as I enjoy being hands-on in my approach to learning. If I am curious about something, I will want to try it out myself. I am highly numerical as well, providing my artistic abilities with a strong sense of order. I am qualitative as well, with writing being a fair trait I possess. However, I am not skilled when it comes to communicating socially, clearly evidenced in my lowest score — People. I am poor with social interaction and prefer working independently rather than in groups. This id not to say I am antisocial, but I find higher efficiency in solitary work. This shows through in my research work where I enjoy searching for journals and compiling data. 

Mode:

My scores in descending order were: Reading, Iconic and Direct Experience, and Listening. I learn best through reading material, but I don't think this is very accurate as I personally enjoy beings hands-on in my learning, as well as viewing imagery, as I am in the design field. However, the last criterion is true, as I do not remember things spoken to me very well. 

4. Envisioning Success:

Activity 1: What does Success look like to you? What about failure?

Success

• Achieving your intended outcome
• Relative happiness
• Doing meaningful work that I enjoy
• Stability
• Confidence Booster

Failure

• Not achieving intended outcome
• Disappointment
• Loss
• Regret
• Not good enough, self-doubt

Activity 5: Personal Values

• Contributing to society
• Creativity
• Family and home life
• Friendship
• Justice
• Making a difference to the world
• Personal qualities such as kindness
• Security

5. Goal Setting:

We were asked to work in groups of five people and each write a goal on one of the slips of paper, and pass it on until it was all filled up by everyone. It was very interesting seeing the varying motivations and goals based on people as well as the time frame.

6. Note to a Stranger:

This activity required us to go out and find a random stranger to pass a compliment slip to. It was quite interesting but the person felt that it was insincere because I had to take a photo as evidence. 

7. Chinese Whisperer:

We played the Chinese Whispers game in class. I was assigned as the last person in the line, the one who draws out the received information. It turned out quite differently, but nonetheless it was quite fun and humorous as well. 

8. SWOT Analysis (Team)

As a group, we had to conduct a SWOT analysis of being a famous rock star.

9. Straw Tower

We managed to build the tallest tower among the lot, but it is a pity it fell during the reversal at the judging session. Pictured in the group photo is the tower standing upright in the opposite direction. It was an interesting experience and it was fun making the tower as a team. I enjoyed this activity.

10. Individual Presentation Feedback Notes

We were asked to write feedback on other peoples' individual presentation assignment. The feedback was collected into individual envelopes and passed to the owner. We were then asked to post up one note that stood out for us.

I chose this note simply because it is heartening to know that someone sees the passion I have for the graphic design landscape in Malaysia and it is quite encouraging.