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BEHL 1033: Personal and Professional Development

Getting started

This guide will help you find relevant resources to support your reflective journal and portfolio assessments.

Remember to read all the information on your course website related to your assessments to understand exactly what you need to do.

Plan your search

In order to locate relevant literature for your assignment you need to plan your search strategy before searching for information.

 

Check out the video and guide below to learn how to do this:

 

Example search topic:

How does post traumatic growth impact on resilience in the workplace? 
Concepts Synonyms
post traumatic growth

PTG

posttraumatic growth

post-traumatic growth

resilience

Adaptability

Perseverance

Tenacity

Endurance
workplace

Office

Work environment

Professional setting

Occupational setting

Example search strategy:

("post traumatic growth" OR PTG OR "posttraumatic growth" OR "post-traumatic growth")

AND

(resilience OR Adaptability OR Perseverance OR Tenacity OR Endurance)

AND

(Office OR "work environment" OR "professional setting" OR "occupational setting" OR Endurance)

AND: 

  • Used to combine the concepts.
  • The more concepts you connect with AND the more focused your search will become.
  • Narrows your search.

OR : 

  • Used to combine the synonyms.
  • Broadens your search.
  • Includes results that use different terminology.

 

Remember to use,

  •  "quotation marks" to keep phrases together
  • brackets (.....) to keep alternative keywords for each concept together. 

Searching

The Library Collection is a good place to start your search for scholarly material. You can use it to find eBooks, journal articles, reports, videos and more.

Screenshot of Library Collection search

Try Google Scholar to find scholarly information. An advantage of Google Scholar is that it provides access to the full text of many UniSA scholarly (academic) articles if you connect via the link above, or from the Library home page.

The Advanced Google Scholar search option gives more flexibility when you search. To access it select the menu (three lines) in the top left hand corner of Google Scholar. This menu will appear once you do an initial search in Google Scholar.

Here is an example:

You should also try searching library databases for relevant academic sources.

Databases are search tools for finding articles, papers, reports and more. Find databases by browsing the database list by subject.

Here is an example search in PsycInfo.

Example search strategy:

Screenshot of PSYCINFO Advanced search

Contact Ask the Library if you require further assistance with database searching.

Evaluating information

Reflective journal assessment

Introductory reflective writing resources

If you are not familiar with reflective writing as an assignment task, the videos and resources below may assist you to understand what is required.

 Watch this short video to understand what reflective writing is (2:14)

Tip: Even though these resources use examples from different contexts, use them to get a feel for the writing style and depth of reflection.

 

The DIEP model

You can use the DIEP model in the reflection process.

Describe: What happened? What did you do, see, hear, read, etc.?
Interpret: What does the experience mean to you? What new insights or connections have you made from the experience?
Evaluate: What is your opinion of the experience? Why? How valuable was the experience?
Plan: How will you apply what you learned in your future course program, career, life etc.?

 

Reflective writing resources from RMIT

Take a look at resources on reflective writing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT),

You will find some techniques and sample paragraphs in the video below from Melbourne University - video (6 min 28 sec).

 Tip: Even though these resources use examples from different contexts, use them to get a feel for the writing style and depth of the reflection.

Portfolio assessment

As an individual, completing your personal SWOT analysis can bring clarity on how to overcome challenges or tackle your next big adventure.

  • Strengths – What do you know about yourself that will help you address this area? What skills can you build upon?
  • Weaknesses – Where do you need to grow or learn new skills? Where do you need to look for help from others?
  • Opportunities – Where in your life, your job, your family or elsewhere could you get support? Who else can you turn to for insight, learning, feedback?
  • Threats – Who/what will be a roadblock for you? What are the risks or challenges you may face?

Have a look at these sites for help with conducting a personal SWOT analysis:

You may also find it useful to look at UniSA's Career Services online module called: 

APA Referencing Style