Personal and Professional Development
Written assignment (2500 words). The assessment task is a written assignment in which you will demonstrate your personal and professional development, as well as your learning from the module. You will demonstrate an understanding of key module topics as well as self-awareness and reflection by identifying your personal strengths and areas for development. You will use elements from your learning as a student from your modules so far, and placements, to create evidence-based reflection/s and an action plan for your future development.
You may wish to use the following format as a guide:
Introduction (200 – 250 words): Present the assignment, briefly setting the scene.
Main body (1500 words): You will discuss core professional issues that underpin interprofessional health and social care practice, referring to your own profession and to your own personal development, supporting your writing with appropriate literature. Consider the following areas:
- The principles of professional practice in health and social care relevant to your profession, such as values, ethics, professional behaviours, codes of conduct etc.
- Reflect on your role as a collaborative worker; use examples from your experiences of collaborative working, small group work as well as using the Blackboard materials, self-directed study and relevant previous work or learning environment.
- Explore the effectiveness of different various forms of communication and discuss your preferred communication style, using examples from your previous experiences during the module and/or placement. Relate this to your future clinical practice.
- Demonstrate self-awareness and evidence of reflective learning by identifying your own development needs. You must relate these too elements of professional practice/learning you have discussed.
Conclusion (250 words): Conclude by summarising the key points of your assignment.
Action Plan (500 words): At the end of your assignment, you should include a SMART action plan for your future development which should be presented in a table. The action plan MUST come after your conclusion, but before the reference list. Your action plan should contain 4 or 5 targets which must relate to the areas you have discussed in your assignment. Your targets should be SMART:
- Specific – be precise and focussed
- Measurable – to you know when you have achieved your target
- Achievable – make sure it is feasible in your current situation
- Realistic – you’ll need sufficient resources, capability, and opportunity
- Timely – is your target short, medium, or long term, set a specific end point.
Presentation format
- Your work MUST be presented electronically
- Use a clear font such as Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman using font size 12 and black text colour.
- Your work should be submitted in Microsoft Word format for example .doc or .docx file type. All SHU computers have Microsoft Word installed. If you are using your home computer and you don’t have Word installed or use a Mac you can either use your free SHU Office 365 account to create your assignments in Word online, download and then upload the document to grade centre OR to create the assignment in Pages and export to Word then upload.
- Text should be presented using double line spacing except for quotes over two lines long which should be indented and single spaced as per SHU referencing Guidelines.
- Pages must be clearly numbered.
- Avoid using bullet points. It is preferable to express your ideas using complete and structured sentences.
- Leave yourself time to proofread for errors and omissions. Marks will be lost if assignments contain numerous errors of grammar, spelling, and style, or, if cited references and the reference list do not match or the source material is not properly incorporated in the text.
- Use the front page provided with the following information detailed in the example at the end of this document.
- If you have a Learning Contract, please ensure that you copy the wording of the sticker given to you by the disabled student support team onto the front page of your assignment
Referencing style/requirements
- All work must be accurately referenced using the APA 7. method. It is vital that you familiarise yourself with the system and apply it correctly. Please see Referencing guidelines for more detail.