Introduction to Personal Development Planning

What is Personal Development Planning? The process of Personal Development Planning (PDP) is designed to help you to become a confident and self- directed learner It will help you to integrate academic learning with previous and current personal, and professional learning It encourages you to be: –Reflective –Proactive –Organised –Independent –Aware

How is Personal Development Planning taught? Year 1 – PDP is integrated within the Fundamentals of IT module Year 2 – PDP is studied online through self-instructional materials Year 3 – PDP is integrated within the Work-related Project

Is PDP assessed? Yes, it counts towards your Fundamentals of IT mark. You are required to complete and submit four out of eight PDP tasks –Two tasks by the start of Session 5 –An additional two tasks by the FMA deadline shown in Blackboard –However, you are encouraged to complete all eight tasks PDP tasks will be submitted via Blackboard

Does PDP count towards your degree? You must pass PDP for each year in order to be awarded your degree

What is covered in Year 1 PDP? Year 1 PDP has eight sessions and tasks 1.Self-evaluation 2.Writing academic English 3.Planning ahead 4.Writing academic reports (for computing) 5.Creating an action plan 6.Reading and referencing 7.Avoiding plagiarism 8.Reflective writing (learning journals)

PDP 1 – Self-evaluation This PDP session is designed to help you to recognize and value the experience, skills and knowledge that you bring with you to the Foundation Degree in IT

PDP 2 – Writing academic English This PDP session is designed to start you on the road to writing good academic English. It looks at the differences between academic writing and personal writing, and details some of the most common mistakes in academic writing. It also introduces strategies and resources for further developing your academic English.

PDP 3 - Planning ahead It is important that you start to look at short (next few months) and medium-term (a year to eighteen months) objectives that will help you to reach your long-term employment goals. This session will help you to start breaking down your future plans into smaller and more achievable objectives, and thus help you to manage your workload more effectively.

PDP 4 - Writing academic reports Report writing is a core skills for both students of IT and IT professionals alike. This session introduces you to the basics of report writing, focusing primarily on structure and presentation.

PDP 5 - Creating an action plan This PDP session will help you to break down your long- term goals into smaller, more manageable objectives. It will help you to start developing an action plan for achievement of these objectives.

PDP 6 - Reading and referencing This PDP session is designed to help you to maximize your ability to find and read academic texts and use the results of your reading to add authority to your written work. It will focus on developing strategies for fast effective reading and on writing references for different kinds of text in a format acceptable for HE.

PDP 7 – Avoiding plagiarism In some cultures, copying what others have written is an acceptable form of academic writing. In the UK, the opposite is true. Copying, or plagiarism, as it is called, is perhaps the worst academic offence a student can commit. It is important therefore that you fully understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. This PDP session will show you exactly what plagiarism is and will teach you techniques such as paraphrase and quotation in order to help you to avoid any potential accusation of copying

PDP 8 - Reflective writing Learning is always easier if we understand how we learned, what we learned and how our learning fits into our general store of knowledge and skills. Reflective writing activities help us to understand these elements of our learning by systemising them and keeping them in focus. This PDP session will help you to develop your reflective writing skills by introducing you to the skill of keeping and using a learning journal

Further reading –