'Describing movement' Biomechanics reflection
My knowledge prior to the assignment ‘describing movement’ was limited to information learnt during lectures, accompanied by additional reading from the book ‘Animal Locomotion’ by A.A. Biewener (2003). I commenced this assignment selecting an animal. Initially researching a variety, in order to establish an animal with relevant research improving the reliability of my work. I selected an elephant. After interpreting the assignment brief I felt I was going to struggle due to the amount of work required. Astonishingly this was not the case.
Several things directly effected this assignment; one being the pressure I felt to perform satisfactorily with my limited skill on assignment writing. I managed this by controlling the time spent on the assignment, allowing myself ample time to analyse my work, ensuring I was satisfied with the outcome. This assignment helped to build confidence on my referencing skills, I presented a draft to my lecturer prior to hand-in, including references to ensure I referenced correctly. I utilised my peers’ skills asking them to proof reading my work, allowing me to make constructive adjustments.
The section I found challenging included critiquing scientific material from journals, due to my lack of scientific knowledge prior to this assignment. I compensated by adding random, inappropriate material, later I had to reduce my word count. A goal for future assignments is to seek help from peers or lecturers if I don’t entirely understand aspects of journals, this will reduce this occurring in future.
On the contrary there were encouraging features. One positive aspect was the amount of research carried out before starting, giving structure to my assignment, aiding me significantly. I utilised various sources including websites and journals, allowing me to demonstrate increased understanding and multiple sources showing equivalent findings. I was content when submitting this assignment, the amount of effort and work I put in was reflected by receiving a higher grade than I anticipated.
In future I aim to plan methodically avoiding incorporating irrelevant information. My plan will include mind-maps focusing on key points alongside an estimated word count. This will benefit my work as it has been revealed that 83% of students who plan with mind-maps showed improvement in work (Al-Jarf, 2009).
References
Biewener, A.A. (2003) Animal locomotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Al-Jarf, R. (2009) ‘“Enhancing freshman students’’ Writing skills with a mind mapping software’
