COM4006 Assignment: Introduction to Academic Skills and Professional Development

Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a
Introduction to Academic Skills and Professional Development assignment.
Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment
scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:
1. Understand the range of skills required to be an effective student at university
level in the Computing subject area.

2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the literature and theories
underlying key graduate employability skills and the expectations of employers
in the Computing sector.

3. Produce a portfolio of evidence that reflects on a range of academic and
employability skills, in areas such as academic referencing, self-awareness and
reflection, oral and written communication, team working, leadership, use of
computer applications and awareness of roles in the Computing industry

4. Demonstrate responsibility for their personal and professional development
through an understanding of their individual learning approaches and the
development of an action plan that outlines their career and learning objectives
as Computing graduates.

Graduate attributes:

5. Lifelong Learning: Manage employability, utilising the skills of personal
development and planning in different contexts to contribute to society and the
workplace.

Assignment Task

Task 1

Choose ONE of the following topics:
• Women in Computing
• Computing Graduate Employability
• Soft Skills for Computing Graduates
• The Digital Skills of Computing Graduates
Create a DESCRIPTIVE annotated bibliography which presents FIVE (5) pieces of
academic research related to the chosen topic, each entry should use the following

format:

Reference in Harvard format
Intended audience
Main content and arguments presented in the work.
The research methods employed (if used)
Your annotated bibliography will therefore consist of the following:
Entry 1 – presented using the format above
Entry 2 – presented using the format above
Entry 3 – presented using the format above
Entry 4 – presented using the format above
Entry 5 – presented using the format above
Each entry should be a maximum of 120 words, with an overall word count of 600
words.
(600 words) (20 marks) (LOs: 1, 2 & 3)

Task 2

Search for a job advert in the field of Computing, some suggested roles are given
below (make sure you include the word ‘Graduate’ in the search text so that the search
terms reflect an entry level role):
Graduate Software Developer
Graduate Data Analyst
Graduate Systems Analyst
Graduate Cyber Security Analyst
Some suggested job sites are given below:
www.indeed.com
www.totaljobs.com
Look for an advert that provides a good level of detail about the role and the
requirements in terms of technical and ‘soft’ skills.
Having looked at the advert, reflect on your alignment with the skills required, in one
of the following formats (1200 words or equivalent). This format should be agreed with
your academic prior to submission.
Suggested formats and durations:

• A video of 5 minutes duration – if you choose to submit a video send a copy of
the advert to your academic so that they can refer to this during marking

• A narrated PowerPoint with no more than 10 slides and audio of no longer
than 5 minutes in duration. If you choose to submit a narrated PowerPoint add
an appendix slide with a copy of the advert text

• A Word document – if you choose to submit a Word document include an
Appendix with a copy of the advert text You should use Gibbs model of reflection to structure your submission, making
reference to the relevant parts of the Gibbs model and/or stating clearly which aspects
of the model are being discussed.

The submission will be marked according to the criteria at the end of this assignment
brief. In terms of the criteria for technical quality, this is in relation to the quality and
professionalism of the submission regardless of the format chosen.
Submit the completed file with your student number as the file name.
(equivalent to 1200 words)
(40 marks)
(LOs: 2, 3 & 4)

Task 3
There are 10 lessons covering aspects such as study skills, the graduate recruitment
market and managing your online reputation:
Choose two lessons from this list:
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
And two from this list:
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 6
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Write a reflection (1200 words) about what you have learned and experienced on the
chosen lessons (two from each list) in the module. Use Gibbs model of reflection to
structure your writing. Support your writing with relevant sources where appropriate,
ensuring their validity. Present a clear action plan which highlights areas for
development in terms of your employability and academic skills, ensuring that your
action plan shows your short, medium and long terms objectives
Submit this reflection as a Word document using your student number as the file
name.
(1200 words) (40 marks) (LOs: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)

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