Academic and professional skills

How confident are you in managing your own learning, performance and personal skills development? Use Part 1 of this checklist to evaluate your study skills, and professional development needs. Rate your level of competence (confidence in your personal capabilities) for each of the skills and attributes listed in the table, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 denotes the least and 5 the greatest level of confidence. A rating of 1 to 4 indicates there is room for improvement (i.e. need for further development). If you have rated your confidence in any particular skill or attribute as 4 or 5, this needs to be evidenced by completing Part 2 for that component. This process will help you to identify your skills development needs, and forms the basis for your personal development plan.

Scoring guide

1: not confident (not really sure about the requirements at Master’s level)
2: not that confident (but do have some understanding of the requirements at Master’s level)
3: reasonably confident (understand the requirements expected at this level)
4: very confident (understand and can show evidence of ability to meet requirements at this level)
5: highly confident (understand and can show clear evidence of competence at Master’s level)

Succeeding in postgraduate study requires you to be able to:

•	manage, reflect on and improve your own learning, performance and skills development
•	effectively apply critical and reflective thinking, learning and practice at an advanced level
•	understand and adhere to academic writing conventions at a broader level, and any specific requirements in your discipline area
•	carry out a literature search around a topic, citing and referencing your sources appropriately
•	use and evaluate information to support a particular view
•	develop reasoning and argument, comparing and evaluating different perspectives
•	communicate your understanding to suit purpose and target audience.

This checklist will help you to assess the broader academic and professional skills required for postgraduate study. You can use the digital information literacy checklist to further assess your ability to understand digital practice, find, use and create information in an online environment.

	

Part 1: evaluate your skills

	1	2	3	4	5	
Academic literacy						
•	applying academic writing conventions						
•	researching - identifying and evaluating sources						
•	language proficiency						
						
Information literacy						
•	finding and selecting information						
•	citing sources						
•	presenting information						
						
Communication skills						
•	oral communication						
•	written communication						
						
Intellectual skills						
•	reflective thinking, learning and practice						
•	analytical thinking, reading and writing						
•	developing reasoning and argument						
						
Planning and organising						
•	planning work						
•	working to identified objectives and schedules						
•	reviewing progress						
						
Problem solving						
•	identifying problems						
•	considering solutions						
•	reviewing and evaluating outcomes						

Part 2: evidence your skills

The context (activity, event or experience)	
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What I did	
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What skills I used	What qualities I demonstrated	
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