PROGRAM TITLE: BTEC in Computing (Software Engineering)

UNIT TITLE: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: Assignment 2

ASSIGNMENT NAME: Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

SUBMISSION DATE: 26/6/2022

DATE RECEIVED: 26/6/2022

TUTORIAL LECTURER: Lưu Thị Hương Giang

WORD COUNT: 5846

STUDENT NAME: Trịnh Văn Đức

STUDENT ID: BKC12318

MOBILE NUMBER: (+84) 943306660

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Internal verification:
Contents
A. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................3
B. CONTENT.........................................................................................................................................3
Part 1 Consider your personal and/or career goals and identify your CPD needs and what actions
would put you in a position to achieve these goals. Produce a development plan outlining your
future goals and identifying how these can be realised........................................................................3
I. Discuss the importance of CPD and its contribution to own learning...................................3
II. Produce a development plan that outlines responsibilities, performance objectives and
required skills, knowledge and learning for own future goals.......................................................5
Part 2 Conduct some research into motivational theories and how they can be used to improve
employee performance. Compare a number of theories and present your findings to your peers.
...............................................................................................................................................................13
Part 3 Write a report on the usage of CPD within organisations and what evidence would be
required to measure how effective this CPD is in helping employees achieve their goals while
using their time and resources effectively..........................................................................................14
C. REFERENCE..................................................................................................................................15

A. INTRODUCTION
B. CONTENT
LO4. Examine the need for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and its role
within the workplace and for higher level learning.

Part 1 Consider your personal and/or career goals and identify your CPD needs and
what actions would put you in a position to achieve these goals. Produce a
development plan outlining your future goals and identifying how these can be
realised.

I. Discuss the importance of CPD and its contribution to own learning.

1. What is CPD
 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the process of developing
professional skills and knowledge through interactive, participation-based or
independent learning. It enables learners to proactively develop their professional
capabilities through certified learning or self-guided learning methods.

It involves setting objectives for short and long-term progression with a structured
and goal-specific plan. People engaging in CPD need to keep records of any
knowledge attained and progress made for the purpose of reflecting on their learning
and for showcasing skills, and sometimes as evidence of having undertaken CPD.

Development should build on technical and non-technical skills, so learners gain the

expertise and understanding required to approach professional situations from various
angles.

2. Why is CPD Important ?

Many professions have set requirements for ongoing CPD, where it is necessary for
individuals to prove they are capable of adhering to current essential standards – such
as legal, medical, and accounting roles.

But beyond that, CPD helps people retain a consistent set of high quality, relevant
skills and knowledge throughout their professional life. The best part is that CPD puts
learners in a favourable position to demonstrate new knowledge, work to impressive
standards, and progress in their career.

3. CPD benefits for the learner:

 Refines your personal skills and intellect and helps to plug any knowledge
gaps.
 Keeps academic and practical qualifications up to date – keeping skills
relevant is integral in today’s fast-moving world, where rapid progression can
quickly lead to previous learning becoming obsolete.
 Opens pathways to career progression or potential redirection, including
achieving higher salaries and better job security.
  Enhances your ability to regularly learn and improve – you’ll learn quicker as
you become acquainted with the process and will become a better independent
learner.
 Demonstrates ambitiousness, aptitude, and a dedication to self-improvement
to current and prospective employers and clients.
 Provides valuable examples and scenarios for showcasing professional
achievements and growth in CVs, cover letters, and interviews.
 Reduces feelings of uncertainty or worries about change – CPD gives you a
plan for future aspirations and the ability to readily adapt.
 Promotes independence – self-directed CPD requires you to consciously
engage in learning activities and follow your own plan, while some structured
CPD activities can benefit from you engaging in further research and study.
Continuous professional development can also be an excellent self-motivation tool, as
it reminds you of your achievements and progression. Plus, its flexibility and
diversity – in terms of the different forms of CPD learning available – gives you an
opportunity to find a learning approach that fits you best.

II. Produce a development plan that outlines responsibilities, performance objectives

and required skills, knowledge and learning for own future goals.

1. SETTING GOALS
Short-term goal:
- Sign up for training courses on testing.
- Apply for an internship to accumulate experience for the major.
- Graduated with honors degree.
- Study and work at the same time and get a good degree from the continuous training
institute.

Long-term goals:
- Proficient in software testing techniques as well as evaluating compatibility with
different software programs.
 -Striving to mature the company's testing department, as well as take on large projects of
the company

2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

-Ability to adapt and work well under -Lack of time management skills
pressure.
-No practical experience
-Have good physical strength, not afraid
-Lack of specialized knowledge
to move when working away
-Easy to lose concentration
-Trained in a good environment, there are
many teachers ready to help when
difficult.

-Confidently present personal views in

front of the crowd

3. 1 Develop Strengths
a) Develop a related skill
Technical skills (technology skills)
 Solid knowledge of Database/SQL:
The software system has a large amount of data in the background. This data
is stored in different types of databases like Oracle, MySQL, etc. in the
auxiliary section. So there will be situations when this data needs to be
validated. In that case, the tester will have to execute simple or complex SQL
queries to be able to check if the appropriate data is stored in the backend
database.
  Knowledge of Linux commands: Most software applications like Web-
Services, Databases, Application Server are deployed on Linux machines.
Therefore, it is important for testers to have knowledge and proficiency in
Linux commands.

 Test Management Tool knowledge and practical experience: Test

management is an important aspect of software testing. Without proper test
management techniques, the software testing process will fail. Therefore,
testers are forced to make good use of these testing tools. There are different
tools that can be used for test management, as long as you are knowledgeable
and familiar with them.

 Knowledge and hands-on experience with the Defect Tracking tool: Defect
tracking and the product's defect lifecycle is also one of the key aspects of
software testing. You must handle error detections properly and monitor them
systematically. More bug tracking is necessary because the entire
development team needs to know about the bug in order to fix it in time. Some
of the tools used to log bugs include QC, Bugzilla, Jira, etc.

 Knowledge and hands-on experience of Automation tools: If you see yourself

as an "Automation Tester" after a few years of manual testing then you must
master at least one tools and have in-depth knowledge, regularly practice with
these tools.

Also, knowledge of scripting languages like VBScript, JavaScript, C# is always useful as

a tester if you are looking for a job in automation field. Some companies also use
Shell/Perl scripts. In general, what you need to learn to become a good tester pretty much
depends on the working environment.

Non-technical skills (soft skills)

Besides technical skills, the condition to become a good tester also includes non-technical
skills:

 Analytical skills: A good tester needs sharp analytical skills. Analytical skills will
help to break down a complex software system into smaller units to better
understand and create test cases.
 Communication skills: Besides, a good tester must have verbal and written
communication skills. Test artifacts (like test cases/plans, test strategies, bug
reports, etc) generated by testers should be easy to read and understand. Besides,
testers will also often have to communicate with programmers and require
ingenuity and sensitivity.
 Organizational and time management skills: Software testing can sometimes be
quite a complicated job. To be a good tester, you must know how to effectively
manage your workload, be highly productive, demonstrate optimized organization
and time management skills.
 Positive attitude, love testing: Last but not least, to become a good tester, you need
to have a positive attitude, love your job, be detail oriented, willing to learn and
challenge Producing improvements to testing processes.

b) Use your strengths

With my strength of confidence in front of the crowd and good pressure resistance, I
can
- Confidently convince colleagues
- Critical thinking about problems
- Resolve conflicts that arise

c) Teach Someone Else

When someone has a question about something, I can enthusiastically share my
knowledge with them. That way, I can look at the problem in a different, new,
different way than I am used to.
 2. Improving Weakness

Weakness Ways to improve

Lack of time management skills 1. Set short-term and long-term goals

2. Manage by calendar

3. Prioritize tasks

No practical experience Internship at companies

Lack of specialized knowledge Sign up for a specialized course

Easily lose focus 1.Stop drinking coffee

2.Always keep the word 'stop' in your

head

3.Relax

4.Concentrating imagination

4. RATING DEVELOPMENT NEED

1 Skills required for my job
Becoming a developer intern is not an easy task. Interns need to work for a company and
have a lot of skills to make their manager happy. The skills required for the internship
are as follows.

a) Good Communication Skills

As we know, communication is the sending and receiving of messages, opinions,
ideas, information, etc. from one person in the same or different countries to another.
IT internships need to have good communication skills to satisfy customers and
managers. He should always be ready to share his thoughts with managers and
clients. Without good communication skills, he cannot share his thoughts with others,
which is why he cannot succeed in his work.
b) Planning Skills
Planning is the process of thinking about the activities that need to be performed to
successfully complete a task. IT internships need to have good planning skills to be
successful in the field. He should be able to plan for the benefit of the organization as
well as himself. He needs to complete various tasks where the plan can be very
important to complete the task.

c) Observation Skills
Observation is the process of observing something or someone to get information.
Without observation skills, IT internships cannot expand their knowledge. With
proper observation, one can get a lot of information and learn a lot of good things.
Therefore, IT internships need to improve their observation skills.

d) Decision Making Skills

This is the most important skill that an IT intern should have. He should be able to
decide on everything. If he can't make a good decision, it could be an organization
and his loss. He has to decide for himself according to his level. If he can improve his
decision-making ability, he can be a better intern than others.

e) Leadership Skills
Leaders are people who have the ability to teach others. It's a very difficult task
because not everyone can guide others. If IT internships have leadership skills, they
can guide and manage other people in the organization. He can impress his boss
with his leadership skills. If he has good leadership skills, he can increase his posts.

2 Knowledge Required for My Job

A Tester intern with many skills needs to have certain knowledge that no other individual
has. The skills required to become an IT intern are as follows:

a) Solid knowledge of Database/SQL:

 The software system has a large amount of data in the background. This data is stored
in different types of databases like Oracle, MySQL, etc. in the auxiliary section. So
there will be situations when this data needs to be validated. In that case, the tester
will have to execute simple or complex SQL queries to be able to check if the
appropriate data is stored in the backend database.

b) Knowledge of Linux commands:

Most software applications like Web-Services, Databases, Application Server are
deployed on Linux machines. Therefore, it is important for testers to have knowledge
and proficiency in Linux commands.

c) Test Management Tool knowledge and practical experience:

Test management is an important aspect of software testing. Without proper test
management techniques, the software testing process will fail. Therefore, testers are
forced to make good use of these testing tools. There are different tools that can be
used for test management, as long as you are knowledgeable and familiar with them.

d) Knowledge and hands-on experience with the Defect Tracking tool:

Defect tracking and the product's defect lifecycle is also one of the key aspects of
software testing. You must handle error detections properly and monitor them
systematically. More bug tracking is necessary because the entire development team
needs to know about the bug in order to fix it in time. Some of the tools used to log
bugs include QC, Bugzilla, Jira, etc.

e) Knowledge and hands-on experience of Automation tools:

If you see yourself as an "Automation Tester" after a few years of manual testing then
you must master at least one tools and have in-depth knowledge, regularly practice
with these tools.

5. DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Goal Responsibility Skills required What support Target date for

 and resources review?
will I need?

Sign up for Learn deeply Hard - working Instructors and 1 Year

testing training about the self-study online
Creation
courses. specialty of will support me
testing Hard to accept

Apply for an Intern at a Good Colleagues, 2 Years

internship to company with Communication seniors, friends
gain professional good conditions Skills
experience. to gain
Planning Skills
experience
Time
management
skills

Graduated with Successful Any The lecturers 1 Year

honors. completion of programming and myself
the course at skills
BKACAD

Study while Graduated and All knowledge The lecturers 2 Years

working and get received an must be learned and myself
an excellent excellent degree
degree from a from the
continuous Institute of
training institute. Continuing
Education,
Hanoi
University of
Science and
 Technology

Proficient in Proficient in All skills about Any resources 3 Years

software testing software testing testing available
techniques as techniques as
well as well as
evaluating evaluating
compatibility compatibility
with various with various
software software
programs. programs.

Strive to mature Strive to mature Teamwork skill Colleagues and 5 Years

the company's the company's myself
Problem-solving
testing testing
skills
department, as department, as
well as take on well as take on Leadership skills
major projects of major projects of
Advanced skill
the company the company

Part 2 Conduct some research into motivational theories and how they can be used to
improve employee performance. Compare a number of theories and present your findings
to your peers.

Comparing different motivational theories and their impact on performance

Motivation is a very significant aspect that has to be cultured within the workplace in order to
improve efficiency and effort as well. The aspect of inspirational as well as effective leadership
gives rise to the center of influence within the workplace (Rudolph, 2016). Human beings are
complicated and to apply the aspects of the steps of motivation is quite hard. Therefore, there are
a few strong theories or concepts that have been evolved over time, which can present the proper
way to motivate the employees in the workplace. These theories are discussed in details below
along with a clear comparison between their methods (Gucciardi et al., 2015).

1. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

It was stated by Maslow that the needs and the desires of an individual can be expressed through
a pyramid or a hierarchy of sort. According to him there are a few basic needs that a person has
and focusing on that can improve his motivational aspect. These needs can be detailed as:

The physiological needs of a person such as the need for a clean as well as a comfortable area to
work in (Gucciardi et al., 2015). This can be achieved through the formation of an ethical and
peaceful workplace.

The need to have proper security is what employees worry about constantly in the world of
competition.

Social need like the desire to feel included and to maintain a good relationship in the working
environment (Stevenson et al., 2016).

The feeling of self-esteem is vital for every worker. It needs to be identified and improved
through awarding status as well as rewards.

The need to be self-fulfilled with the opportunities for the growth of an individual.

2. Herzberg's Hygiene Model

Herzberg had a more compact solution to the issue of motivating employees. According to him,
there are two factors are significant while considering the improvement of motivation (Safa et
al., 2015). These factors answered the question of motivation improvement within the workplace.

Eliminating the factors that create discomforts such as fixing company policies that are
obstructive and poor, providing competitive wages, providing supervision that is supportive,
non-intrusive as well as effective and finally, by creating a culture of support, dignity, and
respect.
Creating certain conditions leading to job satisfaction such as opportunities to achieve, and to
advance through promotions that are internal, recognizing the individual contribution and giving
responsibility to all equally (Safa et al., 2015).

3. McGregor's Theory X, and Theory Y Model

McGregor too gave two ways that can be used for motivating as well as managing employees.
These are:

Theory X stating that employees dislike working and will avoid it whenever possible (Safa et al.,
2015). Force has to be used to treat or punish them and employees prefer direction from others to
avoid taking responsibility and are unambitious too.

Theory Y states that work effort is very natural and people naturally apply both self-direction
and self-control to achieve the goals of the organization.

Part 3 Write a report on the usage of CPD within organisations and what evidence would
be required to measure how effective this CPD is in helping employees achieve their goals
while using their time and resources effectively
Conclusion

Along with a proper understanding of the Continuing Professional Development aspects, the
need for development planning and the existence of processes was also analyzed. The process
requirements in the field of work are very important and their importance is widely appreciated
in the work. Other aspects of workplace development, improvement and growth, such as
motivational theories and concepts, were also discussed to clearly understand the expectations of
employee responsibilities. This helped create a development plan suitable for the field and
event management departments.

C. REFERENCE

CPD. (n.d.). Highspeedtraining. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from

https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/what-is-cpd/
Skills required to become a tester. (n.d.). Joboko. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from
https://vn.joboko.com/blog/de-tro-thanh-mot-tester-gioi-nsi4884