Critical Reflection

During the first week of class, I have set 2 goals that I hope to achieve by the end of this effective communication module which are to improve my writing skills and be able to speak fluently during presentations. In my past presentation experiences, I was always too nervous and had a bad habit of speaking too fast and stuttering. With more practice and feedback given by Prof Brad and my peers, I noticed that my pace of speaking has improved greatly even though sometimes I still speak a little fast but I will continue to work on it. 

To improve my writing skills, I started borrowing books from the library such as Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell which is similar to the Cinderella tale but the main character has a hobby of creating mechanical gadgets. Learning the proper way to write emails, letters, citations, and technical reports in class together with the feedback received from Prof on introduction letter and my summary reader response has also helped me improve my writing skills. In polytechnic, I was taught a specific way to write citations but after learning how to cite different sources properly from Prof Brad, I found out that citation is not as easy as I thought. 

After learning about Dewey’s model of reflective thought and action and Rogers’ reflective cycle, I reflected on my previous experiences in doing group projects and presentations. Upon reflecting, I realised that in past project meetings, I was always quiet and did not dare to speak about my ideas or opinions. I wanted to change that and be more courageous to speak up and participate in group discussions and I am proud that I managed to do it. I also reflected on my presentation skills which had many areas for improvement and gave myself the challenge of improving all those points such as my pace when speaking, stuttering, and loudness. After reading through the feedback given by Prof Brad for the final presentation, I am happy that I have improved overall but I will reflect on it and continue to do better. 

I have taken part in many projects and events before in the past where my role was usually the leader or just a member of the team. In the research project for this module, I had the chance to play a new role as a secretary and learn about writing minutes. When I was writing the first meeting minute, I realised that meeting minutes are important not only for writing down what has been done for the meeting but also help to set an agenda before the meetings and keep track of our progress.

As everyone had their own roles, I tried my best to do mine as a secretary by scheduling project meetings and discussing the tasks that needs to be done by that meeting or the next. From this project, I noticed that I had learned to become more organised compared to past project experiences. Knowing that our schedule will be busier nearing the end of the trimester, I scheduled to complete most of the report earlier so that my groupmates are able to spend more time studying for the exams and we can avoid any last-minute work. 

My group members were always cooperative and helpful when we work on the report and presentation. Not only did I learn from Prof Brad, but my teammates have also taught me many things regarding writing skills such as how to write transmittal letters and literature reviews. They also helped me improve my presentation skills as prior to the presentation, we did a few dry-runs and gave each other constructive feedback on our presentation skills and slides. Overall, one of the most important takeaways from my research project was teamwork.

I thought that this module will be boring as I had something similar in polytechnic and did not enjoy it. However, Prof Brad managed to make lessons interactive, fun, and enjoyable. I was also able to know my classmates, work with many of them and make more friends. I am deeply grateful for the lessons and guidance taught by Prof Brad which gave me a better understanding of how to communicate and write in a professional manner.

Date: 9 April 7.35pm