Critical Reflection

At the beginning of this module, I didn't have much confidence in voicing out my opinions or ideas to others. In addition to that, I have struggled to get my message across to people whenever I am speaking in proper English. Speaking with friends and families was never a problem for me because we are all used to using singlish, however, when I meet new people or when I am required to work with new colleagues, I don't have much confidence in conversing with them especially when we have discussions or meetings. Another area that I had difficulties in is my writing skills, where my sentence structures and paraphrasing are always very poor. 

This module has definitely help me realise how important small changes can help boost the quality of my essays and presentations. Writing my summary reader response really challenged my writing abilities but I have learned how to use the Paul Elder's framework as a guideline when I work on my essay. 

The last time I gave presentations was quite some time ago during poly hence, when I was required to participate actively in class, I remember being nervous and worried to be out of my comfort zone. I appreciate the fact that we progressed as a class since the difficulty of subsequent lessons or assignments increased progressively. I started with presenting infront of small groups of classmates and then participating during lessons when Prof Brad ensures that everyone gets a chance to share their opinions with the class. This boost my confidence gradually and it allowed me to deal with my difficulties that I had in getting my message across to others while ensuring that I use proper sentence structure. Most of the times when our name is being called out during lessons, I personally feel that it is a good excercise because we have to think on our feet. This required me to always use the Paul Elder's framework and ensure that I can elaborate clearly and give my point of view when I am required to give my opinion about something. 

I use what I have learned in Effective Communication in other projects I am involved in for the other modules that I have. This does not only improve my abilities even furthter but I use it as practice for myself. Besides using proper grammar, tense and paraphrasing, I will always ensure that I get constructive feedback from those around me. Constructive feedbacks from my peers has been the most effective for me. I learned that it is important to always ask for feedbacks and be open to criticism because it does not only further improve my communication and writing skills but it helps me broaden my thoughts and ideas. 

Personally,  my communication skills improved the most when I had to work with my peers - whom I have never worked with before - on our project. I realized that it is important to be a good listener and observant because we have to be open-minded when we work in a team. This is useful when it comes to situations where we have conflicting ideas and opinions about the project. Having positive or negative feedback helps us to further perform well in our tasks. For instance, even when I think that the work that I contributed is good enough for the project, I'd still ask for feedback from my peers/prof because no matter how much knowledge/experience you have in doing something, there is still room for improvement.  In addition to that, having a second opinion helps me to broaden my thoughts and ideas. 

Another area that I had difficulties with is my writing skills. Paraphrasing is something that I had to relearn when I did my technical report for my project. Information from the internet can be so dense and the kind of language used in articles can be too hard to understand. One of the challenges I faced when I worked on my technical report was the difficulty to transfer information from the research I have found, to my report while making sure that the report flows well and it is easy for the reader to understand at the same time. I work closely with my peers who have better skills in writing and at the same time, I used that opportunity to learn and improve my own skills. Personally, I feel that it is important to maintain a good relationship with my peers as it became easier for me to ask questions or feedback when needed. 

One key takeaway from this project is the importance of communication that is exchanged among the team. Conflicts may arise due to having different opinions and point of views. It is important to know how to deliver our message across without offending others when we are giving feedback/rejecting their ideas. Personally when situations like this happens, I'd make it clear that I agree with them to a certain extent and then give my feedback. I had amazing teammates that worked so hard for our technical report. There were times where we all had conflicting ideas but by giving each other constuctive feedback, we manage to come up with mutual decisions at the end. 

Date:  9 April 2022, 11.57 AM