Critical Reflection

 Module Learning

The initial goals that I have set myself at the beginning of the module are to improve my public speaking skills and my critical thinking skills. The first step that has improved my public speaking skills is the opportunity given to speak in every session of the module. Professor Blackstone will be calling each student once to read a portion of the instructional units. Hence, this has allowed me to be more comfortable and confident when facing an audience. In addition, impromptu presentation in class has further solidified my improvement in public speaking skills. The module has introduced me to many resources such as “Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Tips” for example. There was one impromptu exercise where the students must read up on different sections of “Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Tips” and had to present the key takeaways to a breakout room. This exercise has allowed me to understand the importance of presenting key points. This exercise can be applied at work where impromptu meetings can occur and the content that has to be discussed during meetings has only been shared moments ago. This module has introduced me to Scott Berkun’s tips on pitching an idea. The tips were helpful in helping me in the elevator pitch exercise and the oral presentation. Regarding critical thinking, this module has introduced “The Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework”. This framework can be applied to the writing process and communication. My elements of thought have improved as I have used the process learned in the framework in the verbal and written peer feedback in class. I have utilised this framework in the oral presentation and technical writing with the thought of the stakeholder. The framework has prevented me from writing or saying the wrong things that may offend anyone. This framework is beneficial during Q&A sessions as I am required to formulate and answer them clearly and precisely. I am proud of my progress in the 13 weeks. However, I would want to further improve myself with the resources this module has provided. My next aim is to further improve my paraphrasing skills as I believe I can do better. The knowledge that was imparted by Professor Blackstone and the resources provided in the module has shaped me to be an effective communicator.

Project Learning

Technical report writing was a great way to apply the knowledge learned from the instructional units such as paraphrasing, citations, and summarizing for example. Despite being a technical writer in my professional career before embarking on my journey as an undergraduate student, I was shocked that there is much more into technical writing. Crafting a technical report require many components for it to be a good report. The literature review section of the technical report has introduced me to utilise SIT library portal to search for journals for example. The primary research section has allowed my team to experience the opportunity to interview professors in SIT. As the team’s scriber, I had to email the professors to arrange a meeting for the interview. The knowledge learned in Instructional Unit 2 in writing effective email communication certainly has helped me to craft an effective email. In addition, as the team’s scriber, I would be writing minutes to highlight the key issues that were discussed, and the motions proposed, and the activities undertaken.

My team has applied “Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Tips” for our presentation, but we have failed to utilise critical thinking with the content as my team has presented in a report writing format. The takeaway from this incident is that we must craft the presentation content to fit the purpose of the stakeholder. For teamwork skills, being an effective listener is vital as all opinions should be considered. In addition, being an effective communicator is crucial in a team as the message conveyed must be clear for the team to understand. In a team, there will be weaknesses and strengths from different individuals and my team has worked well to complement each other. I have learned from my teammates on how to present and write better. I have also learned that I procrastinate in accomplishing a few of the tasks delegated, and hence giving unnecessary stress to my team.

The experience has certainly changed my view of learning and specifically of thinking, written and oral communication. The “7Cs of Communication”, “The Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework” and APA 7^th style will always be in my mind moving forward.

Before closing this reflection, I would like to thank Professor Blackstone for his guidance in the past 13 weeks. I would also like to thank Yu Xuan and Hairee for being great teammates and I believe we have done well in the presentation and technical report. Lastly, I would like to thank Haziq, Alice, Izzedine, Shafiz, Bari, and Saiful for their constructive feedback during the peer review for this design project.