Critical reflection.

 

Module reflection

The Effective Communication Module was a great learning experience. In the module, I was exposed to many learning opportunities given to me by Professor Blackstone. Before attending this module, I was very weak at my writing skills and communication skills. The module has many activities such as technical report writing and oral presentation to expose us to the different writing and communication skills we need for when we start working.

Under Professor Blackstone's guidance, we have to write a summary report about an article found on the internet. Even though I've made any mistake on the summary writing, he gave me constructive feedback on the area I need to improve on which helps me a lot. We are also asked to write a formal letter about ourselves and post it on the blog. Our classmate has given us comment on the blog post which helps each of us understand and learn together the area we improve on the writing skills. For communication skills, we have to do a PowerPoint presentation of the project we have chosen. Initially, I was very nervous when speaking to the crowd. But after a couple of dry runs and feedback from Professor Blackstone, I have improved my confidence in public speaking skills. 

I strongly believe that the skills I have learnt from this module will greatly help me when I progressed to working life. As future engineers, we will be working a lot in a team of engineers. Communication will be the number one priority to be successful. 

Project reflection

I was part of team LimKopi for the research project part of the module. We were tasked to research the different ideas we would like to improve on or create. I was given the opportunity to give an elevator pitch to the other team about our idea. I was nervous initially because I have to be speaking to a group and give a pitch in under a minute for them to understand what our project is about. I was also tasked to write a technical report with my groupmates. Even though there was some slight disagreement between our ideas, ultimately we came to an agreement and learnt to work together as a team. The presentation part was one of the hardest hurdles I have to overcome. I have learnt to give a presentation without looking at the slide and control my tempo when speaking. With Professor Blackstone's guidance before the actual presentation, I was able to speak confidently and concise with my words. He mentioned to the class to "Enjoy the moment" when speaking to the crowd. This phrase really helped me with public speaking because I have to overcome being nervous and truly enjoy the moment of presenting my group's project.