Module Learning
When I saw that I had to take Critical Thinking and Communication module I was a little scared because I did not know what to expect from this module. Previously in secondary school and when I was in poly, my language is not so good. But I am always up for a challenge, so I came into this module with an open mind.
At the
start of the module, I have set some goals that I wanted to achieve. One of the
goals is to be more creative and open-minded in the way I think. I feel that I
have achieved this goal because from this module I have to work together in a
team to brainstorm about a design proposal. By talking to my groupmates, it opens
my mind to different ideas. It made me realize that there can be many different
design proposals, and not only the one that is in my head.
The second
goal that I wanted to achieve is to be more confident in the way I speak as I
do not feel comfortable talking to a huge crowd. I feel that after going
through this module for 13 weeks, I can say that I have become more confident
in the way I speak. Sometimes Prof Brad will ask us to read the slides to the
class and whenever he calls out my name, I will try my best to project my voice
and slowly gain confidence in the way I speak. I have also learnt how to present
myself when doing presentations. The mock presentation helped me gain
confidence for the real presentation as I managed to get a feel on how a
presentation feels like. I also received constructive feedback from Prof Brad
and my classmates for the mock presentation, so I had time to improve on my
weak areas. One example is I used a lot of filler words such as “uhm” and “like”,
when I am thinking about what to speak.
From this module I have learnt many different things such but the most fruitful thing that I take away from this module personally is re-learning the PEEL format. I find the PEEL format is very useful because it allows a logical flow of ideas, and it makes you write in a structured manner. I can use this in the future when I am writing reports or even when having a conversation with someone.
Project Learning
Working together in a
group can sometimes be very challenging but if we communicate clearly, it will
make things easier and that is something I have learnt from this project work. For
my team project, I was tasked to write the team minutes. It was the first-time
writing minutes for a project, and it was a new experience for me. I had to
listen actively while write down the important key points and write in a way
that it is easily understandable by my group members. My group members were
very helpful because they helped me when I needed guidance, and I also helped
my group members if they had any difficulties with their roles. This has taught
me and my group mates to be adaptable to changes. The main takeaway from this project
learning for me is that effective communication is important as it ensures that
everyone in the team is on the same page.
