Critical Reflection

     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.