Critical Reflection (Final)
Iskandar's Critical Reflection
At the start of the effective communication module, when we were tasked to write an introduction letter and to be posted on the blog, I felt quite uneasy, especially it will be read by peers and for their comments. The last time I wrote about myself was 14 years ago when I applied for my current job in the Land Transport Authority (LTA). It took me more than 2 days to write my first open letter on the blog knowing that my weaknesses are grammar, tenses and punctuations. Comments posted by peers and valuable feedbacks given by Professor has allowed me to set targets to work on these weaknesses at the start of the trimester. These are also weaknesses that I faced at work when my proposals and reports were rejected multiple times by my supervisor. Attending the effective communication classes twice weekly is totally different compared to attend 2 days writing courses sent by my supervisor during my working days in LTA.
I started to panic when we were tasked to do a summary and reader-response of an article. I was so worried that my slow pace in summarising even for a short paragraph would affect my partner’s performance. I am a visual and technical person. I started my first research topic by finding out about the article on YouTube channels, hoping that I would come across some video presentations. Watched online videos related to the article as a starter has helped me to develop the interest to conduct further research and read up more. Abstracting relevant articles, rephrasing with citations and developed the main idea thesis, were my challenges. Thanks to guidance from Professor Brad who refer us to his recommended APA websites and advised us to learn to adapt the styles and standards. The student reader response writeup has made me learnt to pen down my own views with own connecting ideas and supporting source articles. The comments and feedback received from Professor and peers somehow has made me feel proud for having to achieve my very first own summary and reader-response of an article.
Playing my guitar with my band live on stage in front of thousands of people is totally different compared to a project oral presentation. Should there be mistakes in my guitar chords and tabs, it can be easily covered up by other musicians. Being the first presenter for my group’s project presentation is like an opening solo guitar performance without any musicians' support. During my mock presentation, I have realised that I have focussed too much on being a serious person since it was a project presentation. I have realised that I was not being myself and anxious most of the time. My long pause was obvious as I tend to look away trying my best to recall what I have missed. After feedbacks received from the peer evaluation, I have reflected the moment upon myself that I could not let my team members down as the first presenter. I learnt that I should be calm, composed and to be myself for the final presentation. I was glad that my part of the presentation went smoothly, engaging and convincing to the audiences. However, I should learn to be careful not to be too comfortable and to watch out for the choice of words when speaking.
13 weeks of compacted learning experiences on effective communication module has broadened my understanding and knowledge, especially on writing skills. It has helped me to identify my weaknesses and improved especially with the help of Professor’s feedback and peer reviews. With more practices, I believed I can improve. I have even started to share some storybooks with my kids by just summarising them with my own words.
Thank you, Professor and peers.
At the start of the effective communication module, when we were tasked to write an introduction letter and to be posted on the blog, I felt quite uneasy, especially it will be read by peers and for their comments. The last time I wrote about myself was 14 years ago when I applied for my current job in the Land Transport Authority (LTA). It took me more than 2 days to write my first open letter on the blog knowing that my weaknesses are grammar, tenses and punctuations. Comments posted by peers and valuable feedbacks given by Professor has allowed me to set targets to work on these weaknesses at the start of the trimester. These are also weaknesses that I faced at work when my proposals and reports were rejected multiple times by my supervisor. Attending the effective communication classes twice weekly is totally different compared to attend 2 days writing courses sent by my supervisor during my working days in LTA.
I started to panic when we were tasked to do a summary and reader-response of an article. I was so worried that my slow pace in summarising even for a short paragraph would affect my partner’s performance. I am a visual and technical person. I started my first research topic by finding out about the article on YouTube channels, hoping that I would come across some video presentations. Watched online videos related to the article as a starter has helped me to develop the interest to conduct further research and read up more. Abstracting relevant articles, rephrasing with citations and developed the main idea thesis, were my challenges. Thanks to guidance from Professor Brad who refer us to his recommended APA websites and advised us to learn to adapt the styles and standards. The student reader response writeup has made me learnt to pen down my own views with own connecting ideas and supporting source articles. The comments and feedback received from Professor and peers somehow has made me feel proud for having to achieve my very first own summary and reader-response of an article.
Playing my guitar with my band live on stage in front of thousands of people is totally different compared to a project oral presentation. Should there be mistakes in my guitar chords and tabs, it can be easily covered up by other musicians. Being the first presenter for my group’s project presentation is like an opening solo guitar performance without any musicians' support. During my mock presentation, I have realised that I have focussed too much on being a serious person since it was a project presentation. I have realised that I was not being myself and anxious most of the time. My long pause was obvious as I tend to look away trying my best to recall what I have missed. After feedbacks received from the peer evaluation, I have reflected the moment upon myself that I could not let my team members down as the first presenter. I learnt that I should be calm, composed and to be myself for the final presentation. I was glad that my part of the presentation went smoothly, engaging and convincing to the audiences. However, I should learn to be careful not to be too comfortable and to watch out for the choice of words when speaking.
13 weeks of compacted learning experiences on effective communication module has broadened my understanding and knowledge, especially on writing skills. It has helped me to identify my weaknesses and improved especially with the help of Professor’s feedback and peer reviews. With more practices, I believed I can improve. I have even started to share some storybooks with my kids by just summarising them with my own words.
Thank you, Professor and peers.
Thanks very much, Iskandar, for this masterful reflection on your experience in the effective comm module. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteYou cover quite a few of the key elements of the communication repertoire in this post -- from writing the intro letter and struggling to craft the summary and reader response to refining the oral presentation as part of a feedback-geared process; and with precise, insightful strokes to illustrate, you let us readers know about both the personal challenges and the sweet taste of success.
In the teaching profession, it's often said that when a classroom has a critical mass of engaged, enthusiastic and willing students, then the environment for learning can really be amped up. When an element of experience is added to the mix, then learning can really take off because the engaged and well-informed student then acts as a co-teacher, reverberating the instructional points, accentuating the value of the projected learning outcomes through their own willingness to unpack what's being taught and to share experience and guide others, thereby accelerating the process for everyone. With your own rich life and work experience, you've been able to play a humble yet invaluable role in doing exactly that in our class, which has allowed me to feel like we were all truly riffing together at times. Man, what a great feeling that is!
Thank you again for being so willing to contribute. The very best wishes as you continue your own learning journey here at SIT, and then beyond.
Brad
Dear Professor
DeleteWithout we realised, we are almost coming to the end of the trimester (with pending exams) and the 13 weeks under you as student moved so fast.
If I were to compare to other modules, I must confessed to you that I am very grateful and have always looked forward being in your class. Probably in other modules, we students, did not interact much other than focusing on lectures and tutorials. Whenever I entered these classes, I would always feel a little bit left out probably due to generation gap with the peers and I always have such feeling of “Why am I so slow?”. But when I am in your class, you helped to break the ice, made me feel comfortable and being my own self. You are like the Professor Dumbledore in Harry Porter’s Hogwarts School that I am so proud to experience the magic in your class.
I would like to express my gratitude for your teaching, mentorship, and for bringing out the best in me. I wish you all the joy, good health and hope to see you again in the future.
Regards
Iskandar