Critical Reflection

Module learning:

At the start of the module, I sought to achieve clarity and to maintain my composure while presenting. Even though slip ups may still occur and I may still lose my train of thought, I am a lot more confident when such a slip up does occur and I am able to maintain my composure. By observing my peers' actions when recovering from a blunder, the feedback given by peers and with Professor Brad pointing out the do's and dont's if one were to stumble, I have managed to adopt a few things to aid me if I do stumble. When I do stumble, I should be keeping my cool and not say something immediately to try and recover. I have found this to be very effective at curbing my tendency to speak incoherently.  Also, by speaking slowly and clearly, it is very unlikely to lose my train of thought as I am able to process information better and it will allow me to plan out the flow of my presentation.

 Although I have not perfected the skill of  recovering from a blunder, by applying what I have learnt and with more experience presenting, I would be able to achieve my goal of fluency. What I have learnt would also be very useful for future presentations as me stumbling over my words has always been something that is always at the back of my mind before presenting and with it out of the way, I can concentrate on bigger things at hand such as the flow of the presentation and how to keep the audience engaged. 

The module has also introduced me to concepts such as the Paul Elder Critical Thinking Framework as well as the seven Cs of communication. Although as of now, I am not able to consciously apply it fully, it is something that I would like to achieve in the near future to improve my ability to communicate effectively with not only my peers, but with my superiors too. The Paul Elder Critical Thinking Framework and the seven Cs can also be used in another module, project management. Projects will require effective communication especially when the project involves people of varying disciplines that are all working independently of each other and being able to communicate effectively would greatly affect the success of the project.  

Project learning:

For the project, research was done for the Tesla S battery management system. There was quite a bit of team synergy in this project group and there was not any conflicts. Everyone equally contributed and even when one was done with their own part of the report, they would proof-read the others and point out any mistakes or any improvements that could be made for that part. The efficiency of the team was mainly due to the the group meetings being very objective with work delegated equally. This sort of efficiency is something that I would like to strive for in future group projects and it is something I can take note of when being the leader for a project. 

This project has helped me improve my writing skills in general and has also taught me that certain skills I have acquired were not adequate. An example would be my citing and referencing skills. In polytechnic, this was something that the lecturers did not emphasize on and there would not be any feedback regarding the usage of citation and references. However, this module places a huge emphasis and it has been ingrained into me. It is very important to properly cite and reference sources especially for a report to properly credit the authors as well as to clearly state the reliability of the source. This skill that I have relearnt will not only be very useful for my 4 years in SIT where there will be numerous reports, it will also be beneficial in the workplace.