Critical Reflection for Module and Project Learning

Module learning:

At the beginning of this module, I dreaded the thought of having to go through a trimester of learning communication skills. The idea of writing reports and delivering presentations had little appeal to me. Little did I know the great importance that effective communication holds across any profession, including engineering. For our first assignment,  I've set a goal for myself to build my confidence for speaking and learn how to communicate effectively to diverse audiences. 

There was an assignment where we had to make pitch vodcast which kick started my development of verbal communication skills. My first recording had me reading off a script as I was not confident in giving a smooth delivery. However, feedback from others made me realise that when giving a pitch, not only the content but also the delivery and body posture of the presenter affects the effectiveness of the pitch.

My initial response to the reader's response assignment had zero positivity. The thought of writing 750-word report about a topic that I did not pick was frightening. Despite my hate for writing reports, this assignment proved to be a valuable learning experience. It gave me the opportunity to practice writing using formats such as PEEL to effectively structure my thoughts and sentences. I believe that using an organised and structured sentences will enhance my ability to convey my message to an audience with greater clarity and effectiveness.

Upon realising the significance of proper posture, tone, volume and sentence structuring, I made a conscious attempt to incorporate these elements into my daily speech. The feedback I received for my technical design presentation ensured me that my practice had paid off. However, there were some areas to improve on such as my tone and pace to emphasise key points. With continued practice, I believe that I can further refine my ability to give an effective presentation.

Project learning:

In the beginning of the technical design report assignment, the most challenging aspect was to generate and select a suitable topic to work on. As the group leader and the sole member with a mechanical engineering background, I often found myself gravitating towards my own ideas, believing them to be more suitable than those proposed by my teammates. Ultimately, we settled on an idea suggested one of my group members. 

There were many gaps in the report in terms of language use and sentence structure. We had to review each others' written parts and help one another improve the overall quality of the report.

A key takeaway is that even though the most experienced may come up with good ideas, keeping an open mind will introduce new opportunities for a better outcome. This experience constantly reinforced the use of structured and organised sentences to  effectively convey my points. This principle does not only apply to report writing but also pitching ideas to each other in a group. Effective communication is a key factor in teamwork, and understanding understand one another's perspective is crucial for project success.