Module Learning
At the start of the course, I had difficulties penning down
my thoughts as I find it hard to choose the right words that are suitable and
grammatically correct. As a result, a specific goal of mine was to refine my
communication and articulation skills. Albeit that there is room for improvement,
I am proud to say that I managed to better these skills in a short period of
time. An advice given by Professor Brad that stuck was to re-read the sentence
multiple times and understand what exactly one is trying to convey. This way,
the verb, noun, etc. becomes prominent and any mistakes will stand out and be
easier to correct. This is especially
helpful when heavier content writing is required, and it gets tougher to spot
mistakes.
Presentations were never a big issue for me, but that was
because I could rely on the presentation slides. Many times, all I had to do
was to read off the slides and call it a done deal. During the module, we were
taught the importance of non-verbal communication. Some factors include body
language, tone, gestures, eye-contact, and the use of visual aids. Truth to be
told, all these were nothing new as they were emphasized since day one of
polytechnic class. However, we were graded for the content more than the way we
presented the majority of the time, which is why it was easy to neglect the proper
use of non-verbal communication skills. In this Effective Communication class, however, both were equally important. As we had to pitch and try to sell our
idea, proper body language, sufficient eye contact, and the tone used were just
as valued as our content. I challenged myself to reduce the reliance on the
presentation slides by removing words and replacing them with pictures instead.
By doing so, I had to know my product inside out to be able to sound convincing
and engage the audience. I tend to be
jittery during presentations, and I always thought that the audience could
hear the shaking in my voice. Through the peer feedback, I realized that it is
not as obvious as I thought it was, and most of the audiences were oblivious to
it, which is a huge confidence booster. Keeping that in mind, I aim to perform
better in future presentations.
Project Learning
I was thankful for the step-by-step guidance in each lesson, where
we first researched potential ideas, to writing the technical report. The concepts
were clearer, and I had a better understanding of where we were heading
towards. The mini assignments also served their purpose when we had to post our
writings and receive feedback from others. It is often easy to overlook your
own mistakes which is why it is always good to have a fresh pair of eyes to
look at it. I also appreciated the ever-changing group of people I had to work
with on different in-class assignments, as I was then able to have a chance to
interact with my classmates and understand their work ethics and accommodate
accordingly.
I was fortunate to be grouped with people of good work
ethics, where there were no major hiccups throughout the process of the
project. The ideas came and clicked instantaneously, and we were quick to
allocate the roles and responsibilities. Of course, there was some
confusion in between, where we were unsure of certain things due to the lack of
knowledge on the project. However, we
were quick to resolve the issues by actively communicating with one another. I realized
that it is important to voice out any uncertainties or opinions before any concrete
decisions are made to prevent potential problems from arising. One main
challenge we faced was that our topic for Effective Communication could not be
used for the other affiliated Measurements and Sensor Technology report writing
and it was difficult for us to juggle with the tight schedules and to meet the
submission deadlines. Nonetheless, I am glad that we managed to pull through
and it was a fruitful experience all in all.
