Module Learning:
At the start of the course, I set a goal to work on my weakness which is not being fluent in my English language and being long winded when trying to communicate.
With the Paul-Elder critical thinking framework, I learned how to be direct and make sure the topics I want to talk about is relevant and that it provides depth into the discussion. This helped me to speak succinctly and maintain a clear mind of what I want to achieve. Furthermore, I improved by taking small steps such as learning from my mistakes whenever I get corrected. I took notes on what went wrong and practiced the words or phrases repeatedly in conversation or in writing. Through these small steps, my aim is to be fluent in English by practicing using the new words and speaking confidently.
To build on my communication and critical thinking skills, I have been reading more news articles and even picking up new words when conversing with my friends. With the new words or phrase that I learned, I would try to initiate conversation and using them when relevant. Even if I made a mistake, such as using the words in a non-relevant context, I will learn from it and when I want to use it again, I would re-visit the experience I had before and learn from my mistakes.
I believe that this is the start of my learning journey, and I would want to further improve these skills. I plan to do so by building up my vocabulary through reading more news articles, books and watching more English movies. In doing so, I hope that my communication skills and fluency in speaking English would be enhanced.
Project Learning:
For the group project, when we formed the team initially, I was worried that we would have a hard time working together. We were often struggling with collating the ideas together and having to decide which idea is the best to work on. Eventually after having done much research and discussion, we settled with the idea on airport baggage conveyor system called U-Lugg.
Personally, I thought that presenting was my forte and I was confident in doing it. However, I was wrong, and this module allowed me to learn so much more about improving my presentation skills. In the past, I often say: “I will now pass my time to” during the transition and I have learnt that this was incorrect. I also managed to practice my presentation skills, such as speaking with passion and grabbing the attention of the audience. Another interesting thing that I have learned was that point forms in the slides should be parallel.
Writing has never been an easy task for me and even more so, when four different members are writing together. There were times when points were repeated, and the content became incoherent. Thus, I learned that it was important to not only focus on my part but to ensure my members’ work and mine were synthesised. Furthermore, I also learned that summarising the information accurately and succinctly was very important for others to understand easily. Lastly, an important point that I have learned is doing citation and referencing appropriately and correctly.
Overall, I learned that being patient and understanding is important when we are working as a team. Additionally, it is important to accept constructive feedback and not put other members’ ideas down immediately. One should be confident but also be humble.
I would also like to use this opportunity to thank Professor Brad Blackstone for making this English module a fruitful and enjoyable one for me. I hope to have the opportunity to learn more from you when we cross-paths in future.
