Critical Reflection

Module learning 

At the beginning of this communication lesson, I was hoping to improve my confidence level in speaking English. Being able to hold a conversion was on my list too. Thinking critically helps me improve my thinking and speaking skills. An example of a technique that I can apply for my daily use would be the Paul-Elder frame. The framework helps thinkers to be clear about the purpose at hand and the current question at issue. The frameworks guide me to be a critical thinker. Certain standards must be added to the conversation in order to make it purposeful. Examples of standards include clarity when talking about certain topics, depth to provide accurate information, and accuracy to ensure whatever is mentioned to the other participants speaks correctly, with very few mistakes. Overall, I manage to incorporate those lessons into my daily conversations, slowly but surely. For the critical reflection section, I have understood that it allows learners to learn with deeper comprehension from past experiences and understand the relevant connections made with it. This guarantees that learning can continue and deters people from making the same mistakes. Whenever I made a mistake, I would recognise the gap in the problem (actual problem). Then identify the specific causes that resulted in the problem. The final step is to provide possible changes and carry out tests for the hypothesis. The outcome should be an ideal outcome where in the future, a similar situation might never arise again. If the test for the hypothesis fails, the entire process repeats until the ideal outcome is found. Adding the reasons for the failed hypothesis into the flowcharts helps too. In conclusion, I believe I have made improvements to achieve those goals that I had set in the beginning.  

Project learning (Presentation skills) 

Pitching an improved idea in a classroom setting can be challenging, having to express ideas and thoughts effectively while ensuring proper body posture. Maintaining consistent eye contact with every audience throughout my delivery was a tough habit to adopt. The lesson on Preparing and Delivering Effective Presentations introduced new techniques of presentation that help to capture the attention of the audience. Simple skills that I had never considered necessary were crucial for presentations. I came to realise that an ideal presentation is quite different from what I previously thought was good and had no concept that it had a structure.  

Tips such as “Prepare with the 10-min rule in mind” and “Develop a simple structure” from Garr Reynolds’s presentation tips are simple techniques that can help elevate my current presentation skills to the next. The preparation stage consists of many fine details. The appearance of the slides is crucial too. Based on the lessons learned, images or videos are good examples to convey an idea to the listeners, so our slides were filled with images of our robot.  

During the mock presentation, I learned that I have the habit of looking everywhere but at the audience. My body posture was not appropriate as well, swaying from left to right and sometimes standing on one leg. I tend to add filler words such as “erm” very often. On the actual presentation day, I was super nervous even though I had mentally and physically prepared myself for it. Maintaining eye contact with the audience is consistently reminded of us by the professor, and this increases the pressure. I managed to not show little of my bad habit during my delivery. The overall presentation was quite an experience.