End of Module - Critical Reflection

This short essay is a reflection about what I have learnt about critical thinking and communication; what skills I have better refined, what I realised about myself and which areas I can further improve in.

This module has taught me many skills pertaining to critical thinking and reflection, as well as writing and oral presentation. At the beginning of this module, my main goals were to improve upon my interpersonal communication, writing, critical thinking and presentation skills. Thirteen weeks later, I can confidently say that I have accomplished most of these goals. However, my presentation skills still leave something to be desired. Interpersonal communication was improved through the icebreaker sessions during the first week of this module, as well as through discussions during peer evaluation and group project. In the end, I felt more comfortable interacting with others than before, and less hesitant about giving constructive feedback. I felt my writing skills were already pretty decent prior to this module, but learning about small grammatical nuances such as parallel structures and comma splices helped me further enhance these skills. Receiving feedback about my writing from Professor Brad through consultations and written comments was also a tremendous help, pinpointing exactly which areas I could improve upon. As for critical thinking, I learnt about how and why it is so important for personal growth, allowing one to break free from a fixed mindset and approach challenges from different perspectives. By applying critical thinking concepts such as the Paul-Elder framework and the Rodgers' Reflective Cycle, I was able to identify that I had somewhat of a fixed mindset, and am slowly taking steps to overcome that. Lastly, although I did learn a lot about presentation skills, particularly content structuring and body language, it was still nerve-wracking for me to speak in front of an audience. Looking back, overall my presentation skills did improve, but overcoming my nervousness can only be achieved through more practice and familiarisation.

Through the group research project, I learnt more about working with others, especially when working with different personalities. I learnt to adapt to others' working styles and preferences, and how to adjust my own working style to work together more efficiently. Being someone who is typically reserved, during group discussions I found myself speaking up a lot more than usual, and was less apprehensive about putting forth my ideas and suggestions, which was something I previously struggled with when interacting with people I were unfamiliar with. The more I worked with my team on the technical report and the oral presentation, the more confident I felt in making suggestions, and realised that people were not as judging as I had assumed. In the end, I felt that I had made significant contribution to the success of our project,  despite a few bumps here and there, especially during my slip-up during the oral presentation.

Overall, as this module comes to a close, I felt that my communication and critical thinking skills have improved, and I learnt how to reform my thinking and approach obstacles from different perspectives.