Assignment #1: Reflections, Week 13: Submission 2: Critical Reflection

At the beginning of the module, I was instructed to write a formal self-introduction email to the professor. The self-introduction email included two goals that I aimed to achieve by the end of the module. I set two goals for myself: to become a more confident public speaker and to improve my technical writing abilities. At this stage, I am delighted to say that I have made progress in both aspects, as the module focuses mostly on presenting and written assignments. The class activities that I have completed for each session have had a positive impact on my current performance. Critical thinking, reflection, paraphrasing, summarizing, referencing sources, developing design proposals, and delivering effective presentations are examples of class activities. Aside from interacting with others and giving speeches in front of a group, receiving constructive feedback will enhance the learning experience. Looking back, had I not received feedback on my presentation from my peers and professor, I would not have noticed certain concerning aspects of my presentation. Some examples of these include adopting an engaging tone rather than being monotonous, positioning appropriately to prevent obstructing the view of some audience members, while utilizing a suitable posture and apt gestures. Despite all the feedback I have received, I still believe that there is room for improvement. This module also taught me that putting what I have learned into practice is the most effective approach for me to further develop my communication abilities. Aside from communication skills, another critical takeaway from this module is understanding how to avoid plagiarism through proper citation. The Fundamentals of APA 7th Edition text citations. This skill set, I feel, will be essential in the pursuit of my master's degree in the coming years. Furthermore, with the introduction to technical writing, I can build a deeper understanding of how to initiate the design project while referencing the Intellectual Standards of the Paul-Elder Framework. This would assist in improving my technical writing abilities.

The project experience with the design proposal report has been fantastic. Initially, I thought our first proposal was excellent. However, halfway through the project, our team discovered an issue; we discovered that the chosen modification product was currently the best on the market. Fortunately, our team was able to reach an agreement on how to make our proposed solution work during the meetings. I learnt the importance of critical thinking and effective communication. Critical thinking increases productivity as we can analyze a problem and see it from a multifaceted view. By communicating effectively with my team, it ensures that everyone is on the same page. Despite experiencing some difficulties, our team was able to overcome all problems and complete the drafting. For the oral presentation portion, each of us met up for two consecutive days to rehearse. We went through the entire slideshow together so that the whole team was familiar with the content. From there, we give feedback to each other on how we can further improve our presentations. This helped us build confidence and create a stronger bond between us. In the end, we managed to pull through together, despite the busy schedule. The three of us all came from different backgrounds and worked together as a team to achieve a concise design proposal report, which is something that we could encounter in our future engineering careers. Indeed, this is an excellent opportunity to interact with people of diverse backgrounds, each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Thus, there will be different viewpoints and ideas. It is important to respect them for who they are. As a leader, I understood that words of encouragement are critical when the team faces challenges. I would frequently demonstrate that I trusted them and that there was always another way to tackle the problem, something I was always confident the team could pull off.

Overall, the 13-week curriculum has been a fantastic learning experience. The classes are very engaging, and I am being introduced to classmates with whom I have never before engaged. I developed public speaking confidence and enhanced my report writing abilities. With this, I aim to conclude with a quote: "Learning is a continuous process of gaining knowledge and skills, which we never ever are stopped because life never stops teaching us" (Kakreja, 2018, para. 1).

Reference: 

Kakrejia, A. (2018, June 9). Learning Is A Journey That Never Ends. Medium. https://medium.com/@arty.kakrejasiba/learning-is-a-journey-that-never-ends-e172f02d6cbc