Critical Reflection on Module and Project Learning

Over the course of these 13 weeks, in Critical Thinking and Communicating class, I received multiple valuable lessons on brushing up my critical thinking skills and communication skills. Due to my past leadership experiences, I always felt like I was a confident speaker. However, this course taught me that a confident speaker may not necessarily be a good speaker – an individual who can effectively and efficiently deliver messages. The Garr Reynolds presentation tips and Assertion-Evidence Approach had helped me improve my knowledge in being a good speaker.

Additionally, this course has honed and refreshed my writing skills. I was never a good writer, constantly scoring a sub-standard score of C5 in my secondary education. In fact, after spending two years in National Service, where colloquial English were prevalent through communication mediums, my writing abilities had drastically regressed. The course had taught me the Paul-Elder Framework, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning, all of which were paramount in refining my analytical and judgemental abilities, and in turned, helped me write with better clarity. Moreover, with the continuous and valuable feedback provided by my professor, I am now more confident in my writing abilities, for my future classes and Integrated Work Study Programme.

From the project which requires us to make a technical design report, I have further developed my skills in teamwork, research, and public presentation. The team faced challenges from landing on a topic for our technical report, finding relevant sources and time management. These challenges helped define the strengths and weaknesses of each teammate and allowed us to work holistically together as a team, drawing upon one another’s strengths. Through this project, I have also identified my strengths, making me more efficient in future projects. The librarian who taught us on avenues to find quality sources had tremendously assisted the team in making our report more accurate and trustworthy to stakeholders.

The project made me realise the importance of communication for efficiency. With the limited time we have, along with piles of assignment from other schoolwork, the team had to communicate efficiently in order prevent time from being wasted. The team set a timeline and framework for the report, before splitting the workload. Following which, we agreed to call weekly to provide the team with an update, before setting an agenda for the next meeting. The professionalism in which we operated also showcased the improvements in our communication efficiency over duration of the course.

Lastly, the project had brushed up my oral presentation skills. With my groupmates giving constructive feedback, it highlighted the areas where I had to improve and helped refine my presentation skills. After the presentation, the professor also gave insightful comments which will guide me to ace future presentations.

              Overall, through this course, all the lessons taught were insightful and helpful in my future, be it in my workplace or the remaining time in Singapore Institute of Technology. Lastly, I would like to thank my Professor, Mr. Brad Blackstone, for being exceptionally entertaining and knowledgeable in his profession, allowing me to look forward to all his classes. It was indeed an enjoyable experience and would highly recommend this course to my juniors.