Critical Reflection

The last lesson of Effective Communication marks an end to the semester, it also means exam are coming. Looking back at the past two month, Effective Communication was definitely one of the most fruitful lessons that i had. Initially, the module was a dread for me as my foundation in English language is weaker as compared to other students. Writing blog post or summary in proper language is a challenge. Moreover, students have to give feedback to their classmate, which I find it difficult to give constructive a good feedback.

However, every lessons there is a great takeaway. From the beginning of the module, we learnt the importance of giving and accepting feedback. Giving feedback may not be as easy as one thought. Much consideration have to be done before commenting on other classmate blog post. We have to consider the language used for commenting, how the post could be improved, and to express the appreciation for the experience shared. Often, instead of spotting any mistake in the blog post, I was reading and getting to know my classmates through their shared experience. Accepting feedback was also not an easy feat. Based on the given feedback from lecturers and peers, we have to reflect on what had went wrong and how we could improvement or changed. It was a challenge as it felt like someone was only looking at our negative points. Thus, it is important to mention the positive points too. Giving and accepting feedback can be easily applied into other modules and our daily life. As we are only first year students, there are still many module presentations ahead of us to apply what we had ‘learn and unlearn’ through the feedback.

Referencing and citation is also one of the most important part of the lesson. For my polytechnic projects, most of the groups and students only knew about the referencing of the sources. Even though we knew about in-text citation, yet we do not know how and where it should be applied. Through Effective Communication, I learnt how to ‘write’ citation and the importance of it, crediting the rightful owner of the sources we used. This definitely should be and had to be applied in all other modules and any reports that we write in the future.

Presentation skills taught in the class was also of great value. We would have to present not just for project in school, but also after we graduate. Besides how we present ourselves during presentation, the slides that we used also add points for our presentation.

Effective Communication was a great module that build students foundation and understanding of writing and presentation skills. These skills enhance our report writing and presentation, ensuring that we are on par with students from other local universities. Not losing out, we have to ensure that what was taught and learnt are apply in the future.