Critical Reflection

Module Reflection

At the start of the course, I aimed to understand how to apply critical thinking effectively in report writing and presentations. I also wanted to be more expressive when I present or give a speech. Now that the course is about to be completed, it is paramount to evaluate what I have achieved and whether I met my goals that I had set. I am confident to say that I better understand how to apply critical thinking effectively in report writing. In the course, we learnt about Paul-Elder's Critical Thinking Framework, which taught us how to better evaluate the credibility of sources and validity of an argument.  For example, using the intellectual standards of Accuracy, Significance, Relevance and Clarity, we can determine whether the source is appropriate to be used in a report. Since learning about this, it has been easier to sieve out stronger sources of information for my reports. 

However, I feel that I can still improve on my expressiveness when I present. Throughout the module, when I was given the opportunity to be vocal and read a block of text aloud, I would speak in a monotonous tone without realizing as I am used to speaking in that manner. Moreover, during the group project presentation, I was aware that I had pauses between sentences. Despite that one of the instances was due to the malfunction of my laser pointer, I knew that there were times I relied on the information on the slides. One improvement that I could make is to be a little more prepared and know the script by heart. To do that, I will have to do more mental rehearsals. Overall, I am satisfied with what I achieved so far and that most of my goals have been met.

Project Reflection

In our group project, my team initially had difficulty coming up with a proper solution as the topic we had chosen was not as straightforward as we had thought it would be. We had came up with a solution based on an academic paper we found online, but then we realized that the solution in our project should not be using other people's research. Through discussion, we were able to formulate another solution. We were able to find out the flaw we had and come up with an appropriate solution only by voicing our honest opinions to one another. Through this process, I learnt that it is important to voice out any thoughts you have in a project so that a more thorough discussion can take place. This can result in improvements made to the project. I also learnt that people have their own way of thinking so if you do not clarify with your teammates on what is the common understanding of the project, there could be a misunderstanding within the team. An example of the importance of common understanding in a team is during our mock group presentation. I thought I was the next speaker and proceeded to present when in fact, it was not my turn to speak yet. Although it was purely my forgetfulness, it goes to show the importance of each member knowing their role and responsibility. From this project, I have experienced first hand, the importance of being vocal in a team and being able to form a common understanding of the project and our individual roles and responsibilities. I will use this experience to ensure that future projects can be better in achieving these points.