#6: Final Reflection on Learning

Working on our group’s proposal has been a bittersweet journey for me. I can still remember how bitter I felt when Joe decided to drop the module, leaving Austen and I to complete a job meant for four students.

The severity of being a two man group showed when we were collecting research for the proposal. We had to tap extensively on our circle of friends in order to collect the number of respondents for our survey. Needless to say, the amount of writing for the proposal doubled for each of us.  Despite the fact that Austen had many innovative ideas to share, we were also concerned about the lack of different perspectives we have about our ideas. Thankfully, Amira agreed to sit in on our initial meetings to share her point of view. (So, thank you Amira! :D)

Though the workload doubled for us in a two man group, I have to admit that communication within the group is easier for us too. Setting up meetings was met with much less hindrance than compared to a four people group since we only had to consider the schedules of both of us.  Conflicts in ideas were also easier to solve.

I am thankful for this opportunity to work on this research project. Though this is not the first time I have written a research paper, I believe this is the first time that I had to collect so much primary research. Erstwhile, I had also learnt to look at different perspectives of ideas presented by my group.

As the semester draws to a close, I can safely say I have learnt how to communicate in a more effective manner. 

#5:Reflection on Oral Presentation

On Tuesday, my group and I presented to our classmates posing as members of Office and Estate Development (OED) on our proposal “Enhancing Accessibility of University Town”. For this presentation, the PowerPoint slides were prepared a week beforehand and our group also managed to find the time to rehearse a few times before the actual presentation.

I always had problems with formal presentations which is one of the reasons why I decided to take up this module. While I do have experience in presenting in a class of secondary school students, I find difficulty in the transition between that and a formal presentation setting. Though both settings involve the presentation of ideas, they still differ in many ways. For example, fillers such as ‘yeah’ which aid me in thinking has to be eliminated in the formal presentations. Though I managed to cut down on the usage of fillers in the actual presentation, I was still unable to eliminate it completely. I believe I have to make a conscious effort during actual presentations to get rid of this weakness of mine. In addition, I do realise that I tend not to enunciate my words clearly. This is considered a problem as it will hinder in the delivery of my ideas to the audience if they have difficulty in understanding me. I have to start enunciating my words on an everyday basis so it will come more naturally to me during formal presentations.

While I do have many weaknesses, I do like the fact that I am able to project my voice. I feel that this is able to show confidence. Also, I also like our group’s slides. They are not too wordy with many graphics to illustrate our points. The fact that the slides are colour-coded help to minimise the distraction for the audience.

All in all, I believe that I have improved significantly in giving formal presentations since the start of this semester and I am grateful for having taken this module.