Critical Reflection

Back at the start of the module when I did the descriptive reflection, I gave myself the goal of improving my language and writing. I learned that it is important to apply critical thinking and critical reflection skills to many things, such as my writing for letters or reports. I was taught several topics about critical thinking throughout the course, such as Dewey's model of reflective thought and action. It is a step-by-step thinking process starting from defining the problem, analyzing it, reading up on and studying relevant, valid topics to find solutions, generating multiple solutions and finally choosing the best solution that is the most logical and superior. This has greatly assisted me in understanding a challenging concept as it allowed me to question and reflect on my thought process. This in turn helped not only with my tech report and summary reader response but also reports in the other modules, as now I have a clearer understanding of how to start and the direction to go from there.


In terms of communication, this module placed me with different teams multiple times and we mostly had to do a task together, which meant we had to familiarize ourselves with each other quickly and get the task done. This has resulted in my learning to provide feedback, whether good or bad, and communicate effectively on the subject matter with strangers instead of shying away as time was of the essence. I encourage teammates to check up on each other's work, as different people may have better opinions or greater knowledge of that subject, which in turn will benefit the team as a whole when corrections are made. Even though I have learned to accept criticism and have an open mind, feedback given may not always be good, as it may not always be right. Research and discussions must be done so we can each give our own opinions on the subject and agree on it as a team so a common ground can be reached. Lastly, I aim to improve my critical thinking and communication skills by applying them not only in my education but also in my day-to-day life and my future work life, as these are essential skills to have.


In the past, I used to have a script with me while doing a presentation, as I tend to blank out or forget my lines in the middle of a presentation. I had to think of a way to solve this issue as I could not bring a script to the presentation. I learned that instead of memorizing word for word what I want to say, I instead memorize keywords and then talk from the knowledge I have of them. That meant I had to read up and be very knowledgeable of the topic. Multiple trail runs were done where I recited the entire presentation multiple times a day without even looking at anything, so I would have all this information embedded in my head. I learned from the mock presentations that this method worked better as I could continuously talk without blanking out as all this information was already embedded in my head like muscle memory. This experience has really helped me in terms of presentation skills, and this skill will still be useful and relevant when I go out into the workforce. 


To further improve my presentation skills, I observed the presentations of others and recordings of my own, I then asked friends and classmates for feedback on mine. I noticed a few habits that I and many others had during the presentations, despite knowing full well that we shouldn’t be making them, such as hand gestures and making use of the space, but I was too engrossed in the presentation to notice myself doing it. I will remember the habits I made and will keep them in mind the next time I do a presentation.

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