Critical Reflection

As the trimester comes to an end, I was asked to write up a reflection about my journey on this path. There were two main goals that I have set for myself in regards to developing my effective communication skills. My main goals were to be an effective listener as well as to be clear and succinct in my message deliverance. Throughout the course of this module, I can say that I am on the right path to improving on my goals. My listening skills have improved drastically with the ongoing peer reflections and mini-presentations.  I have learned that the importance of being a good listener is apparent in our daily lives. The basics of listening appear to be fairly simple, but with some practice, the nature of being an effective listener seems much more than basic. By achieving this goal, it will come in handy in learning, in relationships, and in my professional life. Another advantage of being an effective listener is the potential to quickly express and relate ideas to others.

Besides effective listening, this module has provided an incentive for me to develop my presenting skills. The concept of a successful verbal presentation was demonstrated to us whereby groups of students review different instructional resources before explaining to the class what they had learned. This not only helped me improve my verbal communication skills with the mindset of teaching my peers but also helped me gain confidence speaking in front of an audience frequently. During the pitch and oral presentation, it was a pleasure to be able to witness my peers pitch their proposals. Every team did not fail to impress me with their innovative ideas, which was definitely interesting with their persuasiveness during the pitch. It was heart-warming to see everyone slowly improving their oral communication skills throughout this module.

Apart from my goals, the tasked blog posts and technical reports have helped me develop my confidence in writing. This is when I was able to notice my weaknesses in my writing skills during the crafting of our group proposal. I fail to be fluent in my technical writing and was unable to gather my thoughts in a structured and concise way. Preparing a concise report has been a difficult journey and my team's greatest obstacle was writing a report for audiences with no technical background. There are several terminology and information that we as engineers abide by, but it might not be apparent to someone from a different background. However, being able to master the ability to deliver my message across to anyone of any field will be incredibly useful and this will be an ongoing work in progress for me and my peers as I believe writing skills will come in handy for my peers and I. Similarly, the support from my peers during the oral presentations and various class discussions have also provided me with a deeper understanding of how I can improve. I will beyond any doubt continue to improve my writing skills via reading more journals and articles. Albeit the progress being rather slow, I am proud to see the improvements I have made throughout this trimester.

What I enjoyed the most in the module, was drafting up this critical reflection. Upon hearing another assignment tasked apart from the technical proposal, I was definitely bumped out with the idea of having more things to complete. However, sitting down and pondering on what I achieved in this trimester has open new doors for me and definitely made my objectives clearer. Apart from gaining clarity, this assignment has allowed me to see how far I have come and the things I need to constantly improve. Overall, effective communication class has served to be extremely memorable and it will be an ongoing learning process for which I am extremely grateful. 

Thank you Professor Somrita, till next time!