Final reflections

ES2007S has been an unforgettable experience. I still remember thinking that the workload seemed really heavy when Jivs first suggested we take this module. But as they say nothing worthwhile comes easy, "no pain, no gain" and this module is a classic example. I have truly developed as an individual, become more aware and tolerant as well as overcome many of my fears in terms of communication and emerged victorious.

Experiences such as the peer teaching and to a larger scale the team project taught me to collaborate and work with people. I had to care for my team members, accomodate their schedules and even negotiate with them at times. So many people skills were honed in this process. Importantly, I learnt to put myself in the shoes of another person before acting and I learnt to treat someone the way I would want them to treat me. As for the oral presentation aspect, I am proud that I managed to overcome the fear of speaking in front of people and have even succeeded in enjoying presenting. The content in this module has also provoked me to constantly try to be an active listener, better speaker and presenter and all in all an effective communicator.

The assignments have also taught me how to structure my information effectively and most importantly how to promote myself, an essential life skill when entering the workforce I must say. I am now able to analyse my audience and not only tailormake emails or letters suiting each of them, I am also able to change the way I would present my ideas verbally to each of them.

What I benefitted most from was the constant participation that was required of us during class and the constructive criticism we had to constantly give as well as receive. This was the part I found the most difficult. It is always easiest to keep your comments to yourself and not bring it up to someone if you think what you are going to say is not something the other party wants to hear. But through the blogging exercise in this module, I have realised that having to give honest comments on someone's post has helped me think critically and receiving feedback from peers has also helped me improve myself a lot.

And yes this is not the end. I see it as the beginning of effective communication in my years to come. Finally I would like to thank everyone in class as well as Brad for having made this learning experience a joyous and wonderful one.

The Art of Communication

This may have been true for some or even most of us when we entered this course. Well it certainly was for me. Active listening was something of the past. This should be pretty understandable for anyone who has been to the numerous lectures in NUS. At some point everyone will tune off, it is just a matter of when. But this module was different. I have to confess that if I were to look back at my university education, I will definitely say that ' Hey that module really drove the importance of communication into my brain'.

I may not be a perfect communicator or even a near perfect one at the end of this course but I am much more aware as an individual of the various aspects of communication some of which I had been practising but never realised, some of which I never gave much thought to.

In retrospect, there are two main aspects that I have pondered on the most. This quote by Winston Churchill says it all. "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what is takes to sit down and listen". Be it intentionally or unintentionally I feel we have been made to step out of our comfort zones and communicate as well as sit back and ponder on what our coursemates have said throughout this course.

I sincerely hope to continue making an effort to communicate effectively and let me end off by saying that the long list of resolutions will continue in my next blog post.

OP reflections

First and foremost I would like to thank all my team members. I know how stressed all of you were with all the numerous other commitments you had. But I am glad we managed to pull through together as a team. The support and honest comments we gave each other when practising the day before the presentation really united us and the commitment each of you displayed impressed me. Thanks again guys.

I think Germaine has comprehensively summarised how each of us presented but the main thing that struck me was how much improvement we have made since the peer teaching.

Personally, I was a bit jittery because this is the first professional style presentation I have made and I had to keep reminding myself not to try to engage the audience in a colloquial manner. I think I suceeded pretty well. I also surprised myself by maintaining good eye contact. It was kind of fun as it became like a game: Choose a person for each concept that needs to brought across, maintain eye contact and explain to them like I would to a friend albeit formally. And it worked.

However, I was nervous in the beginning and may have stumbled upon some words. I also realised that the other habit I have when I am nervous is that I sway slightly or move forwards and backwards. I tried hard to control it during peer teaching but totally forgot about it during the OP. I am aware that this may be distracting and this is something I intend to work on.

Personally this topic is something I feel for as I come from a family of teachers and my intention was to deliver with sincerity and dedicate the presentation to the poor teachers who may have experienced tremendous anxiety in similar situations as discussed in our OP.

Not only has this OP allowed me to assess my strength and weaknesses and grow as a presenter, the process leading up to this OP has enriched me as an individual and I would like to thank everyone who has played a part in it.