Critical Reflection

 Before starting the Critical Thinking and Communication module, I did not ponder too much over the module as I thought 'it was just another English lesson'. However, when the module began, we were asked to introduce ourselves through a letter and what we wanted to achieve. I thought about my weaknesses in the confidence of having to present in larger groups and initiating conversations with newer individuals. These were the main weaknesses I have always wanted to improve on. Therefore, setting them as my goal might be a good starting point for overcoming my fears and hopefully increasing my confidence. During this module, I have had several opportunities to present in front of my classmates. Even though they were brief presentations, they were what I identify as my steppingstones in getting where I am today. Through mock-up presentations, I received constructional feedbacks from my peers and professor, and through those means, I was able to see the amount of confidence my classmates had in me when I was getting my idea across. They listened earnestly and encouraged me to pace whenever I tensed up and rushed through my presentation. Their feedback allowed me to see my weaknesses and strengths and have helped me to work towards improvements. Although I slipped back into nervousness during my final presentation and allowed it to get the better of me, I was able to compare myself now to before this module started. Before this module started, I would struggle the second I stood in front of a large audience, but now, I can begin my presentation in confidence for an extended period. Not many would consider this as an achievement as I still get nervous and shiver during my presentation. However, only I would understand how far I have come and demonstrated my improvements through my presentations. This module has helped me gain more confidence in presenting myself to an audience and vocalizing towards new individuals I do not know well. I will continue to work towards improvements as I do more presentations with my peers and make amendments towards feedbacks provided.

Throughout this module, I gained new insights, such as report writing, which I had never encountered before. When our task was to form groups to write reports, I was lost on where or how to begin. As I lacked knowledge on how to start, my group mates and professor guided me slowly to start my report, ensuring I knew what information was to be included and what could be left out. As report writing required many fact-findings, I referred to multiple available resources. Before I took on critical thinking and communication, I had not understood how to differentiate a credible source, unaware of google scholar, or how our reports should include references. Through multiple examples shown and explained, I started to understand the different types of reports, how they can be written. Through this project, I also got a chance to work with classmates I have yet to speak with. Group discussions made me initiate conversations with them, pushing me out of my shell and improving my vocalizing and presentation skills towards newer individuals. As my overall course requires a lot of report writing, I am happy that this module was taught as part of my curriculum. Through this module, I have learned so much from report writing, from researching credible information and the relevance of the information to the different types of citations required at other parts of the report. I believe the skills I gained from this module would be of great help in my future, and I am proud to have completed this module, achieved my goals set at the beginning of the class.

Thank you Professor Brad!