Critical Reflection

Looking back on the objectives I have set for myself three months ago, I definitely feel more confident and comfortable during presentations. However, there is still room for improvement such as projecting my voice and using the space around me more effectively. The greatest contribution to my improvement was of course lots of practice and research in the topic that I am presenting. Instead of memorizing a script, I came up with key points for each section and linked them together without relying on the slides. In this way, I will not stress on delivering a perfect speech, but a smooth one instead.

In terms of my critical thinking skills, this was an area that required more discipline and effort to improve on. One of the things I found particularly useful is 'The Thinking Process' in instructional unit 3. "A great deal of your time at university will be spent thinking; thinking about what people have said, what you have read, what you yourself are thinking and how your thinking has changed" (Brookfield, 1987). What I can say is that I was definitely not the same person I was before entering university six months ago. I began to reflect and think more, not just on my studies but also on my daily experiences. I started to question what I have learnt before and looked into things with another perspective to allow for new information. This is where many "a-ha" moments were created as well. In this process, there are often collisions of previous understandings and beliefs with the new knowledge gained. This is where I believe that critical thinking and my change of perception enabled a whole new learning experience.

For our technical report assignment, adequate writing skills are essential. Writing has always been one of my strong suits, but it was not easy to take the step past the secondary school, five-paragraph essay standards, as I felt no need to improve myself. Stepping out, indeed, has opened my mind immensely. I felt that my thoughts are less constricted and more complex through critical thinking which allows me to keep logical arguments organized. For instance, in the summary reader response assignment, we are required to give a counterargument that goes against our thesis. This improved my ability to think from multiple perspectives and point out potential problems instead of sticking to one-sided arguments.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and I am grateful that it was not a repeat of our polytechnic's communication modules. It can be difficult to execute what we have learnt immediately, but it does not mean that we should forget about them. I believe that constant revision will allow myself to be more prepared in various situations and be able to correctly implement what was learnt.

Reference

Brookfield, S. (1987). Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting.