Critical Reflection

 3.2.1

I started this course with two main goals for myself which is to improve my presentation and writing skills. Looking back, I have made good progress on both but there are still room for improvement. In order to improve my presentation skills, I memorized the main points of my presentation and keep practicing to reduce my reliance on slides and also to improve my confidence. But I still catch myself looking at the slides, especially when I am nervous. Therefore, I will need to become more familiar with the subject that I am presenting if I want to improve my presentation skills. When it comes to writing skills, I have discovered that it is more important to focus on accuracy and clarity than just trying to reach the word count target. Planning my ideas in advance has helped me prevent repetition and concentrate on delivering my point clearly. Additionally, peer review has been helpful to me in refining my work. Though I am still working on it, I still have the tendency to write too much in my initial draft. Thanks to this course, my critical and communication skills have also improved. Group discussions have helped me express myself more clearly and listen to others better, while tasks like analyzing problems have enhanced my ability to reason. In the future, I plan to continue practice my presentation and writing skills.

3.2.2

Developing my teamwork skills was one of the focus of the research project and I learnt valuable lessons about collaboration from the experience. I came to the realization that I should not be afraid to voice out my own opinion because doing so will limit the group's potential ideas. At first, I was hesitant to express my opinion as I was concerned about how others will interpret them, but I realized that sharing my thoughts in the group is essential as it will contribute to the project's overall success. I also learnt that it is important to have faith in my teammates and avoid the tendency to micromanage. Initially, I felt the need to oversee every detail to ensure everything was completed correctly. Over time, I realized that this approach might affect the confidence and contributions of my teammates. By trusting my teammates to handle their responsibilities, I was able to observe their competence and this improved our group dynamic. This experience changed the way I think about teamwork. I discovered that effective teamwork requires both expressing my opinion and respecting other people opinion. It involves striking a balance between taking initiative and allowing others to work. I intend to apply the skills I have learned by encouraging trust in teams and speaking up more about my ideas. These skills will help me to create more cohesive group experiences.


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