Through SIE2016, I have gained a deeper understanding of communication skills including the verbal, non-verbal and written aspects of communication. I cannot believe how far I have gone by looking back at my first blog post. I see effective communication as a life-long ‘learning’. I conclude that we will never stop learning and it takes experience and practice to improve our communication skills.
The two most valuable takeaways from this course are learning about elevator pitch and listening is equally important as speaking when it come to communication. The activities that I enjoyed the most was the presentation that I had to explain about "The Assertion- Evidence Approach for Scientific Presentations", it was stressful as I only get ten minutes to prepare, but it improves my confidence in front of my peers. It was fun, and I have learned other presentation method from my peers. I felt that this was a great exercise and it has better prepared me for an unscripted presentation.
As Brad has mentioned previously, the most efficient way to improve writing skills is by practice writing. I find to be true as I felt that my writing is better now compared to the first blog I had posted. Initially, I found blogging laborious due to my poor writing skills. However, I could see my writing skills improving gradually through the assignments. Through blog writing, I notice that I tend to write minimal without much elaboration. Hence, I am grateful for the comments received from my peers and Brad as it had assisted me to identify my weaknesses and help to improve my writing skills further.
The project was an excellent opportunity for me to apply what I have learned through the course. I tried to adopt the 7Cs when I was writing the proposal and practice effective communication with my teammates. Besides this, I had a chance to create a survey and carry out an interview with Dr Andrew Ng.
I feel that the presentation was a stressful, yet rewarding experience for me. I have learned more about my weakness from listening to how my peers presented their proposal. I appreciate the encouragement and feedback on ways to improve my presentation skills. I believe that the learning experiences would be valuable to me forever.
Lastly, I would like to thank Brad for the excellent learning experience and my peers for making SIE2016 enjoyable.
Thank you, Calvin, for this comprehensive reflection. I'm happy to know that you found so much positive in the tasks you did in SIE2016, especially as you describe some takeaways and the various experiences you had with presenting, blogging and the project work. It's also nice to know that you benefited from the peer feedback as well.
ReplyDeleteFinally, it seems that you were inspired by the module. I hope that fervor carries over to your future study experience.
All the best, Calvin, as you continue your learning journey!