Critical Reflection

At the start of the critical thinking and communication module, I was confident in my writing and presentation skills, aiming to improve them to meet university and professional standards. However, as I progressed through the module, I realised there was much more to learn. I learnt new skills while writing my reader response by effectively annotating texts related to my chosen system design, summarising, providing background information, and constructing thesis statements to summarise background ideas. Moreover, I learned to apply critical thinking principles from the Paul-Elder Framework, which involves Elements of Thought and Intellectual Standards in reading and writing. These newfound skills and techniques have significantly enhanced my writing and sharpened my critical thinking abilities.

Additionally, I recognised the pivotal role that giving and receiving feedback plays in honing my writing skills and learning from others. Throughout the module, I had numerous opportunities to receive constructive feedback on my work and to provide feedback to my peers. By consistently practising writing, actively seeking and reflecting on feedback, and engaging in critical thinking activities, I am confident that I will continue to strengthen my skills.

During the initial stage of the project, getting to know my teammate's strengths and weaknesses is very important for us to do the best we can for the research project. I always had shallow confidence in my speaking and presenting skills as I was afraid, I could not project my voice and be clear. However, as a team, we prepared the slides format in a way that best suited us and helped each other with the script writing. We rehearsed our presentation many times to be fluent in it and the content. However, during the presentation, we realised that heavily relying on memorising the script was not good, as we ended up speeding through our presentation. However, our rehearsals did not go in vain, as I was able to project my voice and be clear with my content during the question-and-answer session. Through the constructive feedback from Professor Blackstone and my peers, I understood where I could improve in my presentation. Overall, this project experience made me understand the importance of teamwork, personal development, adaptability, feedback, and learning from mistakes in achieving success in collaborative projects and personal growth.

As I'm slowly developing into an engineer in the future, the skills I learnt from the critical thinking and communication module will be crucial when I start working, presenting innovative ideas, communicating and sharing key engineering elements, and working as a team. I hope the experiences and skills I gained will be put to good use.