Critical reflection on developing communication skills. (Updated)

In just a couple of weeks’ time, the first trimester of university will come to an end. As much as I am procrastinating for this module to be over, I appreciate its intention as it forces me to sharpen my writing and oral skills. What makes this learning journey a less tedious process is its setting; it is conducted in an interactive and thought provoking manner where everyone is open to ideas and criticism. I am really grateful to my tutor, Brad and my fellow tutorial classmates in making this learning journey a pleasant one.

The takeaway I have from this module is beyond mere “education”. As humans, it is in our nature to communicate with one another; however “communicating” alone is not sufficient. It is even more essential to communicate in an effective manner whereby others are able to understand the message I am trying to convey. Having said so, this effectiveness cannot be achieved if it is only one-sided, just like how we need both hands to form a clap.

Assignments such as writing a reader response of an article, which one may consider it as a simple task, is actually quite a handful for me to handle. My peers and tutor spent precious time giving valuable feedback to me. It is only right for me to be constantly reflecting, reviewing and improving on my work. Not forgetting my technical report group mates: Kevin and Danish, for being so co-operative in “getting things done” and distributing the workload. From brainstorming of the problem statement, crafting & editing the report and lastly to submitting of the report.

I can already anticipate that there will be more report writing in the remaining course of study. Whatever I’ve learnt in this module can definitely be put into good use. And with practice, I can further develop my writing skills to be more concise and coherent.

Separately, I truly enjoy how this module reminded me the importance of self-reflection. In this hectic and fast pacing era, we are always either quick to pass statements without actually giving much thought or busy meeting deadlines that we often neglect the most important thing - our own well-being. I found a quote online by Ariel Garten that reads “Much of time we are transfixed by all the ways we can reflect ourselves out into the world and barely find the time to reflect back deeply in on our own selves.” and couldn’t agree more! Self-reflection allows me to take some time off and simply appreciate myself better.

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Updated on: 29 Nov 2016.

"Know thyself, with a brain scanner"

Garten, A. (2011, September). Know thyself, with a brain scanner [Video]. Retrieved November 29, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ariel_garten_know_thyself_with_a_brain_scanner/transcript?language=en

Letter of Transmittal.

31 October 2016

Mr Brad Blackstone

Senior Lecturer

Singapore Institute of Technology

SIT @ Dover

10 Dover Drive

Singapore 138683

Dear Brad,

Proposal for the enhancement of the Park & Ride Scheme

This letter is to inform you of our acknowledgement to your letter of authorization. We would like to present to you our proposal for the enhancement of the Park & Ride (P&R) scheme to further improve the scheme.

The Park & Ride scheme was introduced in the 1970s to tackle the traffic congestion issue in the Central Business District (CBD) area by encouraging drivers to park at carparks along the fringes of the CBD and connecting these carparks to public transport systems such as the MRT and public buses. However, the scheme was unpopular throughout the years as it brought about many inconveniences to its users. Furthermore, the scheme was subjected to abuse as unintended motorists took advantage of the cheaper parking rates offered at the P&R carparks.

In view of this, our team has developed two solutions to tackle the issues faced by scheme. The first solution would be to engage private bus companies to provide shuttle bus services to ferry applicants of the scheme into the CBD. This would increase the convenience for motorists in the second phase of their journey to their workplaces in the CBD. The second solution is to tighten the control of the usage of the scheme. This is achieved by requiring a potential user to make a formal registration for the scheme. As such, only the user of the P&R scheme will be able to enjoy the benefits and privileges which will be further elaborated in our report below.

The team would like to thank you for taking the time to read through our proposal. We hope that you will consider our proposed solutions to re-commission the P&R scheme which will reduce the traffic congestion in the CBD area.

Yours sincerely,

Team KAD (Kevin, Alcina, Danish)

Critical reflection on developing communication skills.

In just a couple of weeks’ time, the first trimester of university will come to an end. As much as I was procrastinating for this module to be over, I appreciate its intention as it forces me to sharpen my writing and oral skills. What makes the learning process less tedious is the setting; it is conducted in an interactive and thought provoking manner where everyone is open to ideas and criticism. I am really grateful that my tutor, Brad and my fellow tutorial classmates were able to make this learning journey a pleasant one.

The takeaway I have from this module is beyond mere “education”. As humans, it is in our nature to communicate with one another; however “communicating” alone is not sufficient. It is even more essential to communicate in an effective manner in which others are able to understand the message I am trying to convey. Having said so, this effectiveness cannot be achieved if it is only one-sided as to how we need both hands to form a clap.

Through assignments such as writing a reader response of an article, which one may seem like a simple task, is actually quite a handful to handle. My peers and tutor spent precious time giving valuable feedback for me to reflect and it is only right for me to be constantly reviewing and improving on my work. Not forgetting my technical report group mates, Kevin and Danish for being so co-operative in “getting things done” and distributing the workload. From brainstorming of the problem statement, crafting and editing the report to finally submission of the report.

I can already anticipate there will be more report writing in the remaining course of studies. Whatever I’ve learnt in this module can definitely be put into good use. And with practice, I can further develop my writing skills to be more concise and coherent.

Analytical reflection on Presentation day, 7 November 2016.

Being the first group to present can be indeed challenging as we have lesser preparation time to plan and design our presentation. Therefore, we decided to go with a simplicity approach. Each slide will have ten to fifteen words for every item and the presenter will have to elaborate on it. This presentation style is considerably the first for me as I am used to designing the slides to have more words to help elaborate and distribute the audience’s focus between the slides and me. To make matter worse, we faced some technical problem with the projector and were nearly not able to use our slides to aid our presentation. Thankfully, we managed to switch to a room with a working projector.

For the record, presentation had never been something enjoyable to me and given the heightened situation above, it definitely brought my nervousness to a whole new level. I was surprised that I managed to hide away my anxiety and delivered my presentation with a smooth flow and maintaining eye contact. Although most of the feedback I got were encouraging, I am slightly dissatisfied with my performance as I was using some fillers and I did not transit to the next presenter. On top of that, I was also not able to project my voice out to the audience as much as I wanted to.

Overall, I am really proud of myself to try this new presentation style and it had really boosted my confidence in presenting to a bigger crowd when the attention is drawn towards me. Although there are still some areas for me to work on, I understand that this kind of presentation reflects the reality of how it is going to be in the society. With more practice, this new style would definitely help prepare and develop my presentation skills in the future.


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Commented on:

- Iskandar’s Analytical Reflection on 29 Nov 2016

- Fazira’s Analytical Reflection on 29 Nov 2016

- Masyita's Analytical Reflection on 21 Nov 2016

- Jerry's Analytical reflection on 21 Nov 2016

Final Draft - Summary and Reader Response (Detroit House article).

In the article “This Detroit House is being turned into a living model of cost-saving sustainable design”, Peters (2016) illustrates how a group of three architecture graduates purchased a house with the intention of sharing their knowledge in sustainability with the community of Detroit through their project ‘“Motown Movement”’. The students conducted a brief research of Detroit and noticed the locals have already implemented some form of eco-friendly practices, however they are still lacking in knowledge of modifying their existing house in a more cost-efficient way. Hence, the students’ constructed a two-storey model house to use the ground level as a “training facility” while the upper level accommodates family who are homeless. Some sustainable examples incorporated in their model are usage of solar panels, “graywater system” for rainwater harvesting and converting of “sewage into biogas and fertiliser” using “septic tank”. The students are adopting the “do-it-yourself” method, as such the construction materials used should be easily available at any local supply stores. Owing to ‘“Motown Movement”’ being versatile, it can also be applicable to other climate conditions globally and the students aim to increase the awareness of sustainable design with more communities to educate them on the simplicity and benefits of it. While Peters is able to display some benefits of sustainable initiatives through the students’ project, I feel that her article is lacking in explaining the importance of sustainability in today’s society.

The first reason why Peters’ article is lacking in explaining the importance of sustainability is because it seems to focus largely on the cost-saving aspect. Reusing “materials from abandoned houses” and installing “insulation to reduce energy use as much as 70%” are example of savings in either construction materials or energy consumption costing. These examples are directed to the idea of finding “affordable” ways to improve an existing house to be cost-efficient. The savings in monetary terms should be an added advantage of sustainability rather than a focal point.

In contrast to the cost-saving benefits as shown through ‘“Motown Movement”’ in Peters’ article, the importance of sustainability can be divided into three pillars: environmental protection, economic development and social development (Mason, n.d.). The publication "Singapore Sustainable Blueprint 2015" (2014) discusses on all three pillars and is able to give the reader a well-rounded explanation on the need for sustainability. In Singapore’s context, the components such as reducing carbon footprint emission, reducing of wastes and saving of water resources falls under environmental protection. As per the publication, the competition for “finite supply of resources” (Singapore Sustainable Blueprint 2015, 2014, p. 10) will be increasing due to global development and population growth. With Singapore’s limitations, the need for optimising the use of “precious resources” (PM Lee, 2014, para. 7) is even more prevalent in order to keep up globally. In conjunction, businesses in Singapore will adopt environmentally-friendly practices to contribute to being a cutting-edge business hub. Future industrials estates will be introduced as “living laboratory that fosters creativity and innovation” (Singapore Sustainable Blueprint 2015, 2014, p. 16). Lastly on the social aspect, everyone in the nation will be the beneficiary of the desired outcomes of sustainability. This requires the communities, government and businesses to be united in “shaping our neighbourhoods and building a more gracious society together” (Singapore Sustainable Blueprint 2015, 2014, p. 17).

In conclusion, although Peters’ article discusses on the examples of simple sustainable techniques and its benefits, it does not convey the importance of sustainability. With the ever-increasing growth of population worldwide and a rapid depletion of natural resources, the collective efforts in sustainable development is crucial to remain competitive; and at the same time environmentally friendly.

(601 words)

References

Mason, M. (n.d.). What Is Sustainability and Why Is It Important? Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://www.environmentalscience.org/sustainability

Our Home, Our Environment, Our Future. Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015. (n.d.).  Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://www.mewr.gov.sg/ssb/files/ssb2015.pdf

Peters, A. (2016, July 7). This Detroit House Is Being Turned Into a Living Model Of Cost-Saving Sustainable Design. Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3061563/world-changing-ideas/this-detroit-house-is-being-turned-into-a-living-model-of-cost-saving-s

PM unveils Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015 to renew strategies for a liveable and sustainable Singapore. (2014, November 8). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://www.nccs.gov.sg/news/pm-unveils-sustainable-singapore-blueprint-2015-renew-strategies-liveable-and-sustainable