Critical Reflection

Throughout the course of this module, I believe that I have gained a better understanding of what it means to properly utilise effective communication through verbal and non-verbal means, especially as a prospective mechanical engineer. I have gotten many opportunities to properly furnish my skills in technical writing as well as oral presentations and I truly believe that there have been improvements made.

Initially, I identified that I had problems presenting with confidence and had trouble properly pacing myself. This was mainly accredited to nerves. Hence, I decided that by the end of this module, I would aim to improve my proficiency in speaking. Fortunately, the classes provided many opportunities to practise through weekly class sharings and mock presentations. As a result, I was able to successfully calm my nerves and speak comfortably while addressing an audience. I learned that maintaining eye contact with individuals in the crowd helps remind me to slow down when talking and not to rush to get my words out. This also helps me to be less anxious as I consciously put in the effort to relax. As I constantly worked on those shortcomings of mine, I found myself refining both of these verbal and non-verbal skills. 

Critical thinking helps us solve and identify problems through asking related questions and deciding which information is relevant to the topic. In order to improve on my presentations, I started to analyse and asked myself about my objectives and who my target audience was. I was then able to frame my presentation around the main problem that I wish to solve and work towards persuading my audience. This way, I was less likely to fall prey to my own cognitive biases and assumptions as a key aspect of critical thinking is taking a skeptical eye to our own work. Critical thinking and communication are both important skills to hone in the workplace and I’m sure that it will prove to be useful in the future. 

The research project was really an eye-opening experience for me. Not only did I get the opportunity to work with people that I did not have the chance to previously, I was able to make use of various methods of critical thinking that we had learnt in class previously and apply it to real life context. I am very appreciative of my teammates who actively contributed to the assignment and were very willing to have open discussions of possible ideas for the project. We were able to exchange our views and everyone was very respectful of each other's opinions even if they were differing. This made me realise how important good team communication was. If it weren’t for how conducive our discussions were, I doubt that we would have been able to complete the project as efficiently. 

Over the course of this project, I came to the realisation that I have the ability to keep the group grounded and helped with making sure that our ideas were realistic and able to be executed. I believe that this helped our team stay focused on the project’s main objectives and made sure no one strayed away from non-essential tasks. As for our leader Yon Jun, he delegated tasks effectively and kept us on track. I observed that this helped with the overall productivity of our team and we were able to produce satisfactory results while ensuring the timely delivery of the project. Our team’s main product designer, Jun Yang, was always able to translate our ideas into a viable design. This stems from him constantly following up after our discussions and asking questions to confirm certain details regarding the idea. Not only was he very responsive and open to accepting everyone’s thoughts, he made sure to reflect those ideas into the execution of the proposed product. This made everyone feel included and it boosted the morale of the group as a whole. 

All in all, it was incredibly enriching being able to witness all these communication skills that we often only hear of in theory be put into effect. I also acquired more knowledge on how to make use of visual aids to make a more impactful impression and how it helps convey our points more concisely for an audience to understand at a glance. Overall, I was enlightened on the importance of critical thinking and communication as well as how essential it is in our daily lives.