Saturday 20 April 2013

Final reflection on learning


Firstly, I must thank each and every one of my classmates for making es2007s such an enjoyable module!  Special thanks to Brad, who has taught me the essential skills in communicating, writing, presenting, which are applicable for both school and work.

Before this module, I never had the confidence to speak up during tutorial sessions, as I find it embarrassing to raise questions or to voice out any opinions during tutorial discussion. During one of our tutorial session earlier on, Sofie shared her views towards this issue, and that totally change my mindset towards speaking up in class. She said that she was once bothered by this issue, but her classmates gave feedback and said that the questions she asked were very helpful, as those questions coincided with their questions. After this sharing, I no longer feel uncomfortable speaking up in our tutorial class, THANKYOU SOFIE.

In the course of the module, each of us has a fair chance to work with almost every one of our classmates. We are randomly divided into different groups for peer teaching and research proposal. From there, we worked together as a team, and everyone has a role to play. Each of us has specific strength and weakness, and one’s strength will complement other’s weakness, hence teamwork will yield an excellence outcome. On the other hand, delegation of the task was simple but execution was a challenge. Along the way, we have identified limitations and rectified problems. However, none of those was conflicting and we have learnt a lot from those issues.

Blogging made writing less intimidating. Being an extrovert, I naturally prefer speaking to writing. In addition, I was intimidated by the mandatory essays for my previous modules, and I fear to be mocked for my “broken” English. These are reasons for not having a blog prior to this module.
 At first, blogging really brought me out of my comfort zone, as I seriously feared that my blog post will not be understood by my readers due to the grammatical errors and limited vocabulary. The fear was lifted when people start to give positive comments. Gradually, I begin to like blogging as I find it really interactive and fun to give and receive comments. (Even though signals might be attenuated (by my bad English), I hope the main idea remains intact.) In the future, I will definitely continue to use blogging as a platform to practice writing.

Lastly, I really want to thank Brad again for being such an awesome teacher. You are a teacher who taught us the real meaning behind effective communication. Thank you for sharing your life stories with us. I would say, this is the best module I have ever taken in my 3 years of undergraduate studies!!! THANKYOUJ

9 comments:

  1. Hi Phyllis,

    I can tell that you are an extrovert from the way you talk :-) However, I always thinks that an extrovert person can be more innovative and more effective in writing.

    I also suffer from grammar errors and poor vocabulary, and I believe that these are more prominent problems for me. I would say that the first step to become a good writer is not to hold negative against it. The time when you are saying you are not good at it, you are actually persuading yourself not to like it and resist it.

    Blog is definitely a good place to practice. Just write with the innovativeness and passion you have when you are talking. You will be getting better and better :-)

    All the best for your exams.

    Warmest regards,
    Zhiwei

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    1. Hello Zhiwei,

      You are right, I used to be rather negative about writing, as my peers will jokingly mock at my mistakes. After taking some academic writing modules, I realised the importance of comprehensive writing, and so I changed my mindset towards writing.

      Instead of avoiding writing, I attempted to write scientific reports which are mandatory for every science student.

      For now, after 6 written blog posts, I begin to like blogging and I will definitely use this as a platform to practice writing in a non-scientific way.

      Ultimately, I want to be good at both writing and speaking like you!

      Zhiwei, I always admired your confident speech, and your persuasive presentation. I shall comment on your blog post soon!!:)

      All the best for your exams too!:)

      Cheers,
      Phyllis

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  2. Thank you, Phyllis, for this heart-felt final reflection. I appreciate your willingness to share with us your readers the apprehension you feel toward various aspects of the tasks in ES2007S. Of course, it is satisfying to know that you have been able to overcome some of your initial doubts regarding speaking in class and blogging. As ZhiWei even mentions, once a person persuades herself that she can't do or doesn't like something, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. It's best to follow the lead of Amy Cuddy and so many others, and "fake it until you become it."

    I must admit that your fortitude impresses me though. Of course it is difficult to "perform" in front of others, especially in the realm of presenting, when one has insecurities. You have not let that hinder you though, and you've marched on. I have no doubt that step by step you will become a very fine presenter, having learned greatly from the challenges. I hope you will eventually look back to ES2007S and say to yourself, "that was a turning point."

    All the best as you continue your learning journey, Phyllis. Keep up your very positive, tenacious attitude!

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    1. Hello Brad,

      I will learn to fake it till I become it. This module is definitely a turning point for me, and I am so glad that I took this module.

      I used to think that it is impossible for me to write or to present appropriately, but all those are wrong mindset which hinders me from doing well. From now on, I am going to keep a positive mindset. Perhaps in a few years time, when I accidentally bumped into you, I will thank you like your other students did!

      Once again THANK YOU for your awesome teaching, see you around in school.

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  3. Hi Phyllis!

    I actually enjoy writing, but hardly write nowadays except lab reports and 'academic' proposals. I used to keep a blog but had it open to a few selected readers. But because of the attention that studies demanded from me, my 'old' blog is hardly active now, and I forgot how fun it was (for me) to craft a blog post. This module gave me the opportunity to go back to blogging (since there was hardly any way to escape from it).

    It was nice knowing you! Good luck for your exams! :)

    Hannah

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    1. Hello Hannah,

      I enjoy reading your blog posts a lot. Even though I only commented on a few of your blog post, I read most of your them. You will definitely have the free time to blog during your holidays. If you are still using your current blog, I am more than willing to follow your blog posts:)

      Beside that, I find your laughter really cute. Although we only worked together for a few times, I really enjoyed working with you!!

      See you around! Good luck for your exams:)

      Cheers,

      Phyllis

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  4. Hey Phyllis! Firstly, it was great getting to know you through this module! I still remember the first lesson when we had to get to know each other better and you told me that you worked as a surveyor before. (: That's definitely testament to your extroverted personality!

    Actually, I think I share with you the same problem of being unable to speak up in class. Sometimes it is because I take some time to process things and by the time I've sorted my thoughts out the moment will have passed, but sometimes it is also because the class is so big or so foreign to you that you don't want to say anything because you don't want to sound stupid. However I agree that this module was able to draw me out of my comfort zone to participate more actively in class! I'm glad we both improved and benefited in this way!

    It's also great that you felt you improved in other areas. Now you can take these skills and go and do big things! Haha(:

    Good luck for the upcoming exams, and keep in touch!

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    1. Hello Gail! so glad to know you too. I will never forget our Umbrella Vending Machine! How I wish this proposal can be send out to those real investors out there, they may be interested in our project. By then, I think we can patent it and earn $$$. Lets come back to reality.

      Gail! I must confess that I have been keeping a secret from you, and the secret is..... I really love the way you write! No matter is it in informal blog post, or in formal proposal. You are an awesome writer!

      So sad that the module has come to an end:( ! I will miss our class.

      Good luck for your exams too! See you around :D

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  5. Hi there Phyllis :)

    First I would like to give you a virtual hug, cause I got so touched when I heard I could inspire you to don't be afraid to speak up in your tutorial class. Go girl! Interactions in class are so important, for many different reasons, but it also makes the learning much more fun!

    Through this module I have seen that you are really open for learning new things (I love it), so just keep practice and you will be a great writer. (I think you are writing very well already).

    I wish you all the best for your finals and your future.

    Take care
    Sofie

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