Critical Reflection on UCS Module

Module Learning:

At the beginning of Week 2, my main goal was to improve my confidence in oral presentations. This is due to me often struggling with nerves during formal presentations, causing me to lose my train of thought or stumble through my points.

After 13 weeks in the module, I have definitely seen improvements in my presentation skills, with the help of Professor Brad's proactive teaching methods. He encouraged class participation, involving the majority of the class to speak up and contribute throughout the sessions. In the initial weeks, I tried making conscious efforts to contribute actively, stepping out of my comfort zone by answering questions or volunteering to present or speak on certain the content learnt in class. Such small exposures, for example, delivering of short pitches, sharing contents or even reading aloud from the projector, helped me to become better prepared and gradually built up my confidence in speaking in front of the class. Over time, I managed to improve on my facial expressions and the use of my hand gestures.

These contributions were applied in the graded oral presentation, which I initially saw as a major obstacle. However, the process of constantly practicing my speeches and working through smaller tasks leading up to it helped me approach the final presentation with more confidence. Although I was slightly disappointed with my performance, it was a valuable experience, which highlighted the areas for improvement and provided insights that will better prepare me for future presentations and pitches.

Project Learning:

Before entering this school, I had already completed a communications module in my previous polytechnic, hence I expected to be able to seamlessly transfer what I have learnt into this course. However, I soon realised that there was a significant difference in terms of the content and expectations here, such as difference in pacing, depths and methods, which required me to adjust my previous learnings and restart my approach to this module. This change was evident when I was working on the technical report and project with my team members, who made up of Fadlan, Jared and Nicholas.

Our project was focused on implementing a condensate recovery system for ComCrop's greenhouse farming in Singapore, the proposal created with the aim of improving sustainability in urban farming.

Working in a group setting had required us to collaborate actively, which also meant that we had to delegate tasks effectively to balance the workload. This proved to be quite challenging, as we were all juggling between deadlines for other modules, and I was struggling to keep meet them too. Managing my time became a crucial lesson, as it taught me to shift my priorities accordingly to ensure that I was able to complete tasks and keep up with my teammates' progress. Having the ability to stay consistent in updating the team and scheduling regular meetings to discuss the project should have been better implemented to keep the team on track too. With the feedback from Professor Brad and from my peers, I gained more confidence in completing the work and delivering results together with my teammates.

This experience has shifted my perspective on learning, where I now view challenges an opportunity for growth, while understanding that setbacks often provided valuable insights. Moving forward, I aim to work on my teamwork skills by being more proactive in communicating, such as scheduling deadlines or project meetings on a calendar or checking in regularly with my teammates, to ensure a smoother collaboration in future group settings.