Final Reflections

This has to be the only module that ended too fast for me. I suspect the 13 weeks lesson was barely enough to cover what truly constitutes communication, even though we certainly did cover the basics. 

In contrast to the numerous theoretical lectures, the ideas and skills that were exchanged during lessons was extremely valuable because it has real world application. For instance, I suspect that the resume writing, job interview and presentation skills would be beneficial especially when we are about to enter the working world. More ever, because of the constant feedback that was given during class, I was able to improve myself and learn from my mistakes. 

One particular aspect of this module that I enjoyed was the mocked interview even though it spanned only two lessons. I always have a phobia of interviews because I was clueless about how it works. However, those lessons help me realise how irrational my fears were. I was able to see both the interviewer’s and interviewee’s point of view during the mock interview and as such, I believe those lessons would help me prepare well for an actual interview.

I selected this module to learn how to communicate effectively, specifically on improving my presentation skills. After going through 2 presentations and numerous dry runs, the take home message was to be prepared before each presentation and to be aware of the body language during the presentation itself. While admittedly it was this part of the module that was the most time consuming, but I can confidently say that my presentation skills (the chunking part and the voice cracking part) have improved because of these opportunities to practise what has been taught.

Finally, I would thank Dr Radihka for being such an enthusiastic and encouraging teacher who patiently answers all of our questions, as well as everyone from my peer teaching and proposal group for making this module such an enjoyable one for me.

Evaluating team dynamics

Our group have come a long way ever since we decided to investigate the decline on the vibrancy of hawker food in Singapore.

In contrast to the numerous theoretical lectures in which communication was one sided (lecturer to students), the numerous small group meeting requires all of us to make full use of interpersonal communication skills learnt during class. I thank Dr Radihka for patiently answering all of our questions regarding the group proposal and my proposal group for making this module such an enjoyable one for me.

In team Apollo, although all of us were from the same faculty (science) but we were unable to find a common timeslot to hold a meeting. However, but we took every opportunity during lesson time to constantly give updates and to clarify any doubts that we had on the part that we were working on. Such two way communications allowed each of us to be clear on the objective of the proposal so that we can work together to accomplish each stage of the proposal in a timely manner.

During the course of writing the proposal, it was inevitable that all of us, at some point in time, were too busy to complete the assigned part of the proposal on time. However, because we constantly give each other updates about our assignment deadline and the dates of our CAs tests, we were able to avoid misunderstanding thus preventing conflicts within the group. I think that this is one reason why it was important to have an appointed group leader within the team. This is so that there can be accountability within the team to ensure that each of us is doing our part in the writing the proposal.

Finally, in the process of writing the proposal as a team, each of us contributed in a manner that is to our best of ability. For instance, ynovvne having studied statistics modules, volunteered to do the surveys questions and to interpret the statistical data. Whereas for me, having took SSA 2204 (Nation building in Singapore), understood the cultural importance of street food. As such I volunteered to frame the background understanding for the proposal. By contributing our individual strengths and talents, we were not only able to eliminate and/or compensate for weakness in the team, but also created an environment of trust where we respected each other’s capability.

In conclusion, I believed that our team exhibited positive team dynamics. Not only did each of us contributed to the best of our abilities, but we took every opportunity to prevent misunderstanding from happening by practising good interpersonal communication skill.