Critical Reflection

The goals I set at the start of this module were to improve the quality of writing and widen my vocabulary bank. I was given the opportunity to learn different types of writing through reader summary, annotated summary, and technical writing assignments. In addition, instructional units are available and serve as a guideline for writings and presentation. 

I struggled to do summary reader response the most. I was not able to differentiate the important and irrelevant points that were needed to support my topic sentence. As the topic sentence sets the direction of the paragraph, the supporting details have to lead to its ultimatum. Initially, my reader response was relatively weak as the thesis statement and supporting items were vague. Thankfully, the assignment was completed in multiple stages where peer evaluation was conducted in between. I received feedback to improve my writing and able to analyze my peers' work which indirectly helps me understand the assignment better. Additionally, I picked up a few phrases and words while peer-reviewing to increase my vocabulary bank. By having the opportunity to access my peers' works, it enables me to see things from a different perspective. 

Growing up as a dance performer, I assumed presenting in front of a crowd is no different as compared to performing. My assumption has proven otherwise during the mock presentation. I realized I was getting a stage fright the moment I stand in front of the class and lost my confidence in presenting, even requested a restart. In preparation for the actual presentation, my team members encouraged me to rehearse in front of a small crowd and provide feedbacks afterward. My confidence increases every rehearsal and eventually managed to pull off a good presentation. It is important to have support from the team members as they are able to push you to achieve greater heights. Also, having constant feedback from the team members enables you to improve yourself.

Everyone has its own strengths and weaknesses. If given the choice, I would choose the preparation of presentation slides over being the presenter. I always believed that reading off the slides makes a poor presentation. Instead, we should show only the key points in the presentation slides and do the elaboration verbally. As I am a visual person, I encourage the use of icons using Microsoft PowerPoint as it makes the presentation interesting. I am glad to be able to share such tips with my team members on top of the content covered in our instructional units. In return, my team members help me improves my presentation skills as elaborated previously. 

Overall, this module improves my writing and presentation skills and, the ability to work as a team. As the team changes for each assignment, I have to adapt to the constant changes to work effectively as a team and to be open to criticism from others' perspectives. 

Share: