Now that this module has concluded, I felt that it was important to think about what I have learnt in the span of 12 weeks. I have managed to hone my resume and over letter writing skills which I felt was beneficial for me at this point in time. This made job-seeking process much easier because we are prepared with a good resume letter that has been proof-read by our tutor as well as our peers.
In addition, I think that the presentations have built up my confidence when speaking in front of a class of 18 students. This was the first time I have taken a module in NUS that requires me to do public speaking because the other science modules I took so far were graded based on assignments and exams. Therefore, it was a fresh experience and I learn a lot from my classmates when it was their turn to present as some of them have really good stage presence. These are skills I hope to emulate from them and put into good use next time should I have to present in the future when I enter the workforce.
The various projects we have test our ability to work with different people and I learn the importance of communicating well. I think about the different ways and forms of communicating, be it verbally or non-verbally, when I interact with the people around me. I feel that the knowledge that I took away from class will continuously be applied because they are essentially good life skills to have.
Finally, I am glad to have chosen this module as it is distinct from the ones I have taken before. It makes me reflect more and definitely has an impact on me. I would recommend this module for my friends who wish to seek something different that has a different focus other than something that is academic oriented and more on learning new things and becoming more equipped with useful skills.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Reflection on Project Proposal
Challenges, Triumphs, Learning Points, Possible improvements
Challenges
The challenge that I face is coming up with proposed solutions as well as arranging for interview with my lecturer who is a foreign expat. While I was searching for current policies to the problem that we have for integrating foreigners into Singapore, I realised that there are in fact many measures that have been implemented already. As a result, we were required to look beyond Singapore to other countries as case-studies to refer to so that we can get some ideas of possible solutions. It took some time to sieve through all the policies and choose 4 that we think is feasible. For the interview with my professor, it did not result in the way I had hoped when I emailed him requesting for an interview. Apparently, he did not feel comfortable disclosing personal information and felt that this topic was quite sensitive. I approached him directly after lecture but again he politely declined. I felt that this could have been a good opportunity to get some valuable input from a foreigner which can help us to have a more deeper understanding of the problem from a different perspective.
Triumphs
Once we have our proposed solutions, we delegated task on who should do what for the written proposal. I was in charge of explaining how the Buddy Family Program works. Therefore, extensive reading up is necessary and it was quite an accomplishment for me. In terms of my group, I felt that we all did our part and my members are able to make up for what I lack in. For example, I was unsure of APA formatting so I was glad to have my more experienced team mates who have done proposals before to volunteer to do this portion.
Learning Points
This project is unlike most I have encountered since there are many discussions that we have to hold. I learn the importance of meeting up so that we can express our viewpoints and exchange opinions and feedback directly. Our group is able to achieve this part well as we had a few meetings to go through interview and survey questions and solutions. For the written part, after this experience, I am even more certain that proof reading and understanding each other's parts is very important because they are all interconnected and like a flow chart, each links to the next which finally leads up to the conclusion.
Possible Improvements
If possible, I hoped that we could have more candidates for the interview so that if one reject or did not reply, we are able to still carry out. Otherwise, we would have to wait or come up with another person to interview which could delay our schedule and whole project from finalizing.
Challenges
The challenge that I face is coming up with proposed solutions as well as arranging for interview with my lecturer who is a foreign expat. While I was searching for current policies to the problem that we have for integrating foreigners into Singapore, I realised that there are in fact many measures that have been implemented already. As a result, we were required to look beyond Singapore to other countries as case-studies to refer to so that we can get some ideas of possible solutions. It took some time to sieve through all the policies and choose 4 that we think is feasible. For the interview with my professor, it did not result in the way I had hoped when I emailed him requesting for an interview. Apparently, he did not feel comfortable disclosing personal information and felt that this topic was quite sensitive. I approached him directly after lecture but again he politely declined. I felt that this could have been a good opportunity to get some valuable input from a foreigner which can help us to have a more deeper understanding of the problem from a different perspective.
Triumphs
Once we have our proposed solutions, we delegated task on who should do what for the written proposal. I was in charge of explaining how the Buddy Family Program works. Therefore, extensive reading up is necessary and it was quite an accomplishment for me. In terms of my group, I felt that we all did our part and my members are able to make up for what I lack in. For example, I was unsure of APA formatting so I was glad to have my more experienced team mates who have done proposals before to volunteer to do this portion.
Learning Points
This project is unlike most I have encountered since there are many discussions that we have to hold. I learn the importance of meeting up so that we can express our viewpoints and exchange opinions and feedback directly. Our group is able to achieve this part well as we had a few meetings to go through interview and survey questions and solutions. For the written part, after this experience, I am even more certain that proof reading and understanding each other's parts is very important because they are all interconnected and like a flow chart, each links to the next which finally leads up to the conclusion.
Possible Improvements
If possible, I hoped that we could have more candidates for the interview so that if one reject or did not reply, we are able to still carry out. Otherwise, we would have to wait or come up with another person to interview which could delay our schedule and whole project from finalizing.
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