I have learned many valuable skills from this critical thinking module that I believe will be useful in the future. The goal I set for this module was to better my presentation skill. This was one aspect of communication that I struggled with. I felt nervous and unsure of myself, and often felt that my ideas were not being properly communicated. However, through practice and feedback from my lecturer, I learned how to present myself better during presentations. I also learned how to get the audience's attention by using interesting facts as a hook at the start of the presentation and ending the presentation with a memorable quote. This made my presentations more engaging and memorable.
To become more comfortable with presenting in front of a large audience, I listened to my lecturer's advice and practiced at home in front of a mirror. This helped me to become more confident in my delivery and allowed me to focus on my body language and gestures. For future presentations, I have learnt that giving myself more time to practice what I want to say will help me be more confident during the actual presentation.
Apart from presentation skills, I believe that I have also improved a few other important skills for the future. One of the most important skills that I learned was how to work effectively as part of a team. In order to achieve a common goal, it is important to collaborate and communicate effectively. In the beginning, I found it difficult to communicate my ideas to the group and work collaboratively. However, as time progressed, I learned how to listen to others and how to better communicate my ideas. This allowed us to work together more efficiently and effectively.
Throughout the research project, one area that I felt I learned the most was during the planning and brainstorming phase. I learned the importance of planning the structure of the report before starting to write. This allowed me to stay organized and on track, and made the writing process much smoother. By outlining the main points and structuring the report in a logical manner, readers can also follow the argument clearly and help with their understanding. Additionally, I learned how to source information online for more ideas and how to quote or paraphrase the information properly. Before this class, I always had trouble coming up with ideas to write about. However, I now know how to identify keywords to search for ideas on the internet more efficiently.
During this research project, one of our team member unfortunately fell very ill and could not continue with her work. Thankfully, since the rest of us had the same end goal of doing well for this module in mind, we worked together to share her workload. This shows the importance of having good communication with one another.
In conclusion, the research project has taught me many valuable skills, including how to work effectively as part of a team, how to communicate better, how to present myself better during presentations, and how to be more comfortable presenting in front of a large audience. I have also learned the importance of planning the structure of a report before starting to write and how to source information online for more ideas. Overall, these skills will be invaluable as I continue my academic and professional journey, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have learned them.
