Critical Reflection

Module Learnings:

In the Singapore education system, proper writing etiquette and citation methodologies are neither taught nor held to the standards expected in a professional setting. As a result, my report writing seemed to lack professionalism, depth and represented my ideas in an amateurish manner.

Bad writing etiquettes inculcated over years of report and essay writing had to be unlearned and replaced with good writing etiquette. Etiquettes such as fragmented sentencing, non-parallel word structure and improper continuation of grammar thru a full paragraph are among the many language-based etiquette changes that had to be made. As a result, my current writings now have the air of sophistication and professionalism demanded by organisations and readers alike.

Along with the etiquette changes, a completely new citation methodology had to be learnt from scratch. Previously, simply pasting the source link would suffice as citations. This method was not only disrespectful to the authors and organisations of the source but was plagiaristic as well. However, the proper, APA style of citing and referencing provides credibility to the research done by me, gives the readers more information and gives the authors and publishers their well-deserved respect and credit.

Project Learnings:

From the technical report writing portion of the project, I learnt an unexpected but profound lesson. One that I will carry thru to my future. The art of asking the right question. Asking the right question can make understanding and progressing through the ideation and development process significantly faster and more effective. Asking the right question also elicits the right answer, a better answer, Potentially expanding the current thought process and showing a new perspective on the issue or problem at hand. In our case asking questions like “what can we do to improve EVs?” yielded little to no useful information, whereas asking “Which part of EVS is holding its growth back?” gave us the answer of the drivetrain, from which we developed the final idea of DVTEV. Asking the right question also benefits me in my personal life. Helping me grow my networking and people skills along with enabling me to indulge in my curiosity and inquisitiveness.

In this module, one of my main aims was to rectify this preconceived notion that public speaking is a scary and difficult endeavour. As a naturally introverted and shy person with massive stage fright, public speaking opportunities like networking and presenting seemed very daunting. As a result, networking, bonding and sharing became increasingly laboursome and taxing for me mentally causing me anxiety and reducing my adaptability in public situations. These effects could have been long-lasting and damaging to my career if not rectified. I believe I made a major step in the right direction during the presentation/pitch phase of the project. By learning and understanding the science behind effective communication and presentation, once-alien concepts had become very tangible and trainable skills. Doubts such as “what do my hands do when talking?”, “where do I stand?”, “how do I project my voice?”, “how can I steal a room's attention?” were clarified, culminating in a product pitch which I was comfortable with and proud of.

I know there are many areas in writing and public speaking for me to improve upon, but I am ecstatic with the progress I have made in this module and am ready for the challenges that lay ahead.