Saturday, November 15, 2008

Final Reflection

My understanding of the value of effective communication has changed since the time I wrote the first post. Initially, I felt that oral communication and active listening skills are the two most important effective communication skills. I still feel that these two skills are very important. However, I realised that other communication skills such as interpersonal communication and written communication are also equally important.

Through this course, I have learnt more about various communication skills like interpersonal communication, oral communication and written communication skills. I feel that these skills that I have developed will certainly be applicable in my future job as well as in everyday life. In particular, knowing how to write cover letters and resumes will help me convince the employer that I am suitable for the job. Also, the interpersonal communication skills that I have developed have helped me become a better team player and will reduce the chances of me getting into a conflict.

During the process of doing the research report, I faced some difficulties. Nonetheless, it was a good experience as I have gained the knowledge of writing a formal report. The oral presentation was one of the components that I feared the most. However, I have learnt how to improve on my presentation skills through feedback from Ms Kim and my classmates.

Overall, I feel that this module has benefitted me a lot. Not only has it helped me to improve on some of my communication skills, but it has also taught me new communication skills in some aspects I was not familiar in like job search communication. Moreover, being in a class where there are people from different countries exposed me to different cultures. It was great to get to know and interact with my classmates. They definitely made the classes enjoyable.

5 comments:

Joo Soon said...

I totally agree that this course has definitely open my perspectives of what constitutes effective communications. This is especially so when I was doing the questionnaire as I had to prepare a survey for a person who has no prior knowledge of my subject matter. As such, I had to try to explain in as simple terms as possible and not make any assumptions of what my reposndents would know. However, I had this tendency to make assumptions and very often I find that I had to rephrase my questions.

I also agree that the survey report was really tedious especially since this is my first time doing it. But it did give me an insight into how it is done and there was really a lot of opportunities at communications throughout the process of doing the report which I felt has been really useful.

In all, I felt that this course has indeed benefited me in terms of opening my perspectives in communications and it has been an enjoyable experience knowing everyone!!

All the best to you for the coming exams!

제니 said...

The oral presentation was also my most feared component in this course. Although I have managed to control the speed of my words, I still have many things to improve on. For example,to conduct a presentaiton without the use of cards and to display more confidence when carring out a presentaiton.

The report was also one area where I learnt a lot. I learnt to cite references, labels tables and figures correctly. The format of the whole report was also important as it helps the reader to distinguish each section clearly.

I am glad to work with classmates who came from different countries. They have made me work on my interpersonal skills and to overcome any cultural barriers that were present. Overall, I enjoyed the classes. :)

Regina Eei Yin said...

Hi HUI Zhen,

Yes, I agree with you that good interpersonal and written communication skills can help us to communicate better with people and can reduce the chances of getting into a conflict. However, we still need to practise these skills in our everyday life so that they can benefit us.
Through the oral presentation, I have seen some good examples on how to make a good presentation. I learned from them, and from the feedback from Ms Grace and coursemates. I hope in the future, everyone of use will be good presenters, the one who can always convince our audiences. Haha.

Best wishes for your final exams.

En Lin said...

Hi, I feel that all the communication skills are important in one way or another and they can't do without each other. For example while doing the project, all the skills come into play. Group discussion requires members to practise active listening, executing the project requires everyone to have effective interpersonal skills in order to communicate with one another and presenting the project requires effective oral and written communication skills to convey the ideas to the audience. Thus all the skills are important.

Everyday is a learning process for us and we improve on our mistakes with every lesson learnt.

All the best for exams~

grace kim said...

Hi Hui Zhen,

Good to know you have learnt new skills. Hope these skills will serve you well in your daily interaction as well as in your academic/professional pursuits.

Thanks for being such a lovely student- always cheerful, with a smile on your face. Continue smiling and brighten up your friend's day!

Thanks too for all your hard work and effort!