My biggest take away from this module comes from the very first lesson we had. As we have learnt, a communication process consists of: sender --> encoding --> message --> channel--> decoding --> receiver. The essence is that communication is only effective to the extent to which your receiver understands your message. It is thus important to remember that while one may utilize beautiful phrases and big words to express themselves, at the end of the day, all these becomes pointless if the receiver is unable understand it.
I found it very useful that this module provided us with much needed opportunities to practice this concept in various different settings.
The mock interview was a really beneficial and practical experience. Being in a professional setting made me more aware of how I conducted myself in front of others, and what kind of messages (both verbal and non-verbal) I was sending to my interviewers.
Other activities we did such as the peer teaching as well as project presentation again highlighted the importance of effective communication. A good presentation allows the audience to fully grasp what the presenter already knows so well. Therefore, we are reminded time and time and again to always craft a presentation with the audience in mind. It was great that these experiences were interactive, allowing us to gather feedback from our audience (in the form of feedback survey and Q&A session) regarding our performance and how well our idea was conveyed to the audience.
I believe the skills acquired through this module will go a long way in helping in my future endeavours. Thank you Ms. Fazilah for being such a patient and helpful mentor, for sharing with us your personal experiences to aid in our learning, for giving us very useful feedback and guidance, as well as for making this module such a wonderful experience for all of us. (:
Hi Val,
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head about the first lesson being your biggest take away. I think the idea of how to encode/decode a message effectively from the sender to the receiver is exactly what this module is about. All the activities we had done, from peer-teaching to mock interviews were trying to inculcate to us the central idea of keeping our audience in mind when crafting our message.
I agree with you about the meaningless usage of big words if the receiver is unable to understand. This reminds me of WP’s favorite idea of “keeping things simple” Usage of simple language does indeed promote easier comprehension. However, in my opinion, adding a few big words / “technical sounding” terms at times during a presentation may actually showcase one’s technical knowhow of the project and serve to enhance the professional image of the presentation.
Overall, it has been great working with you(especially the hello pandas treats) and all the best for your exams!
Jun Yuan
I really love your point that “communication is only effective to the extent to which your receiver understands your message”. One can have the best ideas in the world, but if he messes up while trying to explain it, he is not likely to get any credit for it. I think that is why all these communication modules such as ES2007S and EG1413 (critical thinking and writing module for engineering undergraduates) are offered to us. The purpose is really to encourage us to think critically about issues and then express our ideas coherently across different types of media.
ReplyDeleteOn hindsight, I realise that one unique aspect of this module is the peer feedback component. The feedbacks from our classmates are often very insightful and allowed me to improve myself. For example, while preparing for the oral presentation, I took note of the peer feedback for my peer teaching session to make sure I did not make the same mistakes again. I personally feel that is what tertiary education is about. Time should of course be given for the teacher to impart knowledge to the students, but ample opportunities should also be given for students to interact and critique one another’s ideas/work. Through this process, we generate our own knowledge and hone our communication skills!
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteCrafting “a presentation with the audience in mind”. That’s certainly a short and good one. We have been taught the importance of the audience during the presentation right from the very first few lessons. A very simple thing but nevertheless the concepts are quite hard to grasp. For example, having a presentation that extends beyond 20 minutes will bore the audience, and then you will need to employ several “tricks” along the presentation to ensure that certain points you are trying to convey across DO get into their minds. It’s not hard to do a presentation but it’s NEVER EASY to do a good one.
But I believed that you group has did 2 fantabulous (hybrid of fantastic and fabulous) peer teaching classes and a wonderful proposal presentation on Bike usage within the campus. This shows that you have picked up much along the course of this module. The synergies within your group have also helped, as your group members possess the “3-ives”: being very cohesive, cooperative and interactive.
Faithfully,
Jie Yang
Hi Val, think you really hit the nail with your first paragraph. You're right, the communication process is arguably the most valuable lesson; it forms the basis of all our communications, formal or otherwise. Amongst all the other "higher profile" take aways from our class activities, you went back to first principles. Thanks for the timely reminder! All the best for your exams!
ReplyDeleteshings