Final Reflection on Learning

I've always had this fear of speaking up as well as standing before a group of people to articulate my ideas. It could be due to my low level of confidence, as I was very conscious of how people would react to my responses, be it positive or negative. Taking es2007s has definitely encouraged me to move out of my comfort zone of being the passive listener, and take the first step to project myself in front of my classmates.

Despite the relatively relaxed atmosphere that my classmates managed to create, I still have the jitters when conducting a presentation. It could be the lack of exposure (I have never done much oral presentations for my other modules) that I am appreciative that es2007s provides so many opportunities for one to practice and learn. Over time, I found myself more conscious and aware to the needs of the audience, and that a smile works wonders. :) There is still room for improvement for my non-verbal cues, but I felt that I was a lot more confident in presenting than before. It was also heartwarming to have such encouraging classmates supporting your every performance and providing constructive feedback to help each other improve. It is really touching that we are not only improving individually, but also together as a class.

There is probably a long way to go before I can be comfortable with speaking in front of an audience, but I am really grateful to have learnt so much together with my classmates. To be consciously aware of what you say, how you say it and to whom you say it to seems so daunting, but I hope the audience understands why I am saying all these.

On the other hand, I also learnt many other skills such as resume and cover letter writing as well as the mock job interview. To be thrown into a highly stressful situation is enough to blow my brains out, but I hope I can survive a real-world setting after barely making it alive in a class setting!

All in all, I really enjoyed myself and I am indeed really grateful to be in this class with such supportive classmates and lecturer Mr. Brad. It was that feeling of closeness that I have never felt throughout my 3 years in NUS. This definitely makes up one of my fondest memories in my final semester with so much joy and laughter in this course. Thank you all for this wonderful learning experience.

Thank you.

Reflection on oral presentation

Ez-link card is gooooooood!

I admit that the elevator test really left a huge impact/scar on me back then. The very feeling of my mind going completely blank in front of my classmates in an attempt to sell my proposal was just too traumatizing. ‘What if it happens to me during the actual presentation?!’ I feared. It could be this fear haunting me so much that led me to sit down, and truly learn to understand my proposal.

Jian Min introduced us to a website, Prezi, that allowed us to create presentations that are simple yet straightforward. We opted for a presentation with few words and only relevant pictures in hopes of making a point across the audience. The presentation slides were really interactive (I get really excited when trying new technology!) and the pictures really helped in my visualization of the presentation and its flow. Meanwhile, I took the weekend to rehearse for my part and decided to give abbreviations to the points that I will be covering so that I will not be overwhelmed.

During the presentation, the transition between my teammates was smooth and hopefully the slides were engaging to the students. I particularly liked the use of photos to explain a real-life situation as it may be something that the students can identify themselves with. With the use of pictures and few words, we had to work harder to engage the audience with our natural charms (hahaha!). I made an effort to make eye contact to the audience and tried to smile more (I hope I did) but I noticed that I was pretty soft while presenting. While I felt that the presentation was really good overall, it would have been better if we had rehearsed together as a group at least once to gel the charisma of our personalities into the presentation.

Perhaps it was the nature of our proposal topic that was close to the hearts of many students, that many questions were posed to us during the Q and A. I was overwhelmed by the intense questioning and was panicking inside when they did not seem too convinced by our responses. I felt that I did not do a good job as I was unable to think on my feet to the myriad of questions posed.

Nevertheless, I’m really glad to have Jian Min, Mercia and Gladys as my teammates as they are so encouraging and fun to be with! I really enjoyed the process of doing this proposal as I finally got a chance to step into OED as well as have random chats with stall vendors in various canteens. I hope that my presentation skills have improved after coming thus far in es2007s.

Thanks guys for being so awesome! (courtesy of Gladys!)

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

With a click of the door, we entered the house and saw that the lights in the living room were on. 

"Oh no, our host is back. Shall we?"

Hesitantly, we entered the living room, only to see an Oma (German for grandmother) resting on the couch. Pleasantly surprised at our arrival, she came forward and hugged us earnestly. I guess we were quite delighted at the warm welcome of our host! 

Elsie and I were participants of the German language immersion programme and were attached to a German host family for 3 weeks. Our host was a friendly 78-year-old grandmother/Oma who was really active in sports. While we really enjoyed our homestay with her, our first few days were somewhat turbulent as we struggled to understand and accept each other's culture and habits.

Our host could not speak a word of English and was happily rambling in German, much to our confusion. As our command of German was relatively low (as she slowly came to realise), Oma tried to slow her speech and used simple German words so that we could understand. We found it pretty amusing whenever her repeated efforts to express her thoughts to us were futile and she would grumble 'arghhh!' in exasperation. Somehow, things got better over time as we picked up certain German phrases and interpreted her gestures much better. Nevertheless, we still attributed out smooth conversations to this holy book: 

Oma's German-English dictionary!

Once, I was clearing my trash into the wastebin in the kitchen. Oma who had witnessed the horrific scene was a second too late in stopping my actions. It turned out that Germans have the habit of sorting out their trash into plastics, paper and degradable items and I had thoughtlessly thrown my trash into the bin. It was the assumption on both parties that such habits would be cultivated within Singaporeans as the case with Germans. Since then, I learnt to be more mindful and meticulous in sorting out my trash.

Hofstede defines culture as a unique way of thinking, feeling and acting that is shared between people in the same social environment and learnt through being in those environment. Through this immersion programme I have picked up certain cues that are unique to the German social environment such as the sorting of trash. However, it takes time and interaction for one to integrate his/her thoughts and actions that are distinct to a particular group of people. I have learnt to be sensitive to the Germans and accept certain norms that I may be unaware of and apply it during my stay. For example, I was unaware that Germans keep right while on the escalator and I have cultivated the habit to avoid any social violation. Language can also be the opening step to understanding culture as verbal and written communication helps to express thoughts and ideas unique to that social environment. 

Elsie, my Oma and I 

Application Letter Critique

Blk 123 Geylang Street 4
#02-23 S(534123)
(+65) 9999 8888
pamelateo@yoohoo.com

7 February 2012

Human Resources Manager
20 Ayer Rajah Crescent
#09-19
S(139964)

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to introduce myself and express my interest in working at Addest Technologies as a Science Officer. I came to know about the position through the NUS Career Centre website and the requirements of this job appealed to me immensely.

As a final year Life Sciences undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, I have a mix of interest and qualities which may be relevant to the position that I am applying for. For example, my field of specialisation as a Life Sciences undergraduate is in Environmental Biology. This curriculum is highly flexible and encourages students to think of ideas and innovations to improve various aspects of environmental management. Through my undergraduate university education, I was able to pursue the learning that inspires me to explore possibilities and promote critical-thinking to solve real-world problems.

In addition, the responsibility of a Science Officer includes facilitation of workshops for teachers and pupils. As a Senior Orientation Group Leader in the Faculty of Science Orientation Camp, I have interacted with numerous people from different majors through the execution of team building activities and collective brainstorming. This experience has provided me with numerous opportunities to hone my interpersonal and communication skills. With my enthusiasm and commitment, I hope to make an impact in your organisation in developing creative teaching rubrics to enable learning science an enjoyable process for both students and teachers alike.

I look forward to meeting with you and learning more about the position, your objectives and how I can contribute to the success of your department. I can reached at the number and email address as indicated above and thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely(insert signature)

Pamela Teo


----------------------------------------

Company   Addest Technovation Pte Ltd
Job Title   Science Officer
Location   20 Ayer Rajah Crescrent #09-19 S(139964)
Date Posted   Friday, February 03, 2012 
Closing Date   Sunday, March 04, 2012 

Our company Addest Technovation is a Singapore-based technology company that plays a leading role in delivering ICT-based science education. More than 90% of the primary and secondary schools in Singapore, as well as numerous schools in several other countries, have adopted the series of ICT-based science equipment and kits known as the Addestation invented/manufactured by us. These countries include Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Responsibilities

We offer science officer posts for science graduates who wish to make contributions to primary school and secondary school science education. Our science officers undertake the mission to inculcate a clear mind to THINK, a curiosity to IMAGINE, and a spirit to INNOVATE through the use of the Addestation. In this connection, our science officers faciliate workshops for teachers and pupils, develop contents, design experiments and edit activity manuals. 

Requirements

Candidate must possess a Bachelor's Degree from the Science Faculty.
Fresh graduates/Entry level applicants are encouraged to apply.
2 Full-Time positions available. 

http://ejobcentre.nus.edu.sg/Jobs/jobdesc.asp?type=0&eid=4763291&jid=2901956&did=41&its=0&src=8&itn=

Interpersonal Conflict

'Oh my god I really cannot stand her any longer! She's not even consulting us and doing whatever she wants!'

'Calm down Betty. Just bear with it for our sake, and for the sake of the freshmen okay. We are already this close to ending our orientation and this is probably the last time you'll be working with her!'

'Argh I'm so going to explode!'

Hanging out in a cosy Utown hostel at 2am in the morning after a shower, some of the Orientation Group Leaders (OGLs) were recounting the incident that had happened earlier that day in Vivocity. Managing an Orientation Group (OG) of 16 freshmen and 12 OGLs was no easy task, as the leaders had learnt to compromise and deal with issues over the span of the orientation week.

There were a mutual division of tasks among the OGLs where some would be leading the freshmen in the completion of tasks while the others ensured their safety and well-being. However, one of the OGLs, Veronica, stood out among the rest due to her unorthodox way of carrying out tasks. Without informing the other OGLs of her intentions and asking for their opinions, Veronica would lead the freshmen with her preferred approach, usually catching the other OGLs by surprise and much to their anger and frustration. As the freshmens' well-being was of top priority back then, none of the OGLs had pursued the matter and tolerated her actions.

The tipping point finally came when the group had to travel out of campus to Vivocity for the 'Amazing Race'. As there were many tasks at hand to be completed, the orientation group was split into smaller teams to complete the missions within the stipulated time. The meeting point was agreed unanimously at the Kopitiam food court.

While most of the teams had gathered upon completion of their appointed tasks, Veronica's team was nowhere to be seen. Betty immediately phoned Veronica to enquire on her whereabouts.

'Hello Veronica, where are you? Everyone is here except your team. Is everything okay?'

'Come up to the monorail ticketing counter now. There are tourists waiting for us to take a group photo. Hurry quick!'

Furious at the commanding tone of her voice, the lack of courtesy to inform others of her intentions (yet again), and possibly the accumulation of anger over these days, Betty finally snapped. She lashed out her anger at the other OGLs who were just as confused about the twist in the sequence of events, but never really got to confront Veronica despite her rage.

The following days went by with Betty challenging Veronica's intentions in leading the orientation group, much to the confusion of many. Tension was high between them, yet none of them made the move to back down.

After the orientation was over, Betty and Veronica gradually drifted apart into their separate lives and did not communicate much even in OG outings.

If Betty and the other OGLs had voiced out their opinions in response to Veronica's actions at the start of the orientation, such sour feelings may have been avoided. But then again, who knows?

Why Effective Communication Skills Are Important For Me

For someone who isn't much of a tech-geek, I actually had problems finding my way around this website for publishing my post and tweaking my blog. I guess I am really not much of an observant reader as I tend to skim through websites/books/any visual medium just to get the gist of things. To top it off with festive procrastination (those chinese new year cookies that melt in your mouth!), I guess I am not too effective in my time management. Fret not my blog group mates - I will reply to your blog posts promptly!

Communication comes in many forms such as visual, verbal, written and even interpretation of expressions through body language and experience. Such cues are learnt in everyday interactions and are adopted for suitability from past experience with a sole purpose: to allow another party to understand our intentions the way we expect them to (regardless of truth or lies). It is amazing that ideas can still be interpreted across different countries, languages, religions and cultures despite certain barriers and taboos to be overcome. For example, I usually do not understand what my german tutor is speaking 70% of the time when she engages in a private conversation with me. However, through her facial expressions and picking up of words that I may understand in her dialogue, thankfully (and hopefully) I was able to reply her queries.

Firstly, I feel that effective communication encompasses an existing knowledge of a particular topic and the relevant skills to help disseminate the information that is required. In our university education, we are equipped with a diverse range of knowledge from our majors to our electives. To effectively and even persuasively engage another person who is not informed of a topic however may be tricky. Such communication skills are exercised in many situations such as class presentations, recommendations as to which modules to take or avoid etc. For example, I was highly dissuaded by my friends with regards to bidding for this module due to the heavy workload. Despite the rejections, everyone was unanimous in their response that it was a useful module to read with skills to learn and apply in the future. With the presentations, application letters, resumes and mock interviews ahead of us, it is a challenge to project myself confidently and professionally in a group to communicate effectively and help reach a consensus with every individual's knowledge and strengths. 

Secondly, effective communication is extremely essential in social networking as the understanding of others are heavily driven by delicate emotions. I would usually analyse a person's character before exhibiting the appropriate response that may help him/her engage and prolong a conversation. However, I may not always be very adept in my social skills as I do express myself in a tone or body language that does not bode well with others. As I am always playing pranks on other people and whispering sweet-nothings to my female friends on a regular basis, it does sadden me that I may be portrayed as a frivolous person who is never really committed to anything. With effective communication, I do hope that I am able to read social situations better and exhibit an appropriate, mature response to my friends' social needs.

On a side note, I wonder if melody may be a form of communication that will resonate with our emotions? I came across this Japanese song with a melody that effectively captures my feelings although I have no idea what he's singing about.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!