Well, to say the least, CG1413 was one of the more fun and engaging modules in this semester. We were made to voice out our opinions, give short speeches and present for the much coveted final grade. The last time I did that was a whole 3 years ago, during my junior college days. Back then, it was more of a "teacher-teach-student-listen" system, which resulted in little participation. However, after a few sessions of CG1413, I began to become more comfortable when speaking in front of the class. My confidence rose and I was able to bring my point across more clearly every time I tried. They say "practice makes perfect"!
I also mentioned in my first post that the last time I wrote a proper report was 3 years ago. During my army days, the best thing I did to improve my language skills was just reading. Honestly speaking, that did not help a lot. Throughout the course of the module, I was tasked to write reports, reflections, blog posts, proposals etc. Once again, my skills were put to the test, task after task. I must say it was not easy at first, but I got more fluent over time and became better at writing.
Lastly, I can fairly say that I have improved in the aspects of working in a group. There were multiple projects coming from CG1102, CG1108 and CG1413. Albeit the heavy workload, it gave me ample opportunities to use what I have learned. Not to forget, there were various interesting methods used during lessons. The most memorable one was being videotaped during a project meeting. It was my very first time. At first I was a bit unsure but in the end, it definitely helped in one way or another.
Coming into this module, my communication and language skills were very rusty. However after these 13 weeks, I must say I have improved in those areas tremendously. This will definitely help in my future work. Gone were the days when I thought engineers only had to sit behind their desks in a corner to do their work.
A big thank you to my fellow classmates and Mr James!
April 13, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Hi Qinxian,
I am glad that you had noticed a considerable improvement in your communication and writing skills. Though 13 weeks is relatively a short period of time, the jumpstart brought about by CG1413 to our communication skills is nothing short of impressive.
Let me first begin by stating that you had raised a very interesting and valid observation about the nature of our future career. You mentioned that "Gone were the days when I thought engineers only had to sit behind their desks in a corner to do their work." I have to resolutely agree with you on that.
In the globalized world, it is no longer enough to just merely do our job well. It is important to make an impact and contribute to a project utilizing our innovation and creativity. Hence, it is very important to communicate effectively in order to be heard and understood. I believe this course prepares us to face those new challenges.
You also mentioned about the diverse nature of projects that have been tasked to us. It is not an enviable position to be in but it has definitely catalyzed our experience and knowledge of that will help shape us to be effective team communicator. I think project work would not just stop here as in time, we would be tasked with projects of increasing complexity. Without the fundamental knowledge of effective communication then, we would be doomed.
With that, I wish you all the best in your continued pursuit towards becoming an effective communicator.
Best Regards,
Khairul
April 15, 2010 at 9:21 AM
Hi Qinxian,
It’s great to hear that you are able to notice your own progress in different aspects of communication and team work through this module.
Indeed, CG1413 is quite different from most of the other modules that we have taken so far. Because of its engaging and interactive nature, the students are able to contribute their personalized ideas into the group discussion.
This, I believe, is what made us gain more friends. All of us became open with one another through constant communication. We came to know each other well while working together. On top of that, we were able to become better communicators and better team players due to its practical and “hands-on” applications. The theoretical topics being discussed are very relevant not only in answering tutorials but also in our daily lives.
We are quite fortunate to have taken this module since there’s a lot to gain from the experience. I believe that you will be able to bring the experiential knowledge you gained from CG1413 to different heights in the next years of your life. CG1413 is a jump start for all of us. All the best in the future!
Regards,
Paul
April 17, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Hi Qinxian,
Your blog post expresses just exactly what I was feeling too, from the parts about the initial feelings of about the semester, all the way to the parts about fighting the gigantic robot monkey as the final boss. (Wait, the robo-monkey thing didn’t happen...)
I’m pretty sure everyone else from the course felt the same way too, we learnt a lot from this course, made a whole bunch of friends (no enemies I hope), and at the same time experienced many things like video taping and blogging for the first time. All in all, I too agree that it was a very fun and enjoyable experience, though most of it is due to the teamwork aspect in each project, which we all hated initially.
Speaking of fun times, I was reminded of the fun we had while building our badass line tracking robot. We literally shed blood and tears for that clunky slow-moving truck, but when the time came for us to put it to the test, while watching our ridiculously heavy armoured truck complete the challenge course, I must say the blood and tears were well worth it.
Well, seeing that this is the last comment that I’m dropping here, lets hope for the best in our coming exams, work hard now, and play harder later...
Cheers
Zhen Yong
Off topic***
Yea, you’re right! The wally is located near the pokemon area.....
April 18, 2010 at 3:55 AM
Hi Qinxian,
Your opinions about the module are quite similar to mine. I have to agree that this semester literally flew away and we leant a lot as compared to the previous semester.
CG1413 was actually the most entertaining module of the semester. It was the only module to which we constantly paid attention too and stayed up to the deadlines. Despite the immense work load we had in this module, we gained a lot from it.
I am glad to know that you have seen a considerable amount of improvement in yourself. The same is with me and I feel the entire credit goes to Mr. James and the CG1413 team. Like you, even I was unsure about what to expect from this module. But now as we reach the end of the semester and the module is over, I am quite happy with what we all have been able to learn in this module.
The skills of effective teamwork and communication that this module has imparted into me are something that we all will cherish throughout our lives.
I would like to wish you all the best in your future endeavors. It was pleasant experience teaming up with you and sharing the class with you.
Cheers,
Saurabh Arora
April 18, 2010 at 3:33 PM
Hi Qinxian,
We are almost in the end of this sem and clearly time has run very fast and whatever we learnt from this module will surely help in our upcoming years in nus and also when looking for jobs, etc.
To be honest, CG1413 was an eye opening to all of us as it highlighted all our weakness and luckily being in the first year gives us ample time to correct our mistakes and whatever skills we gained from the CG1413 course immensely helped in our project related modules namely CG1102, CG1413 & CG1108.
I am glad that you noticed a considerate improvement in your communication and writing skills and I agree with you that the best part which most of us gained the most was from our Oral Presentation and I agree with you that recording the presentation was a good initiative as it helped us to notice and correct our mistakes.
Looking back, though this sem was a hectic one, the skills which we have gained from this module is priceless and let’s makes sure we apply our skills efficiently in our upcoming years.
It was a pleasant experience sharing the class with you and all the best for the upcoming exams!!!!
Regards,
Santhosh