ES2007s blog post #4 the module reflection

Now the ES2007S module has already ended, I have learned a lot through this experience.

At first I thought this was going to be an easy module as there was no exam, no textbook, no lectures notes and no mid-term tests.  Furthermore, the first few lectures that I had gone through was quite easy.

However, the modules seemed to be a little more complicated when I was about to do the peer-teaching.  In the past I had done countless similar presentation to my fellows during secondary school, JC and university year 1.  However, most of them was done by myself alone.  For the ones that were done with other people, we simply split our tasks and compile only on the last day.  This peer teaching for this module is different.  We are going to teach other people how to do resume which is something completely new even to myself.  Moreover, we had no idea how to do this.  We needed to engage the audience as well.  I spent two days during the e-learning week to prepare for the peer teaching.

The project was also something herculean.  Before this modules, I was told by some of my friends that this module was going to be easy.  However, I realised that I actually put in more time and efforts in this module than that put in for any other modules.  Because the projects needed a lot of discussion, and there were always differences in opinions for discussion. It turned out to be quite a success, and a relief that I have completed this module.

In conclusion, a module without a final test can be just as tough as a module require one, and sometimes even tougher.  It has been an enjoyable experience and I hope my future project can be as smooth as ES2007s

Reflection on the Project (post3)

ES2007s is a special module. Although there is no exam or any graded assignment, it requires a lot of effort to do it.

This is especially true for the group project. It requires all the skills that we have already learned during the course of this module.  From information gathering , to research methodology, everything has be covered so far will be handy when we do the project.  My group aim is to examine the cause of low birth rate in Singapore.  By doing this project, it makes me realise the complexity of real life problems.  A lot of factors contribute and inter-relate to the problem of just one issue which is low birth rate, and there are a lot of things to be examined, such as aging population, immigration, inflation and politics issues.  However, we are only a four-member group with only a few weeks to do the study, and we only have 20 minutes to present our project findings.  Therefore how to pick the relevant information is crucial. We can afford to present neither too much nor too little.

Therefore the second factor came into play which is teamwork.  We had met countless times to discuss the project.  There were always differences between our opinions on these selection of information and the organisation of the information.  At first I thought this would slow us down and I did not like group work.  However, after this I realised that it was important for us to share and argue our ideas, it would improve the quality of our project, brought up new ideas and made it looked like a combine effort.

In conclusion, the project is an memorable experience and I wish my future projects can be as successful as this one.