Critical Reflection

Three months ago, it was the start of a fruitful English journey in Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). The module, Effective Communication, has definitely improved my English in many ways be it in terms of writing or conversing. The first half of this module involved a lot of writing, skills like paraphrasing and summarising were made better through numerous assignments such as summary writing, construction of thesis statement and reader response. I feel that writing skills are especially important as report writing is focused more heavily at a University level. Previously, I paid little attention to the usage of correct grammar tenses and went along with sentences which sounded coherent. However, now, I feel the need to be more professional in my writing as I am an undergraduate. Therefore, the need for constant reviewing and editing of my assignments really enhanced my English fundamentals.

The second half of the module was focused on technical report writing and presentation. Writing a technical report requires ample research to be done as the solutions have to be explained and certain specific terms have to be broken down for the reader to understand. In my opinion, the biggest takeaway of this project will be the presentation segment. Before the actual presentation, my group and I performed a mock presentation to our buddy group. It was an opportunity for me to take in the feedbacks which made me more prepared to address the audiences' needs.

Regardless if my group and I were chosen for the presentation showcase, I still feel that we have benefitted a lot from the module as a whole - what matters is the process, not the outcome.

Commented on: Camille

Analytical Reflection on Presentation of Water Conservation Proposal

Recently, my group and I presented our proposal on Water Conservation in SIT@Dover. I took up the role of the last presenter, sharing the evaluation and concluding the whole project. Personally, I think I have done a mediocre job and there are areas of improvement. 

I managed to hold the audience's attention by injecting humour and visuals into my slides. Also, I kept the length of my points as short as possible to prevent overcrowding of words. In a way, it prevented me from reading off the slides. However, as I was not confident enough to present using this method, I found myself constantly thinking of what to say next. Even though my slide design has served well in the presentation, I would have to improve on my presentation skills.

I chose to end my conclusion with the support of a quote which goes, "The ability to save water is in your hands and every drop of water counts". I feel that the quote gives the audiences a deeper impression through its positive connotation. It might even trigger the audiences to start saving water. 

One major problem would be my inappropriate stance during the presentation. Nervousness overwhelms me whenever I am unable to recall an expression I have previously intended to use. It was shown through constant stuttering and unnecessary body movements I did during the presentation. Being quick-witted and more flexible during a presentation would minimise the number of pauses and prevent the build-up of nervousness.

Finally, I feel that reviewing the oral presentation of another peer increases the awareness of our own actions. As I was pointing out the cons of my peer's presentation, it made me question myself whether I did the same or not. Hence, with the takeaways from this presentation, I will continue to strive for better performance in future presentations.

Problem and Purpose Statement of the Technical Report

Problem statement:

SIT@Dover has a mixture of both efficient and inefficient water equipment. Unless these inefficient water equipment are replaced with more efficient ones, this will result in large accumulated volume of water wastage annually.

 
Purpose statement:

The purpose of the project is to propose the retrofitting of water efficient equipment throughout SIT. By introducing these equipment, SIT will be able to conserve more water in the long run. A research on the benefits in comparison to its drawbacks will be done on the different types of water equipment


Group: Azrie, Kaylin, Fira, Khia Meng

Summary, Thesis and Reader Response of Webpage Article on Detroit House [FINAL DRAFT]

In the article "This Detroit house is being turned into a living model of cost-saving sustainable design", Peters (2016) introduced Motown Movement as an initiative undertaken by three architecture students to design a sustainable living environment through affordable means. She then shared that the students were inspired to increase public awareness of sustainable and cost-effective ways to reconstruct houses, through workshops conducted in the revamped Detroit house - a living exhibition filled with green ideas. Through these workshops designed to address sustainability and cost effectiveness, people will be imparted with knowledge of green sustainability tricks which they could easily replicate in their houses. Peters summed up how the students collaborated with local organizations and their university to create projects flexible enough to accommodate varying conditions and spread the idea of Motown Movement to a worldwide level. With the above mentioned, I believe Motown Movement will be successful to a certain extent as they have visioned itself to be.

The reason why Motown Movement will be a success is because people are instilled with the awareness to create a better environmental health through the use of technology and the three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle. Therefore, the community would welcome the initiative upon its introduction to the city. As the bottom-up initiative will be led by community's involvements, word of Motown Movement will spread across the world as people influence one another to carry it out.

However, the initiative will be successful only to a certain extent due to the fact that there are people who do not regard sustainability as a priority. Stated in the Department for International Development (DFID) of United Kingdom's (UK) operational plan, Congo was evaluated as "chronically unstable, lacking infrastructure and social services, and falling far short of its economic potential"(Department for International Development, 2014, page 1). Also, according to Pasquali (n.d), Congo was ranked second as the poorest country in the world. 64.8% of the population live rural areas where people are plagued by "acute malnutrition" ("Democratic Republic of Congo", n.d., para. 7). With the above mentioned, it seems unlikely that achieving sustainability would prevail the desire of eradicating poverty and hunger. Albeit the aspect of reusing materials available around us is executable, green technology being one of the main ideas of the initiative would be a luxury they cannot afford to spend on. 

To conclude, Motown Movement is more of a success rather than failure. The number of partners they are collaborating with is increasing and with the help of publications from renown news firms it will definitely stand a chance to fulfill its goal of "fighting against climate change" and sharing "knowledge with people around the world"(The Motown Movement Partner Information, 2016, page 6).

Source:

Congo, Democratic Republic Of | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide. Wfp.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016, fromhttps://www.wfp.org/countries/congo-democratic-republic-of

Department for International Development. (2014). Operational Plan 2011-2016 DFID Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (p. 5). Retrieved 24 September 2016, from GOV.UK: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389482/DRC_Operational_Plan.pdf

Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. (2015). Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015 (p. 11). Retrieved 24 September 2016, from Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015: http://www.mewr.gov.sg/ssb/files/ssb2015.pdf

Pasquali, V. Global Finance Magazine - The Poorest Countries in the World. Global Finance Magazine. Retrieved 28 September 2016, from https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/the-poorest-countries-in-the-world?page=12

Peters, A. (2016). This Detroit House Is Being Turned Into A Living Model Of Cost-Saving Sustainable Design. Retrieved 21 September 2016, from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3061563/world-changing-ideas/this-detroit-house-is-being-turned-into-a-living-model-of-cost-saving-s

The Motown Movement Partner Information. (2016) (1st ed., p. 6). Retrieved 5 October 2016, from http://themotownmovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Motown-Movement-Partner-Information-June-2016-English.pdf

3 Things to Improve for the Trimester

1. I have to ensure that there are no issues with my sentence structuring.
2. I have to ensure verb tenses are used correctly.
3. I have to ensure words are capitalised appropriately.

Formal Email Writing

To: Blackstone Brad
From: Kaylin Chu
Date: 10th September 2016
Subject: Getting To Know More About Me

Dear Brad,

My name is Kaylin and I am currently pursuing Bachelors in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering under Building Services. I will be telling you more about my interests, educational background and goals for my future.

Believing that we should always keep an open mind, I take interest in a long list of different activities. However, I particularly enjoy group activities, take for example playing Volleyball with my friends and Golfing on "family days". Communicating and bonding through these activities reward me with the sense of belonging. In turn, I feel more driven to be at my best.

Since I was little, I have been wondering: Who built the kindergarten school that I attended? Why were there protruding parts of the wall? How did they do it? How was it possible to bring water, electricity, and people together in a contained space?

Although I got carried away by Literature and Sciences during my Secondary School days, I ultimately advanced into a Civil Engineering course to seek answers for my ever-burning questions. As my passion grew while studying the subject, I set an ultimate goal to become a Professional Engineer.

Admitting into my undergraduate program gave me hopes of achieving my goal one day. Being admitted into this undergraduate program has given me hope of achieving my goal one day. It is designed to impart not only theoretical but also technical knowledge, which allows me to be work-ready upon graduating. Therefore, I hope to fully utilize this opportunity given to me and to forge noteworthy memories along my learning journey.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Regards
Kaylin Chu

Edited: 18th September 2016 @ 18:05

Commented on Keith and Daryl's blog posts.

My English Journey

As I was born in an all Chinese-speaking family, my early childhood was filled with struggles conversing and writing in English. I often felt too shy to speak in front of unfamiliar people, afraid that I would embarrass myself. My English compositions met with marks not higher than 70 as my grammar was poor and I had trouble sentence-synthesising. In some way or other, the loss of self-confidence led to my stagnating social circle alongside my peers which flourished.

One day while walking home, I spotted my classmate in an English tuition class. I realised I was not the only one who had issues with English. Then it struck me that others were addressing their problems while I was wallowing in self-pity.

I felt encouraged and searched for ways to improve my English. I also spent extra effort reviewing English corrections from past exercises and I made sure I cleared any doubts. Reading English newspapers and listening to English radio channels gradually found its way into my daily routine. I opened up to my friends and tried to speak to them in English as much as possible.

All in all, I am proud to have overcome my struggles with English and achieved much more than just my grades. Language is an important aspect of communication, whereby the latter plays a huge role in both our lives and workplace. It is also essential that we are able to deliver ourselves effectively in English as it is a widely-spoken language around the world.

Edited on 6th October 2016 @ 0117.