Reflections

Overall Course Reflection

I don’t know what I was expecting from the ENG2003 course, but I was pleasantly surprised by many things. I enjoyed the self-guided nature of the flipped content, and being able to connect them back to what we were reviewing in class. I found that the Kahoots were sometimes quite confusing and contradicted what we learned, but aside from that I think that the purpose they serve for memory recall very helpful. I sometimes have a hard time staying focused for long periods of time, especially in a lecture hall looking at white slides, so it was beneficial to me to have review slides and breakdown of key points to accompany each lecture. Discussions with group members and other students in lecture were very fruitful and deepened my learning and made my experience more rewarding. In principle, I think the Axioms of Communication and 7 C’s of Communication, both of which were covered thoroughly in the course, have a lot to offer us as engineering students in teaching us how to learn better communication skills, as well as serving as helpful reminders of what to keep in mind when reviewing on experiences to improve and grow in the future. I have been able to apply them outside the purview of this course already in my life, and think they are extremely tangible and valuable to us as communicators. The 7 C’s of Communication, being clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered and courteous, are easy to remember and apply, especially in email correspondence. For example, I now find myself asking questions like “Is this concise? Am I being clear? Is my tone courteous?”. In doing so, I am able to ‘check’ myself, so to speak, even before sending a message to ensure I am getting my point across properly. One of the axioms of communication I found myself defaulting to a lot is axiom 4, communication is a principle way of establishing and maintaining credibility, as I have noticed that I tend to minimize myself and my accomplishments because of insecurity and feeling like I am not qualified to have a position on a topic. By re-framing my perspective to be more audience centred, which is part of axiom 8, and maintaining a professional and mature tone, I have been able to better distill what I am trying to express, and in turn this has helped me understand what others are trying to say to me as well. This comes in handy during lectures and presentations. The material itself, and specifically these points, were very useful. However, if I were to be given input into how the course was designed, I think it could be structured differently so that the delivery is more meaningful, applicable to our careers and futures, and current. As example, something that I would have personally benefited from was hearing from career experts and HR execs about how they hire for their companies, and what kinds of things they look for in viable and ideal candidates. Having insider insight into that side of things would have significantly influenced how I write and format my cover letters, cvs, and other documentation that is sent to prospective employers. It would have also been beneficial to see more good examples, rather than just poor examples of work that need correction, so that we could develop an internal barometer and sense of what to look for and aim towards. Overall, I think the direction this course pointed us is positive and I look forward to future opportunities in ENG classes and presentations to apply these skills.

Personal Growth/Development

Prior to being enrolled in this course, I had developed my communication through practice, and generally considered myself to be somewhat comfortable with my communication skills, and throughout the ENG2003 course I have been able to polish and further develop those skills and modify elements that needed change. Beforehand, I was able to conduct myself professionally with professors, peers and staff, and many of the things I was unsure about I have been able to gain confidence and reassurance for. One of the most effective ways to see this is through my brochures, in which I was able to take a large and complicated topic and present it to different audiences in appropriate and understandable ways. My passion project is another great example of this, as I have not only curated a piece of effective communication about safety, consent, and sexual education, but because of the tools taught to me in this course I was able to get the job as a facilitator, which will involve even more presentation creation and delivery. I am very excited about this, because it allows me to spread awareness and create a culture of education by using my communication skills. The skill I need to develop most in my communication is my confidence and managing anxiety. I have noticed that when I get nervous, I have a hard time speaking loudly and clearly, and my anxiety will prevent me from doing my best. Because this has such a huge impact on whether or not I get taken seriously, I have considered ways in which I can make myself feel more confident, and in turn also project that self-assuredness when presenting. One of the things I have noticed makes a difference is dressing professionally, and I have started to incorporate that into my mindset when preparing myself to speak publicly. This course helped me to know what to expect in future courses as an engineering student, and what is expected of me moving forward.