Review of Effective communcation

Effective communication has helped me to develop certain skills which are important to crafting credible and persuasive reports or writings. Skills such as citation, summary were important to deliver the relevant content precisely and accurately to the audience. This is very applicable to how we can draft an effective resume in the future. The companies would not have the time to go through each section of the resume and thus, it is important to grab their attention right from the start with the help of an attention grabber or credible information to support the resume. 

Besides developing skills, I have also developed the confidence to present in front of large crowds. It was intimidating when I had to present in front of the class for the first peer teaching session. However, I realized that with more practices that I have, the more familiarized I get each time as I rehearsed together with the slides. It slowly builds up confidence as I had a good grasp and understanding of the content that I was presenting. My confidence was not just endless practices but it was also due to the help of my classmates as they gave me timely feedback and comments for me to work on the areas which I had to improve on. I want to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful classmates for giving me both good and bad feedback to motivate me to work even harder to improve on my oral presentation skills. 

Lastly, even though the module has come to an end, I would still continue to work on the gestures and my facial expressions used when presenting. I realized that most of the feedback were about the variations of gestures that I had and my poker face when I was presenting. I will work on these two areas by practicing in front a mirror. This will help me to generate more variations of gestures for different content so that the presentation will be more interesting and impactful to the audiences.  

Oral Presentation

I believe many of my classmates, including myself, wondered why was there a need to include a communication module in an engineering degree programme. I realized that it wasn't all about completing the assignments given and getting a grade but, learning different etiquette and acquiring life skills which would be useful in the future.

For the last assignment, we were tasked to come up with solutions to improve existing problems or current situations. Our group came up with a mobile application to tackle the issue of overcrowding in food courts. A technical report was also required to illustrate our ideas and research done on this topic area. It was something relatively new to all of us as we did not do up a technical report with sections like executive summary, letter of transmittal etc. This posed as a challenge to me as I had to adhere to the different formats given for the different sections. It was particularly difficult for me to write persuasively to convince the intended audience of the mobile application. I had to research and find credible sources to support my points.

However, that was not the only difficulty that I had encountered while completing this assignment. I had to work on my presentation skills to deliver the content confidently so that I would be able to grasp the attention of the audience. I had troubles making a link of the content from one slide to the next as I could not find the appropriate connectors or phrases while practising for the presentation. It was rather depressing to not be able to deliver the content smoothly despite having past experiences of presenting projects to professionals or lecturers in my polytechnic education.

Thankfully, I had the help of my classmates who gave me timely feedback and comments on my delivery. Their comments were of great help to me as I was able to reflect on the tone and words used while presenting. Besides my delivery, my group mates were very patient and helpful towards one another as we spent time going through each section of the report to ensure that the content was of relevance to the topic area and in depth research was done to justify our points.

I felt that my team had put up a great presentation that day and I really owe the success of my presentation to my classmates. Through this assignment, I learnt that forging a strong bond between people plays an important role in many aspects of my university life. I am able to complete this assignment with the help of not only my group mates but also the other classmates who were willing to spend their time and effort to help me to improve myself. I believe that with this bond, we will be able to help and influence one another positively.

Reader Response

Summary:

Waterproof concrete can be a more viable option for future green rooftops benefiting society even further. As compared to the usage of membranes, waterproof concrete is relatively easy to implement. It is much sturdier and does not deteriorate with age. As concrete is used, it will hardly be affected or damaged during construction, making it a much more simpler option, leaving the designers lesser things to worry about.

With the application of concrete, all the designers have to do is to wait for it to set and use it as a working platform. With that in mind, the designers can proceed straight to construction without having to wait for the concrete to set prior to introducing the membrane to the green roof.

Due to the waterproofing nature of the concrete used, further waterproofing will no longer be required. This in turn play a big part in reducing cost and time used for construction. As concrete does not wear out or deteriorate over time, maintenance is at minimum as compared to when membranes were used. This will lead to the increase in its sustainability and at the same time lower its life cycle cost.

With regards to maintenance, issues such as leakage can be easily detected since it is caused by crack or from a loose seal. With a simple polyurethane grout injection it can be easily fixed from below without disturbing the green roof above. As for a membrane system, when an issue arises, it is difficult to pinpoint the location of the problem. The reparation fee is not only costly; it might also cause damage and disruption to the entire green rooftop system.

Thesis statement: I believe that using waterproof concrete for green rooftops is a good investment for both the owners and the society as it offers many benefits such as cost savings.

I feel that adopting waterproof concrete on green rooftops is a better option for both the owners and the society. The writer listed countless of distinct features using waterproof concrete, which further emphasizes the benefits of using it as compared to waterproof membranes. The benefits mentioned were applicable to many interested parties like the owners, society and investors who wish to adopt the waterproof concrete for the green rooftops. Benefits like cost savings, time saving and improved qualities of the product are the determining factors to bring about the change in the people’s mindsets of using waterproof concrete.

Firstly, the reason why waterproof concrete is a better investment for both the owners and the society is because of the numerous benefits that it offers as compared to using waterproof membranes. Waterproof concrete has a permanent built in waterproofing feature, which does not deteriorate with time and is not easily damaged due to different weather conditions. With this in mind, investors or owners would naturally go for products with longer lifespan to increase their return of investment; with a lower cost price to produce a higher valued product. I feel that having a good investment means forking out an amount lower than the expected return rate for a highly valued product. In this case, the writer captures the attention of investors by repeating the key factors, costs and time, to reiterate the advantages that the waterproof concrete will bring about to the society.

In addition, benefits like lower construction costs and reduction of time spent to construct the waterproof concrete were the factors, which sparked the interest in investors and owners. With a shorter time spent on completing the project, this would mean that the viability and feasibility of the project would increase. It is definitely a win-win situation for both the investor and the owner, as both parties would stand to benefit from project with an increase in sustainability and effectiveness. With that being said, (The Growing Green Guide, 2014), the ineffectiveness of using waterproof membranes increases as it is prone to failure due to its soft composition and the installation requires a high degree of skill which makes it time consuming as compare to waterproof concrete.

In conclusion, adopting waterproof concrete is a good investment for both the owners and the investors as it saves costs and time. With so many advantages being mentioned, investors would be reassured to replace waterproof membranes with waterproof concrete. Ultimately, the investors will prioritize their return of investment and the feasibility of the project. Waterproof concrete will be able to produce good returns at a lesser cost for the investors to make it a good investment.

References:

http://www.growinggreenguide.org/technical-guide/construction-and-installation/green-roofs/waterproofing

Summary on Green Rooftops

According to Green Rooftops, waterproof concrete can be a more viable option for future green rooftops benefiting society even further. As compared to the usage of membranes, waterproof concrete is relatively easy to implement. It is much sturdier and does not deteriorate with age. As concrete is used, it will hardly be affected or damaged during construction, making it a much simpler option, leaving the designers lesser things to worry about.

With the application of concrete, all the designers have to do is to wait for it to set and use it as a working platform. With that in mind, the designers can proceed straight to construction without having to wait for the concrete to set prior to introducing the membrane to the green roof.

Due to the waterproofing nature of the concrete used, further waterproofing will no longer be required. This in turn play a big part in reducing cost and time used for construction. As concrete does not wear out or deteriorate over time, maintenance is at minimum as compared to when membranes were used. This will lead to the increase in its sustainability and at the same time lower its life-cycle cost.

With regards to maintenance, issues such as leakage can be easily detected since it is caused by crack or from a loose seal. With a simple polyurethane grout injection, it can be easily fixed from below without disturbing the green roof above. As for a membrane system, when an issue arises, it is difficult to pinpoint the location of the problem. The reparation fee is not only costly, it might also cause damage and disruption to the entire green rooftop system.

My English Language learning journey

Learning a language was never easy.

Learning a language can be a very tedious process. It tires you out both physically and mentally. If it wasn't for my english teacher when i was in secondary school, i would not have been able to pull through the journey. It was her unwavering support and patience which motivated me to work even harder to repay her efforts.

I still remember the time when my kindergarten teacher taught us the alphabet song to make us remember the 26 different alphabets. This was the only enjoyable moment i had while learning english language when i was young. As i grew up, learning the language gradually became dull and uninteresting. If only language could be learnt and taught in a fun manner, wouldn't it be great?

I could barely catch up to what my teacher was teaching in class. It came as a struggle to me while i was coping with my english classes when i was in secondary school. The number of techniques and skills taught were increasingly challenging and some would even require countless practices to fully grasp the concept. It really hit me hard when i had  received my first mid-term exam results for the english papers. For the first time ever, i actually failed my english language. I could still remember vividly that i had scored a total of 48 marks out of 100 marks. It was so unbearable to even hold the papers in my hands as i could not even look up and focus on what my teacher was going through. I could not believe that after countless practices and revisions, all i would amount to was a FAIL. To me, it came as a shock in the first place. However, the failed papers gradually turned into a really big motivation for me to work even harder towards my end of year examinations. It was truly a satisfying moment to see that all my hard work had paid off when i received my english papers for the end of year examinations. To others, it might not be a really good score but to me, it was far more than just a grade. To me, having even a grade of B4 beats having an A1 as i know that all my efforts had paid off having completed the heaps of past year papers and the countless consultations with my english teacher. She was genuinely happy to see me improve by leaps and bounds.

Who could have thought that someone like me, who failed my english language papers, would have chosen english literature as one of my subject combinations in secondary 3. I was actually quite surprised by my own decision but that did not stop me from choosing the subject. The beauty of language captivated me and it only sparked my interest to study the language further through literature. And guess what? I managed to pull through and scored a B3 for my literature exams in the o levels!

Learning a language is never easy but, with perseverance and commitment, one can always achieve the impossible! It is through failure that i managed to see the areas that i need to work on and adjust my studying methods to achieve better quality results. Failure is not always something bad. It could be a good thing that i failed because i get to know and realize the importance of my mistakes. It is alright to fail sometimes, but I must never fail again knowing what failed.