What did he say ?

Hey all

I wonder if any of you still blog or reads this. But whatever I'll write anyway...

Just came back from Genting Malaysia and had a great holiday with my family. Genting was fun and a great tourist spot. Although Malaysia isn't far from Singapore the default language used in Malaysia is malay rather than english in Singapore.

I am a Singaporean who sadly cannot count to ten in malay. It caused me many inconveniences when everyone you meet and buy something from always tells you the price in malay. It is rather awkward to have to say "pardon me?" and then try to converse with them in english.

Perhaps it is because they assumed i was a malaysian which by default would have received training in the language. I was fortunate that malaysians speak english, if not i would probably have to resort to non verbal cues.

To conclude, language and words are vital in communication. It is always good to learn at least the basics of the language of your neighbouring country or the country you are going to travel to and that would give you a huge convenience. For singaporean chinese who can't speak a word of malay, i suggest you at least learn the bare minimum to get you by.(this is not hard if you have malay or malaysian friends)

A side reason perhaps is because Singaporean and Malaysians have so much in common and we look so similar that in Malaysia it is inevitable that people initiate conversations with you in Malay. Being able to understand will really bring about lots of convenience.

Cheers

Frozen little packet of sweetness

Hey all

Have you tried frozen grapes? If you haven't perhaps you can try it. It is a great healthy snack while studying for your exams.

Step 1 : buy a packet of grapes.
Step 2: Wash them... You don't want to be consuming pesticide.
Step3 : Put them in a container... Since the freezer is for frozen meat you won't know what bacteria is in there.
Step 4: Yes you guessed it... Put in freezer
Step 5: indulge...

Its really nice especially if you buy the seedless once. You can chew on it and its kind of crunchy. Alternatively you can let it melt in your mouth. Both ways its delicious.

Ok back to studying.

Cheers

See-chai-wash-vegetables.blogspot.com - LIVES!

(NUH hospital room setting)

Beep ... Beep ... Beep ... Beep ...
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...

Nurse: OH MY GOD DOCTOR, DOCTOR!!!

(Doctor arrives)

Doctor: Give me a read on the blood pressure...

(Doctor sets up defribillator)

Doctor: CHARGING... OK CLEAR

PZZT!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...

Doctor: Come on live, live...
Doctor: CHARGING... OK CLEAR

PZZT!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...
Beep ... Beep ... Beep ... Beep ...

Ok patient see-chai-wash-vegetables.blogspot.com lives...

Doctor: Nurse, continue to monitor the pulse rate and condition of the patient and notify immediately if anything happens to it again.

The End

ES2007S - Looking back

13 weeks have past and it is the end of ES2007S. Officially the course has ended but the skills learnt and the friendship forged lives on. In these 13 weeks we learnt about almost every aspect of communication. It started off theoretical with lots of readings and then along the way lots of opportunity to apply the theories learnt.

One of the biggest skills that I picked up was presentation skills. My lack of confidence to address a crowd leaves me petrified just like the elevator test (selling your idea in 30 seconds just like in an elevator) that we did. Since day 1, Brad (our tutor) decided to throw us into the deep end of the pool and had us present in front of the class. In front of unfamiliar faces it was difficult and naturally I didn’t do well. I know I probably would screw up my presentation again but somehow it just keeps me coming back for more. I always wanted to apply what I learnt in the previous presentation and I think it’s that fighting spirit that kept me going. After every presentation I’ll murmur to myself and present the whole presentation again to myself.

The biggest flaw for me in this aspect was the lack of confidence and being uncomfortable in front of the crowd. During rehearsals when nothing matters, I seem to be able to do a good job. But when I’m actually in the spotlight I become very uncomfortable. After ES2007S I became so much more confident and at ease with myself in front of a crowd. The next two presentations for other modules was a breeze for me. I didn’t have cue cards I didn’t even need long preparation and rehearsals. I just went up and talked.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the whole process of a job search. As I was really looking to intern in the firm that I chose, I was actually killing two birds with one stone. The tailoring of resume to fit the job description was something new. There was even a cheat of plucking words from the advertisement itself. The mock interview was fun and we got both perspectives as an interviewer and interviewee. However the enquiry letter that I eventually sent out did not get me an interview because they were not hiring. But at least I got a reply.

Ok finally the 7Cs. I know I kind of violated all of them in my blog posts. But I try hard to stick with them in other reports that I write. Perhaps it was difficult to be very concise in blog posts because I feel like I’m talking to my friends here. But in a report or something more formal I definitely stick to the 7Cs.
Skills wise ES2007s has really made a significant impact to the way I speak write and present. I have already started applying the skills learnt such as using the 7Cs in reports, writing business correspondents to professors, designing powerful PowerPoint slides and presenting with confidence. Some of my group mates also called me the presentation guru. Can you believe that?

Friendship wise, I came into ES2007s without a friend. It was rather intimidating to have no familiar faces in the class. Almost immediately we needed to do peer-teaching and I was grouped with Iris who became my first friend in class. (Thanks Iris for putting up with me asking you what we need to prepare for the next class). As the weeks goes by and with the help of the blogs, everyone started to get to know one another. Although I did not work with everyone in class but we soon become close enough to have lunch together after Thursday class. The topic on the table was not all about ES2007s and I recall talking about clubbing and lubrications.

I really felt that I have made 14 new friends in this course which is another valuable thing to takeaway. It is the first time which I felt so emotionally attached to a class that I thought of a celebration at the end. I wanted to celebrate with my new found friends all the hard work that we put into the class and also our Brad who patiently coached us to be effective communicators.
Choosing to take ES2007S is one of the best decisions I made in NUS. I wish everyone all the best in the upcoming exams and also to those graduating hope you get the jobs you like (hopefully also very high paying) by employing the skills learnt in ES2007s.

Thats all folks

PLEASE HELP ME…

A very difficult issue...

Hi friends from ES2007S if you are reading this I’m glad you are and I really need your help. I have a huge moral and ethics situation here that I cannot resolve. I want to hear from as many people as possible before I decide what to do tomorrow morning.

A little background…

I’ve been working in a design project which is a huge project for mechanical engineering students which spans across 2 semesters. Throughout the process I have made lots of great friends in the group. Everyone in there had great personality and I treasure all the friendships that were forged.

Last semester I had no qualms with agreeing to a common peer review because everybody did a fair amount of work. However in this semester everything changed. Different people involved themselves with different tasks and there were people in the group who contributed negligibly. Being the main designer for 2 sub systems (lighting and dashboard display of a car) had to single-handedly do all the wiring connections and connections. I could not delegate the tasks with my teammates since the systems were very complex and would take a long time to explain. On top of that since I’m only soldering 1 circuit board there is no way others could help me. I’m not upset with the fact that I had much more to do than my teammates and some of them helped me as far as they could and I’m very appreciative.

The problem…

Peer evaluation. It comes in a form a table where you need to rank everyone in the group and also give a grade to individual aspects of in terms of contribution, attitude and all. Although not openly agreed, everyone had the common understanding that peer evaluation will be done together with everyone writing the same thing similar to what we did that last semester.
I personally felt that this was really unfair because there were people who contributed much less than others. I’m not saying that I have done the most and there were certainly people who did more than me. A combined peer evaluation will simply not reflect the extra commitment and effort. The professor was not there to monitor and keep track of individual contributions and peer evaluation is one of the ways that he could have a gauge. Another grading venue which the professor will judge is through the log book which we had to submit. For my logbook I logged everything about the two sub-systems that I did and nothing more. However there are teammates who wrote about every system in the project in which some they did not even participate. A third venue of evaluation would be the presentation that we gave. But since everyone had to have something to present I had to give up 1 subsystem to another teammate.

The concern…

I’m really concerned over how the professors would have valued the amount of work that was invested by me. In all three aspects of individual grading, none reflects the fact that I’ve done a lot. After all the sweat, doing yoga in a tight compartment and soldering the millions of points that needed soldering, I really wanted to be appreciated. The only chance I have now is peer evaluation.

The Questions…

If you are in my situation

Do you message the whole group telling them that you are uncomfortable with the group decided peer evaluation?

Would you have just conformed to the crowd and go with the group decided peer evaluation?
OR
Would you have submitted an honest peer review that you have filled in to how you feel? There is no way that anyone in the team will find out.

By submitting an honest peer review is it very unethical and immoral?

If you are the professor and you realize that only 1 person out of the 8 has a peer evaluation would you mark him down?
On top of that would you even consider his ranking in the peer review since he was the only one which might reflect the fact that he might not be a team player?

Do you think that emailing the professor directly to tell the group to do the peer evaluation individually would be a good idea?

To Conclude…

I’m really in a dilemma right now. On one hand I value these friends I made and on the other it is my grades that are in concerned. I really don’t think I can accept it if I do not get rewarded for all the effort I put into this project. Am I overvaluing grades and downplaying friendship? Please give me your honest feedback and what you would do in my situation as it would influence my course of action.

Thanks in advance.

Reflection on Oral presentation

See Chai’s ES2007S lament

The project work of ES2007S is finally over for me after today’s oral presentation. On one hand I feel totally relieved as I can concentrate on assignments of other modules which have snowballed over the past few weeks. On the other hand I feel a little sad because it kind of marks the end of ES2007S. At the same time I will really miss the memorable moments shared with Iris and Geraldine during project meeting.

Alright let’s get on with the reflection on oral presentation. I remember after the peer teaching session, I was looking forward to presenting in front of the class again incorporating all the lessons that I have learnt then. Yet today I felt rather disappointed with my part of the oral.

Preparation aspect
Firstly I felt that we did not cater enough time to prepare for the presentation. Everyone in the team has a busy schedule and meeting was often conducted in the evening when everyone is already drained. On top of that, we only finalized the content at 3.30 am the night before. This meant that there was little time for rehearsal and also to get the content in my head. During rehearsals I would forget all the things I was meant to say. I must admit I did not have a good run before the actual presentation. I’m sure Iris and Geraldine was quite worried about that.

Content aspect
Another reason which I felt was disappointing was the amount of content I was presenting. If you ask me I would say that it was pathetic. The benefits that I came up with were not even something that needs heavy research in order to come up with. This brings me to my third point.
Have you ever had the feeling that you invested so much time and effort into something only to be disappointed later?
That was how I felt with the presentation. We have done so much and gained so much insight but none of them could be used in the presentation. Perhaps I failed terribly in bringing the team in focus during the research as the chair.

Delivery aspect
Delivery aspect went better than expected for me. Not respective to professional communication standards definitely. Respective to the rehearsal which I forgot almost everything I only forgot 25% of what I was supposed to say. Also, relative to the 1 minute elevator test which I was practically frozen solid in class, today presentation was only slightly better.
I was never known to be quiet or soft spoken to my peers. Am I? Iris and Geraldine will definitely disagree with me being soft-spoken. I wonder where my voice went when I was presenting. I couldn’t believe it when Brad mentioned that I was too soft.

Two saving graces for me today probably were that I tried very hard on the eye contact thing (I certainly hope some of my classmates caught that) and me not turning back to look at the slides (simply because there was nothing there!).

I admit I was never good at oral presentation. The reason for today’s poor presentation was probably due to the lack of self confidence, lack of practice, lack of passion on the things I was presenting and the previous incident where I froze in front of the whole class. I was totally uncomfortable with standing in front of a crowd. The only time I was at ease was during the Q&A session. However when I tried to add on to something Geraldine said the whole class burst into laughter I can’t help but wonder why?

I wished I had ended the project and ES2007S on a better note. I felt that I have learnt so much and yet when it is time for application I failed. I’m sorry if you had to read through this article. I wished I could find something more positive about my part of the presentation but I could find none.

The Purpose and the Problem statement

Problem statement
Nursing involve lots of interaction with patients and also other health care professions. Therefore it is vital for nurses to be able to communicate effectively. Miscommunication often arises in the hospital setting, thus reflecting a need to further look into the communication skills of nurses. Although miscommunication can never be totally avoided, improving the communication skills of nurses we hope to minimize such instances thus improving the overall standards of Singapore's health care industry.

Purpose Statement
The purpose of this proposal is to highlight key communication skills that are vital for a nurse to execute his/her daily duties. At the same time we aim to identify the communication skills that current nurses are lacking. By doing so we aim for further research to be conducted and eventually a change in the curriculum to equip future nursing graduate with the relevant communication skills. As such they will be able to excel in their workplace bringing professional health care to the patients.