Overall Reflection of ES2007S

ES2007S is the best module that I have taken so far in my 2 years in NUS. I am able to learn many practical skills in communication in the professional realm and to apply these skills real time in the various platforms of the course. The following are some important aspects of this module that I would like to highlight:

Communication

I have learnt to systematically manage my own communication in both written and real time communication (verbal & non-verbal) and the 7 Cs brought a very clear picture as I evaluate my own communication methods. Ultimately, the manner I bring my ideas across is as important as the ideas themselves.

Project Management

The heavy work load of the project (proposal + oral discussion + oral presentation = 40%) is worth the amount of experience that I got. I have revisited the basics of holding a meeting, building the team dynamics, liaising with external agencies, proposal writing and presentation management. It is very rewarding to synthesize a project that could really worked in the actual cooperate environment.

Leadership & Self-management

While others associate leadership with leaders, I believe everyone is a leader in a form or another. Emotional management, time planning, goal setting and resource organization are essential to both the individual and team. Through this module, I have gained insights to my own personal flaws that would hinder my career in the future. I am grateful that I can work on these flaws before stepping into the workforce.

In conclusion, ES2007S provided me the highest quantity and quality of these soft skills per module as compared to others. I really recommend this module to students who are seeking skills to bring out the best of themselves and to get a head-start as they step into the corporate world.

Oral Presentation Reflection

I am proud of the whole team as the oral presentation was done at a higher standard than I initially expected. The efforts that all individuals of the team were excellent as we all have outdone ourselves and improved as compared to the beginning of the team’s formation.

The Slides:

As the coordinator of the team, I was in charge of the compiling of the slides. I was greatly inspired by Brad’s ‘clean & simple’ style and I tried the ‘simple is better’ and ‘picture story’ methods together for the first time in my life. Pictures and words leverage on the pictorial and audio method of input into the human brain while stories leave an impression in episodic memory of the audience. Therefore, I am delighted to witness the effectiveness of the ‘new’ slide design and I will continue to use and refine it.

The Play Making:

The effectiveness of a team depends on the synergy rather than summation of individual strength of the members. We are able cover the weakness of one another during the presentation and the Q&A section. It is almost impossible to know every detail of the project but it is vital to know who has the details at the ‘back of his/her hand’. I am very happy to see the way we developed each other’s persuasion during the Q&A in a ‘fluid’ manner where the ‘transition’ is smooth.

I also anticipated the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of our presentation, which is the weak relevance with URA. Therefore, we laid ‘ground works’ like defining the roles and details of various civil service departments for each team and gave out hand outs to explain their roles. We also gave URA a more advisory role rather than the operational role in the proposed project in order to keep URA’s linkage to the presentation. This argument was weak but we managed with the ‘smoke screen’ effect of our ground works.

My Delivery of Presentation:

I am very much a Mandarin speaking person and most of my stage experience is with the Chinese language. For years, I have been borrowing my Chinese experience into the English field. In recent 2 years, I am able to speak and think with both language separated and independently. However, I know my command of my English vocals still has much to improve. Thus, I only use simple words and avoid complex words that I will most likely stumble. I think I should sing more English songs rather than Chinese ones on my Karaoke sessions =)

Presentation Videos:

• Part 1 of 3 : http://youtu.be/zRVjmeGg1Oo
• Part 2 of 3 : http://youtu.be/VWXKcYHw8YY
• Part 3 of 3 : http://youtu.be/RFV8XFhqsQI

Intercultural Behavior: Adapt or be Overwhelmed (Edited)

Even though I seldom travel, I have my own fair share of interaction with people from different cultures during some of my working experiences. The cultural group that I have been interacting with the most is the Chinese from the People’s Republic of China.

I worked as an event coordinator in a series of seminars that hosted many delegates from People’s Republic of China. The seminars involved meetings of regional managers of the company in Asia and main event involved speeches of certain VIPs to the rank and file and members of affiliates. The main event that I am about to elaborate on was held at the Suntec, Convention Hall 10. In addition to being in charge of escorting the VIPs, my colleagues and I had to organize the security of the vicinity. We drew up plans, protocols and equipped everyone with the best equipment. However, we did not realize that we were far from ready. Everything would have worked if we were dealing with a crowd of Singaporeans but the addition of a larger crowd from China proved to be very challenging. Our assumption that one way fits all proved to be ineffective.

On the actual day, we put up sign boards that gave directions in both English and Mandarin to decrease the manpower needed to direct the crowd from the Suntec main lobby to Hall 10. These sign boards worked well for Singaporeans as most of them were able to follow the directions with minimal intervention from us other than a few who asked for the direction for the restrooms. In contrast, the Chinese, who arrived later, did not follow the directions as effective as the Singaporeans. Many of them tried to take short cuts and they often rushed and squeezed their way through the queue. Therefore, I had to deploy additional manpower up to two times as planned to maintain order. We were lucky to have spare manpower that was initially planned for emergencies.

Moreover, the Chinese was nosy when queuing and this added more difficulties to us. My colleague wanted to use the loud speaker but I told him that it should be the last resort and we should resort to a more subtle method. I talked to a few of their group leaders and it proved to be more effective as these leaders were more understanding and they were able to manage their people much effective than us.

Since Singapore is a city where the influx of foreigner is high, we will have to deal with people of different cultures in our career. Instead of being overwhelmed and be passive towards these foreigners, we should be flexible and adopt an active attitude to learn to deal with such cultural differences.

Rights & Love in Education

I knew there is a phrase that Brad talked about in class that impacted me but I just could not remember it the whole day until now! I was doing my daily reflection & walla! that came back to me.

" Students should have the right to choose to fail"

It felt like the adding of the concept of zero to numbers (1 to 9). It's just so important. We are so used to a 'industrial processing' type of education & the concept of choice of not to take up the learning of subject just no longer make sense to us. Therefore, we can't force a student to learn something that he/she does not want.

As applied to us, we got to understand the reason of learning. Do we still remember the thrill of learning something new when we were little? Do we still feel excited about learning? The love for learning became 'materialistic' as we grew older. Perhaps it's meritocracy (stated by Issac today). Thus, the job of the education in the future would need to include awakening the love of learning.

Students must have the experience of 'true love' with learning so they would be committed to their love of learning so as not to give up despite failing in a current model of testing that is yet to be perfect.

If your future spouse does not earn as much as others or were to be not as brilliant, will you still love him/her?

Since some of us may be teachers, some of us may have kids in future. Some of us were still half-way through undergrad, it's good to ponder a bit =)

Application Letter (Draft 02) - Edited

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road

#04-05 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 9876 5432

Email: limyt88@gmail.com

1^st February 2011

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Madam

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for a potential internship in greater details. I have great interest in education related career and have been seeking for opportunities to further develop the relevant skills. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing educational materials extensively, I believe that my experience and skills will be of service to the company in these areas.

My experience in public school teaching and freelance collaborations will be useful in assisting the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. As an intern teacher in Hong Kah Secondary School, I pioneered the development of their next generation science teaching material that runs on the Windows platform. The experience with Theo Education Pte Ltd in developing teaching materials for educational workshops and being on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals will prove useful. In addition, being an event coordinator for Ultra Global International Pte Ltd to assist the organizing of seminars and events from an audience size of over a hundred to over 3000 had improved my logistical skills greatly. Therefore, I will be able to help the company develop materials that are not only adapted for different learning styles, but are also tailored to meet the unique needs of each client

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I am confident of serving the company well. This is because I thrive in a dynamic environment which demands from its workers flexibility and the ability to mount effective situational responses while at the same time, manage the large scale planning and coordination that is a part of product development. Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Application Letter (Draft 01)

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road #05-06 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 91234567 Email: limyt88@gmail.com

MC Online Pte Ltd Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road Singapore 536196

1^st February 2011

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Mdm

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for potential internship in greater details. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing education materials extensively, I believe that my experiences, skills and passion will help the company in these areas.

I am currently an undergraduate student in National University of Singapore (NUS), pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Life Science (specialization in Molecular and Cell Biology) and I am expecting to graduate in May 2013. Besides pursuing academic excellence, I have been actively engaging in free lance opportunities as I believe the best form of work and life experience comes from the real working condition. I believe my experiences can assist the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. During my stay in Hong Kah Secondary School as a teaching intern, I have pioneered the development their next generation science teaching material that runs on the PC platform. In addition, I have been working with Theo Education PTE LTD as a free-lance project manager. I have developed teaching materials, conducted camps and workshops and had been on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals. Therefore, I will be able to help the company to develop materials that can adapt to different learning configurations and to tailor them according to the needs of clients effectively.

I believe that my planning, logistical and leadership skills and my ability to coordinate different working groups in a dynamic environment will serve the company well. I have assisted in organizing events as an event coordinator for Ultra Global International PTE LTD. For instance, I have helped to coordinate a seminar that had more than 3000 participants and organized company celebrations that involved over a hundred staff. Thus, I can serve the company well in a dynamic working environment that demands flexibility and effective situational response while managing large scale planning and coordination of product development.

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I believe am able to work well with people to contribute to your company.

Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Details of Instructional Designer (refer to Application Letter)

Link http://www.jobstreet.com.sg/jobs/2011/1/default/20/2459632.htm?fr=J

Marshall Cavendish Online is one of the largest e-Learning solution and service provider in Singapore. Its flagship product, the LEAD e-Learning portal, integrates a full featured e-Learning platform with rich multimedia interactive content, and is being used by more than 120 schools and 200,000 students in Singapore. Marshall Cavendish Online trainers are sought by and deployed to many Singapore schools to assist in their infocomm technology needs and training.

Instructional Designer (Educational Products)
(Singapore)

Responsibilities:

• Plan, design and develop IT-based educational courseware based on curricula requirements
• Prepare scripts / storyboards for interactive courseware and create questions for test banks
• Work with external parties such as content writers, audio production house, voice talents and media production team to ensure smooth delivery of content
• Work with our developers to ensure the correct implementation of IT-based courseware

Requirements:

• Possess a Degree in Science or Mathematics
• Have teaching, instructional design or editorial experience
• Meticulous, organised, pro-active and flexible
• Able to deliver high-quality work under demanding deadlines
• Possess good project management skills and interpersonal skills
• Good command of English Language is a must

Interested candidates, please send your detailed resume stating current and expected salaries to the following:

The Human Resource Department

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

Email: hr@sg.marshallcavendish.com

Interpersonal Conflict (Heat in the Air Force)

Interpersonal conflicts can happen when there is a clash of interest or feelings and the breakdown of subsequent communication of parties involved. Such conflicts can occur in both our personal lives and professional lives. The spark of conflicts can be intentional or unintentional and the other party can be a nemesis, co-worker, classmate, friends or even close buddies. Therefore, interpersonal conflicts can happen so easily once we are not mindful of the communication, emotions and interests involved. The scenario that I am about to describe involves a wide range of factors that I categorized above. Enjoy =)

The conflict happened in the year 2008, the second year of my national service in the Air Force. The parties involved were my superior, my colleagues, my best friend and I. On one occasion, my superior wanted me to take charge of a certain preparation and gave me the authority over some of my colleagues since I was a team leader. He also handed me some important stuff to complete the preparation. However, I developed a high fever later on the same day due to an overnight operation in the rain on the previous day. Therefore, I travelled back to base camp to hand over the important staff to my 2IC (second in-charge) and passed the authority of the preparation to him. I thought that he would lead the other colleagues to complete the job.

At the third day of my medical leave, I was shocked when my superior called me and reprimanded me for not completing the job and stated that the uncompleted preparation would land him in deep trouble. I apologized quickly without knowing the exact situation and immediately called my 2IC. To my great disappointment, he just casually said that the whole group totally forgotten about the task. I was speechless as I even made the effort to travel back to base camp to hand over the job despite the high fever and my colleagues did not even remember the job. My 2IC apologized and thus I held back my temper and just said I was sad but I will handle the aftermath after I recovered. I told him to get the job done quickly to make up for the lost time.

When I got back to camp, I was shocked for the second time. I knew that there was still time for preparations to be made and my superior would not be as mad as he sounded in the phone. News pertaining about his fury got to me. After my superior realized the preparation was far behind time, he kind of ‘bitched’ with some of my friends and it was my best friend who added the fuel to the fire by casually commenting that I was being irresponsible and selfish. Thus, the already agitated superior became very angry and thus made that call.

After I did my investigation on the very conversation that sparked off the whole episode, I called my best friend and lashed out at him. Thus, we fell out over this incident. I felt extremely hurt as it was my best friend who bad mouthed me in front of my superior. If a political rival was to bad mouth me, it would just be a ‘pain in the ass’ and I would say it was just a part of the routine political ‘warfare’. However, such an action from a best friend was a ‘torn in the heart’ and the emotional damage was tremendous.

To make things simple, I summarize the case as per following:

1. My superior – the job was behind progress and his promotion could be jeopardized

2. My colleagues – they could be punished along with me

3. My best friend – a friendship at stake and it has gotten intertwined with work.

4. Me: I have to appease my superior, cover for the team that I was leading and amend for the damaged friendship with my best friend.

I will post the actual action taken back then and the improved solution from my current point of view. I made a lot of mistakes and some of them were, in fact, pretty stupid. I am glad I have grown thus far and learnt from these mistakes. The price of learning about the ways of life is high but it was worth it.

Q: If you were to be in my shoes back then, how would you react to salvage the friendship with my best friend and to deal with the work related situation?

Peer Teaching 01- Business Letter

Edwin, Jonathan and I did our peer teaching on business letter on last Thursday, 27^th Jan 2011. We are the first group to embark on the peer teaching and thus we were both unsure and excited at the same time. We were unsure as there was no reference from any other teams’ peer teaching. However, we were excited as we have little restriction on the teaching styles and we kind of had a ‘free play’ situation.

The lesson consists of the following.

1. Introduction & Scenarios (by Yu Tian)

2. Basics of ‘Non Bad News’ messages(by Edwin)

3. Basics of ‘Bad News’ messages (by Jonathan)

4. The Trivia (the main quiz session)

5. Going through the response to the questions of the Trivia

6. Wrapping up (by Yu Tian)

We were really glad that the class participated actively and enjoyed themselves. The peer teaching concept of this module has indeed introduced a new dimension into the lesson. We welcome comments and feel free to point out ways that we can improve.

Importance of Effective Communication

“I am an introvert.” This was what I used to define myself when I was in secondary school. I was only able to communicate with my small clique of friends and was not keen to share my ideas or to participate in public speaking. I was really fat back then and I did not really understand the basics of communication and thus I had low self esteem and was not effective in my social life. Things began to change as my teachers started to give me more opportunities to speak up, especially during science projects, which was my favorite. Years went on and by the time I was in Junior College, I enjoyed public speaking in presentations and peer teaching. I dedicate the root of my confidence in public speaking and project management to the teachers who believed in me and gave me the opportunities and encouragement that pushed me on. Therefore, I fell in love with two of my pet subjects, namely biology and teaching, and I decided to embark teaching of biological sciences as my career.

Some people may call it ‘chip of the old brick’ and I prefer to refer it as passing on the DNA of education and communication to the next generation. As a teacher, I do not want just to educate students on biological concepts but also to inspire them to take up a more dynamic approach in learning through discussion and cooperation. Thus, I will not only have to learn the ways to communicate effective but also to teach students to do the same as well. It is part of my vision to have the future generation to discuss ideas effectively, enjoy the elegance of the flow of knowledge and the interactions of concepts and the interactions of different concepts.

I approach academic communication in three levels of informing, imparting and impacting. Informing consists of effective use of speech, visual aid and effective class management to ensure the students will understand the subject clearly. Imparting will largely involve painting a mental picture in the minds of the students in order to link concepts and provide the basis for ideas to interact dynamically in the mind. The most difficult but also the most meaningful part of education is impacting. I hope to impact the life of students in the way that they may not remember the topics that I have taught or the way of approach to discuss certain subject but the passion for active thinking and discussion would leave a print on their hearts for their lifetime. However, I am still a green horn in the educational field and I will need a systematic approach to effectively communicate with students and to accomplish these objectives. Therefore, getting to learn the skills of effective communication is important presently, especially when such courses are rare.

Being a teacher does not mean being free from office communication. During tea session with some educational veterans, I learnt that there were some teachers who entered the trade with an illusion of a career without dealing with office politics. These senior teachers shared that being able to communicate effectively with colleagues and superiors help to get ideas approved and set things going smoothly. It is only when one teacher can get maximum support from the office that he or she can execute teaching much more effectively in the classroom. During my intern teaching days, I have seen teachers with really good ideas getting denied just because they lack the optimum means of communication and gaining support within the office. Thus, effective communication within the office, which is the backstage, is as equally important as it is in the classroom, which is the stage.