Critical Reflection

It has been a fruitful journey ever since I undertake the module effective communications. 12 weeks had passed in a blink of an eye and the module is coming to an end. I had learnt a lot through this module, from providing a reader’s response, to writing a technical report and lastly oral presentations.

This module allows me to sharpen and understand how important communications skills is. For instance, we are tasked to complete the Reader’s response. This helped me to read and interpret the article in many various way, looking past the words to search for deeper meanings and also allowing me to pick up criticism skills and then provide information and research to back up with the responses.

Having written numerous reports during my Diploma course of studies, SIT allows me to unlearn the skillset that I have and equipped me with more source of information to relearn the importance of writing a technical report. From this event, I learnt that for a technical report, everything need to be very clear and concise and must have a good flow of content so that the reader is able to understand what the proposal is for.

My biggest take away from this module is the skills for oral presentation. I used to think that oral presentations was just simply presenting my ideas to the audience. However through this oral presentation, I learnt that as a good presenter, we need to capture the attention of the audience. Not only that, good eye contact is important as the audience would be able to get your attention. Having good articulation and projection of our voice, portraying better body posture, hand gesture and enthusiasm, it indirectly affects the quality of oral presentation.

Lastly I would like to thank my tutor, Ms Lim, and my fellow peers for always providing me with constructive feedback to improve my skills, and also making my effective communications learning journey an enjoyable one.  

My English Oral Presentation Reflection

Throughout the Effective Communication presentation, I felt much anxiety and worried. Ever since young, I grew up in a Chinese speaking family and did not communicate much in English. Not only that, I mainly converse in Chinese language with my peers. Hence, I felt unconfident about myself and tried my best to prepare for the presentation.

As my group’s presentation was on the second day, I had ample time to observe my peers and grasp various presentation skills from them. On top of that, I rehearsed countless of times alone to ensure that my English was up to standard and I would not be able to speak in broken English. Also, before the presentation, I tried to boost my confidence by rehearsing with my peers; at the same time, they could spot my mistakes so that I would be able to make adjustment before the actual presentation.

It was my first formal presentation. I had to dress smartly and be donned in a blazer. It was honestly a surreal experience for me. Through the presentation, I personally felt that it went smoothly. Although I had a few pauses, I managed to relay the content well to my audiences. It was slightly tough presenting to my peers at the beginning as I had stage fright. Subsequently, during the presentation, I felt more confident in expressing my thoughts.

With the confidence gained, I was also able to make several eye contacts with my tutor and peers. However what I felt that I could do better was to ensure that I could articulate my thoughts better throughout my presentation. If I had more chances to do such presentations, I would read more and conduct more research on improving my English standards to guarantee that my presentation flow would be proficient. 

This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City - Reader's response Final draft

In this article, “This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City”, Peters (2016) expressed the idea of soi-disant “micronation” located on a small piece of land between Croatia and Serbia, known as “Free Republic of Liberland” She stated that in order to tackle the issue of land scarcity, an architectural plan has been established by layering the city’s neighborhood platform, while the city expands. For algae to power the city, genetically altered algae are planted on the bottom of each neighborhood platform. Moreover, in order to achieve the status of zero vehicle nation, as well as to reduce pollution, buildings are clustered around transits to allow citizens to access different parts of the city by foot. However, Peters only affirmed the advantages but failed to look into the drawbacks of the proposed design, which makes the article incomplete.

Peters only shared the benefits of having a city powered by algae that only requires the underside of each platform in the neighborhood buildings. But, she failed to state the underlying disadvantages of having genetically altered algae. Thus making the article incomplete. It is mentioned by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that the two main support for algae growth are phosphorus and nitrogen (EPA, ND, para. 2). Also, a large amount of algae is needed to power the entire city. According to Déry P.(2007), phosphorus is an irreplaceable nonrenewable resource which will run out in approximately 50 to 150 years from now. Hence, in the future, this will be a problem when production peaked reaches as phosphorus are more expensive and harder to extract.  Thus, one might questioned the sustainability of the city as more resources are needed to be sought for.  Resources might run out, which will lead to the decrease in algae production. With this, the city might not be able to function properly as there might not be enough power to sustain the whole city.

In addition, the algae has to be grown in a controlled temperature environment, along with a considerable amount of land and water. (Siegel R P, 2012). In the article, Peters failed in mentioning how the architectural plan is going to deal with the growth of algae. Furthermore, Liberland is located near the west bank of Danube River, between Croatia and Serbia. (Liberland, ND, para. 1) Thus, without exercising extra caution, it might results in having algae blooms. This will be the main reason for nutrient pollution; which is a process which oxygen in the water is reduced. With this, plant and animal species living there will suffocate, and water quality will be aggravated. Consequently, nearby rivers and lakes will be affected. Citizens fishing in the area might not be aware of nutrient pollution. Hence the fishes consumed would cause harm to the human body. (ICPDR, ND, para 2).

In conclusion, although Peters has discussed certain valid point on the methodology of Liberland achieving green micronation, her article is incomplete because of the incomprehensive analysis on the potential drawbacks of what the green technologies will have. She should have discussed on the drawbacks and the ways to counter the situations to increase the credibility of her article and assured the effectiveness on the functionality and sustainability of the city.

(535 Words)

References

Nitrogen pollution in the Danube Basin (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.icpdr.org/main/publications/nitrogen-pollution-danube-basin

Support for algae growth (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem

Patrick Déry, Aug 13, 2007. Peak phosphorus. Retrieved October 12, 2016 from http://www.resilience.org/stories/2007-08-13/peak-phosphorus

Sigel R.P (2015). Algae-based biofuel Retrieved October 12, 2016 from http://www.triplepundit.com/special/energy-options-pros-and-cons/algae-based-biofuel-pros-cons/

Reader's Response Draft

In this article, (This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City),

Adele Peters (2016) stated the idea of soi-disant “micronation” located on a small piece of land between Croatia and Serbia, known as “Free Republic of Liberland”, operating without automobiles and driven by algae had been idealized by a committee of libertarians. The writer also mentioned that in order to tackle the issue of land scarcity, an architectural plan which involves the layering of the city’s neighborhood while the city expands has been established.

The article explains the concepts of algae powering the city by covering the bottom of each neighborhood platform with genetically altered algae, of which can be used for power. Also, in order to achieve the status of zero vehicle nation, as well as to reduce pollution, buildings are clustered around transits to allow the accessibility of the different parts of the city by foot. In addition to ensure the sustainability and the functionality of this green city, economists are engaged to promote entrepreneurship through crowd funding. However, Adele Peters’s only stated the advantages of going green in the city but failed to look into the effectiveness, which makes the article incomplete.

In the article, the writer mentioned the benefits of having algae powered city which only requires the underside of each platform to be covered with algae that does not require sunlight to grow, not affecting daily life. But in all cases, if there’s a pros there must a cons. Adele’s failed to state the underlying disadvantages in this aspect which led to incompletion of the article. It is mentioned that the two main support for algae growth are phosphorus and nitrogen (Environmental Protection Agency, ND). In order to support a city worth of electricity, a large amount of algae are needed and according to Patrick Déry (2007), phosphorus is a very special nonrenewable resources and will runs out approximately 50 to 150 years from now and this will be a trouble when it reaches its production peak as it becomes harder to extract and getting more expensive. Thus this might make one questioned about the sustainability of the city. It may be doable in a short run, but if it runs out of resources to produced algae, the city will not be able to function.

In addition, algae are needed to be grown in controlled temperature conditions and with a considerable amount of land and water. (RP Siegel, 2012) this led to the failure of mentioning the how the architectural are going to tackled this situation by Adele. Furthermore researched had shown that if algae are not carefully handled and results in algae bloom, it will cause water pollution and can be harmful to humans if they consume affect water and fish. (Environmental Protection Agency, ND).

In conclusion, although Adele Peters had discusses certain valid point regarding how Liberland is going to achieve their green micronation, her article is incomplete due to the incomprehensive analysis on the potential setbacks of having algae driven city. She should had discussed on the setbacks and the ways to counter the situations to prevent readers doubt the functionality and the sustainability of the city.

References

Environmental Protection Agency (2016, March 1) supports for algae growth. Nutrient pollution. https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem

Patrick Déry (2007, August 13) Phosphorus. Peak-phosphorus. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2007-08-13/peak-phosphorus#

Siegel R.P (2012, April 12) land and water. Algae Based Bio-fuel. http://www.triplepundit.com/special/energy-options-pros-and-cons/algae-based-biofuel-pros-cons/

Summary of "The Self-Proclamied Micronation HAs Plans for a Car-Free, Algae-Powered City"

In this article, Adele Peters stated the idea of soi-disant “micronation” located on a small piece of land between Croatia and Serbia, known as “Free Republic of Liberland”, operating without automobiles and driven by algae had been idealised by a committee of libertarians. The writer also mentioned that in order to tackle the issue of land scarcity, an architectural plan which involves the layering of the city’s neighbourhood while the city expands has been established. The article explains the concepts of algae powering the city by covering the bottom of each neighbourhood platform with genetically altered algae, of which can be used for power. Also, in order to achieve the status of zero vehicle nation, as well as to reduce pollution, buildings are clustered around transits to allow the accessibility of the different parts of the city by foot. In addition to ensure the sustainability and the functionality of this green city, economists are engaged to promote entrepreneurship through crowd funding.

My English Learning Journey

English language was introduced to me for as long as I can remember. As a child from Mandarin speaking family, English was not really utilized in my daily life before I began school. As Singapore is a multi-racial country, English had become a common language for everyone to converse in. Thus, I always find it a struggle to communicate with my friends or even to understand what the teacher’s teach in class. This had made me felt inferior compared to others, thinking why and how are they able to do it so effortlessly.

However, this does not prevent me in improving the language that I am weak in. I started to think of ways such as reading more books to widen the range of my vocabulary, watching more English drama and learning the difference in grammars, paying extra attention during English classes to overcome my weakness. Although over the years, I could not say that I had master this language, but at least, I could speak fluently and converse well with me teachers and peers.

English is an interesting language to me. There are so many stuff to it. Being able to converse well does not mean that u have a good ability of it. There are tons of stuff that I can still improve on my English such as learning how to structure a proper sentence, writing a formal tone of email, proposal which all will be needed once I am in the working society. I am glad that I did not give up on English even when I am weak in it previously.