Reflection
Here are our ENG 1044 self-reflections. Our individual learning experiences, difficulties encountered during the course, information on personal development, and peer evaluation are all included in the reflections.
Self-reflection
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Dashvin
Yi Xuan
Janice
Wei Yang
Reflecting on the process of writing my research paper, I can say that it has been an eye-opening and rewarding experience. When I first joined this course, I did not expect it to be as enriching as this as I thought the objective was to help us better master our English comprehension skills. The thought of writing a research paper was shocking and exciting and the prospect of writing one on a topic and subject matter I was passionate about was overwhelming. Initially, the research process seemed daunting and the amount of depth and reading required for me to undertake this task was intense. However, as the course progressed, I gained more confidence in tackling obstacles. I developed skills in gathering and analyzing information. Besides, another interesting thing I loved learning was source synthesis and information evaluation (CRAAP Test).
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Throughout the course, I encountered various challenges due to lack of experiences. I didn’t realize that writing a research paper was very time-consuming and I had trouble trying to balance the workload with other commitments. Moreover, I also encountered problems in determining the scope of my research topic. The topics our group landed on were either too big or too small. Nevertheless, after meeting with our lecturer and discussing further, we were able to refine the topic into what it is now. My peers were very encouraging and understanding, providing me with valuable feedback and suggestions for improvements. They often gave me constructive criticisms which helped me view my work through different perspectives, ultimately improving my writing.
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With the completion of this research paper, I look forward to more opportunities like this. Having learned painful yet enlightening lessons, I will approach future projects with more balance and concrete planning. Furthermore, I would better research my topics and information more efficiently. There is always room for improvement in my writing, as I believe I have not quite reached a level which I’m satisfied with. I also need to persevere more, learn to adapt quickly, and be more open to receiving feedback and criticism in the future, all of which I believe will help me in my future ventures.
Yi Xuan
This is the first semester of my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science that I had enrolled at Sunway University. In this semester, I have taken English for Computer Technology Studies, which opened my mind to academic writing. Before I joined this course, I had no idea about the content of learning, but as time goes on in Ms. Lakshmi’s class, I begin to have a better understanding of this course. During the course, I found out that the course is quite similar to what I had learned in my foundation year, specifically in the academic writing subject. However, this course is more comprehensive as we move to a more professional level, and it is better to equip students with academic writing skills in university to let students become more competitive in the future job market. Overall, the experience for me in this course is positive, as I had not only learned how to use the Sunway library website but also how to filter and analyze the contents that I had found. On the other hand, the most challenging moment during the semester for me is time management, as there are other assignments and tests going on, which I have to invest time and effort in. Nevertheless, by using the technique on how to use the Sunway library website effectively, I had saved a lot of time to focus on other subjects. Moreover, I also had some profound impact on personal growth from this course. I felt that we cannot be too dependent on AI chatbots, as it is limiting human creativity and intelligence. We need to cooperate with AI, for instance, taking the output of AI as references while brainstorming our own ideas and expanding our creativity. As a result, university fresh graduates who work with AI will stand out from those who rely on AI. From now on, I will start to develop a habit of observing things that happen around the world by reading the news in order to broaden my horizon and see things in different aspects. I believe that this will help me a lot in future projects as I am trying to stand in other people’s shoes to associate and empathize with people in different points of view.
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​On the peer evaluation side, I am responsible for the coursework as well as our teammates because we work and move as a team. For example, I had faced some problems with the coursework's references and citations. I am blessed that I had my helpful peers assist me in solving the problem in a short time. Furthermore, I also learned that we need to understand each of our teammates’ opinions and stances so that our communication is clear and open. Consequently, we had made it clear how the task would distribute among our teammates so that everyone felt fairly encouraged to collaborate and excel in this subject. In conclusion, I will apply the strategies and reflect on those impacts that I had learned from this course in my future courses and career.
Janice
Wei Yang
Dashvin
Janice
Times flies like an arrow, this is the end of this semester. When I first joined this course, I felt it with full expectations and challenges. This is because these are different things compared to my high school before. During this course, I have discovered more knowledge that I had never learned before. From the beginning of this course, we need to form a team of 4 to 5 members to do a research paper. In the first part of this research paper, I need to read a lot of articles that are related to my point. This is the part that makes me more tired and confused because I feel that reading is boring to me, and it is hard to concentrate on it at the same time. I am easily uninterested in reading for a period. Compared to other things, reading does not appeal to me. Nevertheless, I also try my best to read it and choose a few relevant and important articles to help with my related points. After that, I need to write the content of my point more exquisitely. During this process, I modified it many times, this also made me exhausted and frustrated. Fortunately, all my group members are very responsible and helpful. Our group leader assigns the tasks according to each member’s abilities. At that time, they will help me in case I have difficulty when doing the research paper. They will give me feedback and suggestions for my part changes and lead me to do my best. Moreover, the feedback from the lecturer will help us improve the quality of our research paper and make us do it excellently. Therefore, in the process of learning, I feel positive because I know that the knowledge I learn today will help me in the future. Even though the progress is only a little bit, it also motivates me to keep going. At the end of this course, I feel excited and cheerful. This is because I can finally take a good rest, and I wouldn’t need to do those very irritating assignments anymore a few times. Besides, I think that studying this course has enhanced my critical reading and writing. It can help me to analyze the information more clearly and more extensively. Additionally, some of the things I learned were improving my communication skills for collaborating with a team and learning to explain some complex concepts. In the future, I will also maintain the same positive attitude towards learning. In addition, after completing the project, I think we can reflect on the process, assess all members’ strengths and weaknesses, and discuss what could be improved. Lastly, in future projects, I will finish the tasks assigned by the lecturer in advance rather than waiting until the last minute to do them. Due to it being of higher quality and having fewer mistakes can be assured of enough time to ponder over and review my tasks, as opposed to rushing to do the same under time pressure.
Wei Yang
Dashvin
Yi Xuan
Wei Yang
Since I just graduated from middle school and started my university life, it was a new experience for me. In my first English class, the teacher played several interesting games with us. The purpose of the games was to let the classmates get to know each other and adapt to the new environment. After a few classes, the teacher started to teach some grammar and gave us homework to do at home. Then the teacher divided the class into many groups; I, Dashwin, YiXuan, and Janice were assigned to a group. Later, we answered the questions in groups and did the assignments together. In the last few classes, the teacher let us move freely, so we chatted in class.
I think the most important thing in university is that we must prepare early and study early. I cannot study like middle school, always starting the day before an exam or quiz. My teammates are all brilliant, and they helped me a lot with the assignment, especially Dashwin. He taught me a lot about the assignment and helped me to correct the wrong place. In Sem1, I had a good experience because I had good teammates. They taught me a lot and were easy to talk to. They were the first few friends I met in college. But on the other hand, I also must improve my shortcomings. For example, I must allocate my time well to improve my grades and not be late at tutorial anymore. In this semester, I think the most difficult thing is to adapt to the new environment. I have lived in my hometown for 19 years, so I couldn't accept the new life in college when I first came to university. But after a while, I had a few friends from my hometown come early, and they introduced me to the university. So, I quickly accepted the university life. Before I went to university, I always thought that university would be easier than high school. After studying for a while, I found that it was not the case. Every university requires hard work and time to obtain a degree certificate. Fortunately, my team members did not look down on me but taught me how to use modern technology to find the information I needed. They also helped me correct the mistakes in my assignments. In the next semester, I will force myself to be independent instead of relying on my teammates. Because I may not meet them again next semester, and they may not want to meet me again. I hope I can complete assignments more efficiently in the next semester, and I must review before the exam and plan my time well. Finally, I think I learned a lot in this SEM. The grammar I learned can come in handy when writing assignments in the future. For example, academic reading and writing and synthesizing information. There was also one lesson that talked about how to use Sunway Library. It is very useful to use because it helps us to find papers and articles conveniently.