Sunday, October 12, 2008

Reflections

Time really flies. From learning how to write the research question, problem statement and purpose statement, to now tying the loose ends of the entire report, the process seemed to have gone by in a flash. This project has brought about many learning experiences, of which many were fruitful.

Due to everyone's busy schedule, many a times, it was very difficult for us (our group) to schedule meet-ups to do the project. Therefore, for 80% of the time, our project was done online either through MSN or emails. I have never really approved of the idea of doing a project this way (unless it is the last resort) because it would be rather difficult to put together pieces without everyone's immediate approval and ideas. However, to my surprise, our group was able to handle this situation very well. We would as much as possible squeeze out some time after ES lessons to divide the work among ourselves and set a deadline for each of our parts to be "submitted". Initially, our roles in the group were not clearly defined but as the project progressed, we soon assumed roles automatically and tried our best to help each other along the way.

Junrong, being the experienced one on the team, usually gave us insights on how reports should be written and with what kind of language. Being also skilled in Microsoft Excel, he helped our group do up all the figures and graphs, which greatly aided us in the 'Findings and Interpretations' part of the report. Lyon, the quick-witted one on the team, was usually the one who was able to spot mistakes quickly. He meticulously noted down all the information given by Brad during class, and ensured that we followed the details to every nook and cranny. Being also savvy in Microsoft Word, he formatted the entire report and made it look more professional. As for me, I did what I could in collating all the information which Lyon and Junrong had sent to me and edited any language errors which I spotted. I also tried my luck with the referencing section, following as close as possible to the APA style given and to be honest, the task was a tremendous pain in the neck.

Because time was not on our side, I believe that all of us made the best out of this experience by grasping every opportunity to ask and learn. I dare say that our group was able to thrive under this immense pressure that the project has put on us, especially when it came to ensuring that every little detail was paid attention to. I was also taken aback at my own ability to work under pressure because I have always thought that I couldn't.

Out in the working world, I trust that many a times we would land ourselves in situations like this, whereby projects after projects have to rushed out. This therefore is a good form of "training" (I would say) to hone our skills in being accurate and efficient. After all, that's what most bosses look for isn't it?

All in all, everyone worked hand-in-hand and without the help of my teammates, this project would not have been possible. I sure hope I was as good a team member as Lyon and Junrong were. Thanks, you guys!!

6 comments:

weiren said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
weiren said...

Hi Tiffany!

You've fortunate enough to have an effective online meeting with your group mates. My team gave up the idea after our first attempt, citing it to be the least effective and most difficult way to have a meeting. This resulted of course, is several full weekends devoted to the project.

Our project aside, I feel it is always important to get something in return for everything you do. I congratulate you on surviving under the immense pressure of the ever impending deadline. It's just give an extra confidence when working on future projects.

I also wish to send my heartiest congratulation for the completion of your project. I certainly do agree that it is important to work closely with your team to work this project out.

All the best for your report submission

Hui Xuan said...

Hi Tiffany,

I do agree with Weiren that your group is fortunate. Like what Weiren mention, my project meetings were usually held face to face which, have its pros and cons too.

For some of my past projects, I had groups that had very effect online meetings and very ineffectively face to face meeting too.

Hence, I feel that the mode of communication really depends on the groups members and the form of project.



I wish you all the best in the project! (:

Tiffany said...

Hi Weiren,

Thanks for your well wishes! To be honest, at this point in time (13th October 2008 11.05pm can you believe it!) our group is trying to get everything finalized and to ensure that no silly mistakes are made.

I saw pictures on both HuiXuan and your blogs and it was a very heartwarming sight! At times, we as students really have to sacrifice a lot of our free time to get things done!

Thanks for your comments and I wish you all the best too!

Brad Blackstone said...

This is incredibly detail, Tiffany. I appreciate seeing what each of you did in the report process.

Well, now the reports are in hand---time to read yours!

Thanks for all your effort!

Lyon said...

Hello Tiffany!

Thank you for all the nights burnt trying to tidy up the never-ending loose ends! I believe we still have many errors in our report, but I bet we have managed to reduce them to about 10-15% of the original amount thanks to all our hard work!