Blog Post #7: Reflections

I will be brutally honest here and admit that I came to this module hoping for an easy grade. My secondary objectives were to learn about how to write resumes and CVs, and just to get general feedback on my writing standards.

It is true that I have gained some things from this module. In professional communications, there can be little substitute for hands-on experience, and this module certainly emphasized practice. The number of deadlines I had for this module exceeds all my other modules combined. I have not had to make a presentation for some time now, and was quite stressed in the run-up to it. I am actually looking forward to the video review of our presentations, for I believe that self-awareness is a pre-requisite for self-improvement.

Having said that, I am somewhat disappointed with the feedback we were given over the course of the semester. Taking this blog as an example, I had hoped that we would receive specific feedback from the tutor on our entries, so that we could incorporate this feedback into our subsequent posts, and thus see if we have truly understood the comments. However, what we received was generic, group-level feedback, and I found it impossible to determine whether or not it was applicable to me. Many of our other assignments were one-offs, so even though we received feedback after the work was returned to us, we then had no opportunity to try and correct it and see if we had understood. I fear that this method of teaching may actually reinforce bad writing habits as opposed to promoting good ones.

Furthermore, this module was structured in such a way so as to allow for plenty of peer-level feedback. While giving peer feedback teaches us to read critically, enabling us to then critique our own work, I would personally have preferred feedback from the instructor. Very often, even as I gave others feedback about their writing, I would have to preface my comments with qualifiers such as, "I think"or "I feel". As a student taking this course, I by definition am not fully acquainted with the standards of writing which will be required of me in the workplace, and hence am unqualified to give comment on others' work. Similarly, I receive feedback from others with a pinch of salt, knowing that they face a similar situation.

I understand the physical impossibilities faced by the faculty in giving feedback to such a large number of students. I suppose that the peer feedback systems are meant to ameliorate this shortage by providing more feedback for each individual, albeit of uncertain standard. Yet I can only look back on the semester which has passed and wonder, "What if..."