Mudz's Blog for Critical Thinking and Communication

  Dear Professor Blackstone, Have you run a half-marathon before? Let me tell you about my experience. I ran a half-marathon back in July of 2023. It was my life goal for the longest time, and I was determined to complete it. Achieving this dream was challenging and only I could lift the bedsheets at 7am and step out of bed to train. I had to be the one taking the effort, building the foundations of running. Likewise, when it comes to communication skills, it is solely my responsibility to step out of my comfort zone and establish to foundations for effective communication. This is a goal i aspire to accomplish through this module.  Having entered Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in 2023, I am majoring in civil engineering. Like other students in SIT, I graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic with a Diploma in Civil Engineering. My interest in engineering developed back in secondary school. Observing workers carry out road works on the way home made me intrigued and sparked...

 Our group started on this project by comparing our ideas for our reader response essay. We presented our ideas to our group mates and compared ideas while trying to decide which idea would work best for this technical report. Nadiah came up with an idea on mall cleaning robots and how they could be improved. Originally, we thought this might be a good idea. Upon further discussion, we realised that this idea would be difficult to research on as we need to have some basic knowledge on app development and cloud database We decided to change our idea and went back to the brainstorming stage. We discussed on world issues as well as problems people faced. We then came up with an idea to manage crowd control in restrooms around malls and concert venues in Singapore.  I contributed to the tech report by writing about the importance of a comprehensive smart queue management in restrooms around Singapore. I started by writing about the importance of crowd control in general as a way t...

The guidebook titled, “Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction” released by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) (2017) explains the features of Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC), a construction method that heavily involves off-site construction. Construction modules that consist of several units are manufactured in factories complete with interior finishes such as walls or toilet fixtures. The modules are then transported to the site and installed onto the building in a “Lego-like” (BCA, 2017, Introduction section, para. 3) manner. In accordance with Hwang et al. (2018), PPVC is unique as compared to other construction methods as construction can be done concurrently, saving cost and time. PPVC has gained popularity worldwide due to this reason and university campuses in the United States have adopted PPVC as a way to build dormitories or classrooms efficiently (Hwang et al., 2018). In...

Module learning: As I come to an end of the critical thinking and communication module, it is time for me to reflect on how the learning process has been and how I have improved in my communicating and critical thinking skills. As an outcome from this module, I set a few goals I would like to achieve. One of the main primary goals set  was to improve in my communication skills. Growing up, I tend to be nervous when speaking as I make grammatical mistakes often. I aim to be a better presenter that can capture the attention of my audience as well as be engaging for them. Professor Blackstone taught us the basics on public speaking and accessed us individually on our strength and weaknesses. This allowed me to understand my weaknesses when it comes to public speaking ensuring that I iron out these mistakes as I move though this module. I was also passionate in improving my writing skills. Coming into university made me realise that the ability to write well is important to be ab...