Reflective Self-Assessment Phase 3

Name: Mark O’Sullivan

ID Number: 17227461

The three skills/abilities/dispositions I am going to focus on that I feel are most suited to
myself personally and that will be called on for the remainder of the semester, and up to
now in our first eleven weeks, and my life on a broader level are: presenting, time
management and group work.
Presenting

So far this semester in design studio alone, we have had to deliver a total of five presentations, four
as a group and one individual. In the profession of engineering, presenting skills are vital, it’s very
important to be able to get your point across to your given audience in an effective manner.
Personally, I don’t love presenting but I get through it. That would have been my attitude towards
the subject before this semester. However, as we continue to deliver presentations week after week,
I find myself embracing it and enjoying them. As the semester is coming to an end, presenting skills
have been called on in a large manner, and not just in design studio, but for this final reflection I will
focus mainly on this module. Presentations are not finished with yet, with a hydrology presentation
yet to come. Last week we delivered our final presentation on our chosen project, of which I had
been involved in looking into farm safety.

Regarding development of this skill, I will look back over all the footage of our presentations to date.
These will be helpful in picking out the good aspects to my presenting technique and to identify
what I can improve on. For me, I can already see that there has been progression in how I’ve
engaged in eye contact with the audience; and as a group, our presentations have gradually become
more structured and not repetitive in what each of the four of us say. At the end of every
presentation, feedback from the class is all taken on board. Often, it’s questions relating to the topic
of our presentation but on occasion, we as a group have also received compliments and tips on our
techniques of presenting. I feel an important aspect of presenting would be to spend time at
anticipating and preparing, to an extent, for any difficult questions we might face in the questions
and answers session at the end of a presentation. As the semester nears a conclusion, the hope is
that my presenting has progressed hugely from week one which I believe it has. The video
recordings have acted as a log of this progression. Also, the second opinions I have received from a
few members of my class have been hugely beneficial and I returned the favour which is a
productive thing to do. Analysing other people’s work makes you think to yourself, have I covered
this aspect in my own performance? By the end, there will be a clear increase in standards from the
first to last presentation. In the below picture, we are seen presenting our final design solution in
design studio in Cecil Street Limerick. From left to right are Enda, Eoin, James and I. To date I have no
doubt that it was our finest presentation from structure, delivery, clarity of information and
engaging with the audience; and most importantly we are dressed to impress.
Time management

The second disposition to be called on from me in this current semester I feel is time management.
Time management is a crucial aspect of a person’s life, and for me especially in college it is crucial. It
is important to strike a balance in your life between various things; study, socialising, physical
exercise etc. If you manage your time in an effective way, you won’t have a problem in all these
aspects. Under the heading of time management for me comes commitment and particularly
attendance of college. If you do not manage your time in an effective manner, it is easy to skip
lectures and fall into poor patterns of behaviour. For example, you have been putting off an
assignment that’s due and finally the deadline day arrives, your only option is to perhaps miss
college hours to complete an assignment that is purely based on what you have been focusing on in
those previous college hours that you are now skipping. It is ultimately defeating the purpose of
your education. A few simple things that I have looked at are taking more concise and detailed notes
during lectures. This will help me to gain a better understanding of the material, learning as I go so
to speak. This will then cut down the study time needed when it comes to reading week and the
busy exam period. A plan B if you like would also be required to ensure good time management. Its
fine to plan and set goals for yourself, but there must be scope to alter that plan if something
unexpected occurs or anything goes wrong. A simple solution for this would to set your various goals
and aims a week in advance of the deadlines in reality to give yourself the breathing room required
in the case of those unexpected events occurring. These things for me are why time management is
so fundamentally important, and why I feel it is a crucial skill that I need to master as it has been and
will continue to be called upon of me for the remainder of the semester and beyond.

Relevant data I can look at to monitor and document my progress in developing this skill would be
things like class attendance which most lecturers make available, assignment submissions (have I
completed the various tasks set for me and also were they submitted at the very last second or in
advance of the deadline) and ultimately my results at the end of the semester as if your time
management is poor, this generally reflects in your results. In recent weeks I have been forming
tables with dates for deadlines included and various stages of progress in the assignments that I
want to have completed by certain dates leading up to the final deadline. I will diligently monitor
these plans and sure I am at minimum up to date and ideally ahead of schedule in my various
commitments. I have also created a study planner which will help me in the busy period we face in
the final weeks of the semester as all the projects and assignments due are coinciding with the start
of our end of semester exams.
Group Work

My final ability that I have chosen is group work and in particular the ability to work effectively in,
and as a group. In design studio we were split into groups in week two based on our interest in
topics that we originally proposed in week one and delivered presentations on as individuals. The
original topic I spoke about was farm safety in Ireland and as it has transpired that idea has been
brought forward in our group of four people. Group work is a lot of give and take. Thankfully in this
case we as a group all get on extremely well but sometimes this is not always the case. You have to
overcome personal feelings in group work, however, and give and take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.
Group work was called upon in a big way for the semester and in these last few weeks in particular
because it is ultimately the basis of most of our modules. We had a big final presentation on our
various topics in the class in week eleven. This presentation was as a group so if we had not been
able to work in a group in a constructive and effective way for example, we as a group and as
individuals will not achieve very high grades. As it transpired, in design studio’s final presentation,
both in the preparation and delivery, we worked very well with each other; always focused on the
end goal and never putting anyone’s ideas down in a negative manner. Engineering is a lot of
working in teams so for the remainder of the semester, it’s important to embrace and practise at
working in groups to prepare for the future. In presentations for example, as a group you need to tell
a story almost. It must have structure and not be repetitive between yourselves as a group. To avoid
repetitiveness and conflict, just be in clear agreement and understanding with team members in the
build up to the project deadlines, presentations or whatever the case may be. In terms of the
preparation, bouncing ideas off each other, not being afraid to contribute and not holding back
information are all vital components of group work.

For supporting a claim of development, peer assessments and honest conversations with my group
members during and at the end of the semester will offer strong indications as to how I performed
and has an improvement occurred. Feedback from lecturers also will prove key as they are in a
perfect position to observe what goes on and feedback from them would be very much appreciated
and a good help to provide information as to whether that development has been evident. My
classmates will also be able to clearly identify from being in our presence in studios where the
brainstorming and planning occurs, and also from watching our presentations, as to whether we are
working effectively as a group and am I developing my group work skills. I feel if we each took two
members of our own group for example and one member from another group, or something along
those lines, just to give positive feedback and helpful tips at the end of the semester. Ultimately, we
want to take group work skills forward with us in life as it’s a major part of what engineering is all
about. The feedback could be confidential as long as it was approved by our lecturers who could
examine the content to ensure nothing hurtful had been written.