In today’s communication-driven world, learning and applying effective communication is necessary in the future (and even now in NUS).
Although I am not quite sure what I will be working as after I graduate (there are many options), but I will just narrow it down to two. Should I become a researcher in the future, effective communication is a must. Why? Researchers do not just discover advances in science that benefit people. After making such discoveries, they will have to publish journals/reports on their findings. For example, if a pharmacologist were to discover a new drug which could cure AIDS (obviously hypothetical at the moment), he would not only have to communicate to patients how it would cure them, but he also has to communicate effectively to doctors to inform them about the side effects and contraindications of the new drug. Thus, effective communication is necessary even in the research sector.
Should I decide to carve out a career in the education sector, it is important to be able to impart knowledge effectively, which brings me back to the point of effective communication. Learning is not a one-way street where the teacher merely imparts knowledge. For effective learning, students and teachers have to interact. In order for this interaction to occur, effective communication is thus needed. In addition, a teacher has be aware of his/her students’ needs through active listening. Thus, in order for a better relationship between a student and a teacher, effective communication, which encompasses active listening, is necessary.
Hi Shawn! It's my turn to comment!
ReplyDeleteI think effective communication is really important in the education sector! Teaching is about nurturing the young and to spark their interest in learning. Communications plays a big role here. How can people learn if they do not understand what you are teaching? (Some teachers don't even know what they are teaching in the first place) This is why I think that our upcoming peer teaching sessions are going to be very useful - to become educators ourselves and discover the best way to do it. Don't you think so too?
Haha yes! NUS lecturers should be graded by students to determine their salaries right? haha! Some just come into class and "you should know this", "think" or "i will not go through this(might as well not teach in the first place right?)". Some also speak like a bullet train and then say "oh its simple, go through it yourself again if you dont understand what I've said. But they've never reflected upon themselves that they may not have communicated the concept effectively in the first place!
ReplyDeleteLike in my case, there was this assignment that I had worked hard for. The only comment I got was "could be better". ZZZ.
Hi Shawn!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that effective communication is very important in the education sector! Haha, I have attended lectures whereby I spend one and a half hours listening to alot of information but do not really know what is the main point that the lecturer is trying to get across - something like information overload!
One of my year 1 lecturers is teaching a year 3 module that I am currently taking. During a lecture, he was asking about some concept he taught us in year 1. When none of us replied him, he said something which I found very true - 'I taught this before... Maybe I did not teach you as you did not seemed to learn... Let me correct myself, I lectured this concept before...' This illustrates the importance of effective communication - where the both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of communication.
Hi Xiu Qin!
ReplyDeleteHaha lecturers seem to love doing that! I think lecturers have to have EQ ( Monday's lesson) as well. We're just poor students having to study a bit of everything. We cannot be expected to remember something two years ago!
But I guess it feels kind of frustrating when you put yourself in the lecturer's shoes. Imagine teaching a primary school kid something over and over again. Haha frustration ensues!
Mutual understanding and effort on one's part is needed for a more effective "effective communication".
Hi, Shawn, my pleasure to reply back
ReplyDeleteI, though living with a pool of engineers, share the same interest as you in being a researcher and I agree with you that communication plays a important role in modern scientific studies.
For instance, maybe in the future, you published a revolutionary but also controversial paper. In the scientific seminar, conveying your profound ideas unambiguously will be crucial to defense you position. Precision and concision outweigh other qualities in communication for a researcher. And I believe that's what we need to strengthen consciously during daily practice.
HELLO SHAWN,
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed important to have effective communication skills to publish an effective journal or convey your ideas if you are a researcher. Even though I know that it is important, I find it extremely challenging to write a good lab report to encompass all the important lab observations. Hence, gradually I lost my interest to carry on my initial dream job to be a researcher. Perhaps there should be some compulsory crash course for us science major to learn how to write a good research paper.
hi shawn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you strongly that both researcher and tutor need strong effective communication skill. Here seems had some small discussion about NUS lecturer. I think lecturer in our school are generally not bad. I remenber the lecturer for one of my year one module, in lecture, he did not teach well and just read word by word from his slides, hence after a few lecture, the number of students in his group shrink dramatically :P. But when i found he for consultation, he did explain every thing very clearly. Hence i think different people do have their prefered way for communication. ( a bit not related to your blog :P)
Hi Shawn!
ReplyDeleteYour post is enlightening! You have clearly stated the reasons as to why effective communication is important for you. Like you mentioned, 'Learning is not a one-way street where the teacher merely imparts knowledge'. I feel that this is especially true as students have their roles to play. Apart from active listening, students should feedback to the teacher after every lesson so that improvements can be made. This is an example of effective communication.
However, I feel that communication is also important in our daily lives. From writing emails to picking up a call, or even when playing games, we have to communicate with the other party in an effective manner in order to get our message across.
All in all, effective communication is definitely a very useful set of skill which every single one of us should acquire.
@Lisu: There is such a course! I think it is known as communicating with the academy. I feel it should not be compulsory though because if it's compulsory, students will tend to dread it which defeats its intended purpose.
ReplyDelete@Chen Yan: Yes! I too could talk to a person on a 1-1 basis with minimal difficulty but if I were to talk to a larger crowd, I feel that I tend to keep forgetting what I had intended to say or that I'll stutter.
@Elaine: Effective communication is definitely needed in our daily lives too! My experience at the science canteen was somewhat embarassing. The stall owner did not seem to understand what my order was. After English, I switched to using Mandarin to place my order. He was mumbling something after. Finally, I had to resort to pointing at the picture and pointing at the mushrooms and bakchor to order bak chor mee.
Shawn, this is one very focused and concise post - good job!
ReplyDeleteYour post elicited a good number of responses from your classmates, some of them sharing very interesting, personal experiences. I really like the interactive nature of the exchange.
Thanks for sharing with us why effective communication skills are important for you. Regardless of what profession you go into, being able to communicate effectively is a must (not a plus).
I do try my very best to be a good and active listener, so please remind me if you catch me not actively listening, hahaha.
Elaine has also given a very good suggestion, for students to feedback to the teacher after every lesson so that improvements can be made. I have been doing this with all my classes in the past, and I will continue to do this. So feel free to share your comments with me!
Thanks for the good effort, Shawn. I look forward to your next blog post!
Hi Ms Lim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! Indeed, Elaine's suggestion is good! We always only do our teaching staff survey for the CORS points once. I feel that it should be done more often so that we can actually see improvements and also to have the chance to earn more CORS bidding points (not that I need it though, just peaking on behalf of juniors. haha!)