Critical reflection

Throughout the whole course, a tutor and peer feedback system was emphasized and carried out. We had to read our peers' essays carefully and give comments. This forced me to read critically as it would be embarrassing to give incorrect advice. Not only that, I had to read up beforehand on the criteria we were supposed to evaluate on, such as grammar. By being more aware now, I began to apply the same writing skills that I used to evaluate my peers’ essays on when I am writing my own essay. I liked that for each draft, we have different partners for the feedback session instead of just commenting within our blogging groups. It allowed us to read different styles of writing and also, gained new perspectives from different people. After each draft is submitted, there will be a feedback template given that is specific to that essay so that we can better evaluate our peers' works. Other than peers' feedback, Brad will also give us his own comments about our essays. Initially, I felt very reluctant about the whole system, as it seemed to be pointless. However, after experiencing a few rounds of feedback, I began to see the importance of it. It was also very encouraging to receive words of praise, even if they were as simple as a "good job". I learnt that no matter how much time you spent crafting your essay into perfection, there would still be mistakes unseen by yourself and improvements to be made. It is necessary to be humble and not brush off others' suggestions without any considerations. From this experience, I was able to be more aware of my grammar, arguments, and essay structure during the writing process. Since this system has been useful to me, I will ask and give my peers feedbacks as well in the future.