Reflection on Journal Club Presentation

Initially I was daunted by the time constraints for this assignment as it did not leave me with time to precisely plan and monitor our work. Living at a distance from the college and my other group member resulted in reliance on social media and e-mail as a form of communication. However, this did enable us to adjust to our individual schedules or constraints. I feel the use of these online methods proved highly beneficial for the editing aspect of this assignment as we were remote from each other, yet, we could still collaborate asynchronously (Ramage, 2010). Although Kear (2010) states that using this approach brings with it its own problems, I would not hesitate to work through online communication tools for future group work.

Furthermore, I believed that distance would influence the practical presentation aspect of this assignment. Our rehearsal took place a few hours prior to the event causing a lack of confidence and belief in our work. I feel the presentation went well, nonetheless, I believe it would have been beneficial if we had rehearsed more prior to the actual event. Perhaps using technology such as Skype or a similar video chat could have been a useful method of practicing. Increased practice prior to future presentations will enable me to depict a relaxed, professional, and confident appearance (Collins, 2004).

I felt as a team we worked well together considering we did not have time to form a group cohesion. Per a study by Thorpe (1998), one of the main issues which arises with group work is the varied levels of participation. The work load was shared evenly and we took responsibility for our contributions to the project. I realise this may not be the case in the future and this is when I will need to be confident in voicing my concerns (Kanar, 2013). Although I believe communication was good, I did feel that the lack of face-to-face communication caused me uncertainty as when I read my co-workers messages there were no visible reassuring expressions or gestures (Short, Williams and Christie, 1976).

Overall, critically reviewing the paper and listening to other groups’ approaches’ and findings broadened my knowledge of the review process. Carrying out more research in this area will aid me in the completion of my dissertation in year three. As a physiotherapist, I will be working alongside a multidisciplinary team with varying approaches to work and deadlines and I will be presenting information to my clients on the care of their animals. It has become clear that taking on more projects such as this would improve my confidence and assertiveness to greater benefit my career.

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Reference List

Collins, J., 2004. Education Techniques for Lifelong Learning: Giving a PowerPoint Presentation: The Art of Communicating Effectively 1. Radiographics, 24(4), pp.1185-1192. Goldner, B., Fuchs, A., Nolte, I. and Schilling, N., 2015. Kinematic adaptations to tripedal locomotion in dogs. The Veterinary Journal, 204(2), pp.192-200. Kanar, C.C., 2013. The confident student. Cengage Learning. Kear, K., 2010 ‘Collaboration via online discussion forums: issues and approaches’, in Donelan, H., Kear, K. and Ramage, M., 2010. Online communication and collaboration: A reader. Routledge. Ramage, M., 2010. Online communication and collaboration: A reader. Routledge. Short, J., Williams, E., and Christie, B. 1976. The Social Psychology of Telecommunication. New York: Wiley. Thorpe, M., 1998. Assessment and ‘third generation’ distance education. Distance Education, 19(2), pp.265-286.