How have you developed or demonstrated this competency this semester?
My written communication skills through working at the press have improved drastically. In communicating with permissions requestors, I am well aware of my professional tone and am more confident that my emails are informative and precise. I used to send my important emails to friends or family to check for me before sending, but now I don’t feel the need to have another person check my written communication for me. I have also improved in my oral communication skills as I have practiced them working in the lab. Talking to parents take a different tone and vocabulary than talking to their kids, and I have greatly improved in switching between the two in the lab setting. From the beginning to the end of the semester, I have relied less on scripts and more on my understanding of the study and our procedures to inform parents and answer their questions. I also feel more comfortable talking to the kids both in and outside of the study setting and have become better at reading their body language to see what they may be communicating more silently. Aural communication skills, in my opinion, are best tested by having conversations with young children. At the end of the study, we have 3 standard questions for the kids based on the study. Hearing their responses and writing them down often takes a great deal of concentration because young kids love talking a mile a minute. Following their stream of thought, which is often interrupted or switched suddenly, is a challenge that I am still working on improving.
