Reflection 1: "Connecting the dots"

After the first four weeks at RMIT, I realized I now have the ability to connect the dots faster and more effectively. Connecting the dots here means linking ideas and concepts together, to reach one or many goals one has set. The notion came to me in the very first lesson of the first course: Making Media when I found group members’ common ground and connect everyone’s ideas into a logical flow. That ability manifested in almost every other lesson, whenever a case study analysis activity was required in class.

Connecting the dots is such a useful skill, especially in an academic environment like RMIT - where theoretical applications are highly encouraged. RMIT’s assessments don’t have short answer tests or multiple choice questions, but assignments instead. Therefore to achieve great performance, students are required not only to understand and remember the knowledge but also to apply them to real-life cases. The ability to connect the dots - idea association, can assist students in all the steps toward academic success:

1. Understanding

When learning new theories, students tend to get confused and couldn’t wrap their heads around unprecedented concepts. I once had that struggle until i figure out how to link those new theories to knowledge i already had, or even easier: to common knowledge. This skill was like a funnel to me, converting complications to simplified, concise language!

2. Remembering

Once I have comprehended those newly introduced concepts, the process of converting definitions by connecting the dots actually helped me remember better. It created an impression as a story in the mind of learners, and we are all hooked by stories, right? Simplifying long lecture slides, and synthesizing main ideas into bite-size content that is ingrained in a student’s brain is such a dream. Thanks to this skill, i can really own my knowledge!

3. Creating

Of course, by the name “connecting the dots”, we can all imagine linking little points (that are ideas) to map out the bigger picture. With this skill, I can now figure out patterns, then use those findings to develop my own research, arguments, further observation, and even make speculations or forecasts, which are extremely helpful in case analysis assignments. I used to apply idea association only for reading assignments in high school, and even for small research projects, but I didn't quite understand how to use it. Now at RMIT, I’ve got more chances to apply it to create my own meaningful works.

“Connecting the dots” is a skill that can apply to the real-world workplace not just in academic settings. It assists us to develop the ability to connect existing ideas, combine them, then take those inspirations to make brand new ones, therefore enhancing creativity - another useful skill for me to work in this, well, creative industry! Also in these days of mass data and information all around us, it’s easy to get lost and disconnected from our research goals. Connecting the dots will help us filter unwanted data and get to the logical conclusion quicker, with more accuracy.

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Viet Youth Podcast production

The journey of completing Making Media’s podcast project was such a thrill. I contributed to all processes of it, from ideation, researching, script writing, audio recording, to audio editing and finalizing the podcast. I’ve learned so much from this assignment, both technical skills, and soft skills.

Before the project, my audio processing routine was just capturing noise print and then noise reduction which made the vocal reverb so much and also loses some high frequencies. But now I’ve adopted a new routine, where I would denoise before manually capturing noise print, then edit the EQ, particularly applying a low pass filter so the voice would be clearer. Finally, I’ve also learned the art of audio mastering - a process I only thought of when making music. Combining all those technical skills, I personally think I’ve done a great job on this podcast.