Curtin University COMS1007: Critical Reflection Portfolio Analysis

This project presents a critical reflection portfolio, fulfilling the requirements of a COMS1007 assignment at Curtin University. The student analyzes four texts, including discussions on the Mexican border wall, a bridge project in the Philippines, the role of a construction manager, and ethical issues in jo...Read More

Academic and Professional Communications
Assignment 3: Critical Reflection Portfolio
Overall project title:
My course/discipline (e.g. Journalism, Fine Art, Fashion):
Text 1: The Mexican Wall
(https://globalnews.ca/news/4963801/trump-border-wall-emergency-explained/)

The beginning of the year 2017 have been quite interesting for the people of The United States of America. The year being with the declassification from the
intelligence report from the United States Intelligence community disclosing of the secret campaign conducted by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Also,
there have been a turn of events when Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the country1.
I am of the opinion that the president made a quite unpredictable decision of making a wall at the borders of Mexico and the United States of America. The wall
was estimated to be of 2000 miles long and the cost was estimated to be $5.7 billion. Caddell Construction of Montgomery, Fisher Sand and Gravel, Texas Sterling
construction and W.G. Yates and Sons Construction were among the organizations that were handpicked by the president himself to build a prototype of the
border2. The construction was started by building fences, which would prevent people from crossing over illegally. The prototype was 30 feet long and 30 feet high
and acted as a perfect barrier to stop the people from crossing over. Two types of design were made, one of reinforced concrete barrier and an alternative material
with see-through capability. I can approve the fact that the government approved the plan with aesthetic color at least from the United States side.
Text 1 Reflection
The following topic that I have chosen to discuss in the paper is a critical analysis of the Mexican Wall that have been in a state of construction after Donald
Trump was sworn as the 45th president of the United States of America. The wall, which is the literal representation of a bordered between the countries Mexico
and the United States of America, which is estimated to span for 2000 miles, covering the entire border of the countries.
My personal reviews on the creation of this ‘wall’ different from the point of view of the citizen or the congressmen of the United States of America. It is clear
from the gesture that President Donald Trump does not want any infiltration during his reign. However, I think rather than creating the age of fashion border, the
1Dobson, James, et al. "Rattling the border wall: Pathophysiological implications of functional and proteomic venom variation between Mexican and US subspecies of the desert rattlesnake
Crotalusscutulatus." Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology 205 (2018): 62-69.
2Meckler, Laura. "Trump Orders Wall at Mexican Border." Wall Street Journal (2017).

amount of money that has been sanctioned by the authorities for creating this border, the amount could be invested to enhance the border security, so that there
would have been more jobs. This is not how President Donald Trump could stop people from crossing the border as long as corruption exists.
Text 2 Reflection
[The $1 billion dollar bridge]
Philippines have been under the poverty level for more than decades. Recently, the countries have been coming up with the world economy and have been listed as
one of the developing countries in the year 2018. Thus, in my opinion in Philippines have been doing great in terms of GDP. They have been upgrading their
infrastructure and making the country more attractive so that they could generate more revenue from tourism.
https://thepinoyofw.com/link-bridge-project/
"$1B Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu Link Bridge Project to Begin Construction This Year." The Pinoy OFW. August 06, 2018. Accessed May 06, 2019.
https://thepinoyofw.com/link-bridge-project/.
However, I personally feel that President Rodrigo Duterte have been taken a rash decision regarding the creation of the new bridge that would be connecting the
islands. The countries already have San Juancio Bridge that is the longest bridge in the country currently. Thus, creating a new bridge only to connect some few
islands would be irrational at this stage when the country is about to do better in the race of GDP. As I think, the money that is raised could be used to make the
country more upgrade technological wise and creating better educational system. The government could use alternative methods to make better arrangement for

waterways inter-linking the island for create shorter bridges that would be economical in nature for the country. In my opinion, President Duterte is seeing the
bigger picture through the keyhole rather than opening the door with the key he has.
Text 3: [Title]
Role of a Construction manager
http://pp.isofts.kiev.ua/ojs1/article/view/213
Text 3 Reflection
In every construction site, there is always a necessity of skilled labors. In my opinion they are the one who is responsible for doing and performing a good job in the construction
field so that there is no flows in the superstructure as they as responsible for the performance enhancement. There is also a need of a quality leadership to assist them while they
perform a job. This is the job of the construction manager who is responsible for assisting and providing instruction to the workers so that they perform the job while maximum
efficiency. In my opinion, the job description of the construction manager states that they are entitled to look upon the entire project. They are responsible for the safety of the
each individual at the site. I have assumed that they also deal with the client and are responsible for providing assistance to them for understanding the work progress at the site.
They manage each any every step of the work at the site.
Text 4: [Title]
Ethical issues in journalism
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429968693
Text 4 Reflection

One of the ethical considerations that need to be made in journalism is that the truth cannot be guaranteed. Every journalist need to know that the facts presented by them come
from sources that have managed to stumble upon the information in any manner. However, I have tried to develop a thought in which the information gathered is true cannot be
guaranteed. At the same time, I have made assumptions based on the independence needs to be provided to the journalists so that fair and impartial reporting can be done. There
should be no such pressure about the reporting about a particular topic and consideration based on the humanity involved need to be made. At the same time, I have witnessed
that the journalists need to be accountable for the report and so need to provide authentic and valid report that can be used for conducting discussions in the future. Hence, it can
be said that the ethical issues of journalism can be considered as an important phenomenon.
Final Reflection
The analysis of the study has provided an idea about the role of constructors and the leadership process that they are mostly accountable about. My course is on
construction and I am slotted at the development team so my aim is to identify some of the most popular construction works that has been undertaken in the world.
My assumptions from the course are that I have managed to identify the development of two construction sites like the Mexico Wall and the $1 billion Bridge.
These are used as evidence to understand the role played by the construction managers and the manner in which it can be used to enhance the opportunities of the
people to continue to progress in architecture. At the same time, the ethical issues that exist in journalism are also taken into consideration so that accountability of
false news can be deferred from the journalists.
The assumption has made me satisfied with the fact that I have managed to conduct research on two of the most prominent constructions that were made from the
leadership abilities of a construction manager. I am satisfied that I could understand the role played by the construction managers and link with the leadership that
can be achieved by the construction managers. However, there are certain areas in which I have not been dissatisfied and would like to improve upon it. For
example, I could have made better research on the two construction sites so that details about the role played by the constriction managers at these sites can be
applied. At the same time, examples on the ethical issues that are faced by the journalists also needed to be developed,
As a student I have managed to change my attitude in terms of my discipline by identifying its importance in my life. I have understood that my discipline
can help me to gain a proper career in life and can help me to enhance my reputation in the engineering organisations. The issues that have been identified in my

studies include managing time so that I can continue with the effective development of my courses. At the same time, I have seen that issues such as coping up
with the study materials on an everyday basis have been a limitation.
As I have seen that the communication process is important for the development of a proper professional life. Communication processes such as verbal and
non-verbal, formal or informal communication can be made so that I can enhance my future studies and professional life. For example, the communication process
such as proper verbal communication can help me to enhance my speech ability and ensure that I can develop a command over the people. At the same time, in the
future I can manage various projects by ensuring that I communicate well with the people.
The processes that I will build in the future includes enhancing the communication process so that I can continue to develop mu dominance and provide
motivational speech if required. I need to ensure that through the theoretical knowledge that I have gained I can continue with the development of various studies
related to the development of other construction sites. I would do try to implement the role of the constructors in a very different manner by engaging in full
analysis of the activities that are undertaken.

References
BUCHIN-ROULIE, Vanessa, et al. "Innovative solutions for Bridge strengthening (widening and compliance to new codes) by modification of initial static
scheme." IABSE Symposium Report. Vol. 109. No. 23. International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, 2017.
Dobson, James, et al. "Rattling the border wall: Pathophysiological implications of functional and proteomic venom variation between Mexican and US subspecies
of the desert rattlesnake Crotalusscutulatus." Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology 205 (2018): 62-69.
Ingicco, Thomas, et al. "A new species of Celebochoerus (Suidae, Mammalia) from the Philippines and the paleobiogeography of the genus
CelebochoerusHooijer, 1948." Geobios 49.4 (2016): 285-291.
Meckler, Laura. "Trump Orders Wall at Mexican Border." Wall Street Journal (2017).