Inspirations of the Bible and Their Implications - Essay Example

A Reflective Report of the Presentation Unit This year’s was one of its kinds. I experienced quite a number of things that were completely different from the previous year. This was attributable to the level of preparedness as well as the lessons learnt ion the previous year. This year, I presented three inspirations of the bible and their implications to the lives of Christians. I took time to prepare for the presentation; therefore, I was able to come up with a deep understanding on verbal theory, the dynamic theory, and the intuition theory. Despite a few challenges, the presentation was a big success to me. I came to learn quite a number of things through my own presentation as well as those of my colleagues. The presentation was scheduled for the 28th of February 2014, an aspect that happened. Both the students and the assessors were seated in the year one classroom ready for the presentations at 11:00 a.m. Due the number of students that had presentations the time, some time was spent which led to the culmination of the presentations at 16:30 pm. The timing allowed scheduling of the presentations into two sessions; the morning and afternoon sessions. Personally, I was scheduled to present in the afternoon session, which kicked off at around 14:30 pm, immediately after the lunch break. I specifically took the stand at around 15:45 pm and did the presentation within the ten minutes that were set by the assessors. The team of assessors included; Bernadine, Dr. Paige, Florence and Dr. Tukasi. The feedback from the assessors provided a challenge for me to improve on my presentation skills. The preparation for the presentation was a daunting task for me. I understood that I needed to give my best especially based on the poor performance in last year’s presentation. my determination was evident; I made quite a number of consultations with friends and educators. In addition, I visited the British library where I visited a number of books and journals that expanded my understanding on the inspirations of the Bible and how they affect the life of a Christian. Some of the materials visited included; Anderson, A. (2010). Studying global Pentecostalism theories and methods. Berkeley: University of California Press. Carlson, R. F., & Longman, T. (2010). Science, creation and the Bible: reconciling rival theories of origins. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. Cohen, M. J. (2002). Pathways through the Bible classic selections from the Tanakh (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society. Frank, A. (2009). The constant fire: beyond the science vs. religion debate. Berkeley: University of California Press. Gibbs, J. C. (2010). Moral development & reality: beyond the theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman (2. ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Hogue, M. S. (2010). The promise of religious naturalism. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. All these sources among others that were not directly quoted provided meaningful insight while laid a good platform for understanding of the topic. In addition, some other books as well as the internet provided some guidelines on public presentation. During my research and preparation phase, I came across a lot of literature. There was so much information that was available in the books as well as the internet sources. However, the internet sources lacked consistency, which could be relied upon in drawing a firm position. This made me to rely mainly on the books that I was able to obtain through the library as well as peer reviewed sources obtained in the internet sources. I went a step ahead and engaged in a discussion with two of my colleagues who provided insight in the topic and challenged me to read further. During the presentation, several things happened. Firstly, I found myself being nervous though I later gained confidence and was able to confront the assessors. Through the thorough preparation, I knew I had the content but the confidence to present it kept on shifting. This somehow affected my eloquence and the fluency of the presentation. I stood to begin my presentation at around 15:45 pm and was done within ten minutes. When I was called I stood up, less confident but with a feeling that this time round I had to do something better. The time provided was sufficient for the presentation. This made me to have ample time in getting the feedback from the assessors. Nobody complained about my brevity since I had articulated my points clearly. Despite my attempt to perfect the presentation, a few errors never missed. The assessors gave a positive feedback and mentioned areas that I needed to improve on, in order to perfect y presentation skills. In particular, the module tutor reiterated his satisfaction with my presentation, an aspect that motivated me. through the presentation I realize my growth in the academics. To complement the personal efforts and experiences were my colleagues’ presentations. The sixteen of us received various complements and areas to improve on. In addition, the presentations were quite informative and well-articulated in some cases. This challenged me and I will endeavor to work more on my presentation skills. My presentation as only focused on three inspiration theories of the Bible and their implications. Despite there being more theories, I did not select them based on any specific criteria; I chose them randomly. I endeavored to focus on the intuition theory, the dynamic theory, and the verbal theory. All the content that I used in the presentation was obtained from credible sources that had been peer reviewed or presented in books. During the presentation, I could recall my content and did not have to keep on referring in order to get the content of my presentation. This was facilitated by the familiarity that I had towards the topic as well as the free environment created by the assessors. Compared to last year’s presentation, I was able to gather the confidence to present the paper easily. In addition, there was a challenge in the mastery of the content in the presentation done last year. This means that this year was far much better than the preceding year. Despite the overall effect of the presentation being positive, a few negatives were evident. Firstly, I had an issue with my confidence. All along when I was doing my rehearsals, I was more confident and could present confidently in front of my colleagues, however, on the particular day of presentation, I became nervous and did not bring forth the first positive impression to the panel. To prevent this, I took a deep breath before I decided to engage the assessors with the presentation. Secondly, I had considered a few details for the presentation but unfortunately, I forgot them, I had imagined using them to color my presentation but it never happened. Finally, I forgot to thank the assessors after the presentation, which does not a create a good impression. In conclusion, the presentation was generally good for me. I was able to learn a number of things throughout the various stages of the presentation. The preparation phase was one of the most challenging yet very beneficial. Through library research and the internet, I obtained very helpful information. During the presentation, I began with some nervousness but was able to overcome it as the assessors provided a relaxed environment for the presentations. Since I presented in the afternoon, I was able to learn so much from the students that had already done their presentations in terms of the knowledge articulated as well as the presentation skills. Overall, the presentation provided many opportunities for learning. In addition, I learnt about the importance of personal organization. Read More