Summary + Reader Response_Draft 4

 

In the article, “An Architect’s Guide to Building with Bamboo”, Vadot (n.d) states that bamboo is a reliable and sustainable future construction material. The author finds that bamboo flourishes well across the world with little maintenance and grows more near the equator. He adds that it is best to harvest the bamboo when it is between four and six years old so that it becomes construction-grade material, and often, it is referred to as steel’s alternative. Bamboo is naturally protected against microorganisms from "cut close to its base" harvest method. The author asserts that bamboo is an incredibly lightweight material that can be used to accomplish stable, weight-bearing structures that cannot be overlooked in the construction industry. Bamboo is lightweight, easy and affordable to transport, and low cost when bought near the plantation. Finally, Vadot highlights that bamboo is fragile and there is no standard design code for 1200 species of bamboo. While the author focused on advantages, he should also elaborate on the disadvantages. In fact, he should explain the advantages and disadvantages systematically.

First of all, the article does not clearly describe all the benefits of bamboo. The author just briefly explains bamboo’s strength and construction use. I feel that Vadot’s article requires more description of bamboo’s strength with concrete evidence and how it is used in construction industry, rather than just giving a few examples. There is no coherence in Vadot’s explanation. In the article, Kim et al. (2019), gave further explanations the features of bamboo, workability strength and its uses with examples and reference relevant articles to support his explanation. I feel that this article is complete. It also has a broader perspective of the property of bamboo and its uses that correspond to its strength. Vadot could have developed his article by focusing on a few points and explaining them in depth, which would increase the weight of his points.

 Secondly, Vadot mentions that it is difficult to create a standard code for 1200 species of bamboo. Now is this an advantage or a disadvantage? There is no connexion of this statement to his entire article. Furthermore Suhaily et al. (2013) explain that there are 1575 different species of bamboo and ranging from woody to bamboo. Out of all these, only 20-38 species are suitable for construction material. I notice that there is contradicting information in both articles. I doubt Vadot’s credibility as he has not elaborated on the total number of bamboo species. Furthermore, I reckon that the article is lacking supporting information with verification that weigh down the article’s reputation. Furthermore, the author states that the bamboo is naturally protected against

 microorganisms. However, Deka  et al. (2003) explain that bamboo must be treated to protect it from termites, an issue that was supported by their experiments. Once again, there is conflicting information in both articles that topples Vadot's reputation and baffles the reader if Vadot had done good research on bamboo.

 

Lastly, Vadot states that bamboo is fragile, but there is no further explanation to it. At the same time, in the article Jasondreamwork, (2016) describes that while bamboo has short life span, it is prone to crush at weak joints, it has low structural efficiently and it shrinks. Bamboo has fair number of disadvantages, which are ignored in Vadot’s article. In my opinion, Vadot fails to highlight both advantages and disadvantages equally that makes his article be one sided. From his article, I do not learn much about bamboo that make me harder to conclude or recommend it to others who love to use bamboo for their home.

 

In a nutshell, bamboo has its own good and bad qualities. If  Vadot had explained all the qualities and reinforced it with more evidence, his article would be well grounded.  

 

 

 References

Valot, C. (n.d). An Architect’s Guide to Building with Bamboo. Architizer.   Blog at architizer.com

    https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/how-to-bamboo/  

Manandhar, R., Kim, J.H., & Kim, J.T. (2019, May 2). Environmental, social and economic sustainability of bamboo and bamboo-based construction materials in buildings. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 18(2), 49-59.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13467581.2019.1595629

Suhaily et al. (2013). Bamboo based biocomposites material, design and applications. Books of Materials Science, published June 10th 2013. DOI:10.5772.56057

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?hl=en&publication_year=2013&pages=489-517&author=S.+S.+Suhaily&author=H.+P.+S.+A.+Khalil&author=W.+O.+W.+Nadirah&author=M.+Jawaidauthor=Y.+Mastai&title=Bamboo+Based+Biocomposites+Material%2C+Design+and+Applications

Deka M, Das P, Saikia C.N, (January 2003). Studies on dimensional stability, thermal degradation and termite resistant properties of bamboo (Bambusa tulda Roxb.) treated with thermosetting resins. Journal of Bamboo and Rattern 2(1):29-41

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233580520_Studies_on_dimensional_stability_thermal_degradation_and_termite_resistant_properties_of_bamboo_Bambusa_tulda_Roxb_treated_with_thermosetting_resins

Jasondreamwork. (May 21 2016). Disadvantage of Bamboo As A Construction Material. Blog at Wordpress.com, published 2016.

https://jasondreamwork.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/disadvantage-of-bamboo/

 

Critical Reflection: Project Learning

I read and commented on technical reports at work. Most technical reports I've seen include a cover page, table of contents, and the proposal and recommendation. Even when I write tender documents, I had cover sheet, table of contents and main text.

Obviously, in the Effective Communication module, I learned to write a technical report in a different way that I have not been exposed to. Executive summary in the technical report, that amused me a bit.  In the executive summary, I had to present the research topic in a very concise and coherent way to convince the addressee. Another interesting area I came across was writing primary and secondary sources in the report. I understood that having primary and secondary sources in the report outlined the data and confirmed the relevant research. Insufficient resources would likely spoil the report or not analyse the proposed solution(s).

 

An important insight when writing a technical report was to be very concise, persuasive, and keep the report simple to maintain stakeholder interest throughout the report. I always tried to break down possible irrelevant ideas to be more specific about the problem(s) and solution(s). As part of a research project, my team had to present our ideas in a formal presentation. I learned to keep the slides as simple as possible. Also, our slides had to be less wordy, so we planned well as a team. The first step in our slide presentation was to analyse our audience that we were going to present to and be focused the entire time.

Finally, I had a wonderful time with my teammates, and we had good teamwork. My teammates were very spontaneous in completing their assigned task, which allowed us to finish the report and presentation on time.

In future, I would definitely apply the techniques that I learned in this module be it in my workplace or other modules reports.

Critical Reflection_Module Learning

 

It is a great privilege to participate in the Effective Communication course to achieve my goal of being even bolder, getting to the heart of details, and being creative in communication to get attention. I was able to learn new skills and techniques in the form of verbal and written communication.

Verbal communication allowed me to reflect on my clarity while communicating in class and with my professor. Finally, this portrayed my confidence and assertiveness in my conversation, which was mostly able to connect with how my friends were feeling and thinking. I have learned that I need to adapt my communication style to the situation at hand to ensure effective engagement. I have started to communicate to the point and avoid being long-winded. In a mini-group presentation, the work is mainly timed, so I must convey my thoughts in a very constructive way and ensure that I have delivered well. During the presentation I needed to be concise and choose my words wisely and use them in a timely manner. I always keep an appropriate pace and make pauses in my presentation to be captivating.

I have enlightened myself to write expressively to explain the content well. I have also learned to sift out the most important ideas and write them as a short summary and make sure to keep the same meaning. Writing a blog is another interesting thing I have learned in this course. This is something new that I have not been exposed to before. Writing a blog is a class assignment that is often restricted with limited words, so I must be careful to get my point across. In this way, I feel confident that I will achieve my goals by the end of this course. As of now, I can feel that I am moving towards my goal.

The things I learned in the Effective Communication course relate completely back to my work. I have to write permit papers, contract documents, do a lot of presentations. There is one thing I could not relate to, which is writing expressively. The nature of my work does not require me to write expressively, so this part of the module does not benefit me. At the same time, I am very glad and happy because most of the materials in the module are very useful for me.