Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Blog project, and Conclusion of study
Towards the end of semester , students were kept very busy completing their blog project and preparing for their oral presentation in the last week. Each group had a few consultations with me over their presentation and they conscientiously attended to my comments and suggestions for improving their powerpoint presentation. We had a session on the do's and don'ts of powerpoint presentation, and went through some pointers on delivery.
The presentation went well generally. All the students took it quite seriously , although there was a hitch with one pair of students. They realised their mistake in the way they approached the blog project rather late and so had to re-do their blog substantially at the last minute. Their topic was "The Best Education Systems in the World", but instead of relying on secondary sources of information, they just decided on their own native "intuition" which countries had the best education systems , and of course their choices were not informed ones. I had pointed out to them in an earlier consultation that I didn't believe their choice of China was appropriate, and had urged them to do some research on it, but they didn't seem to take me seriously till quite late, when I saw their draft powerpoint and questioned them about their criteria for their choice.
Throughout the project I had reminded the class the importance of making informed choices based on well-considered criteria, which they would have to arrive at after reading up on the topic. I gave my class topics that were different from what is suggested in the course file. I chose topics that I felt would give students an authentic need to do some research on, and which they could personally learn something from. The group that worked on "Inspiring Women" said they learnt a lot from researching on the women they selected, and that they had personally felt inspired by what they learnt. The other group chose to work on " The Best Cities to live in", and they clearly stated their criteria for their choice of cities.
Prior to the presentation, there was face to face consultation as well as consultation via email. They would send me their draft powerpoint slides for my comments. The email was indeed a very useful way of negotiating the challenges of time and place.
The blog reports were also conscientiously attended to by the students.
Although the summary quiz was over, I still attended to improving their reading .Since I felt that one of the problems was that they tended to read very generally ,without getting into deeper engagement with the sense and hence become quite careless in their interpretation , I had them work as a group on a jigsaw reading activity. Each student was given a portion of a sentence to remember, and together they had to work out the the entire sentence just by listening to one another's portion and positioning themselves in the sequence that their portions should appear in the sentence. What showed up was a careless understanding of the portion that was memorised, but the activity forced students to engage more deeply with the meaning of the text. I think it did bring home to them the importance of paying close attention to the meaning of what they read instead of just skimming with a very superficial understanding.
Before the final examination, all the SKPD students were given a past year exam paper to practise on. It was a very easy paper, which was probably a good thing - to give students confidence in doing the final paper well.
The last class ended with a few photographs taken of me with the class.
After the final examination, I was still on the email with the students, and I sent out a final evaluation survey. However, I received only 6 responses. All the responses were very positive, and I believe they were sincere.
I still keep in touch with my students via email because they had told me they still wanted to receive email from me, especially jokes and articles on current issues.
I have enjoyed teaching this class very much. Getting involved in this project has been a boon because it nudged me to pay closer attention to how my students were responding to my methods, and how they were learning. It allowed me to focus on encouraging independent learning. However,I would say that one semester is insufficient - and that's what my students said too .
The presentation went well generally. All the students took it quite seriously , although there was a hitch with one pair of students. They realised their mistake in the way they approached the blog project rather late and so had to re-do their blog substantially at the last minute. Their topic was "The Best Education Systems in the World", but instead of relying on secondary sources of information, they just decided on their own native "intuition" which countries had the best education systems , and of course their choices were not informed ones. I had pointed out to them in an earlier consultation that I didn't believe their choice of China was appropriate, and had urged them to do some research on it, but they didn't seem to take me seriously till quite late, when I saw their draft powerpoint and questioned them about their criteria for their choice.
Throughout the project I had reminded the class the importance of making informed choices based on well-considered criteria, which they would have to arrive at after reading up on the topic. I gave my class topics that were different from what is suggested in the course file. I chose topics that I felt would give students an authentic need to do some research on, and which they could personally learn something from. The group that worked on "Inspiring Women" said they learnt a lot from researching on the women they selected, and that they had personally felt inspired by what they learnt. The other group chose to work on " The Best Cities to live in", and they clearly stated their criteria for their choice of cities.
Prior to the presentation, there was face to face consultation as well as consultation via email. They would send me their draft powerpoint slides for my comments. The email was indeed a very useful way of negotiating the challenges of time and place.
The blog reports were also conscientiously attended to by the students.
Although the summary quiz was over, I still attended to improving their reading .Since I felt that one of the problems was that they tended to read very generally ,without getting into deeper engagement with the sense and hence become quite careless in their interpretation , I had them work as a group on a jigsaw reading activity. Each student was given a portion of a sentence to remember, and together they had to work out the the entire sentence just by listening to one another's portion and positioning themselves in the sequence that their portions should appear in the sentence. What showed up was a careless understanding of the portion that was memorised, but the activity forced students to engage more deeply with the meaning of the text. I think it did bring home to them the importance of paying close attention to the meaning of what they read instead of just skimming with a very superficial understanding.
Before the final examination, all the SKPD students were given a past year exam paper to practise on. It was a very easy paper, which was probably a good thing - to give students confidence in doing the final paper well.
The last class ended with a few photographs taken of me with the class.
After the final examination, I was still on the email with the students, and I sent out a final evaluation survey. However, I received only 6 responses. All the responses were very positive, and I believe they were sincere.
I still keep in touch with my students via email because they had told me they still wanted to receive email from me, especially jokes and articles on current issues.
I have enjoyed teaching this class very much. Getting involved in this project has been a boon because it nudged me to pay closer attention to how my students were responding to my methods, and how they were learning. It allowed me to focus on encouraging independent learning. However,I would say that one semester is insufficient - and that's what my students said too .
Monday, September 13, 2010
Semester break assignments
Sem break coincides with the hari raya celebrations but students went off a week earlier, claiming difficulty in getting travel tickets home.
I assigned them some practice exercises on writing summaries, and told them they were to read a few articles online and tell the class what they read when they return. The summary quiz has been scheduled for the week that they return from the break. I'm not happy with that because the students have barely had enough time to really improve. Although they have learnt summary writing before for the MUET, they still need more guidance and practice.
Amyliana is the only one who won't be able to go online because her kampung is too remote to have internet access. She struggles with her work but tries hard. Another student has complained that hostel activities are too demanding but ahe has no choice but to comply because lack of participation would certainly mean no place in the hostel the next semester. Poor students - they are such an oppressed lot!
I assigned them some practice exercises on writing summaries, and told them they were to read a few articles online and tell the class what they read when they return. The summary quiz has been scheduled for the week that they return from the break. I'm not happy with that because the students have barely had enough time to really improve. Although they have learnt summary writing before for the MUET, they still need more guidance and practice.
Amyliana is the only one who won't be able to go online because her kampung is too remote to have internet access. She struggles with her work but tries hard. Another student has complained that hostel activities are too demanding but ahe has no choice but to comply because lack of participation would certainly mean no place in the hostel the next semester. Poor students - they are such an oppressed lot!
Students responses in their reflective logs
The students responded pretty promptly . However, despite an exercise done in class to demonstrate what reflecting really involves, students tend toi just answer my questions which were meant merely to trigger of their reflections. In the class exercise, I'd got the class to talk about their experience so far of university life. It started off with the usual positivist remarks, then as one student talked about an unpleasant experience he had with the counter clerks, others joined in with their own accounts of how the administration seemed to have these little napoleons everywhere. They were however very appreciative of their learning experience, and said thay liked being treated as independent adults by lecturers.
As for the feedback on innovations in the SKPD class so far, the general impression is positive. Although I didn't ask them to rank the innovations in any order, they seem to find getting emails from me very enjoyable because they say that it makes them feel that they're getting special attention, and that they enjoyed reading the jokes and articles that I send them - to expand their horizon.
I haven't done a close analysis yet, but all but one also seem to like the self-marking that I get them to do .
They like finding and sharing quotations, getting opportunities to talk in front of the class.
Siva is the only one who said he prefers a bigger class because he likes having more classmates who stimulate and challenge him.The rest like a small class for the attention it affords.
Another favourite innovation is the use of the computer and LCD in class, especially for viewing short films. I have shown 2 of the 15Malaysian film so far ( produced by Pete Teo) : House and The Future, and they enjoy mulling over the deeper meanings of the films.
As for the feedback on innovations in the SKPD class so far, the general impression is positive. Although I didn't ask them to rank the innovations in any order, they seem to find getting emails from me very enjoyable because they say that it makes them feel that they're getting special attention, and that they enjoyed reading the jokes and articles that I send them - to expand their horizon.
I haven't done a close analysis yet, but all but one also seem to like the self-marking that I get them to do .
They like finding and sharing quotations, getting opportunities to talk in front of the class.
Siva is the only one who said he prefers a bigger class because he likes having more classmates who stimulate and challenge him.The rest like a small class for the attention it affords.
Another favourite innovation is the use of the computer and LCD in class, especially for viewing short films. I have shown 2 of the 15Malaysian film so far ( produced by Pete Teo) : House and The Future, and they enjoy mulling over the deeper meanings of the films.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Students' reflective log, 27 August 2010 (end of week 7)
This is the reflective log I sent out to my 8 students in Set 6. I told them about it in the last class we had.
REFLECTIVE LOG
Dear students,
Please spend some time and effort in writing this reflective log as it will be useful feedback on the approaches that I have used in teaching the course this semester.
To help you to remember what we have been doing so far in class, and to guide you in your reflection, I have listed some questions , but please do not limit yourself to merely answering the questions. Feel free to express your opinions, be honest, be critical . Any suggestions on what would help you to learn better would also be appreciated.
If you feel that you’d be more accurate in expressing yourself in Bahasa Malaysia, go ahead and write in BM, or use a mixture of BM and English. But no other language, please.
Please complete this log and email it back to me before you go away for the Hari Raya break .
Thank you.
Pn Lee aka Mrs B.
Reminder: the questions here are just to help jolt your memory. Don’t confine yourself to answering them. And don’t say things just to be nice to me. This will NOT affect your grade, nor my job in any way!
Type in your response after each question. No word limit.
1. Compare your previous experience of learning English to your current experience of the SKPD1033 course.
2. Are you happy about being in a small class? About being part of a research project? Elaborate.
Comment on these activities that have been carried out in the class for the past 7 weeks. For each activity, say if you like or dislike it, if it has helped you in any way, if it is meaningless to you, etc
3. Discovering your learning style : has it helped you to know your learning style?
4. Collecting quotations related to the topics covered, and sharing them with the class.
5. Viewing short films ( only one so far – “House” , but will show a couple more)
6. Having the computer and LCD in class – accessing internet resources, doing trivia quizzes, etc
7. Receiving email from the lecturer – what you would prefer to receive
8. Presenting your blogs ( introduction) in class
9. Working on the units on your own
10. Self-marking of exercises
These are a few things that you were advised to do on your own. Say if you’ve actually started , or if you have no intention of starting. Comment on your experience if you’ve started.
11. Using online resources. Which websites/blogs? What kind of resources : for grammar, listening, reading, etc? Useful?
12. Vocabulary notebook
13. Quotations notebook
14. Reflect on your experience of learning English this semester . Are you more interested or do you still find it a chore ? Elaborate.
15. Any suggestions for improving your learning experience? Would you like to have English classes continued every semester? Elaborate.
REFLECTIVE LOG
Dear students,
Please spend some time and effort in writing this reflective log as it will be useful feedback on the approaches that I have used in teaching the course this semester.
To help you to remember what we have been doing so far in class, and to guide you in your reflection, I have listed some questions , but please do not limit yourself to merely answering the questions. Feel free to express your opinions, be honest, be critical . Any suggestions on what would help you to learn better would also be appreciated.
If you feel that you’d be more accurate in expressing yourself in Bahasa Malaysia, go ahead and write in BM, or use a mixture of BM and English. But no other language, please.
Please complete this log and email it back to me before you go away for the Hari Raya break .
Thank you.
Pn Lee aka Mrs B.
Reminder: the questions here are just to help jolt your memory. Don’t confine yourself to answering them. And don’t say things just to be nice to me. This will NOT affect your grade, nor my job in any way!
Type in your response after each question. No word limit.
1. Compare your previous experience of learning English to your current experience of the SKPD1033 course.
2. Are you happy about being in a small class? About being part of a research project? Elaborate.
Comment on these activities that have been carried out in the class for the past 7 weeks. For each activity, say if you like or dislike it, if it has helped you in any way, if it is meaningless to you, etc
3. Discovering your learning style : has it helped you to know your learning style?
4. Collecting quotations related to the topics covered, and sharing them with the class.
5. Viewing short films ( only one so far – “House” , but will show a couple more)
6. Having the computer and LCD in class – accessing internet resources, doing trivia quizzes, etc
7. Receiving email from the lecturer – what you would prefer to receive
8. Presenting your blogs ( introduction) in class
9. Working on the units on your own
10. Self-marking of exercises
These are a few things that you were advised to do on your own. Say if you’ve actually started , or if you have no intention of starting. Comment on your experience if you’ve started.
11. Using online resources. Which websites/blogs? What kind of resources : for grammar, listening, reading, etc? Useful?
12. Vocabulary notebook
13. Quotations notebook
14. Reflect on your experience of learning English this semester . Are you more interested or do you still find it a chore ? Elaborate.
15. Any suggestions for improving your learning experience? Would you like to have English classes continued every semester? Elaborate.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Things about student life on campus I never knew
At the practice session on writing a reflective log ( My experience as an undergraduate so far), I discovered the following things:
1. Students' hostels charge different rates , and students have no choice of hostels. One hostel may cost a student about RM2 per day , and another can be as much as RM4. Apparently, when a student enquired about the different rates, she was asked by the clerk "boleh bayar tak?", and when she replied "boleh", she was told " bayar aje la!".
There is apparently no noticeable difference in the facilities provided by the different hostels, so what is the basis for differential rates?
2. Students say they are often treated badly by counter personnel. They are spoken to rudely, get scolded and the service is generally very inefficient. Liana shared her experience of asking for a simple letter to cetify that she wasn't on scholarship, so that she could show it to the Sarawak state authorities to ask for financial support. it took her a few trips over 3 weeks, and when the letter was finally prepared, there was an error and so she has to wait yet another week. Jason reported on an incident of asking the technician to attend to the non-functioning of the washing machine, and was told to file a report. he believes that all that was needed was for the technician to switch on the machine, but Jason couldnt do it himself because the main switch was in a locked enclosure.
3. Students have to pay RM50 per semster for internet access via Jaring. They're allowed 10GB, but Vincent reports that his 10GB has mysteriously been used up, and he has to pay to reload!
Now that I realise students are paying for access, I can't get students to log in for me when I use the internet in class anymore.
4. Students say they don't know who to turn to when they need help or support. They only know that they can log in a complaint but so far no one has done it.
5. Where academic work is concerned, students generally enjoy the new independence, even though they find it challenging having to work independently. They report that the teaching approach is very different from what they experienced in school, and they like it that their lecturers are informal and friendly.
In exchange, I shared with students one aspect of my experience on campus. All this talk about being treated badly and having no recourse to have their problems addressed prompted me to talk about the issue of student power. Generally they feel powerless. I told them briefly about the time when the students' union in Universiti malaya was active and strong, how it managed the students' transport on campus, awarded financial assistance to poor students, organised talks and forums, etc I told them about Dr Khong , the Academic director of HELP Institute - how he was an active student leader,and now he's a highly responsible leader in the community of education.I want them to be aware that they too have power - it's just that they need to harness it and get organised.
We discussed why Fahmi Reza's "Student Power" lectures are not allowed in the public HEIs - the authorities are too afraid of students becoming aware of their power. But I told them student power has been used for good before - to address social injusice, to help the downtrodden in society, to make life better on campus, etc They seem very surprised to hear about what UMSU used to do.
I told them about the notion of "Speakers' Corner", soapbox oratory etc The importance of freedom of expression, dialogue. The reason why Interfaith Dialogues have not proceeded in Malaysia is that the authorities are fearful of people knowing more about one another!
1. Students' hostels charge different rates , and students have no choice of hostels. One hostel may cost a student about RM2 per day , and another can be as much as RM4. Apparently, when a student enquired about the different rates, she was asked by the clerk "boleh bayar tak?", and when she replied "boleh", she was told " bayar aje la!".
There is apparently no noticeable difference in the facilities provided by the different hostels, so what is the basis for differential rates?
2. Students say they are often treated badly by counter personnel. They are spoken to rudely, get scolded and the service is generally very inefficient. Liana shared her experience of asking for a simple letter to cetify that she wasn't on scholarship, so that she could show it to the Sarawak state authorities to ask for financial support. it took her a few trips over 3 weeks, and when the letter was finally prepared, there was an error and so she has to wait yet another week. Jason reported on an incident of asking the technician to attend to the non-functioning of the washing machine, and was told to file a report. he believes that all that was needed was for the technician to switch on the machine, but Jason couldnt do it himself because the main switch was in a locked enclosure.
3. Students have to pay RM50 per semster for internet access via Jaring. They're allowed 10GB, but Vincent reports that his 10GB has mysteriously been used up, and he has to pay to reload!
Now that I realise students are paying for access, I can't get students to log in for me when I use the internet in class anymore.
4. Students say they don't know who to turn to when they need help or support. They only know that they can log in a complaint but so far no one has done it.
5. Where academic work is concerned, students generally enjoy the new independence, even though they find it challenging having to work independently. They report that the teaching approach is very different from what they experienced in school, and they like it that their lecturers are informal and friendly.
In exchange, I shared with students one aspect of my experience on campus. All this talk about being treated badly and having no recourse to have their problems addressed prompted me to talk about the issue of student power. Generally they feel powerless. I told them briefly about the time when the students' union in Universiti malaya was active and strong, how it managed the students' transport on campus, awarded financial assistance to poor students, organised talks and forums, etc I told them about Dr Khong , the Academic director of HELP Institute - how he was an active student leader,and now he's a highly responsible leader in the community of education.I want them to be aware that they too have power - it's just that they need to harness it and get organised.
We discussed why Fahmi Reza's "Student Power" lectures are not allowed in the public HEIs - the authorities are too afraid of students becoming aware of their power. But I told them student power has been used for good before - to address social injusice, to help the downtrodden in society, to make life better on campus, etc They seem very surprised to hear about what UMSU used to do.
I told them about the notion of "Speakers' Corner", soapbox oratory etc The importance of freedom of expression, dialogue. The reason why Interfaith Dialogues have not proceeded in Malaysia is that the authorities are fearful of people knowing more about one another!
Mid semester evaluation
recap on the past couple of weeks:
I've been using the laptop in class to log onto the internet so that I can show students the resources they can use. The most active network is Jaring but I have to get the students to log on for me since I don't have an account. So far I've shown them Speak-good-english, better-english, and just-english. I showed them a site on learning collocations, where there are lists of common collocations (verb + noun) , and quizzes and games to play (hangman). I also showed them trivia sites - eg on cities or countries of the world. This is related to one of the units in the book, and it would also improve students' general knowledge . ( The level of general knowledge is quite frightening!)
I will have to check on their use of such resources later.
I've been emailing them jokes, and a few respond to show their appreciation. I also email them the webvideo sites for the Fairly current Show, and the Effing show - and articles on student activism ( eg Fahmi Reza's Student Power talks, videos). So far only 4 or 5 studentsseem to have actually read all the stuff I send them, the rest don't check their email regularly because of poor internet connections at their hostel.
I am preparing a list of questions to guide students' reflection on their experience of the SKPD1033 course so far. In order to train them on reflection (even though a few students claim they know how to dio it), I got them to write a short reflective piece in class on "My experience as an undergrdauate so far". They then read out their pieces to share, which allowed me to point out to them where they could reflect further. I don't want students to merely report and describe superficially what they have done, I want them to think about their experience critically and say how they feel, what they think, and even to suggest what they'd prefer/want to be done.
I'll get the feedback via email - give students sufficient time to reflect over the weekend.
I've been using the laptop in class to log onto the internet so that I can show students the resources they can use. The most active network is Jaring but I have to get the students to log on for me since I don't have an account. So far I've shown them Speak-good-english, better-english, and just-english. I showed them a site on learning collocations, where there are lists of common collocations (verb + noun) , and quizzes and games to play (hangman). I also showed them trivia sites - eg on cities or countries of the world. This is related to one of the units in the book, and it would also improve students' general knowledge . ( The level of general knowledge is quite frightening!)
I will have to check on their use of such resources later.
I've been emailing them jokes, and a few respond to show their appreciation. I also email them the webvideo sites for the Fairly current Show, and the Effing show - and articles on student activism ( eg Fahmi Reza's Student Power talks, videos). So far only 4 or 5 studentsseem to have actually read all the stuff I send them, the rest don't check their email regularly because of poor internet connections at their hostel.
I am preparing a list of questions to guide students' reflection on their experience of the SKPD1033 course so far. In order to train them on reflection (even though a few students claim they know how to dio it), I got them to write a short reflective piece in class on "My experience as an undergrdauate so far". They then read out their pieces to share, which allowed me to point out to them where they could reflect further. I don't want students to merely report and describe superficially what they have done, I want them to think about their experience critically and say how they feel, what they think, and even to suggest what they'd prefer/want to be done.
I'll get the feedback via email - give students sufficient time to reflect over the weekend.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Students' blog projects
Self marking: Seems to work , except that I still need to check because some of the students don't really bother about the accuracy of their answers, or the language errors they make.
Saves me time, and gives students a sense of responsibility for their own work
The blog project: from the start, students were told to look up a few blogs to get an idea of what a blog looks like, and to learn how to set one up.
This week,I'm supposed to check on the first stage : registration of blog, title, background/intro to topic, profiles of members of the blog group.
I get each group to open their blog to the class ( LCD and laptop now a regular part of the class), and the class gives comments and learn to evaluate one another's work.
This helps them to understand what to look out for to develop a good blog.
I have developed evaluation sheets for each group so that I can track their progress.
Showed class a short movie from 15Malaysia ( Pete Teo's project) - "House" as discussion leading up to work on Unit 3 Urban Planning.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Doing this research my way
Tentative title: ACTION RESEARCH ON DEVELOPING INDEPENDENT LEARNING IN THE SKPD 1033 COURSE THROUGH THE USE OF INNOVATIONS
Aim of research:
- To document the use of specific innovations for encouraging independent learning among students in the SKPD 1033 course.
- To obtain students' evaluation of the innovations
Aim of innovations:
- to encourage students to take on greater responsibility for their own learning
- to train students to become more proactive in using other resources for their learning, esp. online resources
- to train students to become more aware of and reflective about their own learning and cognitive processes .
It is believed that if these aims are achieved, students would be capable of independent learning
Method:
The class will have to use the prescribed syllabus and coursebook, and the same assessment methods as the rest of the students taking the SKPD 1033 course.
The instructor will introduce the innovations and monitor students' practices
The following instruments will be used in the collection of data:
- Teacher's reflective blog
- Students' reflective logs
- Questionnaire for students' evaluation of innovations
Innovations:
- Developing awareness of individual learning styles : students are told to go online to answer a learning style questionnaire (VARK) , find out what styles they have , and learn how to use appropriate learning strategies
- Using online resources for learning - online dictionary, pronunciation, language learning websites eg Dave's ESL cafe
- developing a collection of quotations related to topics in the coursebook
- Frequent oral presentations in class, eg sharing quotations, sharing progress on blogs
- Frequent emails from lecturer - jokes, articles that broaden the mind
- self marking of homework
- vocabulary notebook
- use of online resources in the classroom - short films, demonstration of how to search for useful websites, etc
My personal reservations about the action research project
We had a meeting with Imran on 3 Aug. I discover that I seem to be the only one with concerns about the way the research project is going. I am concerned mainly with:
- the research design - we have not really properly discussed the aims of the project, the details of the method, etc It appears that the others are quite happy to just keep a record of whatever they do in class, a case of "I studying me". Jeanne McNiff's name is bandied about to lend support to this adhoc way of doing research - it appears to me that the others are subscribed to the idea of "anything goes" when it's action research. I can't accept that. I'm particularly bothered about the lack of concern with validity issues. It's hard to engage in a proper academic discussion about validity because the term needs to be carefully defined in the context of our research, but the simplest way to put it is that my research needs to have credibility. It's not good enough to collect evidence : the manner in which we collect and record evidence must be defensible, our results must be seen as credible, and worthwhile lessons must be learnt from our research process, otherwise it's a waste of valuable time and resources. It'd be like groping and shooting in the dark. Tembak aje!
- the lack of collaboration: my concept of doing a research project is that we work as a team, so there is collaboration, sharing and mutual feedback. Apparently, on this project, each of us are supposed to take care of our own research with our respective class, and there's no need to exchange ideas on what we're doing. It seems to me a very strange way of working on a project !
I had wanted to withdraw from the research, but seeing that it would involve some tedious paperwork, and with Imran's assurance that even if I don't produce anything, there's still Fook Fei and Hafizah's data, I decided to just do the best I can. Afterall I'd already done quite a bit - designed the student profile questionnaire, made a short list of books for reference, and I've been practising the approach of encouraging independent learning for as long as I can remember! It's just that this time, I have a relatively "workable" class ( MUET bands 3 & 4) - though, if I had my way, band 3 should be separate from band 4, and better still, I'd have a pre-study questionnaire to assess the degree of independence of my subjects.
This is what I mean, there ought to be more detailed preparation, thoughtful and intellectual discussion and debate before we embark on a study, but now we are being rushed - because of circumstances? We can't control these particular circumstances?
I will from henceforth treat this as an individual study of my own.
4th week - additional students
2 Aug 2010 : I walk into class to see new faces besides the 5 (Thiru absent) I've been teaching all this while. 8 new students from the 2nd intake! Surprisingly, they are mostly Band 4 and seem pretty confident and articulate compared to the original group. They are all from PPBL, either on the BAELS or the BAELit programme.
Since 8 students are without a book, I'm unable to do any work from the text. I get the original class to explain to the new students what the course is about and what I've done with them so far.
The rest of the time is spent discussing blog topics.
After a meeting with the coordinator , it is decided that I shall keep 4 of the new students, and Thiru ( already in her 3rd year) and the other 4 new students will have to be placed in other groups. I've found 6 to be too small a class - it's not cost and energy efficient.
So now I have 9 in the class, forming 3 blog groups.
4 Aug
New practice introduced: self marking of exercises.
I made copies of the answer key so that students can self mark the routine types of exercises - gap filling, simple sentence completion, error correction, etc
I will mark only those exercises which require students to write out in their own words.
Online learning resources:
Students generally have never bothered to use online resources for language learning - except for one student who uses the online dictionary.
I introduce students to online resources for language learning. I get them to search for suitable sites to learn pronunciation, grammar, etc One site which teaches phonetic symbols was particularly interesting to the BAELS students. I show them Dave's ESL cafe.
Will need to monitor their use of online resources.
I tell students to share any resource they find useful with the rest of the class.
Consultation on blog project:
2 groups have registered their blog site.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The 1st 3 weeks
The first day of the new semester fell on 12th July 2010. I went to class ( Set 6 ) to be greeted by only 2 students - a boy, Vincent Cheong, and a girl, Siti Amyruul Saliana. I had a short chat with them, and thought it best to wait for the class to get bigger before I begin.
On Wednesday, these 2 students were there even before I arrived at 8am. I decided to go ahead and explain the course and assessment schedule to them, but I told them they'd have to explain to the newcomers later on. Sure enough, we were joined later by 2 more students Siti Fatimah and Kinsia (an Indonesian student). So Vincent and Siti had to tell them what they'd learnt about the course and assessment schedule from me. The following week, Nor Atiqah joine dthe class and she too had to find out from the others about the course. Thiru was the last to join the class, on the 28th, so she's missed out on quite a bit.
Week 1:
Introducing myself: I explain the different honorifics - Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms. Also explain terms maiden name and married name, surname/family name and patriarchal name. Men, single or married - no difference, Mr. Mrs - cultural differences : change of maiden name not practised among Malays; the convenient use of Puan . Miss- for single women, but Ms (pronounced Miz) is meant to be a mystery - or marital status doesnt matter .
I tell students my approach. I expect them to work on the exercises in the course book before coming to class. What I do in class will be to explain the main skills taught in each unit, and to go over any exercises that they had problems with.
I tell them it's absolutely important that they work on the exrecises before coming to class and that they have to tell me what they find problematic.
The blog project: I make it clear that the project is aimed at encouraging them to read on their own - that they choose articles which are relevant to their topic, and select and sum up ideas to write in their blog.
Only Vincent and Kinsia seem to be familiar with reading blogs. Kinsia has a blog of her own, but it's more like a journal which she share with friends.
Assignment: 1. Read a few blogs (choose according to interest) and record the following information - blogger's name, title of blog, blog address, any links, pictures, comments, etc
Students will be required to share in the next class what they've discovered.
2. Find out how to start a blog.
3. Collecting quotations: students are to look for at least one suitable quotation they like that's relevant to the topic currently studied. Record quotation, who said it, and what do you think it means? Each will share with class.
Week 2:
1. Introduction to the new book: I ask students what they normally do when they get a new book. Obviously none of them have any ceremonial practices, so i get them to open up the book and smell it. Sniffing in the smell of a new book - isnt that a pleasure? Not all agree.
Next, note the title, the writers. Most of them already are familiar with the academic practice of referring to a textbook by the author's first name.
What's the aim of the book? How to use it? Point out it's a workbook.
Study how the book is organized. Look at the topics. Which do you think you'd like to read?
How is each unit organized?
Work on Learning Styles Quiz in Unit 1. Discussion on differing styles among students.
2. Reporting on blogs they've read.
A couple of students mistakenly visited websites. So some explanation on the difference between a bog and a website. Students promise to check again.
Students not very observant : so reminded to note blogger's name, the kind of language used, etc
3. Quotations: Students shared their quotations. Very eager to share. However, altho they recorded the person who said it, they didnt go one step further to find out who that person was.
So, next step: students have to find out some general info on who the person is who originated the quotation eg educator, scientist, anything famous connected to him/her , etc
Week 3:
Informed students about Project and seeking consent for their participation. All seem keen. handed out consent forms on 28th to be returned in follwing week.
Went through some exercises in Unit 1.
reporting back on blogs: much better. Students seem to be clearer about what a blog is about.
Relaxation activity: starting with a squiggle drawn by another person, each student tries to add something to construct a picture. Students proceed to add on details to each picture passed to them until they are satisfied.
Shared joke about the naughty boy who perverted a simple picture of a house with snow melting on its roof and a sun shining over it to a picture of his dad bending over to pick up soap in the shower. All except one responded almost immediately by bursting out in laughter.
Got students' email addresses : intend to send them jokes and short articles to read.
Emailed a couple of jokes to class. Those who received them seemed happy and amused by the jokes. They understand , and they have a sense of humour!
Online quiz on learning styles : VARK learning styles questionnaire. Students asked to try it on Monday, print out results and notes on suggestions to improve learning, and share with class on Wed.
Learning Styles: judging by the low scores, students may have problems ! Not all printed out their results. Claimed to have problems with internet and printer.
Students asked to complete some written exercises to be handed in , but suspiciously, no one handed in anything!
Students got into groups of 3 for blog project. Offered the following topics for blogs:
Notes on Project:
Prepared questionnaire for student profile to be given out to students in Wk 4.
Need to prepare a format for students to record response to their experience of learning.
On Wednesday, these 2 students were there even before I arrived at 8am. I decided to go ahead and explain the course and assessment schedule to them, but I told them they'd have to explain to the newcomers later on. Sure enough, we were joined later by 2 more students Siti Fatimah and Kinsia (an Indonesian student). So Vincent and Siti had to tell them what they'd learnt about the course and assessment schedule from me. The following week, Nor Atiqah joine dthe class and she too had to find out from the others about the course. Thiru was the last to join the class, on the 28th, so she's missed out on quite a bit.
Week 1:
Introducing myself: I explain the different honorifics - Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms. Also explain terms maiden name and married name, surname/family name and patriarchal name. Men, single or married - no difference, Mr. Mrs - cultural differences : change of maiden name not practised among Malays; the convenient use of Puan . Miss- for single women, but Ms (pronounced Miz) is meant to be a mystery - or marital status doesnt matter .
I tell students my approach. I expect them to work on the exercises in the course book before coming to class. What I do in class will be to explain the main skills taught in each unit, and to go over any exercises that they had problems with.
I tell them it's absolutely important that they work on the exrecises before coming to class and that they have to tell me what they find problematic.
The blog project: I make it clear that the project is aimed at encouraging them to read on their own - that they choose articles which are relevant to their topic, and select and sum up ideas to write in their blog.
Only Vincent and Kinsia seem to be familiar with reading blogs. Kinsia has a blog of her own, but it's more like a journal which she share with friends.
Assignment: 1. Read a few blogs (choose according to interest) and record the following information - blogger's name, title of blog, blog address, any links, pictures, comments, etc
Students will be required to share in the next class what they've discovered.
2. Find out how to start a blog.
3. Collecting quotations: students are to look for at least one suitable quotation they like that's relevant to the topic currently studied. Record quotation, who said it, and what do you think it means? Each will share with class.
Week 2:
1. Introduction to the new book: I ask students what they normally do when they get a new book. Obviously none of them have any ceremonial practices, so i get them to open up the book and smell it. Sniffing in the smell of a new book - isnt that a pleasure? Not all agree.
Next, note the title, the writers. Most of them already are familiar with the academic practice of referring to a textbook by the author's first name.
What's the aim of the book? How to use it? Point out it's a workbook.
Study how the book is organized. Look at the topics. Which do you think you'd like to read?
How is each unit organized?
Work on Learning Styles Quiz in Unit 1. Discussion on differing styles among students.
2. Reporting on blogs they've read.
A couple of students mistakenly visited websites. So some explanation on the difference between a bog and a website. Students promise to check again.
Students not very observant : so reminded to note blogger's name, the kind of language used, etc
3. Quotations: Students shared their quotations. Very eager to share. However, altho they recorded the person who said it, they didnt go one step further to find out who that person was.
So, next step: students have to find out some general info on who the person is who originated the quotation eg educator, scientist, anything famous connected to him/her , etc
Week 3:
Informed students about Project and seeking consent for their participation. All seem keen. handed out consent forms on 28th to be returned in follwing week.
Went through some exercises in Unit 1.
reporting back on blogs: much better. Students seem to be clearer about what a blog is about.
Relaxation activity: starting with a squiggle drawn by another person, each student tries to add something to construct a picture. Students proceed to add on details to each picture passed to them until they are satisfied.
Shared joke about the naughty boy who perverted a simple picture of a house with snow melting on its roof and a sun shining over it to a picture of his dad bending over to pick up soap in the shower. All except one responded almost immediately by bursting out in laughter.
Got students' email addresses : intend to send them jokes and short articles to read.
Emailed a couple of jokes to class. Those who received them seemed happy and amused by the jokes. They understand , and they have a sense of humour!
Online quiz on learning styles : VARK learning styles questionnaire. Students asked to try it on Monday, print out results and notes on suggestions to improve learning, and share with class on Wed.
Learning Styles: judging by the low scores, students may have problems ! Not all printed out their results. Claimed to have problems with internet and printer.
Students asked to complete some written exercises to be handed in , but suspiciously, no one handed in anything!
Students got into groups of 3 for blog project. Offered the following topics for blogs:
- Heroes of the modern world
- Women in history who made a difference ( eg Florence Nightingale, Rosa Parks)
- Inventions that changed the world
- Best cities in the world to live in
- Best education systems in the world
- Eating disorders
- Learning disabilities ( Dyslexia)
Notes on Project:
Prepared questionnaire for student profile to be given out to students in Wk 4.
Need to prepare a format for students to record response to their experience of learning.
My personal goals for this project
I've always believed in teaching people to fish instead of throwing fish into their mouths. I believe strongly in training students in learning to learn skills, and to inculcate in them a spirit of independence and curiosity so that they'd want to learn more, and they'd be able to learn on their own.
My personal goals for getting involved in this project with Imran, Fiz and Fei are:
1. to try out different ways of teaching learning to learn (l2l) skills
2. to document my journey
3. to document students' responses along the way
4. to train these 6 students into strong, confident, independent learners sufficiently equipped to become lifelong learners.
I can only guide them. It's their choice to continue the adventure of learning once I'm no longer their teacher.
My personal goals for getting involved in this project with Imran, Fiz and Fei are:
1. to try out different ways of teaching learning to learn (l2l) skills
2. to document my journey
3. to document students' responses along the way
4. to train these 6 students into strong, confident, independent learners sufficiently equipped to become lifelong learners.
I can only guide them. It's their choice to continue the adventure of learning once I'm no longer their teacher.
Getting started on the research project
We're into the 3nd week of the new semester ( when Dr Imran Ho Abdullah, the Deputy Dean for Undergraduate Programmes, calls the 3 of us ( Fiz, Fei and me) for a meeting. Fiz is the coordinator for SKPD1033, Fei and I teach on the course and we both happen to have one class each that's considered small (5 to 6 students). Imran wants us to participate in a research study that he's already written a proposal for, but sadly, has no team as yet. He wants to get evidence to support his belief that small class size is good for learning. I point out that there are many factors involved, one consistently important one being the teacher, but he says NVM, u can tweak the proposal later, just agree to be on the project , and here, sign, sign !
We hesitate, he urges. We have other commitments. We can't simply agree without sleeping over it. He knows if he lets us leave to sleep over it , he might only see us sign the proposal in his dreams. We laugh at his sales tactic - for a small guy, he sure can bulldoze.
Eventually, the altruistic educator in me sees this as an opportunity to document what I do in my class, and to share it with younger teachers , or to show older ones it's possible to enjoy our work and expand ourselves no matter how many years we've been at it.
So I sign. And so do Fiz and Fei.
We hesitate, he urges. We have other commitments. We can't simply agree without sleeping over it. He knows if he lets us leave to sleep over it , he might only see us sign the proposal in his dreams. We laugh at his sales tactic - for a small guy, he sure can bulldoze.
Eventually, the altruistic educator in me sees this as an opportunity to document what I do in my class, and to share it with younger teachers , or to show older ones it's possible to enjoy our work and expand ourselves no matter how many years we've been at it.
So I sign. And so do Fiz and Fei.
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