Category: Random rambling

Rate my professors_Part 1

I know that in the US, they also have similar practice like eppp, but unlike eppp which is internally controlled i.e. by UTM, there are some which are not controlled by any institution.   They have different websites which are independent from any institution such as RateMyProfessor, MyEdu.com and UniYu.  But, I have been wondering the effects of such evaluation on many aspects such as improvement of learning experience for future students.  

I have experienced getting not-so-good comments from students because I am strict and assertive.  For example, there are times when I would no longer accept any draft that students send for feedback/comments after certain deadline.  But some students perceive this as tyrannical.  It is as if I am not giving them ample chance to improve their work.  Well, if they send their draft on week 14, a week before their final exam on week 15, when do you think they will submit the “real” assignment?  Week 16?  It will be too late for me to finalise their marks.   Don’t they get it?  I also work based on deadlines.  It is not that I set the deadline based on my whims and fancies.  

Normally, those students who give bad rating and evaluations are not-so-serious students.  Serious studious students would appreciate having instructors who are willing to guide them within certain time frames because they have discipline and able to regulate their learning process.  Students who don’t belong to this category like easy things or prefer if you don’t give “challenging” assignments. 

What a heck!  They are not kindergartners nor school kids.  They are university students who should be mentally prepared to face the challenges of the world and life in general.  We don’t need softies strawberry cotton candy individuals who cannot withstand any challenge or problems.  We have lots of problems and challenges to face and we need to have endurance to withstand anything that might come in our life.  

So, what should we do with the evaluations that students give?  Well, I found an article which explains in detailed how we should use whatever comments that students give with “wisdom”.  There are also research on this.   That’s I will explain in the next post.

 

 

 

Is this a scam?

I got this email from a student claiming as my supervisee.  I never heard his name and I have never received an appointment letter which states him as my student.  Should I reply?  I have been thinking about it for about a day.  Nay.  I will not reply.  It sounds dubious.  A kind of cheesy asking me to pray for his financial clearance.  That’s a red flag.  Overly affectionate towards someone that you don’t know.  Is this a love scam?  There are so many types of scam nowadays.  From Macau to Love scam, I should be more vigilant and be extra careful.  

Rain or shine

It is a few days before Eid.  I haven’t made any Eid preparation yet.  No shopping.  No spring clean.  Nothing.  Well, I did wash the curtains and whatsnot few weeks ago at the self-laundry mart.   I did bake Brownie cookies.  This reminds me of the time when I was in Durham.  

I would still go to school even though it was Eid.  There was no break for me.  I went to school and then went to pray Eid prayer.   

The faculty seems extraordinarily quiet today.  I saw Prof Hamdan on his way to pray Zuhr.  I saw Dr Sarimah’s car on the parking lot and few others cars.  

It is raining quite heavily.  I plan to go back after Zuhr.  I guess, I have to wait for a while.   I am so spoiled in this case.  When I was in Durham, I would go to the school even though it was snowing.  At one time, I even saw a boat was stuck in a middle of the river due to the snow.  I didn’t take any chance to walk on the snow-covered river because I know the ice was thin.  It was not worth the risk to get wet and hypothermia. 

Alhamdulillah, now I don’t have to walk in cold winter days to reach my faculty.  So, a mere drizzle shouldn’t faze me, don’t you think so?  😀

BBQ chicken wings

This is one of my famous signature dishes when I was in Durham.   The ingredients are simple yet now it is difficult to find some of it in Malaysia.  So, I don’t make any now.   Well, I can easily go to Nando’s or Kenny Roger’s or Pizza Hut to eat this.  I don’t have to prepare it myself.   

The recipe?  I need to find my cook book where I wrote all the recipes of the dishes that I cooked in Durham.  Once upon a time ago.  Indeed.  

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!

At the point of writing this post, I am preparing my OBE report.  Alhamdulillah.  One course is finished.  Another two more to go.   In sha Allah I will try to finish everything before Eid.  

When I look at the students performance (i.e. marks), I could not help from wondering, do they study smart before the exam because apparently, some of them are not able to get good marks.  I know that I cannot assume their understanding based on the marks alone but it seems that some of them are not brave enough to challenge themselves to do better.  Perhaps I am wrong in this matter.  I have been wondering if it has something to do with reading (how much they read to make themselves understand certain concepts).

Language of depression

A friend of mine posted this on her FB.  An article about depression.  More often than not, people who are depressed show many signs such as the way they use certain words (i.e. language).  They speak “the language of depression”.  To untrained eyes, such things can go unnoticed.  

The two aspects that worth to be noted are content and style.  Content consists of emotion expressions, use of pronoun, rumination and social state (i.e. in the case of depression, social isolation).  Style relates to how one express oneself.  It relates to the former aspect, content.  For example, the use of absolutist words (e.g. never, always, nothing, absolutely etc.) might indicate how a person views certain situation.  A sentence like “There is nothing that I do matters” indicates how a person is using self-handicapping note in the language with reference to oneself (i.e. the use of the word “I”).  

So, please be aware of our own language or others to detect any sign of depression.  Indeed.  Mind your (and our) language, please!

Concept maps_Part 1

One of the juniors asked me if giving students a concept map assignment is appropriate to measure cognitive skills (the code C6 – creating level).  I asked him back what makes him think otherwise because to produce a concept map is not easy.  It is not simply cut-copy-paste thingy (unless one copies other’s concept map).  To produce one as your own, you need to have a good understanding about a concept and how it relates to other sub-concepts.  It is not easy to produce a good and meaningful concept-map.  I guess, this junior rarely uses concept maps to be articulated and reflective.  Apparently from his question, it does resonate with that parts that he seems to be lacking of.  

While doing my PhD, I did many concept maps like this.  But, I find it difficult to draw a concept map in a white A4 paper.  So, I changed the medium.  I wrote on brown paper napkins that I could find inside any toilet in my school and it is FOC.  It did help me to stay focused on what I want to write and organise my thoughts.  In fact, a concept map is one of the ways that self-regulated learners will use to be reflective in a pictorial form.  There are research about this.   

So, when I crafted the assignments that I want to assign to my students taking SPPP1012 Educational Psychology, I want to them to be reflective.  Being reflective demands a person to have a certain routine and habit.  In this case, to produce a concept map for every topic learned also means helping students to develop a routine which I hope will turn into a habit.  2 in 1 thingy.  Students will learn how to produce concept maps and hopefully they could teach it to others.  Secondly, students might also develop good habits to summarise their thoughts in different forms i.e. pictorial format.  

What a heck!  As a teacher later on, the students will have to teach their secondary students how to illustrate points using I-think note (I-think note is a form of concept map).  How can they teach the students if they never had any experience to draw concept map before?   As an instructor, I ask the students to submit the concept map on regular basis because I would have a look at their concept maps and give my feedback so that their concept maps would be useful and more meaningful.  This is an example that I “show” real example to my students so that when they become teachers, they would make it as part of their habits to give feedback to students.  

For more information about I-think, check it out on KPM website.

Salivary duct stone

The year was 2010.  It was February.  I felt really stressful at this moment to finalise my PhD thesis.  Due to that, I didn’t take care of myself really well.  What happened then?  

I started to have a bit of swelling on my right cheek.  I had that for a week or two.  I didn’t think too much about it.  Then, on one morning, I started to feel a painful throbbing.  When I looked myself in the mirror, my right cheek was swollen.   I started to feel something hard on the inside of my right cheek using my tongue.   I didn’t know what the thing is.  I brave myself to endure the late winter chill to go to school to edit some of my work.  

I googled the symptoms and I came across this term “Salivary Duct Stone”.  I know what causes it.  It was my fault of not drinking enough water.  I neglected my health.  It was not a time for me to panic.  So, I googled more information on how to get rid of the stone naturally.  Going to the doctor was the last thing on my mind.   I tried several ways to flush the stone out naturally.  I did it!  My salivary duct was a little bit infected because there was yellowish /reddish puss coming out with the stone.  The puss didn’t stop for a while.  Once it stopped, there was a hole inside my cheek and my cheek was still swelling and the throbbing still persisted.  This was when things became unbearable.  

So, I went to the nearby clinic.  The doctor gave me a referral letter and asked me to go to Sunderland Hospital which would take me around 1 hour journey from Durham.  I called K Ila and she sent me to the hospital.  I packed some clothes just in case I have to be warded even though that would be the last thing that I want.  Alhamdulillah, it was just a salivary duct stone.   I showed the doctor the stone and he told me the stone was out and he couldn’t see any stone left.  With that, he gave me a prescription to reduce the swelling and I didn’t need to be warded.  It took me an hour and half to reach home.   

This serves as a lesson for me: I need to drink enough water everyday to keep myself hydrated and avoid of having a stone inside my mouth.  Alhamdulillah, I don’t have any recurrent swelling until now.  

A creative friend of mine

I had a chance once to visit my friend who was studying at Nottingham back in 2010.  We went to Nottingham Castle and whatsnot.  We came across Robin Hood’s statue at the hill of Nottingham Castle.  If I were the photographer, I would not have any idea to give instruction to make this pose. 

But, my friend said “Dij, why don’t you make it this way?  Take a peek under Robin’s shirt”  and then while I was peeking under the shirt, she took this picture.  She is creative indeed.  Now, she holds important position in UTM who in charge of the branding and rebranding of UTM.  Zac, thanks for taking this picture and memorable moment when I was in Nottingham visiting you.  I will treasure it for the rest of my life In sha Allah

UTM Open Day