Category: Random rambling

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together

I was marking the personality psychology paper.  I am sad.  I thought that they could answer well because they were allowed to bring in notes.  Well, apparently, some of them didn’t study well.  It can be seen from their answers.  A copy -paste answer with lack of articulation.  So, I decided to take a break for a few minutes by checking my email.  Sengtat has promised me to submit a part of the first chapter of his thesis.  I have yet to receive any email from him yet.  Sigh. 

As I browse the title and sender of the emails that I received, my eyes caught something.   “Thank you, Dr Hadijah”. 

Jolyn gave me an email to thank me for the best wishes card that I gave them yesterday (the first student who did so).  I never thought and expected any student to thank me.  After all, it is just a card.  

But, I want to make difference in my students’ life (in positive ways).  Like what my mentors have done for me.  For example, Yedullah Kazmi gave me books, pencil and whatsnot.  Every time I read the books that he gave me, I always remember the time when I was his student.  Even though he used to call me SII (stupid, idiot, ignoramus), but I never sulked or felt bad about it.  I consider it as a form of endearment.  What a heck!  It is not easy to be the chosen one to be called as such.   

But, I do believe that we need to invest in relationship.  It is quite easy to invest in it using money, but most difficult one is time and concern (care?).   

I don’t know how far my effort will leave its impact, but I do believe that “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together“

Diberi betis hendak peha (similar proverb in English: Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile)

I have taught this course more than one semester.  It has been more than 5 years in fact.  I am not saying that I am an expert in this subject matter but I know the difficulty of remembering many theories related to personality which belong to different schools of thoughts.  It is not easy.  So, to help the students in this matter, I allow them to bring few pages (A4 size) of notes that they can bring to the exam hall.  

But I never thought that they would exchange their notes among themselves during the exam.  I never anticipate this thing could happen.  This was the first incident that happened in five years (and I hope this would be the last).  This is akin to cheating because you are looking at other people’s notes, rather than on your own.  I was informed by a student who saw this and I double checked it.  When I walked around nearby the conspirators, I noticed that there were notes with different hand-writing on both sides of them.  I knew instantly that what had been reported is true.  Indeed.

I didn’t want to spoil the “mood” so, I just kept it to myself.  But I would definitely not let this thing go without any punishment.  This is a classic example of “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” or in Malay “Diberi betis hendak peha“

Assessment of learning? Assessment for learning? Assessment as learning?: Which is which?

There are several types of assessments: 1) Assessment of learning, 2) Assessment for learning and 3) Assessment as learning

Assessment of learning

This refers to summative assessment.  It could be in a form of final examination or any examination that meant to see to what extent students have understood certain concepts.  

Assessment for learning

This refers to formative assessment.  One of the main purposes of formative assessment is to  see to what extent teachers could improve their teaching and support that they provide to students based on students’ performance.  For example, a quiz that is given to students based on certain topics covered.  Based on the quiz results, teacher would make a decision for improvement of teaching and learning activities in class.  

Assessment as learning

This refers to reflective self-evaluation.  This type of assessment is not meant for grading purposes but it is meant to help students to understand themselves better in terms of what they have learned and how well they have understood the concepts/topics they have learned.  

Can a quiz be formative and reflective self-evaluation at the same time?

For me, it can be when you let the students decide if they want to quiz to be graded or ungraded.  Meaning, they can take any quiz that I give without feeling pressure of being graded and this would be “assessment as learning” – because they take the quiz as a means to help them reflect on their understanding and learning i.e. reflective self-evaluation.  But at the same time, the same quiz can be considered as formative assessment [assessment for learning] if the students want the marks of the quiz to be graded.  

How can we (as teachers) implement all three assessments? 

In my case, what I normally do is, I have a mixture of assessments that I give to my students such as quiz, presentation, report and final exam.  Final exam is an example of summative assessment i.e. assessment of learning.  For quiz, I make it in such a way that there will be graded quizzes (formative assessment or assessment for learning) and there are also ungraded quizzes (assessment as learning).  For the ungraded quizzes , I normally give after we have finished discussing about a topic, for instance.  But for graded quizzes, it comprises of several topics.  So, in this case prior to take any graded quiz, students have self-assessed themselves on any given topic.  Of course, since it is ungraded, I notice that some students don’t take it seriously and thus, will not make any attempt to take the ungraded quiz.  I have seen it in the recent courses that I taught this semester (Semester 2, 2018/2019). 

What should I do then? 

Well, I give soft reminder several times but in the end of the day, I have to respect the students’ decision.  If they think it is the best for them to skip any ungraded quizzes, it is their right.  I have no right to force them in their learning.  After all, as adult learners, they should be responsible towards their learning.  They are not secondary school students.  The major difference between secondary school students and university students is for secondary school students, they need extra guidance when it comes to helping them in decision making.  University students?  What a heck!  They are adults, and they should be responsible and accountable with whatever decision that they make.  Welcome to adulthood!

Thank your for being there for me_Part 2

She took my Research Methodology class.  Then she took my personality psychology and human development classes as well.  She was a “darling” of any supervisor.  She is tenacious, diligent and hardworking.  Never give up easily.

A senior already “assigned” her to be her supervisee but she came to meet the programme coordinator to request of changing supervisor.  Yup.  She wanted me as her supervisor.  This was after the semester of “Minah t test tak tahu” incident.  Apparently, due to that incident, some students were persistent to have me as their supervisor (a reason only known to them until now and Allah.  I don’t ask them “why” they wanted me as their supervisor so, let’s have a good assumption about their intention).

She was well-prepared since the first day we met for supervision.  She remembered what I told her in my research methodology class that as a teacher, it is better if they do an action research to improve their teaching practice.  By conducting research on their teaching practice, they would improve their teaching practice and know how to improve their students’ learning experience as well.  

She was advanced in doing her RS1 and thus, I suggested her to start collecting data for RS2 while completing her RS1.  She did that.  But, on her final semester (the semester she had to complete her RS2 too), she received news about her mom.  Her mom got cancer (I didn’t know the type of cancer) stage 4.  She was crying when she called me to break the news.  I told her to calm down and meet me to discuss how to finish her RS2.  She has to go back to Kuching every weekend to accompany her mom (she is teaching in JB).  

We discussed about new deadlines and tasks to be completed.  She requested me to monitor her progress.  I didn’t want her to push herself too much in this case.  She told me that she needed to finish her masters because it was a promise to her mom.  It was not an easy task to honour her request.  I told her to give our best shots.

She kept me updated with her writing progress and her mom’s condition regularly.  Often than not, she could not be as articulated as before because there were so many things on her mind.  I told her to keep on writing and don’t worry too much about grammar or sentence structure.  I would help her with that.

The period of supervising her was not easy.  It was one of the most challenging times because I was badly affected by the previous incident with “Minah t test tak tahu”.  I was “healing” and time was not on my side.  So, even though it was quite difficult for me to trust my students and to let them to trust me, I just pray that things would turn out well for both of us.

Alhamdulillah, she completed her masters degress with flying colors.  There were times when she wanted to give up but she persisted.  I told her that I would never let her to give up easily.  We were in this together.  

Since graduating, we still keep in touch with each other through Whatsapp.  But, every time I see this picture and the watch (that I still keep in my office), it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that remind me that whatever things that I do matter as a lecturer, teacher, supervisor or mentor.   

P.S: Felicia Sim, thank you for being there for me even though you always think that I help you a lot.  Nope.  I think it is the other way around.

Note: Felicia’s mom passed away couples of days before Teacher’s Day 2018.  When I wished her Happy Teacher’s Day, she broke the news and told me that she was still in Kuching.  She is not married yet but I do hope that she will find her life partner ASAP.

First examination….. after LI

I have 55 students in this section.  TEASLIANs.  They are fun, quick-witted and some of them are serious and studious.  Some are playful but of course, they are among the selected ones to be in this programme.  Since it was conducted in a big examination hall at Rahman Putra College (KRP), I was thinking that perhaps it would be better if I put the best wishes card on their table and thus, it will differentiate my students from other students in different sections.  Attaboy!

When I announced it to the students before they entered the exam hall that my students would get a card on their table, I noticed that some other students were sighing because it is as if I am treating my students favorably as compared to their lecturers.  This is one of the things that I learn when I was at school: Always make your students feel special even though you are assertive (tegas).  Jim Henson (the famous puppeteer and creator of Sesame Street) once said “Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them but they remember what you are”.   On top of that, taking examination could be stressful to some students and one of the things that can decrease stress is to change the emotion into positive one.  When you get something from your lecturer i.e. a card whereas the other students from different sections get nothing, you feel special.  It is important to make others feel good about themselves.

[Note: Of course this makes the other students who belong to different sections feel envious because they don’t get any best wishes card.  I apologise for that.  I don’t know them though because they are not my students even though they are the School of Education, UTM students 😀]

Feeling special makes them feel happy and this indirectly will decrease their stress.  When they got to their seat and looked at the card, I saw that majority of them smile.  They started to loosen up a bit.  Some of them looked at the back of the card, checking if I wrote something else.  Well, to tell the truth, I didn’t have time to write for each and every 55 cards that I would give them.  I just got the cards last Monday (two days before their exam).  

How to make your student feel special at the same time being assertive? This is not an easy task.  But I believe in the small things that you do which matter.  You have to show your concern in various ways.  You can make students feel special in many ways.  Of course, if you give them a card, it means that you need to invest.  But, it is not that costly.  For 300 cards, I just spent less than RM100.  The card is color printed and to make it extra special in which they cannot find it elsewhere or at store, I designed it myself using Canva.

I admit that there are times when I lost control of my emotion in class (when I was doing my LI), but at the end of the day, I want to let the students know that I care about them.  I got mad not because I hate them, but I hate their attitude such as being lazy, or not taking serious thing seriously. 

Alhamdulillah I never blew off my steam with my UG students this semester.  Attaboy!  Because I see unlimited potentials in them regardless what they do in class (even though some of them fell asleep, went out for a while to have a break by eating lunch while I was teaching in class, colored their hair yellow, brunette, purplish shade etc.) .  Of course, I just observed them from afar because I know that as adult learners, they are responsible for their own learning.  I guess I am using the examples that were portrayed by my former mentors when I was in IIUM.   They were relax and cool.  I enjoyed being in and taking their classes even though I knew that they couldn’t teach all the courses that I have to take in order to complete my degree.  

As a teacher/lecturer (you name it, it is just a term but basically what I do is still the same – teaching), you always want the best for your students.  I know that it is not easy to create an ever lasting bond with my students.   But, I hope that they would remember me for who I am and they would remember the warm fuzzy feeling they feel on the day they took my examination due to the card  I gave them.  Perhaps I am the only teacher/lecturer that ever would give them a best wishes card before exam (tongue in cheek remark!).   

P.S: If I teach the same students in another course, I guess I have to give them different things, not card.  A best wishes bookmark, perhaps 😀

Teaching to the test…. NOPE!

A student’s representative messaged me asking me if I have the answers to the last year exam questions.  My reply: “I was not around last year so I don’t know and don’t have the questions and answers.  I was at school.  One whole year“

I vividly remember the class which I took with Joe Denver (nickname that Dr Joharry Othman uses).  One of his class assignments was to research about the examples of teaching to the test practice.  Since knowing the impact of teaching to the test on students i.e. it makes students “good test takers but lousy learners“, I determine to minimise any learning activity that would lead to that.  Of course, sometimes in a good faith you give students learning activities to enhance their understanding but giving too much questions like quizzes, past year exam questions etc. might lead to “teaching to the test” phenomenon.  

I don’t want to be an advocate for this practice in honour of what Dr Joe has taught me.  I would disrespect him if I go against what he has taught me before.  I don’t want to do that to my teachers.  So, I will not give too much questions that students can practice through drill-and-grill method.  NEVER!  In sha Allah

How to make an impact in your students life?

I have had this conversation numerous times with my colleagues (different people) over the years about making difference in other people life especially the students that we taught and teach.  The recent one was last week on Thursday (16 May 2019) 

When I was at school while undergoing my LI, I could see that many former students came to visit their old teachers.  This gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and even though there are some students who came visiting me before after they finished their study but they are few.  At school, I even saw some of the students who came to visit their former teachers brought the latest new addition in their family i.e. children.  I never had that experience before.

I racked my brain to think about what else could I do other than interacting with the students in class.  I started to google few quotes for the posters that I have promised to give to my English panel colleagues (at school).  While I was browsing Canva, I had this idea to give a best wishes card to my students.  But what should I do with the rest of the cards if I only use half of it (because I was thinking to give it to the school kids that I have taught before)?

This gives me an idea to give the card to all my students at university that I teach as well.  I know it is kind of unusual to do this and I had never have any lecturer or had seen any senior who has done that before, but what a heck, there is nothing wrong to give the students a best wishes card.  Let’s start this tradition!

Am I making any impact in my student’s life by giving this card?  Only Allah Knows best. 

My motto: Do the best, pray for the best, leave the rest to Allah and always be thankful with the best things that happen in life even though we might perceive it negatively.  

P.S: I can’t wait to see their reaction seeing this card on top of the table before their exam.

Jack of all trades, master of none

Which is which?  To be a generalist and well-rounded person with versatile and adaptable skills or to be an expert in one specific thing and is really good at it?  It is a conundrum, isn’t it?

But even though it is highly applauded to be versatile and adept at many things yet there are cases and instances when being an expert is better than being a versatile individual.  In what case?  Especially, in a case of dealing with human life.  For example, an expert in engineering cannot claim he/she is an expert in psychological disorders.  To know the differences between one psychological disorder are not easy because there might be similar symptoms of one psychological disorder with another.  For example, layman might use to the term “depression”.  Depression is a symptom of various mood disorders.  Meaning a person who is depressed could be diagnosed as a person with depressive disorders or bipolar disorders or obsessive compulsive disorders (just a few examples).   So, in each different mood disorders, there are many symptoms that might be similar to another psychological disorders such as anxiety disorders.

When a friend approached me to be her supervisor, I asked her about her research interest. When she told me that she wants to do something related to management disaster (which has nothing to do with school or education in specific), I told her that she better searches potential supervisors from School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, not School of Education even though both schools are under the same faculty, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.   She sounded worried because she is hoping that I could be her supervisor.  I told her, as much I wish that I could have her as my supervisee, but I firmly asserted that I am not an expert in management research or human resources.  A simple google of Journal of Management Studies would point out school/faculty of human resources and management or industrial and organisational psychology (I/O psychology).  I would never think that I would do any research and later on publish in such journal.  Never in my dream.  Even though education is still considered as humanities or some considered it as social science, yet it is different from I/O psychology.

In addition, earlier on when she asked me if I can help with the analysis of her project, I was thinking that she has the data already.  When I asked further, apparently she is planning to collect the data and thinking about the instrument/tool to collect the data.  Well, data analysis is still a long way to go because there is no data yet at this point.   Man, this thing could take years to complete.  Indeed.  It is not easy but it is worth the trouble.

While writing this post, I received a message from her (she was in a meeting with the Dean of Faculty of Science, Prof Dr Abdul Rahim about management disaster).  Around 12pm, the meeting ended and I sent her back.  I asked what were the things they discussed if it is not confidential.  Well, because it is confidential, she only said that they were discussing about technical stuff on disaster management.  Some of the things discussed are over her head.  Jokingly I replied “It would be disastrous if I am your supervisor because I am not an expert in disaster management.  Instead of helping you to understand how people management disaster, you will become the disaster yourself“.  LOL 😀

Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take can sometimes be the most painful

Waiting.  I am waiting for my students to submit their assignments, take their second test etc.  I know.  It is my fault for giving them so many chances to improve in a way that I could not give them the finalised marks yet.  I only gave them probational marks.  I don’t make it as carry marks though because they can count for themselves the marks that they get on probational basis.  

Some of the students take this opportunity to improve but some others, they just wait for their final exam to give their very best shots.  

Argh, I hate waiting.  Indeed it resonates with this saying “Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take can sometimes be the most painful” – Jose N Harris from his book MI VIDA: A story of faith, hope and love.

Publish or perish_Part 1

I checked my email today (20 May 2019, Monday). My former student sent me an email letting me know about his paper has been published at a journal.  Alhamdulillah.  To know more, you can go the Jurnal Kemanusiaan

It is about the experiences of teachers using Frog VLE

It is made compulsory for all teachers in Malaysia to use Frog VLE as a part of their teaching practice.  It is similar to UTM elearning but the features are slightly different.  If you are not a teacher, parent or student, you might not be able to use it because your account will be inactive because there will be no interactive activities that you can link to parents and students.

When he first came to see me to discuss about this issue, I was worried because he might find it difficult to find relevant references relating to Frog VLE because it is fairly new thing.  This was few years ago.  But I told him, “Nazry, just go for it.  In sha Allah your study will benefit other researchers who want to explore this issue.“

He is one of the students who would be “the darling” of all supervisors.  He is hardworking, diligent, meticulous and resilient.  There were times when he felt to change the direction of his research.  I told him to stay focused.  “Nazry, it is not easy to get data but you have to be persistent.  Don’t give up,  It is quite a normal phenomenon to meet people who hesitate to be your respondents in your study.  But, you need to highlight their importance in helping others to understand any issue relating to the challenges that they face to use Frog VLE.  Doing a research means that not only you will understand certain issue better but you can help others to understand the issue better especially when you publish your work“.  When I said that, he seemed to be motivated to stay focused because this time around, he has another aim: to publish his work.

I always say the same kind of things to my research students, yet only a handful would like to take the challenge to publish their work.  Some are quite complacent to just finish their work and put their thesis on the shelves for display.