Post MCO and the first ever getaway that my hubby and I had was to drive to KL during the weekend. As we were staying at Residensi UTMKL, we met up with my brother for a dinner at KLCC, then a quick stop to browse the books at Kinokuniya. Too bad it was near to closing hour, so I planned for a second trip the next day.
Dinner at Two Sons, KLCC
Friday morning, hubby dropped me at KLCC on his way to a meeting, and so I spent the entire morning until afternoon at Kinokuniya, browsing all those lovely books. The sections that I always loved most are the psychology section and the references section. As usual, purchased a few copies too….
My happy place to be….Die, die, must buy…I discovered this section of books on cats…. purchased “The Travelling Cat Chronicles” and “The Guest Cat”. They were originally in Japanese and translated into English.Wish I can stay here forever….The references sections, one filled with research methods books. Bought myself the latest edition of “Research Methodology” by Kumar, and also the latest edition of “Educational Research” by Creswell and Guetterman.The latest edition by Creswell and Guetterman (2021)We had lunch at the cafe, before returning to the hotel
Yesterday I had the opportunity to deliver a short talk during our morning gathering at the Office of the Vice Chancellor. It was a little bit impromptu, and I’m in a middle of doing some readings on the latest literature on COVID-19 and its impact on psychological well-being. And so I chose to share with my office mates some of my thoughts based on the readings.
Firstly, I highlighted some of the insights I gained after going through my students’ reflections on their learning experiences during the MCO. The majority of them expressed their worries and were anxious especially when face-to-face classes were cancelled and were replaced by fully online learning. Their concerns have now become my personal concern, I told my officemates, who are mostly the non-academic staff.
Among the attendees were Datuk VC, Pro-VC (Strategy), Deputy Registrar of VC’s Office and the rest my colleagues at the Office.
I then shared the findings of an article I just finished reading entitled “The psychological impact of COVID-19 on the mental health in the general population” by Serafini et al. (2020). Among the points highlighted are the main psychological reactions in the general population which include pervasive anxiety, frustration, boredom and loneliness. One of the risk factors as being mentioned in the article is “alexithymia” which literally defined as ‘no words for mood’ (p.4).
We then discussed the importance of acknowledging those who had been deeply affected by the pandemic; it could be among our family members or our colleagus. Lucky for UTM because the university’s Counselling Centre apparently offers the assistance to all staff the emotional support needed in order to face the challenge posed by COVID-19.
My home library was basically a shipwreck for quite some time. It so happened I came across an online article on Psychology Today entitled “6 Benefits of an Uncluttered Space” and I decided to give it a go.
Took me around two weeks to finally completed the project. I believe there is some truths when the article suggested that “cleaning and organising reduce anxiety”; seems that spring cleaning during MCO in a way helped me to practice mindfulness…
The online meeting for MPPU 1024 (Section 02) this week combined two topics which include qualitative data collection and analysis.
The first topic of discussion
Since the topics were combined, they might be a bit overwhelming for some students. Hence, students were asked to post their questions on e-learning forum for any clarification on the topics.
The second Webex meeting for MPPU 1204 (Section 02) was conducted yesterday. For this session, I proceed with the topic of “Formulating Research Problems in Qualitative Inquiry”.
Topic of the day
Sub-topics included the definitions of qualitative research and the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. I also demonstrated to students on the stages involved in developing research problem, problem statement, research objectives and research questions.
Students were demonstrated the steps in developing research problem
