Teaching Portfolio

My Teaching Portfolio (2019)

About Me: I am currently working as a Language Teacher (DG44) at Language Academy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). I began my teaching career in UTM in 2012 I teach 5 – 6 sections of English courses (an average of 170 students per semester) for the undergraduate students in UTM. I teach English for Academic Communication, Advanced English for Academic Communication, English for Workplace Communication, Effective Oral Communication and English for Professional Purposes.


  1. Statement of Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy of teaching is that all students are unique and must have an invigorating learning environment where they can grow physically, mentally, and socially and become independent learners.  It is my desire to create this type of atmosphere where students can meet their full potential. I have a very firm belief in learning autonomy. In my opinion, it is important for teachers to let the students learn on their own with teachers as facilitators. This however does not mean that teachers should leave everything to the students. Teachers still need to be apt with relevant information because students deserve the best quality of education. Thus, before I enter each class, I always make sure that I have done my own research on the topic to be discussed and come out with problem-based tasks for the students. In addition, I always make sure that students are learning in a student-centered teaching approach. Learning process in classroom should provide students with numerous learning opportunities. Among the ways I found to be effective to get the students’ attention are by the use of technology and providing immediate feedback to their works. Technology is already part and parcel of a student’s life nowadays and immediate feedback motivate the students to learn and navigate the most suitable learning style for them.


  1. Statement of Teaching Responsibility

I am currently appointed as an English language teacher at Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. I began my teaching career in 2012 as a contract worker before I was offered a permanent position in 2014.

I teach four to six sections of English courses (an average of 150 students per semester). I have taught English for Academic Communication, Advanced English for Academic Communication, English for Workplace Communication and Effective Oral Communication for the main stream students in UTM. During short semesters, I also teach these subjects to students who are doing their degree part time.

Apart from teaching the subjects mentioned, I also teach Language Enhancement and Advancement Program. This particular class caters students who obtained Band 1 until 3 for their MUET examination. The nature of the class is more communication rather than lecture where I need to gage students in terms of their confidence and comfortability in using English language via various fun activities.

 


  1. Description of Course Outline and Materials

The following details are the synopsis of the courses that I’ve taught.

ULAB1122: This course exposes students to essential academic skills through read-to-write approach. It focuses on developing students’ ability to read texts and develop their receptive and productive skills through student-centered activities. This includes reading academic texts, making notes, writing clearly and coherently, and participating in discussions. Grammar enhancement activities are also incorporated in all skills. At the end of this course, students should be able to apply acquired skills in their academic activities.

UHLB 1112: This English course is designed to reinforce and enhance students’ existing English Language skills to enable them to communicate better in their current surrounding. Through guided and independent learning activities, students will develop their skills in reading, listening, writing as well as speaking. At the end of the course, students should be able to distinguish relevant information in factual texts on topics of interest. Students should also acquire the ability to compose texts on familiar topics. Additionally, this course will provide students with opportunities to enhance their listening and speaking skills and be able to identify the main points of speech given on frequently encountered matters as well as articulate their views on matters of interest.

ULAB2122: This course reinforces and enhances all four key language skills to facilitate students’ language use in academic context. This includes reading and synthesizing information, listening for main ideas and details (e.g. lectures), taking notes, writing clearly and coherently, and participating in oral presentation and class discussions. The course incorporates features of vocabulary and grammar of academic English. In addition, the course fosters independent learning activities facilitated by online resources. At the end of the course students should be able to integrate skills and knowledge to perform tasks in academic contexts.

ULAB3162: The course prepares students with the skills of effective communication that are necessary in order for them to be able to function effectively in workplace situations. at the beginning of the courses, students are required to do enculturation tasks in order to discover their potential and possible expectations of the prospective workplace environment. through active learning, it emphasizes oral and written communication skills that are practised in workplace situation. using authentic workplace scenarios, students will be given opportunities to negotiate and present information through group discussions and presentations. by the end of the course, students should be able to function as individuals and team members using appropriate communication skills at workplace.

LEAP: This subject prepares students with Basic English for communication skills to be used in daily conversation. The lessons for this subject include four language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. The objectives of this programme are to enrich learners’ vocabulary and common language expression as well as enhance learner’s confidence of using English language. The programme will be conducted through engaging learning activities, tailored to increase the students’ interest and confidence in utilizing and learning English language. Lecturers are free to choose suitable methods to teach the students plus few compulsory project based tasks. At the end of the semester, students will be awarded with a certificate of participation.


  1. Efforts to Improve Teaching

Having taught certain subjects for a few years already, I learned new things and ways to improve my teaching skill. The improvement I have made so far was mostly on subject content and teaching style. At the beginning of my teaching career, I strictly followed the syllabus of the subject. However, I finally realized that it was okay to include some interesting element in my teaching by having language games. I believe that students too need a break from studying language formally. I was very happy that the effort I put in coming up with language games was very well-received by the students.

Teacher of the day (TOTD)

As a new programme offered under Language Academy, UHLB 1112 is designed for students who obtained MUET of Band 1 until Band 3. The objective of the class is to enhance students’ existing English Language skills to enable them to communicate better in their current surrounding. At the beginning of the semester, I would ask them how do they about having to speak and use English and mostly would say that they feel nervous (HERE) so I need to strategize a way to make them feel less agitated being in front. By adapting collaborative learning, I came up with TOTD, a fancy name similar to OOTD (means: outfit of the day) which is notorious on social media platforms. It is a simple problem-based activity where students would form small groups before they select a chapter in the textbook. I would give them a simple lesson plan for them to brainstorm their teaching session. They would be given an ample amount of time to brainstorm and prepare with me supervising them. I also encourage students to think out of the box in planning and convince them not to worry of going the extra mile. Implementing games in their teaching session is also encouraged.

What I can reflect from observing their TOTD session is that, students are more comfortable being in front teaching rather than just presenting (which sometimes can be seen as just blindly reading from the slideshow) and most of them can navigate their TOTD with minimal dependence on cue cards, Additionally, the interaction between presenter-audience is better and they are not worried in making mistakes as they know that I am present to facilitate and help them out. I believe that when teachers empower their students, it helps build their self-confidence. After all, it’s all about encouraging them to feel comfortable in using the language. Some snippets of TOTD sessions HERE and HERE.

I also believe that it is important for me to know the latest technique, courseware or applications in teaching language. Every semester, without fail, I will maximize the use of e-learning in my classes. I went to several workshops to gain knowledge on Web 2.0. Through these workshops, I was able to do things and monitor my e-learning sites effectively.  This is also important because teachers need to be updated with new technologies and applications as it can help us in our teaching and our interaction with the students. Additionally, I also maximize other online platforms such as Padlet and Kahoot as my teaching tools.


  1. Evaluation of Teaching and Feedback

Below is the summary of the teaching evaluation of the courses that I taught in 2019. Generally, I have achieved Level 4 and 5 of blended learning status for all the courses that I taught. The achievement can be seen in the figure below. The data are taken from TES.

Having your students to score really well in your class shows how effective and interesting your lecture are. In my opinion, another way to evaluate teaching is through the students’ comments. I always look forward to reading the feedback and comments from my students at the end each semester. I strongly believe that by reading these feedbacks, I would know my strengths and weaknesses and what I should do to enhance my teaching skills. Below are some the e-PPP scores for subjects that I have taught for the past few years:

Table 5.1: e-PPP Scores

YEAR SEMESTER SUBJECT UNIVERSITY SCORE MY SCORE
2018 Semester 1,

20182019

ULAB1122 (05)

ULAB2122 (12)

ULAB3162 (05)

ULAB3162 (27)

4.53

4.53

4.53

4.53

4.38

4.54

4.56

4.65

 

 

2017

Semester 2,

20172018

ULAB1122 (44)

ULAB1122 (31)

ULAB2122 (06)

ULAB2122 (30)

4.53

4.53

4.53

4.53

4.86

4.64

4.61

4.66

  Semester 1,   20172018 ULAB1122 (01)

ULAB1122 (39)

ULAB2122 (07)

ULAB3162 (06)

4.50

4.50

4.50

4.50

4.46

4.55

4.66

4.59

 

 

2016

  Semester 2,  20162017 ULAB1122 (09)

ULAB1122 (01)

ULAB3162 (22)

4.50

4.48

4.50

4.48

4.50

4.58

Semester 1,

20162017

ULAB1122 (14)

ULAB2122 (01)

ULAB2122 (11)

ULAB3162 (10)

4.48

4.48

4.48

4.48

4.46

4.50

4.28

4.82

 

 

2015

Semester 2,

20152016

 

ULAB1112 (10)

ULAB2122 (03)

ULAB2122 (39)

ULAB1122 (33)

4.52

4.52

4.52

4.52

4.56

4.37

4.70

4.46

Semester 1,

20152016

ULAB1122 (43)

ULAB1122 (04)

4.49

4.49

 

4.43

4.30

 


  1. Product of Teaching (Evidence of Student Learning)

My product of teaching is definitely the students graduating from their respective courses in UTM. English is a service subject; hence, my students are both from the engineering and non-engineering fields of study. I aim to help UTM to produce graduates who are not only excellent in academics but also excellent as human beings.  Among the comments that I have received from my former students from e-PPP were:

Table 6.1 Comments from Students

 

SUBJECT/

SEMESTER

COMMENTS
Semester 1,

20182019

ü  A very interesting class with a good lecturer. Had fun.

ü  great teacher

ü  Good and understand well in this class

ü  Among all the english subjects that i had in UTM, this is the best so far. The lecturer is very nice and student-friendly and I somehow able to implement what Ive learnt in class.

ü  Very Good^^

ü  good teaching of english writing

ü  even though our class is all boy. she manage to control it.have good communication with student. include team working and leadership skill in learning .

ü  have nice and creative style of teaching

ü  teacher is so nice to us i love her

 

Reflection on TOTD specifically:

 

ü  Class is conveyed in a creative way and it is very interesting

ü  This is the first time I get to see a presentation with a games, and its totally exciting! It makes everyone enjoyed the class rather than the usual lectures. Keep it up!

ü  This activity should be continued

ü  This is a good activity that should be continued.

ü  Awesome + amazing = awsmazing

ü  This kind of activity is really a good way for students going through their learning process especially when it comes the game session

ü  Keep it up dr. Your ways and methods are the best ❤️ May ALLAH reward you with Jannah🌹

ü  Miss Wanie class is so enjoyable and the way she teach english makes me love english more.

ü  This activity helping my confidence to speak english in public

ü  Please put questions with idioms and students will guess the meaning

ü  I hope that there is more such presentations in future as i really enjoyed doing presentation in groups in front of the class.

ü  For me to the activity is quite good. It helps students to improve their english.

ü  I love the part of games for each groups. I think it should be continued for next student.

ü  Topics of presentation is not only from textbook

ü  I feel that this is a good way to engage students in active learning and allow teacher to evaluate student’s performance through presentation. In order to teach someone, we have to learn and understand the topic so that our message can get through their head. This activity can be improved through better internet connection to aid students in times when they need to surf the internet for education purposes.

ü  My opinion is activity like presentation in classes can help improve student self-confidence and sharpen their ability to speak in english.I hope many presentation activity could be done in the next classes

ü  Teacher of the day helps us to know the responsibility of teaching and also enjoy the class

ü  The games done and they way this activity was presented was amazing and i learned alot…most of the things such as games i didnt knew before and it gave me ideas on how a good teaching could be conducted and definitely will try it with my friends and family members especially with the kids.. Everyone should keep up with the team work and always be confident in teaching and helping others😊..Thank You

ü

 

 

Semester 2,

20172018

ü  I love the way my lecturer teaches me ! 🙂

ü  The Teachers of the Day(TOTD) Session was quite interesting as students got to be teachers for a day! Overall she was an amazing lecturer.

ü  the pereparation for teaching is ver good.

ü  Dr wani awesome! . My suggestion towards this course is implement extra time between lecturer and student for term paper.

ü  good experience learning english with this lecturer

ü  i love this subject! you are so good miss. everything is distributed well throughout this semester even though we have always cutii. hehe. thank you so much miss for everything. you really passionate in teaching us. i love the way you teach us. 🙂

ü  Good in teaching

  Semester 1,   20172018 ü  Very friendly and helpful lecturer!

ü  Interesting lectures by Ms Wani. Have fun in class. Conducting the lectures in a more creative way.

ü  The lecturer is well prepared of her teaching. Most of the learning outcomes succesfully achieved. The lecturer mostly will encourage us to participate in a class like debating, group discussion and group presentation. These kind of activities will develop our soft skills which will be use to apply jobs. So overall, her teaching are quit impressive.

ü  Interesting lectures, able to utilize technology advantage in teaching, keep up the good work

ü  Very well-prepared. Always remind the class to carry out tasks given. Conduct very fun games that enhance understanding in specific topics

ü  very helpful and willingly to give ideas for us to make a good term paper.

 

  Semester 2,  20162017 ü  very good and kind. got a lot of information from her lecture

ü  Interesting Lecture

ü  i like your teaching style and i learn a lot of new knowledge to improve my English and also my speaking skill.. thank you miss wanie.. i will miss yo

ü  Good lecturer.

ü  Thanks miss wani for the whole semester

ü  Mdm is very kind and good in teaching.

Semester 1,

20162017

ü  KEEP ON YOUR GOOD WORK

ü  Two ways communication must occur in class

ü  I never fall in love with this English subject, until i met this lecturer as she is doing good in teaching her students to improve their English

ü  good to have class with you

ü  Many thanks to you madam! 🙂

ü  very good

ü  good lectures, comments and discussions are very informative

ü  Very systematic and very well organized

ü  THANK YOU MISS WANIE!

ü  Very kind and helpful. things are discussed before we start doing, so that we have a clear direction.

ü  Best English class in this semester. I like the teacher very much as she always make the class lively.

Semester 2,

20152016

 

ü  excellent. student easily understand the scope of learning.

ü  pengajaran yang bagus

ü  Cemerlang

ü  keep lecturing and always help students to get more knowledge and understanding about the subject.

ü  memahami pelajar

ü  Committed and caring

Semester 1,

20152016

ü  terima kasih di atas ilmu yang diberikan.

ü  The best and coolest English lecturer in UTM ! Well Done, Miss Hazwani!!

ü  Miss Hazwani is very friendly and always manages to deliver her content well.

ü  Sporting lecturer. Had a lot of fun in her class.