3rd Reflection

Hi there! Yaa,. It's me again. Are you wating to read my blog post? Are you excited?! Because I am! Hurrayyy!! Let's get started shall we? 

To start off, I couldn't manage to attend class on Wednesday, 8th March because I went back to my hometown due to famliy issues. I din't know that our lecturer will postponed our usual class which is on Tuesday to the next day due to some unavoidable reasons. I wouldn't have skipped class but unfortunately I have to go back. 

Although I missed class, I still keep up with class by asking my friends what have they learnt that day. I believe that there are no excuses for not keeping up with class saying "I don't know because I din't attend class when the topic was taught". When there's a will, there's a way. Thus, I came to know that they discussed about the article on "NAVIGATING THE BUMPY ROAD TO STUDENT­CENTERED INSTRUCTION". It's about the 8 steps students might face in Student Centred Learning and also on 11 problems teacher face with Student Centred Approach. From the additional information our lecturer shared in our student portal, she also mentioned that she shared on the philosophy and the purpose behind the KSSM curriculum, and what are the type of students the curriculum intended to produce. 

From the additional post, I learnt a new word which is COMPUTATIONAL THINKING. What is computational thinking? It is a problem solving approach using knowledge we know on computation regardless of subject and age group. A clear example is imagine you're a journalist and you want to know what people think about election. 

Option 1: Ask people around street, house by house doing Q&A session with people. 

Option 2: Use a computer programme that can analyse social media posts from thousands of websites in just few seconds. 

People who use computational thinking will definitely pick Option 2! This a good example to illustrate the benefit of approching a problem computationally.

Here's the task for the week: 

Based on the article read, suggest 2 methods to solve any 4 selected issues from the 11 issues faced by teachers when using Student Centred Approach listed in the article.

Issue 1: Losing Control in Class

Solution 1: Do not worry! You are the facilitator and guide!

You have to look at it differently. You are definitely still in control of the class because you are the one who initiate and lead any class activity. You still have to direct and take full charge of the class in order to ensure the class runs smoothly.

Solution 2: Ensure that students are doing the task.

Check on the students from time to time in class to ensure students are participating in class. Guide and correct them if you find there are mistakes.

Issue 2: Students Don't Read Assigned Readings and For Those Who Do Seem Unable to

Understand the Material Independently

Solution 1: Remind Students that You'll Do A Q&A session in the Next Class

Each time when you want to assign students to do early reading before entering class, remind them that there will be Q&A session in the begining of the class to ensure that they read. 

Solution 2: Discuss the Article in Class 

Detail discussion in class should be held in class after assigining students with the reading to ensure that all students are able to understand what they are reading. This is also to give a clearer and better understanding to students who does not understand the article even after reading it. Discussion in class also helps in making sure that the students truly understand what they have read and to correct them if they did misunderstand any concept.

Issue 3:  "Hitchhike" when Assign Homework, Presentation, or Projects to Groups

This is a normal case even I myself as a student often face it too. Hitchhike is a person who is getting credit for work in which they did not actively participate. 

Solution 1: Randomly pick any members to ask questions

During Q&A presentation, pick any student from the group and asked them questions according to the assignment given. This is to ensure that all of them did the assignment together. If he/she can't answer the question, ask the group members to double check.

Solution 2: Let the Students to Grade Each Group Members

Allocate 5% of the assignment grading for each students to evaluvate each members. This is because they are able to give marks that each student deserve for each of them because they know who is putting effort in the completing the assignment. This is also to ensure that each student participate equally because they know their groupmates will evaluvate them.

Issue 4: Many of the Cooperative Teams in Class are Not Working-Well- Assignments are Superficial and Incomplete

Solution 1: Carry Out More Group Activities in Class

Activities like small group presentation, group discussions and should be done in class to make the students have self-belonging to thier team and make them feel more comfortable together as a group. This is also to create a coopertative learning and to make each student used to doing things in a group.

Solution 2: Autonomy in Choosing Group Members

Give students freedom the choose their group members of their own choice. Do not pick and place students in groups according to your preference because they will feel uncomfortable with other people. Allowing students to exercise some control over their own learning will empower them, and that can be extremely motivating, appealing and inspiring for students. As long as assignment or assessment aligns with the lesson objectives and lesson outcome, giving students autonomy to choose can be a win-win for both teacher and student.

"Every Problems Have It's Own Solution"

again, "When there's a will, there's a way"

Signing off,