7-9 Oktober 2011
Park Royal Penang Resort, Batu Ferringhi
Pulau Pinang
TNC HEA&A's Speech
Majlis Perasmian oleh YBhg Prof Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal
Every teacher teaches differently. Some lecturers come to class and write continuously on the transparency (rolled type) and talk/explains without looking at the students. Some come to class and sit on the front desk and start talking, telling stories and asking questions; there are no notes, slides, etc. Some come to class and immediately write questions on the blackboard and the students must work on the problems he wrote on the board.
No senior lecturer will strictly follow a "How to Teach Guide", including Student-Centred Learning (SCL).
Whatever students complain against lecturers to the Dean, the Dean can take action and talk to the lecturers concerned. There will always be a small number of lecturers who are strict and students fail their class, every year.
Lecturers do expect students to be able to do their own reading and be prepared for class but do students know this?
Vietnamese are noted for their mathematical skills. Malaysians can learn from their Vietnamese counterparts.
Just to add my notes:
French make good mathematicians. The French language is fast, simple with short syllables and makes thinking and speaking fast. Thus French and French speakers tend to be good mathematicians. Vietnamese are French-speaking people. So like their conquerors, they make good mathematicians. However, French aerospace engineering has suffered a lot despite French being good mathematicians. Remember the last of the Concords? Is any flying around today? Concord is French? What happened to Concord? Its pointed nose fell off at take off?
Anyway, respect is still due to all lecturers/professors regardless of their teaching styles. No one particular style will fit everyone.
Do not blame yourself for poor learning. It is just that you did not make full use of your time, effort and capabilities while still within the university system. You still have time to learn. Learning is lifelong.
Technology evolves and so do teaching and learning styles. Nothing remains the same. Some do eventually become obsolete.
Not being techno-savvy should not mean lecturers/professors from the older generation are no good or useless. Quite the contrary occurs in the real world. Lecturer/professors from the older generation have the resources and means (i.e., $) for purchasing technological products/gadgets. So they will tend to be techno-savvy than the younger generation. Of course the younger generation like and want some technological gadgets and they go all out to purchase their dream machines. However, the younger generation have a limited cash supply or reserve and can sometimes only make one such purchase. So in the long run, the younger generation often jump in to purchase what they perceive as a necessary gadget and purchase it right away - it will be their first and also last purchase as they do not have a large cash reserve to make another purchase anymore.
Do not be deceived by young people showing off their new techno gadgets - that's all they have anyway. Instead, go to the older generation who more often than not, have more cash reserve than they will ever need for their remaining life on earth and can afford to waste $ on techno gadgets that they actually do not need. Tell me, which scraggly old man needs a brightly coloured smartphone that says repeatedly, "It's me honey!" and flashes an image of his fatally beautiful dream woman every time a call comes in and the phone rings? Old as he may be, he is in twilight zone with his right foot in the dark zone - i.e., at the end of his phase in life on earth. What is there to look forward to when one is at the brim of death? Don't tell me that smartphones get buried with their owners?! The world must crazy if that holds true!
Prof Faridah
1 comments:
Nice post Prof!
Karim
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