Natasya Aqilah Binti Rosli (MIC180021)

GIG1005 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT 

Reflective Writing 

Natasya Aqilah Binti Rosli (MIC180021) Date: 23/3/2020 

Previous batches of Biomedical Science students held their Social Engagement programmes by mainly focusing on the needy and underprivileged community. This serves as a great opportunity for the students to interact with the community and understand the hardships that they go through. This is an example of one-off programme. Although it brings a lot of benefits, the outcome from these programmes are mainly short-lasting. This year, the Social Engagement programme that is held by the Biomedical Science students is mainly focusing on secondary school students as the target group. Several weeks before the programme is held, I had a high expectation and an excitement towards the programme because it will be different compared to other programmes that were held before. This is because the programme is targeting on a long-term goal which is to pique and develop the interest of the students in learning Science. This goal can be achieved through the activities that we conducted that comprises easy experiments that can be done using household items with explanations regarding the science behind it. Before conducting the real programme, an internal workshop was held for us to know and understand about the flow of the programme and the experiment that will be conducted during the programme. During the internal workshop, everyone was cooperating well with each other and as a result, all students can understand their respective roles during the actual programme. There are several difficulties that we met while planning on the programme such as disagreement between the group members as well as a short and brief preparation to execute the programme. However, we managed to handle the problems effectively with a strong team spirit that we have. On the day of the programme, we had a little problem with the transport that we are taking to go to the school. According to the plan, we will take a Grab car to go to SMK (P) Sri Aman. However, because the programme is conducted on Friday, we were in a hurry to go to the school as we had class to attend before going to the programme. There was a misunderstanding that happened between the group members, but it was quickly resolved due to our quick thinking. The programme was executed excellently with an exception of one or two mistakes that occurred during the programme. The students were giving their cooperation and were listening to us, the facilitators attentively during the introduction part of the programme. Meanwhile, a few students went to the school’s laboratory to set up the items needed for the experiment. Although we only had around 20 to 30 minutes to set up all the equipment, we managed to do so as every group member gave their cooperation and know their own role beforehand. The hands-on activity was a little bit chaotic as the students were full of energy, eager, enthusiastic and got too excited to try and do the experiments by themselves, but everything was still under control. They seemed happy with the results that they obtained from the experiment. After the hands-on activity, we held a small quiz session to test the students’ knowledge and understanding regarding the activities that were done during the programme. During the quiz session, there was a few problems that occurred. For example, there was a few mistakes in typing on the slide prepared for the quiz. There were also a few slides which did not have the correct answer options which led to confusion among the students. Nevertheless, these problems were overcome in a short period of time due to the good problem-solving skills that we have and good communication skills between the group members and between the group members with the students. The students who answered the quiz correctly were given presents and they were extremely delighted to get the presents and share them with their friends. The teachers received a token of appreciation from the Biomedical Science students and as a return, the school also gave the lecturers in charge with some token of appreciation. Both the students and teachers of SMK (P) Sri Aman felt satisfied and happy with the overall programme that were conducted and most of the students want to participate in the next programme again. I felt relieved that the programme ended on a high note without having to face any major issues during the programme. I felt happy after the programme ended because I know that this programme had an impact on the students as we analysed the survey form that the students have answered and received a great feedback from the students. We also received a few recommendations from a few students who want to prolong the programme session. Analysing from the positive feedbacks that we received, we can say that the programme was a success despite having to face a few difficulties throughout the programme. I realized that to make this kind of programme works, we need to have a full cooperation and commitment from the group members which all of us managed to fulfil. Through this programme, I feel that my communication skills have been improved, and I can overcome my fear of talking in front of a crowd by being the facilitators of the programme. In addition, my problem-solving skills have been improved as well through this programme. More importantly, I learnt how to work as a team and build my teamwork with other group members. I think this programme serves as a significant platform and medium for me to improve my soft skills and enhance my confidence when interacting with other people, hence becoming a better version of myself. I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to participate in this meaningful programme as a facilitator and if I am given this opportunity again, I will not miss it for the world. (981 words)