Ilya Maisarah binti Thariq (MIC180012)
GIG1005 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Reflective Writing
Visit to SMK Sri Aman
Ilya Maisarah binti Thariq (MIC180012)
But like seasons in countries that are not Malaysia, opinions change too. Although I was still dreading the first few meetings. It was actually an understandable concept to conduct this subject during our second year as we supposedly have proper basics and a better understanding compared to when we were in our first year.
The first module was done after afternoon class, the week of the visit. Honestly, the best thing about having these modules is that Dr. Puah always brings snacks along, making us have something to look forward to after a long day of classes. We had a trial run of the activities that were going to be done during the event day. Some of Dr. Puah’s postgraduate students help us out with the trials. We actually did something similar during lab with Dr. Azlina last year, but this time we included fruits.
The visit we made was on a Friday, right after the mayhem of conducting two experiments in Molecular Techniques lab. The havoc was due to the postponement of the previous lab, caused by the much dreaded COVID-19. We were not responsible as facilitators during the visit as we were supposed to facilitate on the next visit, which unfortunately has to be cancelled. The students of the school were very accomodating and friendly, and were willingly participating in the acivities. I was very relieved they were not the kind of student I was during my high school years, very distant and uninterested in anyone coming from outside of school.
Overall I think the project ended well despite a few thing I wish I could change but I did not have the power too. The first thing was probably because of the slides and quiz questions we used were not cross-checked by the group incharge of presenting since we were using slides from the first years. The first years also did not included answers to their quiz, which the second years should have been aware to avoid confusion on the day itself. There was even a question where all the answers provided for the question was wrong and we were corrected by a student of the school. I also think the slides were really pretty but I wish it would have been more audience-centric, had less words and actually had high school students in mind when it was created. I also wish that some research had been done to know the language that the students were more comfortable with, so someone with a great command of that language could be the presenter. For example, if we were to go to a rural school with mainly uses Malay language, the activities should be held in Malay. Same goes to school that conducts everything in English. This is because the students are more likely to participate and pay attention when the activities are conducted with a language they are most comfortable with.
I am very thankful for all of my classmates that was able to make this project a success despite all these shortcomings. But I feel that Dr. Puah has done more than all of us combined. She contacted the schools, thought up the activities, bought the supplies, help us do a trial run, and even found a way to reimburse the money used for transport to go to the school. She always tries to find ways to make things easiest for us, which we are eternally grateful for. I am very sad that the second visit is cancelled, since I was really looking forward to it after the first visit. I wish there will be more opportunities for programmes like this in the future!
(691 words)
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