I can't help but notice how fast this year has been. I remembered as if it was a few days ago since i registered in Casa and now, ive pretty much found all the good eats here. Dora does it again !
In a more serious light, this post is intended for reflection purposes so that i wont forget the mistakes and accomplishments i made.I feel really weird writing accomplishments in a reflection related post but i realized one thing about living is that not everything is bad , not everything is good. There is always a balance in between, so I have to make sure it reflects that perspective
My first semester in CPU in short has been exhilirating and stressful. In fact, ive never been this stressed before. Adapting from Malaysian education to a Canadian education is a bit tricky at first, but all in all, i think i prefer this system over the blackboard and chalk method.
What I like the most about CPU is firstly, how accesible my teachers are and how open the system is. We dont learn a 100% from the textbook, we learn primarily through our friends, internet and our own inquiry.Teachers do a good job of teaching, but to excel students have to go the extra mile in search of that thing called understanding and application.Just knowing what economies of scale is not good enough, there must be an application of knowledge to make the meaning more clearly defined. As a result,students become more confident in their understanding.
The teachers here are in my opinion completely different to the teachers ive had previously. My particular English teacher is exceptional, not because of his good english and his presentations. I consider him exceptional because he for one, does not feed us with everything, he instead teaches us to become independent and do things ourselves.He merely gives us tools and guides which as a result has made me a more resourceful student. Previously before, i honestly would say story books are boring compared to factual books like Freakonomics and other books. However, after this semester, i stand corrected, if anything, story books teach you more about human nature, life than a psychology/ economics or factual book ever will with its difficult terminologies.It also teaches you to become more of an analyst than a memorizer. Books will always have their direct and indirect messages, this semester was the first time i was exposed to thesis writing which is supposed to encourage students to uncover that indirect message. As a result the students become more critical and analytical in terms of assesing information which is an important tool in the working world today.
Getting into the thick of things
Things that have to be addressed
a.Time management
CPU is a time consuming programme, not because of its exams or quizzes, but its due to the fact that we have quite a large number of assignments to complete in a short amount of time.It really gets hectic during the final few weeks of the semester when all the independent study units are due. An ISU is basically our own research project where we will apply what we learn in class, in real-life. Its a great way to test how well a student understands the subject because it makes the student make links between the text and the real world.ISU's require a great deal of time to complete and if done in groups requires lots of communication and teamwork.In the process of doing some of my ISU's i cant help but notice certain periods where i either a) lost motivation to work or b) felt lazy and wrote crap on paper . One thing about CPU is that it teaches you consistency so any sort of inconsistency might affect your final mark.Therefore, i shall have to:
1.Stay positive and imagine
JUSTIN BIEBER !
HELL NO !
ELLEN PAGE
HELL YEAH !!!! XD
basically anything that makes me pumped to go to canada
2.In group work, clear lines of communication must be established
Team talks on a regular basis
Establish the goal objective and solution
3.Work Smart
Effort is important but efficiency is paramount to doing well here. Since time is a precious resource, the less time you take to do something without jeopardizing quality, the more time you have to focus on other things.
b.Maximizing study time
Consider this. Next semester, i'll have 5 classes daily (Core+LAN).This sem i had 4, with 2 breaks in between . Lots of time to relax and finish work. Next sem, im expecting 3 classes straight with no break. Then, i have 4 hours of additional classes. 5 or 6 including IELTS. So i will deduce that next sem will be 3 times as hectic as before. Ill be expecting to go back to CASA possibly around 5 or 630 everyday which leaves me with only 1 or 2 hours of free time and the remaining hours to study.Therefore, maximizing and optimizing study time will be important. The problem with this is mainly that room mates are mostly guys from other courses so we all learn different things.The next best solution would be to start my own study group.
c. Planning
Like football, sometimes the game is won or lost from tactics. Ergo, planning is very important in getting good marks for presentations or ISU.Some general planning guidelines would be
1.Work as a team
2.Break work into pieces, its less intimidating that way
3.Concepts and Main ideas must be made clear before branches are introduced
4.Team meetings weekly and assign a day to catch up or complete assignments
5.Secretaries or people with notebooks are very important
6.Everyone is responsible for their own work.
7.However, that does not mean everyman for himself, it means everyone must work with each other closely to get the best possible outcome (synergy)
d.Procrastination and letting things slide
If there was one thing that i felt could have been improved, it was this. I remember once i had done considerably well for this subject, i felt as if i could take my gas of the pedal and just take it lackadaisically . How wrong was I ! As soon as i did, the marks and the work quality went down quite considerably. This was further worsened by the fact that
1. I did not take advantage and ask my teacher for clarification on certain topics
2. I sat at the back of the class which i believe was the least conducive place to learn a subject which requires high precision and accuracy
It was only when i discovered this problem, i started to change my habits, i sat in front and started to become more vocal in class. By that time however, the damage was done. For what happened though, im quite pleased with the response i got after i changed those 2 things. It was not as high as before but it met my expectations which was good enough for me
All in all, i learned quite a lot this semester.I honestly hope with all the experience i accumulated this semester, hopefully next semester will not be as hard. This was just an academic perspective. On an emotional and social perspective, i could write an 8 page report on that. But that will be for me to analyze and for you to think about
No comments:
Post a Comment