Summary
The article entitled “Better education through architecture” was written by Professor Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi, who happened to be a lecturer of UTM. He gave his opinions on the layout of the government-funded schools that are not safe for students, the buildings that look like factories, the lack of space in classes, and the not-so-inviting atmosphere at the library. He also suggested building shopping malls and a bus terminal in universities. Overall, this article shows the danger and the disadvantages of the present layout of government-funded schools.
Reflection
I was attracted to the title of the article “Better education through architecture” from the beginning. To me, the title has been cleared enough to give me at least the gist of the article. And I agree with Professor Dr. Mohamad Tajuddin’s words mostly regarding this matter except his opinion on the government-funded primary and secondary level schools that look like factories. In my opinion on the other hand, the government-funded schools are prisons. The students that attend these schools can be compared to birds that are locked in cages. Since the schools are built like prisons, it is no wonder if there have been many truancy cases happening nowadays. If the school’s atmosphere itself isn’t welcoming at all, how can you expect these students to enjoy their school years? More often than not, when the problem is being brought up by someone, usually the authorities especially the elderly teachers would repeat the saying “when there’s a will, there’s a way” over and over again. Yes, the saying is undoubtedly correct. But when you are forcing those “stubborn students” or “the students who hate schools” to gain knowledge, or in a simpler form, to learn in such environment; they definitely would skip school or skive off lessons. However, if the schools’ buildings are colourful, the classes are spacious, the libraries are full of interesting and the latest materials; there is a possibility for the “stubborn students” to attend classes. That is one problem. Another matter that should be given concerns from everybody is the laboratories. I used to dislike my school’s science labs as the lighting was too dimmed; the stool gave a sharp pain on my bones; and there was barely air-flow in the labs despite the fact that I actually enjoyed science subjects back in school. However, when it came to sitting on that harden stool, I felt like skiving off that very lesson. I also agree with Professor’s words on the danger of the present layout of schools that don’t slot in bus layout and car parking areas. Even if there is, still it only consists of sign that says ‘bus stop’. Not to be rude or anything but Malaysian drivers are mostly reckless- they care less about sign boards, traffic lights and etc. So by having a simple ‘bus stop’ sign won’t just do any difference. Therefore, if bus stops and car parks are included within the school area, I’m positively sure that there will be a decrease number of fatalities accidents around the school areas. Another matter that I would like to bring up is the number of steps, as in staircase, that we, the students have to climb to go to classes and, or to go to bed (in case of hostels). I know that it is good to keep our body in a good condition, but to be all-drenched of sweats before starting classes is impeccably impossible. Students won’t feel comfortable in that smelly attire; they would lose focus and what they would do is to wish the class to end at that exact moment. One more issue that may sound impractical to most people is his opinion on building shopping malls in universities. Once again, I agree 100% with his opinion. If his plan came true, I’m sure that there will be fewer accidents because students can even walk to the mall if it is situated nearby, but if it is a little further away from the college and hostels, I’m sure the university would solve the problem by providing busses to get there. Hence, students’ time, and energy consume would be saved. In a nutshell, architecture does play a crucial role of providing a safe and welcoming environment in producing excellent students. After all, healthy people mirrors healthy environment.
Purpose: To persuade the authorities to build schools using better designs that consider the students’ safety, and the teachers, students and staffs’ comfort.
Tone : Critical.
Bias : Bias against the designs and layout of the present government-funded primary and secondary schools.
Extras:
Metaphor:
1. Robot citizens-People that behave like robots.
2. stop sending our children to factories.- factories mean schools that resemble
factories.
The summary and reflection are based on the article "Better education through architecture" by Professor Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi.
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/3/18/lifeliving/16990917&sec=lifeliving
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
In-Class Assigment - Reflection-Blogging
Frankly speaking, I didn't exactly know what a blog is before! Last semester, I had to do the pros and cons of blogs. Though I managed to do it, "blog" was still a blur topic to me. Even until the early of this semester, I still couldn't understand what a blog is. If you don't believe me, ask Nashrah. I kept asking her for clarification about blogs. Well, now I know. It is quite similar to friendster, only it isn't a place to find friends. In a way, it does help you connect with friends but it isn't the main purpose for all this stuff.
Technically, blogging is a better way to teach students as all of the information can be found in weblog. We're all human beings and therefore sleeping, daydreaming, talking, gossiping, and eating in classes are normal behaviours of students. Hence, by doing a weblog, students are able to catch up with the lesson missed, plus the teachers don't have to waste their time and energy repeating the same thing again. Still, lessons in class are important too. Sometimes, when we ask for information on exams, the teachers tend to be reluctant to tell us-i know that that is their responsibity anyway. Teachers too are human beings, somehow or rather, their body language can show a thousand pictures and can be interpreted by the students. So, in my opinion, this kind of question is more suitable to be asked in class as we, the students, will be able to guess the teachers' gestures.
I would recommend teachers to do weblogs according to the students' preference and responsibility. If the students don't do what they are supposed to do, to be specific, they go to other websites such as Friendster, Myspace and etc. before they finished their in-class assignment, then I suppose the internet access should be cut off. It is a pity if the convenience is taken away as there's a lot of things that one would gain from blogging. One can learn a lot of information from other people's blogs as blogs usually have links, that link one's blog to other blogs or websites.
Reading someone's blog is interesting as one can be critical not only towards the blog itself, but also the layout too, whether it is colourful or dull, positively or negatively done or perhaps, a plain, just and simple kind of blog. I believe, the layout too can show one's personality. So, everyone, feel free to judge my layout!
Technically, blogging is a better way to teach students as all of the information can be found in weblog. We're all human beings and therefore sleeping, daydreaming, talking, gossiping, and eating in classes are normal behaviours of students. Hence, by doing a weblog, students are able to catch up with the lesson missed, plus the teachers don't have to waste their time and energy repeating the same thing again. Still, lessons in class are important too. Sometimes, when we ask for information on exams, the teachers tend to be reluctant to tell us-i know that that is their responsibity anyway. Teachers too are human beings, somehow or rather, their body language can show a thousand pictures and can be interpreted by the students. So, in my opinion, this kind of question is more suitable to be asked in class as we, the students, will be able to guess the teachers' gestures.
I would recommend teachers to do weblogs according to the students' preference and responsibility. If the students don't do what they are supposed to do, to be specific, they go to other websites such as Friendster, Myspace and etc. before they finished their in-class assignment, then I suppose the internet access should be cut off. It is a pity if the convenience is taken away as there's a lot of things that one would gain from blogging. One can learn a lot of information from other people's blogs as blogs usually have links, that link one's blog to other blogs or websites.
Reading someone's blog is interesting as one can be critical not only towards the blog itself, but also the layout too, whether it is colourful or dull, positively or negatively done or perhaps, a plain, just and simple kind of blog. I believe, the layout too can show one's personality. So, everyone, feel free to judge my layout!
In-Class Assigment - Reflection - Critical Reading Skills
For this assignment please write a reflection on what you have learned so far in the reading class. You may based your reflection on the following questions :
1. What is your understanding of the following skills covered in the course:Main idea, pattern of organization, fact or opinion, bias, tone, purpose.
2. Which skill is the most difficult to you? Which is the easiest?
3. Which skill do you think is the most useful in reading or in helping you to read?
4. Which skill do you think you will probably apply?
5. How do you tackle the problem of a difficult skill? Give example.
6. What do you understand about critical reading?
7. How important do you think is critical reading in your future university studies?
8. In reading the articles for your journal which of the skills do you normally apply or have applied?
My reflection:
Basically, I understand most of the topics when the topics were first introduced to us-to be specific, when I was in class. When given exercises, I got a little bit confused especially when I am asked to recognise the tone and the purpose of an article. When it comes to finding main idea, I'm able to recognise it but the problem is, I don't know how to put it in a sentence. Well, what I did to overcome this problem is by reading the notes given over and over again until I gain a clear understanding of it, and by asking other people for clarification. About the easiest topic, I think bias and fact and opinion are considerably easy to recognise. And I also tend to use bias and opinion in my journals. You know, it's kind of fun to criticise other people's work. Perhaps, I love being critical towards others! haha.. Okay, about critical reading, from my perspective, critical reading is an action of reading any kind of materials, using all the skills taught in class(bias, tone, main ideas, purpose, organisational patterns and etc.) and most importantly, critical reading involves the brain. The moment you set your eyes on the article, the eyes begin to move rapidly, skimming the whole text. It helps the brain to get the general picture of what is being written in that article. Later, while doing the second reading, the brain will start to search for important points for in depth understanding. That's when we use the critical thinking skills. When the brain starts to be judgmental and begin questioning the purpose, the tone and etc. towards the article, this action is called critical reading. In my opinion, critical reading too is very important in order to survive in my future university studies-how am i going to understand what I'm reading if I don't do critical reading? Because reading without understanding is like eating without digesting. (I can't remember where I read this simile.) That's why, I don't mind taking a long time doing a reading as long as I can understand that particular reading material.
1. What is your understanding of the following skills covered in the course:Main idea, pattern of organization, fact or opinion, bias, tone, purpose.
2. Which skill is the most difficult to you? Which is the easiest?
3. Which skill do you think is the most useful in reading or in helping you to read?
4. Which skill do you think you will probably apply?
5. How do you tackle the problem of a difficult skill? Give example.
6. What do you understand about critical reading?
7. How important do you think is critical reading in your future university studies?
8. In reading the articles for your journal which of the skills do you normally apply or have applied?
My reflection:
Basically, I understand most of the topics when the topics were first introduced to us-to be specific, when I was in class. When given exercises, I got a little bit confused especially when I am asked to recognise the tone and the purpose of an article. When it comes to finding main idea, I'm able to recognise it but the problem is, I don't know how to put it in a sentence. Well, what I did to overcome this problem is by reading the notes given over and over again until I gain a clear understanding of it, and by asking other people for clarification. About the easiest topic, I think bias and fact and opinion are considerably easy to recognise. And I also tend to use bias and opinion in my journals. You know, it's kind of fun to criticise other people's work. Perhaps, I love being critical towards others! haha.. Okay, about critical reading, from my perspective, critical reading is an action of reading any kind of materials, using all the skills taught in class(bias, tone, main ideas, purpose, organisational patterns and etc.) and most importantly, critical reading involves the brain. The moment you set your eyes on the article, the eyes begin to move rapidly, skimming the whole text. It helps the brain to get the general picture of what is being written in that article. Later, while doing the second reading, the brain will start to search for important points for in depth understanding. That's when we use the critical thinking skills. When the brain starts to be judgmental and begin questioning the purpose, the tone and etc. towards the article, this action is called critical reading. In my opinion, critical reading too is very important in order to survive in my future university studies-how am i going to understand what I'm reading if I don't do critical reading? Because reading without understanding is like eating without digesting. (I can't remember where I read this simile.) That's why, I don't mind taking a long time doing a reading as long as I can understand that particular reading material.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Nothing feels like home
Everywhere I can hear voices,
Cries, Laughter, Mumble.
"Mummy, Daddy," shout the kids,
And into their arms the kids are.
Onion, garlic and anchovies,
Fill the kitchen's atmosphere,
"Breakfast everybody" and here comes Mummy,
With fried rice to be served to her family.
"Pass the plate, please," says Sister,
"Thank you." And they eat happily together.
"Yummy. Delicious. Tasty."
"You're our greatest chef, Mummy."
What about the Baby?
He's hungry too. What should Mummy do?
Oh yes. Mummy will get you some milk.
Patiently, waits the Baby.
Gulp. Gulp. Into his mouth, his milk.
"I wanna watch football."
"No, I wanna watch cartoon."
"No, we should watch the news."
Comes Daddy with the remote control,
"CNN. A very informative channel," says Daddy.
Sigh. Sigh.
"We're bored. What are we going to do?"
"Let's play." "Okay!" "Let's play peek-a-boo."
"No way. Too childish. Let's play hide and seek."
"Ouch! My knees hurt."
"What happened?" asks Mummy.
"She pushed me."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. That's why I fell."
"Shut up! Don't start. Or I'll beat you up some more."
Funny, should I say,
That I love this place the best.
With all the noise that fills my ears,
But still, it doesn't matter because,
Nothing feels like home.
I know I only got 3.5/5 for this poem but whatever marks I received, I like my poem.
Cries, Laughter, Mumble.
"Mummy, Daddy," shout the kids,
And into their arms the kids are.
Onion, garlic and anchovies,
Fill the kitchen's atmosphere,
"Breakfast everybody" and here comes Mummy,
With fried rice to be served to her family.
"Pass the plate, please," says Sister,
"Thank you." And they eat happily together.
"Yummy. Delicious. Tasty."
"You're our greatest chef, Mummy."
What about the Baby?
He's hungry too. What should Mummy do?
Oh yes. Mummy will get you some milk.
Patiently, waits the Baby.
Gulp. Gulp. Into his mouth, his milk.
"I wanna watch football."
"No, I wanna watch cartoon."
"No, we should watch the news."
Comes Daddy with the remote control,
"CNN. A very informative channel," says Daddy.
Sigh. Sigh.
"We're bored. What are we going to do?"
"Let's play." "Okay!" "Let's play peek-a-boo."
"No way. Too childish. Let's play hide and seek."
"Ouch! My knees hurt."
"What happened?" asks Mummy.
"She pushed me."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. That's why I fell."
"Shut up! Don't start. Or I'll beat you up some more."
Funny, should I say,
That I love this place the best.
With all the noise that fills my ears,
But still, it doesn't matter because,
Nothing feels like home.
I know I only got 3.5/5 for this poem but whatever marks I received, I like my poem.
Journal Two
SUMMARY
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated that there is no point on building libraries or even giving more tax relief for books if Malaysians don’t care to read. This problem occurs as many prefer Malay books while the bookshelves at mostly every bookstore are conquered by English books. Another factor is that the medium of instruction in schools had been switched to Malay and therefore a lot of students, especially Malay students, whose ability to read in English are limited, think that reading English books is a challenging task for them to accomplish. What exacerbating the problem is the incompetence of teachers in teaching English literature. According to Datuk Seri Najib, we all have to wait for the next generation teachers who are well trained and who are proficient in English to teach before the Malaysians are introduced to literature.
REFLECTION
I agree with Datuk Seri Najib’s points on the factors that lead to the occurrence of only a small number of Malaysians who read books. The factors such as the switching medium of instruction in schools, the limited ability to read in English, the incompetence of teachers in teaching and the majority books filling bookstores consist of English books make sense to me. However, I don’t really agree with his opinion to stop building libraries just because of majority of the Malaysians don’t read books. What about the minority’s rights? They too should be given the facility to do research or even to do some light reading. In my opinion, the present libraries aren’t that interesting to be visited. To be specific, the condition and the atmosphere of the libraries aren’t welcoming at all, and the books in the libraries are mostly outdated. I once went to the national library and I couldn’t find that much of interesting materials there. The magazines were a few years’ back, and the atmosphere was sullen. My former English teacher, who was just transferred from England, went to the national library and commented that there was nothing much to be read there. He said that our national library lacks new stuff. So, what I’m trying to say here is that we shouldn’t be blamed for not practising the reading culture. Hence, to overcome this problem, perhaps, a thorough research should be done regarding this topic. Possibly, the government need not build new libraries; instead, what the government has to do is only upgrade the existed libraries. (Well, it is also good if the number of libraries is being increased.) On another matter, where students’ abilities to read and understand English are limited, the present teachers are to be blamed. Of course, the best resolution to this problem is to wait for the well trained next generation teachers to teach English. What about those who are poor in English at this particular time? They too, don’t want to be left out in this modern world where English is one of the most important language on Earth. Therefore, my suggestion is, while waiting for the well trained next generation teachers to graduate, the government should import well trained teachers from overseas, for example England, for the time being so there won’t be any gap between the present and the future students. Who knows, the present students could speak good English with British accent? :)
The summary and reflection are based on the article "Najib: No point building libraries if people don't care to read" from Sunday Star, 18 March 2007.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated that there is no point on building libraries or even giving more tax relief for books if Malaysians don’t care to read. This problem occurs as many prefer Malay books while the bookshelves at mostly every bookstore are conquered by English books. Another factor is that the medium of instruction in schools had been switched to Malay and therefore a lot of students, especially Malay students, whose ability to read in English are limited, think that reading English books is a challenging task for them to accomplish. What exacerbating the problem is the incompetence of teachers in teaching English literature. According to Datuk Seri Najib, we all have to wait for the next generation teachers who are well trained and who are proficient in English to teach before the Malaysians are introduced to literature.
REFLECTION
I agree with Datuk Seri Najib’s points on the factors that lead to the occurrence of only a small number of Malaysians who read books. The factors such as the switching medium of instruction in schools, the limited ability to read in English, the incompetence of teachers in teaching and the majority books filling bookstores consist of English books make sense to me. However, I don’t really agree with his opinion to stop building libraries just because of majority of the Malaysians don’t read books. What about the minority’s rights? They too should be given the facility to do research or even to do some light reading. In my opinion, the present libraries aren’t that interesting to be visited. To be specific, the condition and the atmosphere of the libraries aren’t welcoming at all, and the books in the libraries are mostly outdated. I once went to the national library and I couldn’t find that much of interesting materials there. The magazines were a few years’ back, and the atmosphere was sullen. My former English teacher, who was just transferred from England, went to the national library and commented that there was nothing much to be read there. He said that our national library lacks new stuff. So, what I’m trying to say here is that we shouldn’t be blamed for not practising the reading culture. Hence, to overcome this problem, perhaps, a thorough research should be done regarding this topic. Possibly, the government need not build new libraries; instead, what the government has to do is only upgrade the existed libraries. (Well, it is also good if the number of libraries is being increased.) On another matter, where students’ abilities to read and understand English are limited, the present teachers are to be blamed. Of course, the best resolution to this problem is to wait for the well trained next generation teachers to teach English. What about those who are poor in English at this particular time? They too, don’t want to be left out in this modern world where English is one of the most important language on Earth. Therefore, my suggestion is, while waiting for the well trained next generation teachers to graduate, the government should import well trained teachers from overseas, for example England, for the time being so there won’t be any gap between the present and the future students. Who knows, the present students could speak good English with British accent? :)
The summary and reflection are based on the article "Najib: No point building libraries if people don't care to read" from Sunday Star, 18 March 2007.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
In-Class Assigment - BIAS
1. What is the article about?
The article is about the influence of unhealthy food TV ads on small kids and teenagers that
may lure them to buying it and increase their chance of getting obesed.
2. Are there biases in this article? If yes, is the bias against or for someone or something?
Yes, there are biases in this article. The bias is against unhealthy food TV advertisements.
3. Explain the bias and provide examples.
The article is bias against junk food and fast food TV advertisements as it stated that eating
those unhealthy food may lead to obesity and many other diseases. This is due to the types
of food that are being advertised, which are usually unhealthy; and the numerous times they
appear on TV and these TV ads have great influence on kids' diet regime.
This is an example of the bias:
Whether an ad shows a kid surfboarding through chocolate cereal or a cartoon animal offering
a tween some chips, the message and its consequences for millions of American children
remains the same: eat, drink and be chubby.
The article is about the influence of unhealthy food TV ads on small kids and teenagers that
may lure them to buying it and increase their chance of getting obesed.
2. Are there biases in this article? If yes, is the bias against or for someone or something?
Yes, there are biases in this article. The bias is against unhealthy food TV advertisements.
3. Explain the bias and provide examples.
The article is bias against junk food and fast food TV advertisements as it stated that eating
those unhealthy food may lead to obesity and many other diseases. This is due to the types
of food that are being advertised, which are usually unhealthy; and the numerous times they
appear on TV and these TV ads have great influence on kids' diet regime.
This is an example of the bias:
Whether an ad shows a kid surfboarding through chocolate cereal or a cartoon animal offering
a tween some chips, the message and its consequences for millions of American children
remains the same: eat, drink and be chubby.
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