first entry from singapore

ok this is super super late. but then since someone bugged me to update my blog and rather than spending nights playing facebook games i decided maybe i should do smth more productive =p so yup here i am back again blogging. but this isn't gonna be a very interesting entry. i decided to use this chance to talk about what's been going on in my life the past few weeks namely the three-letter word NIE. and well maybe this will encourage (or more like deter) all those who are considering becoming teachers-to-be. and of course prepare those who don't have a choice & will be entering NIE in time to come =p

so yes NIE. basically in NIE i'm currently enrolled in the PGDE course (Post-Graduate Diploma of Education) coz yeah i already have a degree so i guess this is considered postgrad =p so what happens is that MOE will assign everyone two (or even three!) CS (curriculum subject ie teaching subjects) and for myself i'm lucky that both are chem.

CS1 = Chem (JC) & CS2 = Chem (Sec)

yeah i know it sounds like i'm cheating but this system was newly introduced this year and it's called the JC track. last time JC & Sec were combined so you will be teaching at least two different subjects & possibly at JC or Sec level. now they introduced this & if u're in the JC track both ur CS will be the same just at different levels. i was originally in the secondary track (chemistry & maths) but i transferred into the JC track and i'm quite thankful i did coz from what i heard the maths modules are quite xiong =p

so what is the structure of the NIE course like? well there are ES (Educational Studies) modules which are compulsory for everyone & everyone does exactly the same things for these modules. we have a total of 4 such modules yup each two hours a week. then on top of that we have our CS modules for both CS1 & CS2. eg if u are assigned to Physics (Sec) & Chem (Sec), you have to attend all the Physics (Sec) & Chem (Sec) modules. the number of hours for each subject varies yah. for myself JC chem has 3 hours a week & Sec Chem has 6 hours a week. so that adds up to a total of a 17-hour week (which includes fridays off!) for myself at NIE. which sounds quite decent considering i'm getting paid right? but nope NIE is not so easy =p

let's talk about all the modules i have k? (sidenote: ok i decided that this is just gonna be a platform for me to keep track of all the assignments i have haha so not v informative anymore so sorry about that =p)

ES01 - QED520 (Educational Psychology)

well education psychology (or ed psych as we call it) is basically not my cup of tea =p but then again i think smth i learnt from this lesson is that whether or not a module is interesting depends like 90% on the teacher. i don't deny ed psych is probably quite interesting. learning about how students think, how children's behaviour change as they grow old, theories on how to motivate people etc etc. plus we're given scenarios so it's interesting to see how it's all relevant. BUT i just wish i had a better lecturer. plus the fact that this is my only 830am lesson doesn't help =p well i think if i had someone else for ed psych i'd probably be alot alot more interested in it. it can be a very engaging & fun module to learn yah but oh well! i'd just consider myself suay i guess.

individual assignment: 2500 word essay. identify a person & with reference to theories and concepts on psychosocial development, reflect on the experiences of this person as you identify 3 major issues which were significant during either the childhood or adolescent developmental stage. (30 oct)
group assignment: problem-based learning. given a scenario come up with mindmaps, charts and basically document the whole process of the project - identifying the problem, what issues, make hypotheses, theories related to scenario, suggested solutions (backed by references & theories) etc etc (an E-portfolio). at the end come up with a final 20 min presentation (12 oct)

ES02 - QED527 (ICT for Meaningful Learning)

ahh this is like the total reverse of ed psych. haha this is my favourite module so far =) and once again it all boils down to the lecturer. Dr Ashley Tan is really really very good. i love his teaching style and his enthusiasm. and the way he puts in so much effort into his teaching & concern for students. not to mention that i got to play Wii during his lesson today =D (and for the next two weeks as well! we're learning Game-based Learning haha) i feel really really lucky to be in his class when i hear about what other classes go through. his lessons are abit tense & stressful (alot of things to do!) but i find them super super effective. he teaches us methods & puts them into play during the lesson so we can see it all happening. really really enjoy his lessons. (oh for those who dunno ICT = Information & Communication Technology =p)

individual assignment: 1500 word essay on a cyberwellness topic including a lesson plan (5 periods) on how to teach students about that particular topic (eg in my case i chose internet addiction) (17 sept)
group assignment: come up with a lesson idea to show how meaningful learning for a particular topic can be accomplished using technology - writeup + oral presentation (end Oct)

ES03 - QLK520 (Communication Skills for Teachers)

hmm i just started this module this week so don't really know much about it. but i think it'll be pretty interesting coz it's alot of interaction and vocal stuff (considering the nature of this module) but there are some parts like learning how to read phonetic symbols and search the dictionary etc etc which i dunno whether it'll be ok =p haha we were learning about the three different breathing types (i nv knew there were three =p) during the first lesson but i haven't tried it out on myself yet to figure out whether i'm breathing properly when i talk loudly =p overall should be interesting i hope!

pair assignment: work in pairs to come up with a 3-5 minutes podcast (12 oct)
oral presentation: individually given 3 minutes to make an oral presentation on various school-related topics (17 oct)
written assessment: 45 mins written test (9 nov)

ES04 - QGS511 (Group Endeavours in Service Learning)

GESL for short. hmm this is basically a project where 25 of us have to come together to plan and execute everything ourselves. as the title suggests it's a service-oriented project. well at least we have got an organisation already (YGOS) & we're going somewhere with the planning of programmes (2-day day camp) and stuff. can't really say much for now but i hope it won't be -too- much of a burden yet. still quite relaxed for now but maybe it's coz i'm taking it abit easy. tentatively our event's gonna be in december so still quite a long way to go =p

CS01 - QCY540 (The Teaching of A Level Chemistry)

well JC chem hmm. so far the first part of this module had been pretty enjoyable. it was basically carried out in groups and was a collaboration with CJC. first we did research & found papers on problems tt students have in various areas of chem. then we did a presentation & presented to our coursemates as well as the CJC chem department. following that were a few "tuition" sessions with the CJC kids. was fun yeah. at the end my students said "you're very good!" which only made it better -grin- well as for the second part it hasn't really started much yet but i think mostly assessment stuff. dr tan who is taking us is pretty interesting & friendly and funny in his own little way. well it's chem after all so i think it should be fine =D

individual assignment: full Instructional Package on a chosen topic (Organic Chemistry). includes Lecture component - detailed lesson plan for one hour lecture, ppt slides, lecture notes, reflection on methods employed. Tutorial component - one page plan/schedule, tutorial worksheet and suggested answers. (23 nov)
group assignment: collaboration with VJC to come up with a Chem prelim Paper 1 (40 MCQ) and Paper 3 (5 essay questions) complete with table of specifications, answers & mark scheme. (23 nov)

CS02A - QCY520 (The Teaching of Chemistry I)

as for the secondary chem modules there are two (tt's why it's double the amt of time) and the first module is more the teaching of chemistry while the second module is more about the assessment of chemistry.

ok the first module is a mixture of good and bad lessons =p and as usual it depends on the teacher. haha i have one who is just terrible (i shall not give names here) and treats us like primary school kids! and her english is also amazing. one of the guys in my group spends the time writing down all her quotable quotes one lesson (2 hours) usually fill about one A4 page =p her most entertaining one so far is "as teachers we must understand the shituation" haha we all started laughing lah. guess that's the new term for shitty situation =pp but the rest of the lecturers are pretty interesting & very very entertaining. heh one of them gets his daughters to do his ppt slides for him so it's quite cute =p and he's soooo animated lah always bouncing around. and he's full of abbreviations also. "as teachers last resort if u dunno what to do use the AHW method - anyhow whack" =p

group & individual assignment: find a paper on a pedagogical approach and do a literature review. review and IT tool that you will be using in your lesson plan. come up with an instructional package (ppt slides, worksheets etc) for topic on volumetric analysis, percentage purity & percentage yield.

CS02B - QCY521 (The Teaching of Chemistry II)

this module is basically teaching you about the assessment of students in chemistry. i really never knew that sooo much effort had to be put into setting one test paper or even one MCQ question =p it's not just test whatever you want to test. the percentage of the types of question (knowledge vs application) must be tabulated to make sure the test is fair. dr mohammed is quite good haha he's funny in his own way.

individual assignment: 1000 word essay on one alternative assessment (ie not pen & paper) based on a given chemistry topic (9 nov)
group assignment: come up with a 40-minute class test (30 marks) on topic of metallic bonding, metal properties & reactivity series. at least 3 original MCQ's & 1 original structured question. complete with ToS & marking scheme (20 oct)
individual assignment (SPA): 2-4 page worksheet/handout on the learning of a selected laboratory technique (4 dec)
written test (SPA): one-hour written exercise on a critique/reflection of an experiment & crafting of the design of an experimental set-up (19 nov)