Saturday, March 21, 2009

Assignments and Assessments

I have taken the liberty to adapt and paraphrase an excerpt which may/ may not describe your present experience as you struggle between assignments and finals for this course. I just want to know if you agree/ disagree with the writer.

... I was sitting in the midst of papers, pencils, PC's and books. My head was throbbing with the weight of the information that I was cramming into it. But why was I working so hard on this assignment? It was not as though I could not teach without it. I know that I would graduate anyway. Besides, I may never teach ESP. So, what was this obsession to produce a worthwhile product. It suddenly occurred to me that after involving myself in the needs analysis, reading up all those articles on my learners, preparing for the FYP, loosing sleep, skipping meals, rushing to classes and forcing thoughts on paper, I was actually enjoying what I was doing! No, I didn't really mean the minimal sleep and long hours of studying, endless lectures. But what I noticed was that I was learning, my lecturers were actually listening to me. I performed well during my FYP presentation. My mind was soaking up ideas and I could see the larger picture. A lot of what I had studied all these years in the university actually make sense. Now, I do not want to miss anything. I can think rationally, my opinions matter and I want to make a difference in the society in which I live. That is why education is so important to me.

Do any of you see your education this way?

Friday, March 20, 2009

Assessment Practices- The Tail Wagging the Dog

You would have experienced a number of assessment practices in the course.

1) There was a mid term where you were given 3 essay questions beforehand and told to prepare for them. Then you were tested on two of them. It helped many of you write a constructive paper because you could focus on the issues in depth without having to worry over basic facts and details. It was definitely less stressful for the instructor as it helped me assess how much learning had taken place and take appropriate measures. That was diagnostic. 2) Then you had a couple of quizzes where you had to provide short answers but the content was spread over a number of modules and many of you did not do too well. Then again, the weightage for these quizzes were minimal and I do not see much risk in that. It is unfortunate that some of you still think that a fraction of a mark matters but it really does not since you have extra credit assignments. 3) Next, you had to engage in a number of assignments where you evaluated learner needs, digested articles and finally (still working on it) came up with a courseware for a specific set of learners. This include the papers for the extra credit assignments as well. That was part of the learning process. Well, after so many weeks I have come to know many of you through your writings and I see that some of you have taken to it like ducks to water while others still seem to be looking for the water. (I guess this is the fascinating garden that we have been talking about). 4) Last but not least were the task based activities where you had to write a letter, come up with realistic activities. Some were original while others were ... (I am sure you can fill in the blanks).

Well, my question for the week being: Which of these assessments did you see as relevant to your needs? Which particular assignment did you feel helped expand your understanding of ESP or would help you in your career? Do you have some suggestions for further improvement to be made. By the way, can any of these assignments be used in your real life. Let discuss some of these questions.

Oh yah, lets leave the finals out of this discussion.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Education for employment

In one of your readings, it was stated that the "need for Malaysians to acquire technological skill in the shortest time possible is a pressing problem. Education for employment rather than knowledge and englightenment ... has made our young (in the name of education) ... passive recipients rather than active seekers of information" (Khoo, 2008,p.60).
Do you agree with the writer? Discuss the above in terms of language being a problem, right or resource.