PMR result

Yesterday PMR result was announced.
Congratulations to all students who deservingly scored straight As. Almost half a million students took PMR with almost 30 thou getting straight As...The sweet smell of success can be intoxicating. Well done!!

However I am still searching for the actual figures. Where are the actual statistics ? The media seems to be only reporting the achievement of 7% of the population .. Yes we are indeed proud to see the increase..

 But we also want to know  about the rest of the students. The other 93%.!! Give us fair statistics.
 Majority (the norm) of the populations should be of our main concern. These are the students that will enter high secondary school. We also want to know how many students only manage to get all Cs..Ds..ie non performing students. Is there an increase or decrease?
What is the figure? the issues here is about access and equity to educations? Are majority of our students  within the acceptable level of achievement? Can we proudly say that yes we have successfully educate our youngsters to prepare them well for challenging future ahead...

Shall discuss about this once i got the actual statistics.

why students fail mathematics?

At last some..free time to write..My apology for not being able to write sooner....
Finally i manage to finish marking the exam papers.. marks are all settled and done. With that out of the way now i suddenly feel the urge to share my thoughts about this particular topic.

I am going to discuss why students fail mathematics.. however mathematics failure and  'general failure' is interlinked and seperating the two may not be a good idea.. that is another broad topic  which i shall avoid!
(...)

People DONT LIKE TO TALK ABOUT FAILURE.. .wipe it under the carpet or  ignore it..or worst pretend that it does not happens! Human nature do not like to hear negative things about themselves. Hwever no matter how hard it is to face the truth..we ought not to ignore it.Learn to face failure head on ..beleive me that is the only this way can we save more failures in the future..

SO why fail?? 
Generally ATTITUDE is the no 1  reason - there are many type of students  that i have met ??

a. the lazy students-not much can be said about this type other than they ought to set their mind what exactly is they seek in their life..
b. the hardworking students- hey hardworking students fail too?? not fair isnt it? these students usually try to memorize everything...their mind is focusing on a frame of thinking that can become so rigid..the fixation problem actually slowly robbing the mind of the actual thinking or creative processes associated with learning....
c. the worrier type of student- this students worry and have a low confidence in their ability..hence they focus on the wrong thing..unable to stay focus on major ideas. .,their ideas are scattered and remains on the surface..

d. the smart and comfortable student- this type of students are not necessarily the brightest in the class. Neither are they the cleverest..the most improtant attribute is being comfortble with themselves and always asking questions when occassion arises. They study smart,ask the questions most of the tim no matter how silly they look sometimes. Success comes easily to this group of students.

So where are you??
Let me share some of the important rules in successful learning of mathematics.

RULE 1: Know yourselves..work on your weakness and decide what you want. Steer your life towards that. Do not allow your attitude wreck your life..work on that ..say NO to negative habits and create new ones..

RULE 2: Learning from failure - Einstein fail his math class !!so whats the big deal? let failure become the teacher to you. Question yourself why you have failed. find reasons..use that as a means towards learning better skills to overcome failure the next time..treat failure as valuable learning experiences

RULE 3: Learn not to be sensitive to critism. Developed 'thick skin' when it comes to learning. Ask and think hard..ask again ..keep on trying till you get it right!! then do the exercises yourself. when you got stuck ..always ask the right person.

Learning mathematics..what does it take?

 What does it takes to excell in mathematics..?
 Most people would equate mathematics with intelligence.

 Proffessor Schwartz says students actually need  PAC-- Perseverance, Attitude and Courage to learn    mathematics successfully.

I personally felt that students also need flexibility of taughts when solving mathematics problems. Rigidity hinders ones ability and creativity. it is actuallay the number one enemy in mathematics!!
Too often students get mess up with mathematical symbolism and this can becomes frustrating experiences.

"In symbols there are concealment yet revelations"  a saying by Pimms  (British educator)

Ramadhan is here again..

Salam Ramadhan Al Mubarak..

Ya Ramadan!, by Noor Syed
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Kind
A blessed month is casting its shadow upon us
A night of this month is better than a thousand months
Bear with patience for the sake of Ar-Rahman

It's a continuous training to strengthen our Imaan.

Glory be to Allah who sent Ramadan as a mercy to mankind
Its a purification of our soul, our heart, and our mind
Glorified is He, who choseth this holy month,
To test our sabr and fill our hearts with warmth

Ya Allah! For thee, let my breath be more pleasant than musk
Ya Allah! For thee, let me be thankful when day turns to dusk

My thoughts and heart are purified, my eyes truly see'
This blessed month, the month of spiritual rhapsody!
Ya Allah! For thee, my life I shall live!......Ya Allah! For thee, my soul I shall give!
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Kind,
Praise be to Allah, who sent Ramadan as a gift to mankind

from: http://www.muhajabah.com/ramadan-poems.htm

Reviewing School Mathematics.

A good review of current Malaysian research issues and problems in science teaching (basically same as with mathematics ) addressed by akademisains  report: www.akademisains.gov.my/download/relatednews/sci_math/Review.pdf

The report highlighted researches (very briefly...) finding on:
1. Urban and rural disparities
2. Implementation of PPSMI
3. TIMMS result -
4. Current education and policy

What I find  disturbing is that, despite almost 50 years of independence we are still looking out to other countries and trying to figure out what to do with our own education systems....

Despite huge amount of budget allocated in technology integrations, technology remains a little adopted in most Malaysian schools..We must realise that technology do not guarantee quality learning can occur,what is more important is how technology is adopted by teachers.
With rigid curricullum this is not easy to implement.
Training good teachers to do the job specifically in rural areas remains as a big problems..while exam orientated learning trend among schools are not getting any better.

I also find it disturbing that so many malaysian studies consistently try to compare betweeen Malay and Non malay students (logically, can we put Indian /Chinese in same group..?? i dont think so) or national school vs chinese schools..comparing for achievement. This is basically like trying to compare apple and oranges..!
Comparison must be fair..majority of malay students or national schools are in located in rural areas..similalry with indian schools..

Anyway why compare..what are this studies trying to conclude? In national school teachers factors remains a big problem (I know that many national school teachers who are trained to teach Bahasa but ends up teaching mathematics and sciences..so what kind of output can we expect? what about extra classes..?.. There are so many factors should be considered...Once and for all lets stop these type of studies..Yes may be are differences among different ethnicity/regions, but most important is that only those who hunger for success and are motivated enough will excell,while those with no appetite for knowledge will continue to be left behind.

So why not focus our time and money on more beneficial work such as motivating students and finding ways to improve each schools??

Matematik Huluan

Pertama kali mendengar istilah Matematik Huluan (upstream mathematical research).

Apa bezanya  dengan ethnomatematik? Menurut Dr Adi Setia Institut Penyelidikan Matemtaik UM.
..penyelidikan yang terbit daripada rasa sedar-diri yang tinggi akan “makna-diri” penyelidik itu sendiri, sesuai dengan kefahaman dan kepekaan beliau terhadap sistem nilai dan pandangan hidup yang dianutinya, termasuk permasalahan sebenar yang ditanggapi dan dikenalpasti hasil daripada kefahaman dan kepekaan tersebut.
Contohnya kajian membabitkan: 1. Model Penggunaan wang dinar
                                                      2. Model matematik sistem wakaf
                                                      3. Kosmologi Islam
                                                     4. Sejarah Matematik melayu islam

Bertentangan (bukannya Lawan)  ialah "matematik Hiliran' (downstream research). Menurutnya lagi,

Penyelidikan hiliran ialah penyelidikan runcitan sekadar mengemaskinikan di sana-sini teori dan bidang yang sudah sedia ada, malah yang sudah lama “matang,” atau lebih parah lagi, sekadar menemukan penggunaan baru atau menguji keberkesanan bagi pelbagai teknik atau pengisian matematik (mathematical software) atau pemodelan matematik (mathematical modelling) sedia ada.

Mungkin kajian sebegini dapat mempertingkatkan jatidiri, esteem diri orang melayu.

Sifat rendah diri dan rasa tidak yakin dengan keupayaan bangsa begitu tebal..kalau tidak percaya ..buka suratkhabar cotnohnya utusan melayu/berita harian..kita akan baca artikel/pendapat/komen dari ahli politik yg gemar membuat generalisasi negatif tentang orang Melayu!! tanpa fakta/data, sewenang wenangnya sedap mulut bercakap mengatakan orang melayu itu dan ini..

Childrens Day 2010

7 March is declared as World childrens day by UNICEF. This year's theme, 'All Rights, All Children', marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.


More information form Unicef. http://www.unicef.org/index.php



Statistical Profile by country can be obtain here
http://www.childinfo.org/profiles.html

Students poke their heads into their classroom, through the decorative holes of a concrete wall, at a UNICEF-assisted primary school in the village of Douakankro...

Lihatlah wajah anak anak ini ..sungguhpun dalam keadaan daif ..kecerian wajah mereka terserlah.

Hentikan kezaliman kepada kanak kanak. Pencabulan,penderaan dan jenayah kanak kanak perlu dihentikan. Sebelum berlarutan menjadi duri dalam daging..langkah pencegahan perlu difikirkan..

Sebagaimana Rasullah mengajar umatnya supaya mengajar dan mendidik anak sembahyang waktu kecil..dan setelah waktu tertentu memukul (tanpa kecederaan-pukul sayang!!) mereka apabila meningkat umur 10thn. Strategi sama eprlu digunakan dlm mendidik masyarakat. Hukuman tanpa pendidikan pencegahan akan gagal...

Mystery of mathematics

Mathematic is mysterious..while some find ot challenging and exciting, others may find it a bore and scary!. What influences these extreme feeling that diffferent individues experiences? Is it true that only certain type people are good at mathematics..? Are those people who are good in mathematics gifted? So what has gone wrong for people who are always hopelessly confuse with simple mathematicsl ideas?

Students who like mathematics enjoy the challenge and likes to dwell on its symbols and ideas. I used to get thrilled when i could solve all exercises or homework given. The achievement of getting good marks in mathematics somehow eventually becomes ones status quo in school...closely guided so that no one can beat you! Those that lag behind usually never catches up and ends up as freak in maths...

Teachers factors to me is another important variable.. a good teacher explain asbtract concept well and clearly,while some may just grapple with the ideas leaving lots of confusing ideas among the students..drillling students with endless exercises is not the solution to mastery of mathematical ideas for this mechanical actions can be very damaging to students long term learning..the difficulities with conceptual teaching is students usually can be irritatingly impatient and want a quick way out..hence they normally are more interested in what shall be assessed!Test..Exam! included in test or not..? these are questions that can be annoying.

In secondary school i have this great math teacher, Encik Ismail. He explains well and kept challenging us with various questions that he expected we are able to do once he briefly explain the main concepts.. we were so nervous when he started picking on students to finish the exercise on board..but then again he would smile at us when we successfully solved the questions. He was always there even in the afternoon to help us out.. you were one Great Teacher.

I took  extra classes for my additional mathematics once a week in form five to prepare for my SPM. Another Malay male teacher from another school taught me.Cant remember his name now. He was so enthuasistic that it catches on us. . I met him last year..wearing kupiah and sarung. AT the age of sixty he is still teaching mathematics..in his own tuition class..wow..He was beeming widely when i approach him and say -Thank you sir for the knowledge that you have imparted to me so sincerely and so well.

I will always remember them.May God Bless Them.

Biasiswa Melanjutkan pelajaran

Biasiswa
Ramai pelajar lepasan SPM/ university berminat nak cari biasiswa belajar keluar negara..saya akan maklumkan link untuk tujuan ini dalam waktu terdekat. Perlu difahami kelayakan mndapat biasiswa bukan bermkna 'free ride' tetapi satu privilege bagi yg rajin belajar- Anda perlu di manafaat sebaiknya.

Senarai beberapa jabatan/agensi menawarkan biasiswa -boleh semak dari laman MOHE. http://jpt.mohe.gov.my/menupelajar.php
1 Biasiswa Kerajaan Korea.  For Msc and Phd programs starting from 1st sept 2010...   More info: http://www.niied.go.kr/
2 Biasiswa kerajaan Jepun http://www.jasso.go.jp/study_j/scholarships_e.html%20(www.adb.org/jsp
3 Biasiswa Fullbright-Amerika Syarikat
4. University of Edinburgh UK (dateline April 2010)http://www.scholarships.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/internat/masters.htm
5. Biasiswa MARA (amat terhad) -lihat JPA pautan dibawah
6. Biasiswa JPA (amat terhad) pemegang sijil SPM http://www.jpa.gov.my/perkhidmatan-teras/latihantajaan/program-ijazah-luar-negara/
Ijazah lanjutan- http://www.jpa.gov.my/perkhidmatan-teras/latihantajaan/biasiswa_sajprof/
7.University Manchester UK- Masters in Social statistics -apply on line at  http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/socialstatistics/postgraduate/ dateline March 2010 -tamat
8. University of Western Australia- award are for Masters and Phd places; more informations go to http://www.scholarships.uwa.edu.au/home/postgrad/international/iprs 

Students Voices Jan2010

Put your comments here. Lets hear what you have in mind. .. in Bahasa or English..