written by: Ann Teoh
Guests at the Classroom Experience were just full of bubbling energy! If Day 1 was a hub of activity, Day 2 was swell. There was no stopping them even as the day drew to an end with Alwyn Lau’s team building session.
Alwyn had them guessing hard about the moral of a skit, and he had them all adopting the stance of a Maori warrior, shouting “Hah!” You have to be there to know and understand the moral of the story and how there can be such a flare-up of energy. Alwyn gave no lecture, but through games and competitions the audience understood the message he conveyed: that arrogance has no place in a university campus; that if you’re shy, you won’t belong; that you have the power to choose your emotion; that joy can overcome anger, and to abide by rules such as being punctual. If you feel down, take hold of your posture: hold out your chest and shoulders, and you will feel better.
"In campus, if you're 'lancy lan kwai' (arrogant), you will get angry looks."
Alwyn's energy!
What is leadership, what do leaders do and what actions can leaders take to be better leaders? Again, the students brainstormed their own answers in groups.
They know the qualities of a leader and they defined them well enough, independently.
Team Nobody's winning presentation
Team KDU
Team Early Birds
The winning team was Team Nobody, who used the analogy of a mummy elephant as a leader who lead by example, is just, brave, strong. And the judges? The competing teams themselves. Just great!
Team Nobody is the winner!
Team Early Birds
Then they had Mr. Fami Taufeq who demonstrated to them that everyone can have nimble fingers to create delicate flowers for cup cakes using marzipan. It’s not just about being creative, but to also understand that mastering some culinary skills and techniques can differentiate your products and you can set a higher price for your food items because they are well-crafted and unique.
An observant participant, Wong Yinn Yin (formerly from SMK Taman Sea) said, “I notice that Mr Fami is fast, clean and organised. He cleans as he goes. He’s also very experienced and informative. Despite having so many students in his class, he can catch our attention and still teach us effectively. In just a few minutes, we’ve created flowers and leaves for our cup cakes!”
When Andrew Chin was asked about the morning sessions that they have attended, he replied, “We had a lot to think and debate about on the topic of ‘Evolution’ presented by Mr. Jaya Kumar, Lecturer from the School of Pre-University Studies. Whether we supported or opposed the theory, we debated and challenged the ideas presented. My fellow friends are very articulate and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Mr Jaya, "What do YOU think?"
Jason George states his opinion
As for ‘Guilty or Innocent’ by Ms Donna Barclay, lecturer from the School of Law, it was very interesting. Like I said, we really had to put on our thinking caps !”
At the session entitled “Guilty or Innocent: The case of Tom Dudley and Edward Stephens”, Ms Barclay illustrated the following scenario to the participants:
In the 1800’s, following the sinking of a ship in a storm off South Africa, four men found themselves adrift in a life boat with no water and little food. After the third week afloat, the cabin boy (Richard Parker) fell into a coma and the ship’s captain made a dreadful and unenviable decision - to sacrifice the cabin boy’s life in order to save the remaining three sailors.
This infamous case, known as R v Dudley and Stephens (1884), has fascinated law students, academics and ethicists for many decades. During the WOW classroom experience, the participants were arranged into groups of jury panels to determine whether the sailors were guilty of murder following the death of Richard Parker. In order to reach a decision, they had to put themselves in the shoes of the men on the life boat and decide whether they could cannibalise another person if necessary, to survive.
According to Ms Barclay, the guest participants had demonstrated very advanced reasoning skills in reaching their decisions. She said, " I hope that they have enjoyed a taste of what life is like for a law student at KDU, and I look forward to teaching them."
Ms Donna Barclay, lecturer.
Many of our guests have signed up for the various programmes in KDU: business, IT, Pre-U, hospitality and many other diploma courses. Friday (7th January) is an occasion when parents and guests are invited to meet and chat with KDU’s management staff. Join us for lunch (from 12 noon to 2pm) – on the house. Oh yes, if you want to know more about Brandings and Perception (by Ms Karen Lee), Which Civil Rights Should We Keep (by Dr. Todd Nelson) and how to be a Genius on the Web, (by Ms Sua Yen Nee), just come today (7th January).
Cheers!
For more photos, please view them from photo gallery at www.kdu.edu.my
2 comments:
Im impressed. The subject's covered were varied & diversified. Im sure the participants would have benefited greatly from the sessions.
Keep up the good work!!!!
It has been an enriching experience for all who attended, including the presenters themselves who are impressed with the participants.
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