By Ms Felicia, Lecturer, Faculty of Education & Social Science
Gone are the days when classes were teacher-centred. We are now headed in the direction of student-centred studies, and one of the techniques used at SEGi College is what we call active participation. Active participation is when students interact among students and, when teachers integrate prior with new knowledge.
Recently, a group of students from the Bachelor in Early Childhood programme had a chance to actively participate in a field trip at Borneo Happy Farm to apply what was learnt in real situations. At the farm, the students were required to reflect on how young children would experience outdoor play and understand how the environment can support children through play.
While they were there, the students were able to identify the activities that could be conducted with young children if they were to bring them there. An example was a game of matching animals to their habitat around the farm just by using stickers and a piece of paper. The students also learnt new ideas to be incorporated into early childhood classrooms like cultivating a sense of responsibility when keeping a pet.
At the end of the trip, we were tired, but the trip was fruitful as it was evident that our students had gotten a better understanding of the environment supporting children’s learning through their assignments that were given prior.