SCPG lecturers and students with Mr Ch’ng
SEGi College Penang organised a three-hour workshop on 31 March for Year-3 students from the UOG-BAEYE Curriculum and Assessment in Early Years, who were joined by the Year-3 students from SEGi College Subang Jaya.
The students got to carry out an independent workplace project examining one curricula aspect of young children’s learning and development in relation to practice. This project aimed to instil in the students independent, analytical and creative thinking skills, to encourage them to engage imaginatively with new areas of investigation, as well as collaborate with peers, tutors, colleagues in their research. These are all critical attributes in a graduate.
Some of the students’ learning experiences from the session:
- [gained] “skills to search for a relevant journal article”
- “shared his tips and experiences with us which was really helpful and answered the difficulties that I was facing e.g. searching for references …. shared how to use certain search engines …. organise the reading materials in matrix form”
- “emphasise[d] the importance of reviewing various theories or concepts”
- “able to understand that the literature review helps to ground our study and tells the reader that what I am attempting to do in my study is important.”
Earlier in the year, the Year-3 students also participated in a research panel discussion organised by University of Greenwich. SEGi Group of Colleges lecturers, Ms Michelle Huan Soon Ching and Ms Poh Wanyi, respectively, were on the panel where they shared their research interest and rationale, research process and findings to the students, and also the implications for practice
The students gained insights on:
- the types of research that can be carried out in the early-years setting
- research methodology including how they can be creative in meeting the needs of participants in data collection
- how students could be filling in gaps between past and current research
- more importantly, students need to be clear with the purpose of research and what they would like to find out
- ethical responsibilities of a researcher was emphasised
The students found both the sessions informative and helpful towards their own research studies.
