Reflections
Amidst this global pandemic, there were a lot of drastic changes that had to be done. The course outlines included. Since COVID-19 was introduced to the world and was claimed to be a global threat, we students were encouraged to follow lectures virtually. Thus, the complications some students may face. I was not excluded as I found it hard to keep up with the course itself without the help of my peers that have been a great help throughout my studies. So, when the decision to cancel the final examination for this course and replace it with another individual project, I had mixed feelings myself. However, I managed to overcome it by gathering my courage to ask questions to acquaintances that may have much more knowledge regarding this particular course. I had also begun to feel more independent now that i have made so much research myself as well as revising the syllabus. The dataset I ended up choosing which is about beef demand in the United States was not my initial choice. I had another dataset in mind and the beef demand dataset was just a backup plan. However, there was a bit of a problem with the proposal I sent to the lecturer. The lecturer commented on how the variables had no obvious relationship. Thus, there might not be much to talk about. For further understanding, i consulted with the lecturer about it and gradually realised my mistakes. It was indeed a bit difficult since we have not yet cover the later chapters. So, preparing a proposal without that much of an understanding was rough. However, i managed to reflect back on what my mistakes were and start revising more to get a better understanding.
Throughout the completion of this project, i had to do a lot of research regarding inferential statistical analysis. I also had to practice and play around with the Rstudio before actually proceeding with the coding. I have come to realise that Rstudio is very useful especially for variables with a vast number of observations. There were a lot of YouTube videos i had to watch in order to finally get a grip of how to finally code as i admit i am a slow learner myself. Besides that, i also learned the difference between correlation and regression. It was a bit confusing at the beginning but as i went through a lot of examples and exercises, i have finally acknowledged the distinct differences between the two. This project not only helps me understand the chapters better, but it also help me gain extra information along the way that could probably be in great use for the future.
In terms of skills, i had enhanced my programming skill by watching a lot of examples and videos. Moreover, i became more confident and brave in admitting my mistakes as well as asking questions for my own better understanding. I am a timid and shy person which would always depend on my own research or friends for information. However, it has finally come to me that asking the lecturers themselves would definitely ease my work since they give direct explanation on what i am doing wrong. Last but not least, i have become more independent as mentioned before. Though i always do my own research, i feel the need to put an extra effort in doing my work since there won't be friends that can back me up when i do my work.
Overall, this project has helped me in many different ways. Most of all, it made me own up to my own mistakes due to my lack of effort. If I were to ignore the mistakes, i would not have learned this much.
My group and I have decided to make a little research regarding the usage of social medias among students in UTM for our first project. My prior idea was to compare the activities between the first-year students and the fourth-year or third-year students if it somehow affects the time they spend on social media. Unfortunately, after distributing our survey, we did not get any feedbacks from the fourth year students since we only opened the survey within a week and it was no surprise that we had no connection with the seniors, thus, making it hard to reach them. I also initially thought that by gathering the information, I get to prove that the time spent on social media indeed gives an impact to the students’ time management. This is where the hypothesis testing gets handy. I was in charge of getting the hypothesis testing done. Frankly speaking, it was hard since we have not learned the topic yet. So, I had to do a lot of research on it to finally understand the concept. It was only when we finished the project when we were finally introduced to the topic. Fortunate enough, the due date was extended so there was more time for me to recheck my understanding with the syllabus taught during class. It was also a good thing that we managed to complete most of our tasks for the project before the movement control order. So, it was not really a hassle to get everything done separately especially when it was a group project. Only a few editing parts were left to be done.
There were a lot of research done and it was undeniable that social media is a very wide and popular platform used by many. Thus, making us worry if there were any groups picking a rather similar topic. If so, there would be unnecessary conflicts between groups and would trigger the competitive sides of the teammates. Although I want everyone to do their best in getting the project done, but I would like it better if it is done in a healthy way without comparisons. But since we had the topic in mind for so long, we decided to just go with the topic after asking other groups from the same section regarding their topic. In fact, there were many aspects to observe if we picked the topic. We are netizens as well, so it was easy for us to predict which social media is best for which aspect. However, we thought that others’ perspective would possibly make a difference especially when the respondents have different backgrounds. Business students might be active on social medias to market and advertise their products. Different majors tend to use social medias differently.
All in all, it was a splendid journey along the way of completing the project. It would be a lie to say there were no hardships. However, we managed to settle it and agree to disagree for the sake of our project. My group members were all very dependable and I was happy that we get to complete the project hand in hand. Apart from gaining more knowledge through researching and hands on skills due to Rstudio, I also get to improve my communication skills and enhance our teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Sepanjang semester ini, saya, Yasmeen Binti Abu Bakar dari seksyen 20 Dinamika Malaysia telah mempelajari banyak perkara yang boleh dijadikan pengajaran hidup dan boleh dimanfaatkan. Saya bukanlah seorang yang meminati politik dan saya tidak mempunyai pengetahuan yang luas tentangnya. Oleh itu, ini merupakan cabaran untuk saya memahami apa yang dipelajari. Walau bagaimanapun, saya sedar bahawa perkara-perkara yang diajar semuanya penting dan kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia harus mempunyai ilmu tentangnya. Selain daripada mendalami sejarah atau politik Malaysia, kami juga turut membuat projek yang melibatkan komuniti. Satu projek telah dikendalikan di mana kami sekelas berkunjung ke rumah anak yatim Raudatul Maryam yang terletak di Taman Universiti untuk membuat program. Program tersebut memberi kami peluang untuk mendapatkan pengalaman kerana kami ke situ dengan harapan program kami dapat memberi impak kepada kanak-kanak tersebut walaupun sedikit.
Secara keseluruhan, walaupun saya tidak begitu minat akan elemen-elemen yang dipelajari pada awalnya, tetapi saya kemudian mula memahami kepentingannya. Tambahan pula pensyarah saya yang suka bercerita dan mengaitkan setiap apa yang dipelajari dengan isu-isu semasa. Ini secara tidak langsung dapat membantu saya mengetahui isu-isu semasa yang mungkin saya terlepas pandang. Pensyarah juga merupakan seorang yang terbuka dan sanggup mendengar alasan atau pandangan setiap murid. Cara pelajaran disampaikan sangat jelas dan membuatkan saya lebih berminat untuk belajar dan mendengar.
Dinamika Malaysia penting untuk menanam nilai-nilai positif dalam diri agar dapat membentuk negara yang harmoni dan sejahtera. Secara tidak langsung, ia dapat memberi kesedaran kepada saya dan dapat menyumbang kepada perpaduan dan integrasi nasional. Kita patut menjadi lebih prihatin tentang keadaan ekonomi dan masyarakat negara kita apatah lagi kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia sendiri. Dalam perjalanan untuk membangkitkan negara yang maju, kita harus bercita-cita untuk mengelakkan tingkah laku yang negatif. Sama juga untuk menuju ke arah masa depan yang lebih cemerlang, kita, masyarakat Malaysia harus berusaha untuk menjadi masyarakat yang dinamik serta progresif. Sebagaimana kita tahu, Malaysia merupakan negara yang didiami pelbagai bangsa. Ada yang mempersoalkan sama ada Malaysia boleh mencapai keharmonian dengan masyarakat yang mempunya identity yang berbeza. Bangsa Malaysia yang bersatu padu adalah sebahagian besar daripada konsep sebuah negara idaman. Selepas mempelajari dan memahami lebih dalam tentang perkara ini, say amula sedar bahawa Malaysia memang berpotensi untuk membangkit. Negara idaman boleh dicapai dengan pendekatan yang holistic dan komprehensif iaitu dengan perpaduan kaum.
Secara keseluruhannya, Dinamika Malaysia banyak mengajar saya dan boleh dikatakan telah membuka mata saya kepada beberapa aspek. Contohnya tentang ekonomi dan politik Malaysia yang tidak mampu diabaikan apatah lagi usia saya meningkat kian tahun. Saya perlu mengambil tahu tentang isu-isu yang sedang hangat dibicarakan berkaitan negara kita. Oleh itu, saya yakin bahawa pengetahuan yang didapati dari kelas-kelas yang diadakan mampu memberi impak yang positif pada diri saya dan negara kita, Malaysia.
Tanggapan saya terhadap kursus Pemikiran Sains dari sudut kandungan utama boleh dikatakan dari segi kepentingan hubungan sains dan teknologi dalam kehidupan seharian yang memerlukan pemikiran yang rasional dan baik untuk masa hadapan yang lebih maju. Dari sudut relevansi dengan bidang pengajian pula, saya merasakan bahawa kursus ini sangat relevan kerana perlu menepati jati diri seorang pelajar yang hendak belajar bidang berkenaa untuk menyumbang kebaikan demi negara. Saya jangkakan manfaat yang boleh didapati dari kursus ini adalah dapat membuka minda kita untuk mengguna sains dan teknologi ke arah kebaikan. Akhir sekali, dari sudut komitmen dan sumbangan. Pada pandangan saya, dengan pemikiran dan niat yang baik, produck akan menjadi lebih berkualiti dan menepati kriteria yang diingini. Kita akan mempunyai komitmen yang tinggi akibat dari itu.
Setelah mempelajari dan mendalami isi-isi yang terdapat dalam kursus Pemikiran Sains untuk satu semester, saya dapat simpulkan bahawa kursus tersebut sangat berguna demi menjadi seorang manusia yang berguna. Apatah lagi kita sebagai seorang yang akan mengendali teknologi pada masa hadapan, kita harus mempunya etika dan nilai-nilai murni dalam diri agar tidak berlakunya penyalahgunaan kuasa atau penyalahgunaan teknologi yang boleh memudaratkan atau mengancam keselamatan orang ramai. Teknologi seharusnya digunakan untuk memberi kesenangan kepada orang ramai. Walaubagaimanapun, masih terdapat ancaman-ancaman yang dilakukan untuk kepuasan diri sendiri. Perkara itu salah sama sekali dan menyebabkan etika-etika mengendalikan sains dan teknologi patut ditanam dalam diri sejak kecil. Kursus ini telah membuka mata dan minda saya untuk berfikir dari persepsi yang berbeza serta untuk mengasah minda yang mementingkan kebaikan masyarakat. Saya telah lihat bagaimana pemikiran manusia berkembang dari suatu zaman ke suatu zaman yang lain. Di situ, lihatnya pemikiran mereka semakin matang dan moden. Walaupun pemikiran semakin matang, terdapat juga konflik yang mereka hadapi dan dari situ, kita boleh ambil pengajaran. Pada masa hadapan, kita mungkin akan menghadapi cabaran kerana pemikiran manusia yang kian berkembang. Oleh itu, pentingnya kursus ini untuk menanam sifat dan nilai yang murni demi menjadi seorang yang berguna dan berakhlak.