NURIFFATISH SHIMA BINTI NORAZMI

In the Software Engineering course (SECJ2203), I had been assigned to a group with Amir, Kai Jie, and Vimalraj. We had agreed to name our group Grogu as recommended by Amir. I had a chance to become a group leader when we were working on the project report in phase 3 which is the design document. The leadership level that I had implemented during the brainstorm session is Level 2 which is Permission. This is because I wanted the working environment to be enjoyable hence a good relationship among team members can be formed. I believe that when we are working in a happy and relaxing mood, it will boost our energy in ourselves. With a great amount of energy, our group able to finish any task successfully. I let them follow me if they wanted to and not pushing them too hard when giving instructions. I wanted a strong relationship in the team so that they allow me to lead them for the phase 3 project. Trust is gained as the relationship grows in the team. When teammates trust each other, good decisions can be made during any discussion. When giving the tasks to each member, I focused on the teammates whether they can handle the given tasks. I treated them as I wanted to be treated. For example, I avoided using harsh words so that the good relationship among the group members is still strong. When my teammates had done their tasks, I praised and thanked them for finishing the tasks assigned to them.

            In terms of written communication, I was able to write ideas with excellent clarity, excellent coherence and have an excellent ability to write ideas systematically. This is because my group members understood what I had written in the group document and in the group chat. Therefore, they able to execute any tasks as I mentioned. In terms of leadership, there is significant evidence of knowledge and understanding shown in practice during executing group tasks. When my group members did not know how to do particular tasks, I taught them how to do them carefully so that they can successfully complete their tasks. Therefore, I had the high ability to lead effectively on myself and other teammates in achieving the goal on our project as our group able to finish the project report as planned. In terms of teamwork, I had the high ability to encourage good relationships and the ability to work effectively in the group in order to reach the goal of our group in this project. This can be seen when I requested the teammates to help with something, they immediately did it. Therefore, I able to work effectively in the group as I got help from them to complete my tasks for the project. When I played the role of leader for phase 3 of the project, I able to initiate my group members to start on the project report. I also gave several instructions and assigned tasks to them so that everyone has an equal contribution to the report. When my group members became the leader for other phases of the project and problem solving, I followed their instructions carefully and did what I had assigned. To achieve the group’s objectives, I respect all opinions given by my group members. I listened carefully to what they said and accept their opinions that I thought were right.

            I am glad that I was in this group because they all treated me nicely hence, I able to do my work effectively in completing all my parts in the project. I learned that it is important to lead the group members in a correct way or else, a strong relationship among group members could not be built. Without a good relationship in a group, it will be hard to achieve the group’s objectives because it is hard to work as a team. Through this project, I learned how to be a good leader that can lead my group members to execute the project work. I am hoping that I can become a leader that achieves Level 5 leadership which is Pinnacle in the future.  

          Tanggapan pertama saya terhadap kursus Pemikiran Sains dan Teknologi ini ialah, mempelajari tentang hubungan antara sains dan teknologi. Tanpa sains, teknologi-teknologi tidak akan wujud. Semakin berkembang pengetahuan dalam bidang sains, semakin maju teknologi-teknologi. Penduduk di sesuatu kawasan memainkan peranan penting dalam perkembangan sains dan teknologi. Pemikiran sains dan teknologi relevan dengan bidang pengajian kerana dalam dunia yang semakin moden ini, seseorang individu perlulah mempunyai pemikiran yang mendalam tentang sains dan teknologi supaya sejajar dengan arus kehidupan pada masa ini. Saya beranggapan kursus ini memberi jangkaan manfaat dalam masa yang panjang kerana dunia yang semakin moden ini memerlukan pemikiran tentang sains dan teknologi. Saya akan memberikan komitmen dan sumbangan yang padu dalam kursus ini supaya saya menjadi orang yang berguna dalam masyarakat dan membantu membangunkan Malaysia dalam bidang sains dan teknologi.

           Alhamdulillah, terdapat banyak perkara yang telah saya pelajari daripada kursus ini. Saya ingin mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada pensyarah saya, Dr. Wan Hasan bin Wan Embong kerana telah mengajar kami dengan baik dari awal sehingga akhir. Antara topik yang telah saya pelajari ialah manusia dan pemikiran, perkembangan ilmu zaman pertengahan,agama, pemikiran  sains dan teknologi, pemikiran sains dan teknologi merentas sempadan, ekosistem keilmuan Islam, pemikiran saintifik saintis muslim, perubahan paradigma pemikiran saintis barat, pemodenan sains dan teknologi, revolusi industri dan kesannya terhadap kemanusiaan, etika dan nilai dalam pemikiran sains dan teknologi dan akhir sekali, penginsanan pemikiran sains dan teknologi.Dalam kursus ini saya dapat belajar mengenai sejarah pembangunan sains dan teknologi. Saya dapat memahami dengan baik tentang bagaimana sains dan teknologi dikembangkan dari negara ke negara disebabkan penyampaian ilmu yang sangat bagus oleh pensyarah saya. Saya suka mendengar cerita-cerita dan isu semasa yang disampaikan oleh pensyarah. Ini membuatkan saya lebih memahami apa yang saya pelajari dalam kursus ini. Pensyarah mengatakan topik terakhir adalah yang paling penting bagi pelajar komputeran Kewujudan sains dan teknologi banyak memudahkan kerja-kerja harian kita. Masyarakat di dunia dapat hidup dengan lebih selesa, aman dan mudah. Walaubagaimanapun, sains dan teknologi juga boleh mengakibatkan kesan buruk kepada pembangunan negara, alam sekitar dan juga sosial. Sesetengah manusia pada zaman sekarang berlumba-lumba untuk menghasilkan teknologi yang lebih canggih sehingga tidak memikirkan hal-hal persekitaran. Kecanggihan senjata yang semakin hebat boleh menyebabkan kemusnahan yang teruk kepada alam sekitar dan boleh menyebabkan jumlah kematian yang banyak jika berlaku peperangan antara beberapa negara. Oleh itu, dalam penghasilan sains teknologi, manusia perlulah menerapkan nilai-nilai kemanusiaan agar dapat membentuk insan-insan yang maju serta berperikemanusiaan. Kesannya, kemajuan dan pembangunan dalam sains dan teknologi tidak disalahgunakan dan tidak memberikan keburukan kepada masyarakat. Manusia memainkan peranan yang sangat penting dalam menjaga alam ini. 

1) What have I learned from this course?

On the first class, for the first agenda, lecturer told us to do a name tag using a piece of paper and put it on the table. The purpose of this activity was for the lecturer to recognize faces and names of the students in the class. Next, the lecturer told us to find a partner and talk to each other about ourselves. My partner’s name is Anika and she is an international student from Bangladesh. She is older than me and I need to speak full in English with her. So, this session trained me to speak in English with an older international student. We also got to know with other students as the lecturer called for some students and told them to introduce their partner in front of the class.

For the second agenda, lecturer told us about the importance of this course. This course is important because it is as requirement, fundamentals for our studies in UTM and also for our future career. The third agenda, the lecturer explained about the course information. The synopsis of this course is, the course aims that the students will understand and apply attribute of UTM graduate skills. This course will guide the student in developing basic skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership, thinking, adaptability, global citizenship, scholarship and enterprising skills. This course will also make the student be well-prepared to face the real challenging world. Students will involve in many activities like individual project or group project in this course.

The lecture also gave us information about the first assignment which was an essay assignment. The lecturer not allow us to do the essay on paper as we must save the environment. We were told to submit it to UTM e-learning portal.

On the second class, we learnt about employability. The lecturer showed us a video from Youtube about job interview. The video was very funny but it has many important things that we must learn from it. There were many people that came to the interview but only one person got accepted for the job. In the video we learnt that attitude is everything. We must be confident with ourselves. We also should not give up on something easily. Even though there is no one that trust or stand up for you, you should trust yourself and believe that you can do anything. With a positive mind, the impossible things can become possible.

We also learnt the top five reasons fresh graduates do not get hired. The reasons are, during interview, they asking for unrealistic salary, poor command of the English language, choosy about the job, poor communication skills and poor character, attitude or personality. There are factors that give an extra advantage for the fresh graduates to get hired such as has held a leader position, has high academic scores, involves in extracurricular activities and also has done volunteer work. Many fresh graduates from local universities lack of soft skills. We learnt about the word employability that means the skills and abilities that allow you to be employed.

In this class, we also discussed about graduates attributes, such as communicating skills, thinking skills, scholarship, team-working skills, adaptability, global citizen and enterprising skills. The lecturer asked some students which one of those skills is the first one we must have. There were various of answers from the students. Then, the lecturer told that, there was no wrong answer. It can be any from those to be the first. I learned that if we mastered up all these skills, we will have a higher chance to get employed.

On our third class, I learned about scholarship skills. It is about information management skills and lifelong learning skills. The first aspect of scholarship is, able to search and manage relevant information from various of sources. Second aspect of scholarship is, able to accept new ideas and capable in doing independent learning. The third aspect of scholarship is, able to expand curiosity and gaining more knowledge. The fourth aspect of scholarship is, able to conduct systematic research. I learned scholarship means good thinker, good researcher, good reader, good writer, good reviewer and also good presenter.

Then, lecturer divided us into 5 groups and told us to choose one topic. The topics are being a successful student, being a good son and daughter, being a responsible citizen, being a good leader, being a good servant of God. My group chose the topic of being a responsible citizen. The lecturer gave us 20 minutes to discuss in group about the topic we chose. All groups must appoint one leader to become the group representative. My group had chosen Chien Li as the group leader. Each group leader came in front and did a forum for 30 minutes. So, each leader spoke for around 5 minutes one by one about their chosen topic. I learned that to be a holistic human, you need to be a person like mentioned in all the topics.

I believe that this world will be a better place if all people being a holistic human. When there are many successful students, they can invent many new good things that will bring goodness in our country. By being a good son or daughter, it can make a whole family live happily. By being a responsible citizen, there will be no fights between all people around the world because we care and respect on each other. By being a good leader, it can make people follow the good actions, can lead and do a project together easily without facing many problems. Being a good servant of God is the first important for me. All religions teach us to be a good person. So, if all people are good servants to their God, there will be no people do evil things. We must cooperate in doing good things so that we can live happily and calmly in this world.

On the fourth class, I learned about communication skills. The first activity was forming groups assignment. Lecturer was the one who decided our group members. After that, lecturer gave us a short lecture about communicating skills. Communications skills involves in presentation, oration, debate, forum, teaching, job, interview, article, writing and also Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp update.

The activity for that day was oration. All students must be talking in front of the class for 2 or 3 minutes. We got to choose the topic that we want to talk. The lecturer gave us 2 minutes to plan for speaking. I quickly searched anything topics on the internet. After the 2 minutes ended, the lecturer called for the first name by looking to the list names. I was really glad that I was not the first one to speak so that I still have time to plan my speak. All the called names were good at speaking and it made me more nervous. Not more than half students excluded me got to speak in front on that day as time was not enough. There were some students who spoke more than 3 minutes until it took other students time.

This taught me that time is precious. Even though it is just a second, we should not waste our time, it can make the things not work as well as we planned. The other students will continue the oration on the other week. From this activity, I learned that we should confident and calm when speaking in front of many people so that we can deliver our talk fluently. There are some tips of effective communication. One of the tips is, fluent does not mean fast, we should talk calmly so that we can think about the words we want to use before we speak. Next, we should master the specific language such as English so that we use the correct words when we speak in front. What’s more, we should really know about the topic that we want to talk. We should be able to think fast and our voice must be clear but that does not mean we should be so loud when we talk.

Communication skills is the important thing when we go for an interview. If we can speak nicely during the interview, the interviewer would make us pass our interview. We can predict someone attitude by focusing on how they speak. That is the reason the communication skill is important for everyone especially for fresh graduates who wanted to find a job.

(2) How will I advance my learning for the next part of the semester?
I will advance my learning for the next part of the semester by speaking in English to many people to practice my communication skills. I can do this by taking part in any activities that have in UTM. When I communicate with many people, I can higher up my confidence when I am talking. It can make me stay calm when speak in front of people. When I join activities that involves group, it can practice my teamwork skills with the group members. When I become a group leader, I can practice to be a good leader.

(3) What challenges have I faced and how will I solve them?
The challenges that I have faced were communicate with group members that are international students and teamwork problem in group assignment. For the first challenge, this was my first time on having group members from other countries. It is hard for me to speak with them in full English because I rarely speak English when I am with my friends. Sometimes, it was hard for me to find the exact word to use when talking to them so that they can understand what I was saying. The solution is, I downloaded an application which is e-dictionary. Thus, when I do not know the words in English, I quickly search it in the e-dictionary. Sometimes, I also ask my Malaysian group member for the English words. For the second challenge, when our group wanted to do discussion for the group assignment, there were always one or two of our group members cannot attend. It happens every time we wanted to do the group discussion. It stressed me because we cannot finish our assignment quick. When there were only two of us from a group of four members, it was hard for us to find ideas and solutions for our assignment. To solve this problem, I asked them their free time and we make plan on when we will have the group discussion and free my time on their free time. Everyone must be tolerate on each other so that we can do the assignment easier without having any fights.

Pensyarah Dinamika Malaysia, Encik Hassan bin Husyin, telah mengarahkan kami untuk menghadiri ceramah yang bertajuk Negara Rahmah Ummah Sejahtera yang disampaikan oleh Pegawai Khas YB Menteri Agama, Ustaz Ali bin Muda. Ceramah ini dianjurkan oleh Pusat Islam UTM Johor dengan kerjasama Yadim. Ceramah ini diadakan pada 21 November 2019 bermula jam 8.15 pagi sehingga jam 10 pagi yang bertempat di Masjid Sultan Ismail, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

            Banyak pengajaran yang telah saya perolehi dengan menghadiri ceramah ini. Tajuk tersebut amat relevan dengan masyarakat di negara kita kerana negara kita terdiri dengan masyarakat yang, pelbagai kaum, agama dan budaya. Ustaz ada mengatakan, maksud rahmah ialah sayang, santun, belas kasihan dan ambil berat. Allah maha pemurah kerana memberikan nikmat kepada semua manusia tidak megira agama. Allah melarang kita daripada bersifat zalim antara sesama makhluk di muka bumi ini. Kita perlu mencontohi sifat rahmah dengan tidak hanya melalui percakapan malah perbuatan.

            Suami isteri perlulah saling bantu-membantu dengan tidak membebankan sebelah pihak dalam menguruskan hal rumahtangga. Kesannya, sesuatu keluarga itu akan mempunyai nilai kasih sayang yang tinggi dalam hubungan kekeluargaan. Kita sebagai manusia perlulah bersifat rahmah kepada semua manusia dengan tidak menyindir dan berburuk sangka kepada sesiapa. Kita perlulah hormat-menghormati sesama manusia. Kita juga perlulah bertanggungjawab menjaga kebersihan alam sekitar. Kita perlu buat sesuatu kebaikan tanpa mengharapkan balasan. Lakukan dengan hati yang ikhlas. Jangan gunakan nama Islam untuk mempertahankan diri dalam perbuatan yang salah. Kita juga perlulah mematuhi masa.

           Akhir kata,  Gagasan ‘rahmatan lil alamin’ adalah satu pendekatan besar yang dibawa oleh pihak kerajaan ke arah melahirkan sebuah negara ‘rahmah’. Setiap individu perlulah memainka peranan masing-masing dengan mengamalkan sifat-sifat rahmah agar kita dapat hidup bermasyarakat dalam keadaan yang aman sejahtera.