Cara Mengulangkaji Pelajaran.

Antara perkara-perkara yang anda harus lakukan dalam proses mengulangkaji adalah:

1. Membaca dan menyemak nota-nota kuliah sambil melengkapkan yang kurang. Ini akan memantapkan kefahaman dan ingatan anda terhadap subjek berkenaan.
2. Membaca/menjawab soalan-soalan buku-buku rujukan. Tujuannya untuk memastikan anda benar-benar faham setiap prinsip, isu dan fakta yang dimuatkan.
3. Menjawab soalan-soalan latihan/tutorial. Ini akan membolehkan anda menguji kefahaman anda mengenai sesuatu topik dan anda bersedia menjawab soalan yang sama dalam peperiksaan.
4. Mengkaji/menjawab contoh-contoh jawapan peperiksaan UPS/PSPM tahun-tahun lepas. Ini akan membolehkan anda membiasakan diri menjawab soalan-soalan peperiksaan dengan lebih yakin dan pantas.
5. Berbincang dengan rakan-rakan. Selain ini membolehkan anda mengenalpasti sama ada anda sudah cukup bersedia atau tidak menghadapi peperiksaan, pada masa yang sama, anda juga boleh mendapat penjelasan tentang bahagian-bahagian yang anda kurang faham dari rakan anda yang mungkin sudah menguasai bahan pelajaran itu.

Strategi Belajar Cara Belajar

Sesi perkolahan yang terhad membuatkan pelajar sukar memperoleh semua maklumat terkini. Mereka perlu mencari sendiri untuk mendapat semua maklumat tersebut. Pendek kata belajar sendiri. Belajar cara belajar bermaksud proses untuk memperoleh teknik belajar sama ada bersama guru atau tanpa guru ( Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum, KPM 2001).

Belajar cara belajar lebih menekankan usaha pelajar sendiri untuk mendapat ilmu pengetahuan dan kemahiran. Pelajar perlu menentukan halatuju sendiri dalam menuntut ilmu. Mereka boleh menggunakan bahan sedia ada, kawan dan sumber lain untuk memperoleh ilmu.

Bagi menjayakan pembelajaran tersebut, pelajar perlu berperanan sebagai,

1. Mempunyai satu strategi pembelajaran yang berkesan
2. Mempunyai motivasi kendiri yang jitu bagi meneruskan pembelajaran
3. Mempunyai satu matlamat yang jelas dan dirasakan dapat dicapai
4. Melakukan semua perkara sepertimana yang telah dirancang
5. Mempunyai satu rekod pencapaian kendiri bagi analisis diri
6. Merefleksi diri sendiri
7. Berbangga dengan diri sendiri atas kejayaan yang dicapai

Setelah pelajar telah berjaya melakukan semua peranan tersebut, mereka perlu mengetahui cara bagaimana untuk mencapai semua itu. Cara-cara tersebut adalah melalui,

1. Mendengar secara berkesan.

Semasa sesi pembelajaran, pelajar perlu mendengar dengan penuh konsentrasi. Guru memberi semua maklumat penting. Ayat atau perkataan yang sering diulang memberi maksud fakta atau perkara Itu penting.

2. Membaca secara berkesan.

Ini boleh dicapai melalui kaedah membaca yang betul. Kaedah yang perlu dipelajari ialah luncuran, imbasan, intensif dan laju.

3. Mencatat nota secara berkesan.

Pelajar perlu mempelajari cara mencatat nota penting. Bukan menyalin nota. Nota panjang tidak memberi apa-apa makna jika pelajar gagal mengingat apa yang mereka tulis. Nota pendek dan berkesan memberi seribu makna kepada anda. Nota perlu diberi nafas baru. Kaedah KBKK dan warna dapat menarik perhatian anda untuk terus membaca dan mengingat.

4. Menulis secara berkesan.

Pelajar digalakkan menulis perkara-perkara yang penting sahaja. Menulis akan menjadi sia-sia apabila nota panjang menjela tidak memberi apa-apa makna kepada diri anda.

5. Mengingat secara berkesan.

Pelajar perlu mempelajari cara mengingat yang betul. Dengan kaedah menulis, mencatat dan mengintrepasikan nota dalam bentuk menarik, menjadikan maklumat dipelajari mudah diingat. Ingatan memori yang berpanjangan dan berkekalan memudahkan anda mencapai markah yang baik dalam peperiksaan.

Kaedah pembelajaran ini berasaskan strategi pemusatan pelajar dan merangkumi bidang kognitif, psikomotor dan efektif. Strategi pemusatan pelajar memerlukan pelajar memainkan peranan penting dan guru sebagai pembimbing. Komunikasi antara guru dan pelajar adalah secara dua hala, pelajar digalakkan memberi pendapat, mementingkan kaedah berkumpulan dan pelajar menunjukkan sifat kreatif dan berinisiatif.

Sumber: http://www.mudahbelajar.com/?p=61

Mathematics Study Skills

Active Study vs. Passive Study
Be actively involved in managing the learning process, the mathematics and your study time:
• Take responsibility for studying, recognizing what you do and don't know, and knowing how to get your Instructor to help you with what you don't know.
• Attend class every day and take complete notes. Instructors formulate test questions based on material and examples covered in class as well as on those in the text.
• Be an active participant in the classroom. Get ahead in the book; try to work some of the problems before they are covered in class. Anticipate what the Instructor's next step will be.
• Ask questions in class! There are usually other students wanting to know the answers to the same questions you have.
• Go to office hours and ask questions. The Instructor will be pleased to see that you are interested, and you will be actively helping yourself.
• Good study habits throughout the semester make it easier to study for tests.
Studying Math is Different from Studying Other Subjects
• Math is learned by doing problems. Do the homework. The problems help you learn the formulas and techniques you do need to know, as well as improve your problem-solving prowess.
• A word of warning: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You must keep up with the Instructor: attend class, read the text and do homework every day. Falling a day behind puts you at a disadvantage. Falling a week behind puts you in deep trouble.
• A word of encouragement: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You're always reviewing previous material as you do new material. Many of the ideas hang together. Identifying and learning the key concepts means you don't have to memorize as much.

College Math is Different from High School Math
A College math class meets less often and covers material at about twice the pace that a High School course does. You are expected to absorb new material much more quickly. Tests are probably spaced farther apart and so cover more material than before. The Instructor may not even check your homework.
• Take responsibility for keeping up with the homework. Make sure you find out how to do it.
• You probably need to spend more time studying per week - you do more of the learning outsideof class than in High School.
• Tests may seem harder just because they cover more material.

Study Time
You may know a rule of thumb about math (and other) classes: at least 2 hours of study time per class hour. But this may not be enough!
• Take as much time as you need to do all the homework and to get complete understanding of the material.
• Form a study group. Meet once or twice a week (also use the phone). Go over problems you've had trouble

The importance of mathematics

The everyday use of arithmetic and the display of information by means of graphs, are an everyday commonplace. These are the elementary aspects of mathematics. Advanced mathematics is widely used, but often in an unseen and unadvertised way.

• The mathematics of error-correcting codes is applied to CD players and to computers.
• The stunning pictures of far away planets sent by Voyager II could not have had their crispness and quality without such mathematics.
• Voyager's journey to the planets could not have been calculated without the mathematics of differential equations.
• Whenever it is said that advances are made with supercomputers, there has to be a mathematical theory which instructs the computer what is to be done, so allowing it to apply its capacity for speed and accuracy.
• The development of computers was initiated in this country by mathematicians and logicians, who continue to make important contributions to the theory of computer science.
• The next generation of software requires the latest methods from what is called category theory, a theory of mathematical structures which has given new perspectives on the foundations of mathematics and on logic.
• The physical sciences (chemistry, physics, oceanography, astronomy) require mathematics for the development of their theories.
• In ecology, mathematics is used when studying the laws of population change.
• Statistics provides the theory and methodology for the analysis of wide varieties of data.
• Statistics is also essential in medicine, for analysing data on the causes of illness and on the utility of new drugs. .
• Travel by aeroplane would not be possible without the mathematics of airflow and of control systems.
• Body scanners are the expression of subtle mathematics, discovered in the 19th century, which makes it possible to construct an image of the inside of an object from information on a number of single X-ray views of it. Thus mathematics is often involved in matters of life and death.

Which Type of Learner Are You ?

LEFT (Analytic)	RIGHT (Global)
Successive Hemispheric Style	Simultaneous Hemispheric Style
1. Verbal	1. Visual
2. Responds to word meaning	2. Responds to tone of voice
3. Sequential	3. Random
4. Processes information linearly	4. Processes information in varied order
5. Responds to logic	5. Responds to emotion
6. Plans ahead	6. Impulsive
7. Recalls people's names	7. Recalls people's faces
8. Speaks with few gestures	8. Gestures when speaking
9. Punctual	9. Less punctual
10. Prefers formal study design	10. Prefers sound/music background while studying
11. Prefers bright lights while studying	11. Prefers frequent mobility while studying

Mathematical Modelling

Modelling activity

Mathematical modelling, often referred to as the modelling cycle, can be represented by a diagram: 

The key stages in this modelling process can be summarized as: 

1. SPECIFY THE PURPOSE - define the problem and decide on the aspects of the problem to investigate.
2. CREATE THE MODEL - state simplifying assumptions; choose variables and parameters and formulate mathematical relationships.
3. DO THE MATHEMATICS - solve equations, draw graphs and derive results.
4. INTERPRET RESULTS - describe mathematical solution in words; perform sensitivity analysis; decide what results to compare with reality and collect relevant data.
5. EVALUATE THE MODEL - test the model by comparing it with reality and criticise the model.

Inspirational Quotes On Time Management

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
-- H. Jackson Brown

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."
-- Michael Altshuler

"A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times."
-- Baltasar Gracian


"Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas. But can it really?...True effectiveness requires balance."
-- Stephen Covey


"Never let yesterday use up today."
-- Richard H. Nelson

Bloom's Taxonomy

An Effective Textbook Study Strategy

Everyone looks for ways to be more successful. American executives strive to compete with aggressive foreign competitors, teachers seek ways to enrich student learning, and students, like you, search for ways to improve academic performance.

So, how can you, like a company president or a college professor, improve your chances for success? First, realize that whether your goal is to improve performance on a widget production line or a sociology final exam, the basic blueprint can be the same: you plan what you need to do; you implement your plan; you review how well you did. Then, since goals such as zero defects or, in your case, understanding more of what you read, can't always be met the first time you complete your plan, you view reading as a cycle instead of a one-shot activity.

PLAN: Pre-Reading Strategies Establish a good physical environment Relax and set a positive attitude Review instructions Review lecture notes Set your purpose Preview the assignment Organize your thoughts Determine what you want to know when you finish reading
	DO: Reading Strategies Be actively involved Check your comprehension as you read Restate ideas in your own words Form mental pictures Compare what you are reading to what you know Answer the questions you developed during pre-reading Fix-up your comprehension when needed Define unfamiliar words Keep problem on hold and hope it will clarify itself Re-read a portion of the text Compare information with notes or another source Ask someone for help
REVIEW: Post-Reading Strategies Consolidate and integrate information Answer questions Test yourself Participate in a study group Space review over time Decide what else you need to know

Researh Methods

SQ3R Study Method

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution of a problem. In 1953 the method was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied Imagination. Osborn proposed that groups could double their creative output with brainstorming.

Although brainstorming has become a popular group technique, when applied in a traditional group setting, researchers have not found evidence of its effectiveness for enhancing either quantity or quality of ideas generated. Because of such problems as distraction, social loafing, evaluation apprehension, and production blocking, conventional brainstorming groups are little more effective than other types of groups, and they are actually less effective than individuals working independently. In the Encyclopedia of Creativity, Tudor Rickards, in his entry on brainstorming, summarizes its controversies and indicates the dangers of conflating productivity in group work with quantity of ideas.

Although traditional brainstorming does not increase the productivity of groups (as measured by the number of ideas generated), it may still provide benefits, such as boosting morale, enhancing work enjoyment, and improving team work. Thus, numerous attempts have been made to improve brainstorming or use more effective variations of the basic technique.

Professor Olivier Toubia of Columbia University has conducted extensive research in the field of idea generation and has concluded that incentives are extremely valuable within the brainstorming context.

From these attempts to improve brainstorming, electronic brainstorming stands out. Mainly through anonymization and parallelization of input, electronic brainstorming enforces the ground rules of effective brainstorming and thereby eliminates most of the deleterious or inhibitive effects of group work. The positive effects of electronic brainstorming become more pronounced with groupsize.

Critical Thinking Skills

 Critical thinking involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed, or, concerning a given inference or argument, determining whether there is adequate justification to accept the conclusion as true. Hence, Fisher & Scriven define critical thinking as "skilled, active, interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information, and argumentation."Moore & Parker define it more naturally as the careful, deliberate determination of whether one should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim and the degree of confidence with which one accepts or rejects it.

Critical thinking gives due consideration to the evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making the judgment well, the applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment, and the applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance and fairness. 

In contemporary usage "critical" has the connotation of expressing disapproval, which is not always true of critical thinking. A critical evaluation of an argument, for example, might conclude that it is valid. Thinking is often casual and informal, whereas critical thinking deliberately evaluates the quality of thinking. In a seminal study on critical thinking and education in 1941, Edward Glaser writes that the ability to think critically involves three things:

1. An attitude of being disposed (state of mind regarding something) to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one's experiences,
2. Knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning,
3. Some skill in applying those methods.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It is also applied in educational planning.

A SWOT analysis must first start with defining a desired end state or objective. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model.

• Strengths: attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
• Weaknesses: attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective(s).
• Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective(s).
• Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the objective(s).

Problem-based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an exciting alternative to traditional classroom learning.

With PBL, your teacher presents you with a problem, not lectures or assignments or exercises.Since you are not handed "content", your learning becomes active in the sense that you discover and work with content that you determine to be necessary to solve the problem.

In PBL, your teacher acts as facilitator and mentor,

rather than a source of "solutions."

Problem based learning will provide you with opportunities to

• examine and try out what you know
• discover what you need to learn
• develop your people skills for achieving higher performance in teams
• improve your communications skills
• state and defend positions with evidence and sound argument
• become more flexible in processing information and meeting obligations
• practice skills that you will need after your education

Mastery Learning

Definition

Mastery learning proposes that all children can learn when provided with the appropriate learning conditions in the classroom.

Discussion

The application of mastery learning is based on Benjamin Bloom’s Learning for Mastery model, with refinements made by Block. Mastery learning is predominantly a group-based, teacher-paced instructional approach, in which students learn by cooperating with their classmates. However, some mastery learning strategies require students to work independently, rather than with classmates.

How Mastery Learning Affects Education

Curriculum–Mastery learning does not focus on content, but on the process of mastering it. This type of learning works best with the traditional content-focused curriculum, one based on well-defined learning objectives organized into smaller, sequentially organized units.

Instruction–This strategy captures many of the elements of successful tutoring and the independent functionality seen in high-end students. In a mastery learning environment, the teacher directs a variety of group-based instructional techniques. The teacher also provides frequent and specific feedback by using diagnostic, formative tests, as well as regularly correcting mistakes students make along their learning path.

Assessment–Teachers evaluate students with criterion-referenced tests rather then norm-referenced tests. Mastery learning ensures numerous feedback loops, based on small units of well-defined, appropriately sequenced outcomes.

Contextual Learning

According to Hull's (1993) definition of contextual learning, learning occurs only when learners connect information to their own frame of reference:

"According to contextual learning theory, learning occurs only when students (learners) process new information or knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them in their frame of reference (their own inner world of memory, experience, and response). This approach to learning and teaching assumes that the mind naturally seeks meaning in context--that is, in the environment where the person is located--and that it does so through searching for relationships that make sense and appear useful." (p. 41)

Karweit (1993) defines contextual learning as learning that is designed so that students can carry out activities and solve problems in a way that reflects the nature of such tasks in the real world. Research supports the effectiveness of learning in meaningful contexts (Carraher, Carraher & Schleimer, 1985; Lave, Smith & Butler, 1988).

Resnick (1987) points out that schools emphasize symbol manipulation and abstraction instead of the contextualized learning that is used in the world outside of school. She says the problem is that the symbols are detached from their real-world referents. Because they are decontextualized, they have no meaning for students.

Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:

• Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
• Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
• Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
• Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
• Musical intelligence ("music smart")
• Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
• Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
• Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

LISTENING SKILLS

5 Ways To Improve Your English

1. Read

Read anything English – books, magazines, brochures, catalogs, signboards and everything. If you’ve been accustomed to reading the newspaper in your mother tongue, choose the one in English from now on. Stick to it.

Set yourself a periodical target to achieve. For example, reading 2 books per month. Then, increase the load to 3 or 4 books. Mix the book genres according to your interest. Start slow and you will improve progressively.

Learning a language, especially a language which is foreign to you, is a gradual process. It takes time. Don’t be discouraged with the amount of new vocabs and grammar you learn every day.

2. Write

Write your first sentence in your sketch book, diary, journal, blog and so on. If you’re so scared that someone will see your writing and laugh at it, keep it a secret. Put under your mattress or something. If you blog, assume no one is reading it. Or keep it password-protected. As the time goes by, take your time to review back what you have written for the past 6 months. While the beginning of your ‘writing career’ may sound embarrassing, you will be surprised to see how well you actually can write and how much you have improved.

3. Speak, and don’t be afraid of mistakes

The easiest way to avoid mistake is to stop doing things and this is where people go wrong. They assume that those who make less mistake are the better learners, an assumption which is only true inside the classroom. In real world, people who make mistakes learn faster as the experience taught them invaluable lesson. So, start your English conversation with your parents, siblings, neighbours, classmates and peers. Don’t be intimidated when other people surrounding laugh at your attempt and your mistakes. See the difference after 1 month.

4. Watch English movies without subtitles

Watching English movies or programs without the subtitles sharpen your listening and auditory skills. Begin with those films or documentaries you have not watched before. Listen to what is being said and interpret the meaning of it, either implicitly or explicitly. Later, when you write, try recalling some of the phrases used in the movie and now you have combined your listening skill with your writing skill into one.

5. Join courses

When circumstances are right, pick and join an English course, which is easily available nearby your neighborhood, in schools or even online, where you can learn from the comfort of your own place. There are many levels of courses available and making the right choice seems to be a daunting task. But fret not. You can always discuss with the program provider to make an initial assessment on which level of English competency you have.