Presentation time !

This was an interesting lecture again. Though the majority of us don't really like to do presentations, we 'must' do one or two at the end of each semester. So this time we have a presentation due for LFS throughout the next two weeks for which this session was very important.

The basic structure of a formal presentation is,

• Introduction

A brief description of what the presentation is going to be about and even introduce your self to the audience so that the audience will be aware of what you are going to talk about.

• Body

This is where all the facts relating to the topic is going to be included. A further description about the topic will be written under different sub topics along with necessary examples.

• Conclusion

Finally you state the topic and summarize everything that you've spoken earlier for the listeners to make it easy to understand and recall what you had spoken throughout the presentation.

Delivery guidelines

• Speak clearly
• Maintain pace without rushing in to everything or going too slow
• Have a slight pause where ever needed but not unnecessarily
• Have pitch variations accordingly
• Face the audience without turning your back to them
• Maintain eye contact with the audience to make sure that they are on the same track as you are
• Speak loud enough so that the whole audience can hear you
• Maintain good posture, hand gestures and facial expressions to make it more interesting

Visual aids

• Use appropriate visual aids
• Limit the number of slides if it is a power point presentation
• Have the facts in point form in the slides without having paragraphs with a whole lot of information in them
• Use colors which are visible when it's shown through a projector (black, red, blue)
• Before the presentation begins check whether the relevant audio or video clips are working properly

Group presentations

• Allocate topics to each speaker to avoid two people talking at the same time
• Rehearse well together with all the team members and time the whole presentation
• Be aware of each other's parts just in case a group member fails to show up at the presentation

The following link includes further guidelines on how to do a good presentation:
http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Presentation.html
http://go.owu.edu/~dapeople/ggpresnt.html

Research paper

This day was an extra lecture which we all had to stay for because the lecture for the session was the most important for our assignment. How to write a research paper?

There are 6 main parts of a properly set research paper

1. Introduction

This section is where the writer gives a description about the topic and what the research is about. Along with a brief description on what is included throughout the document and the objective/s of doing such a research are also stated in here.

2. Problem analysis

Analyzing the problem (topic) on which the research is done and the background of the topic is written in here.

3. Literature survey

This is the section of the research paper where most of the information gathered will be written in. The information and quotations from other articles, books, research papers, etc. are used to build up a strong research.

4. Critical evaluation

The comparison and contrast of different statements by different sources/people are written in here.

5. Recommendations

The recommendations which could help improvement in the area of the topic are stated here and this is done by the author's ideas.

6.Conclusion

The ending of the research paper with the last decision taken by analyzing the whole research is written in here.


Further guidelines on how to write a good research paper could be read through following links:
http://www.riosalado.edu/library/tutorials/studySkills/Pages/writingAresearchpaper.aspx

Referencing

This was a very important lecture for us although we've listened to this topic from the time we came to APIIT. It's all because 15% of our assignment marks are based on proper referencing skills. So in order to be on the safe side without being caught for plagiarism and to score marks it's always good to think twice about referencing because no one wants to get a zero after working so hard to finish off an assignment. The type of referencing we should use is Harward referencing style.
According to what Dr. Mahesha taught us, there are 6 golden rules in applying Harward referencing to our document.

But in Mr. Rehan's method everything about Harward referencing is brought down to 10 rules which looked hard to understand the beginning but was quite easy at the end.

1. When author's name is naturally in the sentence
        According to Weber (2000), ......
   
2. When name and year does not appear in the sentence
        "Global warming is going high" (Edward, 2009)
   
3. If the same author had published many documents in the same year you add lower case letters to each year
        Jonson (1995a)....
   
4. When there are two authors for the document
        Peter and Cornford (1998)....
   
5. When there are more than one author for the document (et al)
        (William et al, 1990)
   
6. If the work is anonymous (Anon)
        (Anon, 2000)
   
7. Newspaper article with no author
        (The daily mirror, 2012)
   
8. When a source which was quoted in another source is referred
        Smith (1960 cited Jones 1994)
   
9. Referring to a contributor in a source
        (Brad, 2001)
   
10. When referring to a person who is quoted in someone else's work mention the source name and the author too
         Edward Cullen said ................. (Taylor, 2010)
    
    So this lesson was kind of boring because we've listened to it alot but important since no matter how many times we learn but still we do mistakes.

Note Taking

Note taking is an important strategy used specially during a lecture. These notes are very important when it comes to the end of a semester or an exam because these can be used to revise the previous lessons. Note taking is done not only during lectures but when reading textbooks, group discussions, and of course any time when you come across information which is important for later reference.

In order to take notes while reading a textbook, etc. a proper reading technique is also important. So one of the easy methods of effective reading is the SQ4R study reading method.
S = Survey
Q = Question
R = Read
R = Recite
R = Rite
R = Review

This is a very useful and easy method to use because it's not complicated and easy for students to understand. Through these links a wider explanation of the SQ4R study reading method will be shown.
http://www.utpb.edu/media/pdf/literacycenter/sq4rstudyreadingmethod.pdf

Another method used is Blooms Taxonomy which was introduced by Benjamin Bloom (1956). There are 3 main domains of that method which are Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor. (nwlink, 2010)
There are 6 main components in this method shown by Bloom,

(nwlink, 2010)

There are 5 main methods of effective note taking,

1. Cornell system

2. Outlining method

3. Column notes

4. Graphical organization

5. Charting

The method that I find as the most suitable and easiest is the Cornell system because of the less complexity of it.

(montgomerycollege, 2012)

A full description of how to use the Cornell system in an effective way is shown in the link below.

http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/enreadtp/Cornell.html

Teamwork

This is a lecture which I missed due to some reason but it is indeed an interesting topic. So I'll just talk about what I personally feel about team work and  team. The word "teamwork" itself tells about the meaning of it which means working in a team while co-operating the other team members.

In order to work in a team and reach their goal a person (team member) should have some qualities to develop team working skills such as,

• respecting other's opinions and ideas
• support each other and have a good bond between each other
• do the part which has been assigned to you on time and in the best way possible
• appreciate other members work
• have equal rights for everyone

Except for those common qualities of a team member, there are some good qualities that a team leader should develop too. Such as,

• Respecting every team member's opinion rather than making the whole team work according to your personnel idea
• Motivate the team members and get them to do their respective part for the team
• care for all members equally without bias
• plan everything beforehand
• be a good example for the rest of the team members so that they have the ability to look up to the leader when ever they need help with something

These are what I find as good qualities of a leader and a team member. So by developing the above mentioned skills it is possible to build a perfect team and reach your goal. Another main thing that team work teaches everyone is to work and bond with everyone of different races, cultures, classes, etc. so it is specially important for kids since they learn their basics at the younger age so that there won't be a big problem for them when working in teams in future, and also for people in any age who have problems in communicating and interacting with different types of people.

Everyone can't be a leader because it takes something special to lead a group of people, but anyone can contribute for the team and prove that team effort and team spirit could make a change. The perfect example for this would be our class charity/trip which went perfectly as we planned and was awesome !! So most of the class contributed in different ways as though some couldn't join us on that day they still contributed through donations. That was a really good team effort !

I think I have that quality up to a certain extent because I don't find it difficult to work in a group and achieve our goal, but of course there may be problems when it comes to hard situations and people to deal with but so far it's been alright.

The debate !!

Sorry for the late update but this is about a session I enjoyed the most. it was the first (and sadly the last until now) debate which was held between two teams in our class. Though it was the teams which were debating, the rest of us who were the audience also got a chance to speak up about any facts and points we had. and that was the part that i enjoyed !
The topic was "School teachers ruin children's creativity" which was the proposing team's topic. Each team had four members and even the audience was divided into two sections as the ones who agree with the proposing team and the rest of them who were with the opposing team. I was in the opposing team because something I've realized from my school life is that though there are few teachers who try to ruin children's lives for their own advantage, there is a whole lot of teachers who are willing to help any student who shows up with some talent, and I was one of them who got a lot of guidance and help from my school teachers to do what I wanted to do and be myself at school (as a good girl always) :D
As the debate went on I realized that the members of the proposing team had done a little more research than the ones in the opposing team but still the opposing team had some good points with them. The debate went on and both teams seem to be on the same standard so even I couldn't figure out who the winning team would be.
throughout the debate I was really in need to speak up about what i had to add to the opposing team's points but i didn't think that I'll get a chance until sir finally told that people in the audience can contribute as well. So surprising everyone in the class (because I normally don't talk that much) I took the opportunity and presented my point about the topic. What was included in what i spoke was mainly that it is the child who should go to their teachers and talk about or get advice after identifying any talents they've got because the teacher is not able to find out about each and every talent or creativity in each and every student. So it is up to the child to get help from the teachers at first, for example if there is a child with a creative mind and some kind of talent but sitting in the corner of the class without even talking much, then it's very unfair to blame the teacher for not identifying the talent of that particular child because it's a hard task and he/she has to focus on each and every child. But after finding out the hidden creativity inside the child I'm pretty sure that the most teachers are willing to help them in many possible ways. Even I was surprised whether it was me who was talking and I was soo enthusiastic that day :D
Finally miss manesha gave the results as choosing the opposing team as the winning team and then sir discussed with the class about what had been presented that day and I was happy that sir agreed with my point of view :)
I was so excited to join the next debate for the following week but unfortunately there were not enough volunteers  to participate in it, so it got cancelled and no more debates were held so far.
That certainly encouraged me to join toastmasters so hopefully i'll be joining it next week... waiting for it !

The topic about creativeness was continued to another session with giving an opportunity to show everyone's creativeness. The topic given was to make something useful out of something which is not useful. This was more than just making something because we had to think about the topic too. So the whole class brought something creative on that day except for a few guys who didn't bring anything. It was pretty interesting because we found out that different people have different areas of creativeness. 

From the time the topic was given, the best idea which cam to my mind was to make a pen holder from the use of a bamboo. So i found a good piece of bamboo from the help of my father and then painted it with fabric paint. When starting to paint i didn't have any idea of what i was going to paint but finally i got a beautiful design of hearts which was very colorful.

Likewise many different creations were made by my colleagues too. Such as, Flower baskets, wedding cake box, till using a half cut coke bottle, pencil which looked like a pen, bracelet made with tamarind seeds, dessert cup using the coconut shell, purse out of leather, collage done by thrown away beads and cloth, and more pen holders but made with different material. It was really interesting !

This was my pen holder made out of bamboo.

Author's work,2012

So eventually the people who claimed that they are not creative finally came out with a creative invention and understood that they are also creative. I think that was the whole point of doing that activity.

CreAtiVEneSs

Another lecture which was very interesting and helpful to figure out that everyone has some kind of ability, talent in them. The very first thing Mr. Rehan wanted us to do was to tell whether each of think that we are creative or talented in some way. So according to the responses the class was divided in to two groups on either side. There was almost 50% in either side which meant that half of the class thinks that they are not creative while the rest thinks that they are creative in some way and has positive thoughts.
I'm a person who always want to think in a positive way but there are a lot of times that I've failed too. But this time i took a step and went to the creative people's side because I believe in myself and know that I'm creative in some way. At that moment I was not prepared to give an answer to the question "why do you think you are creative?" but later on when Mr. Rehan wanted everyone to think of a reason as to why they think they are creative/not creative, I started thinking about myself to come up with an answer.

So after going through a rough thinking session in my mind, i decided to tell the class about my 'passion for fashion' because i'm the one who designs my own dresses if its being sewed. But then again I thought about singing because i believe that i have some kind of ability to sing and that's something i really enjoy doing at my leisure time. I was kind of afraid that sir would ask me to sing in front of the whole class when i was not at all ready, so i decided to think of something else. By this time everyone had come up with their ability or creativeness but I was still thinking of what to tell. Finally when sir was about to ask me one of the activities i really really enjoyed during school days struck my head. Announcing !! I used to be kinda the main announcer back in school and I've even compered in school shows all by my self. That was the best thing to tell so I told about announcing. Then again I knew that a question would come back to me because I'm not quite the "announcer" type at APIIT but the quiet girl who doesn't talk much (but non stop talking with friends). So I told him that I used to be a different person back in school, but I'm very happy because even after coming to APIIT I still got the chance to do announcing at some of the school functions. I really do miss my school life because that's the place which made me understand my talents and helped me a lot to develop them.

I've heard many elders say that there's nothing like school life, and I do agree with them because it was one of the best times of my life too :) But coming to APIIT sure did give me some awesome friends and a whole new experience ! :)

Coming back to the topic, at the end of the session I think all of the students realized that they have some kind of creativeness, ability or talent in them which they haven't identified but their friends have. For the people who still think that they are not creative, someday you'll figure out that you are creative, you just have to work on it after you find out what it is. Remember, everyone is creative !

Self Evaluation

Another lecture of LFS was conducted specially in order to make everyone understand about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each of us. According to the handout which was given by Mr. Rehan, the strengths that I identified in my self were mostly under the people section. The points that i found out as strengths in me are listed below:

• Ability to get on with people from different backgrounds
• Ability to see and understand other people's point of view
• Dealing with the general public
• Teamwork
• Teaching or training others
• Helping others to arrive at decisions
• Being sensitive to other's feelings
• Caring for others
• Ability to read other people's body language
• Courage to speak out against injustice

The stuff that I identified in myself under the activities section are:

• Creativity, design and layout
• Making decisions
• Word-processing
• Computer literacy
• Working with numbers
• Problem solving

Personal qualities in myself according to the handout are:

• Ability to recognize my own needs and ask for help
• Ability to set my own goals
• Trust in my own abilities

So basically all the other points which are not mentioned here can be noted as the weaknesses in me or areas in which I should develop in.

According to what have been discussed previously, there is no 100% perfect human being on earth in the author's view. So everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses which should be developed accordingly.
So this is another step in finding out about our selves. Who we are and what we can do.

Today was fun during the lfs lecture because it was live and active which gave a chance for everyone in the class to participate. At first the whole class was told to make a plane from the use of an A4 sheet (which was actually a rocket). By sending the rockets inside the class, the skill of each person in making a rocket was shown where only one rocket could reach the target and the others were close. Something that the author understood through it is that a person can always improve his/her skills in a particular area by following correct instructions and practicing.

Throughout the next session a discussion (rather a debate) was conducted by the students of the class (mostly boys) by presenting each person's view on the statement "Can imperfection create perfection". One thing that everyone should agree with, is that there is nothing called perfection because there is a development happening in everything, some where in the world everyday. So being perfect is impossible because there is some kind of weakness in whatever one does, according to the author's view (which also means that all of us are imperfect too). Another main point raised during the discussion was that the status or measurement of perfectness depends on each other's point of view and it can have different measures according to different situations. So in order to reach that particular status which one calls as perfection, he/she should keep on doing a certain thing until that maximum point is reached which also includes developing that particular skill, etc. which could probably lead to invention of something new. And in that case the status called as perfection by someone, will be taken higher. So it continues on and on until a person is satisfied and confident that he/she is perfect or even is close to perfection.

Anyway it was a really interesting session today so hope the rest of the semester will also be interesting and enjoyable like this :)

The second lecture for the week was where the topics were divided among the students as seven people for each topic and explained about them. The lecturer also explained about what kind of study activities there will be in the coming weeks such as debates, speeches, etc. Since this is a reflective blog, the author's views and ideas about the presentations done in the class will also be added in here along with an evaluation and analysis about them.

The first day of the semester was included with the beginning of the lecture "Learning for Success". we were supposed to create a reflective blog which should be continued till the 12th week of the semester. the stuff we learn during the 12 weeks are to be analyzed and presented throughout this blog.