Reflective Journal Stepping forward to higher education level is going to be slightly different and more challenging than my previous

school. At first, I thought taking unibridge programme is going to be piece of cake just by looking at the modules offered for this programme but when the programme leader mentioned that there are repeaters for this programme and those who failed their modules have to pay again in order to sit for the exam. From here, I realised I have to work hard so that it is worth it paying $2,000 to proceed to my respective degree programme. Week 1-July 30 Today is a new beginning to continue my education at University of Brunei Darussalam as a unibridge student. The first lecture was held at CLT buiding which can accomodate more than 100 students. I was surprised knowing that there are a large number of unibridge students that will be sharing the same lecture hall for CU-0201 Introduction to university module. Ms Akmarul is the first lecturer for this module. First thing that we are going to learn is about the ethos of being in a university. During lecture time, I saw other student directly went out of the hall without asking permission from the lecturer and I thought it was rude to do so. Then I ask my peers why that particular student did not say a word when making their exit. My friend told me that student was actually going to the toilet and we do not have to ask the lecturer as it will distract her lecture as well as other student who are curious for this module. In university, there are a lot of things changed from my previous schools. In this case, teaching method being adopted in term of lectures and group work. We are expected to see our lecturer if we have doubt and quit dreaming of being spoon feed by the lecturer. Apart from that, lecturers applied varied approaches. Majority student of university are being assigned to do independent study where the students have to do research for it. Becoming a university student, we are expected to have the right attitude like being independence, selfmotivation, open minded to work with others and the capability to work things out ourselves. Also we should set objectives as it can enhance our work and be organise our time. Week 2-August 6 There is no lecture because of public holiday for Nuzul Al-Quran.

Week 3-August 13 Becoming part of university members, we must have research skill as it can be applied to everyday life by gathering reliable information. Sir Mar Aswandi is another lecturer for this module to lead us how to do effective research step by step. By doing research, it can be beneficial as it help students learn a great deal from well-planned research project. It also increase our self-confidence and improve our in a course. Apart from that, it will sharpen our critical-reading skills and it will assist us to write professionally. To make sure that we do the right things, we should consider making a rough draft and check it whether we encounter problems for our research. If there is a problem we can actually seek help from our supervisor, lectures and tutor. They are the one who can point out our weaknesses part and from there we can improve ourselves. This is the way we can enhance our grades. At this stage, we should not be afraid of looking for help from lecturers, supervisors or tutor. Even though we clearly know at first the feedback would not be desirable and sometimes annoying, we should try to listen to it to better ourselves. Making mistakes is not the end of the world as it is part of learning process. To develop a research strategy, it requires planning, a literature search, research hypothesis, a literature review, research design or methodology, collecting, collating and analyzing data, drawing and finally writing report. The lecturer mentioned that we should spend more time at the library as it better to gather the information from there which are more reliable and valid. For my opinion, in this modern era, getting the right information via internet is easier because there are many sources can be found. Even though some information can be collected from the internet, the information itself might not be up to date and sometimes the information we obtained cannot be used for academic writing. When doing a research, I think we should do it earlier because there are a lot of things that need to be done especially for me who work at slower pace in order to meet the deadline of any assignment given. Week 4-August 20 Another public holiday for Hari Raya Aidilfitri overlapped the schedule for today. Its Hari Raya Aidilfitri month and we should not expecting any celebration like our previous school. Week 5-August 27 The lecture for today is about reflective learning. It pointed out that we as a student in a higher education level not to be dependent on the assessment and views from other people

only. The important things is we have to think about ourselves through a process of analysis and reflection by finding out what we are good at and our weaknesses that need to be improved as well as our main priorities. By developing the right habits of reflection, it can actually help us study effectively. Developing reflection can be done we keep data about our progression daily. The data help us identify what we are lack of and the things that need to be improved. Week 6- September 3 I am really looking forward for this class on note taking topic because I noticed that I am too slow when it comes to copying notes from every lecture I have attended. I am aware that some the students did not copy anything from the slides as they just take picture with their camera or phones and I knew that after lecture ended the lecturers will upload the document on facebook. Those students used it that way in order to save time but the thing is if I followed their approach, I do not think I have learn something. I need to write something to get the whole pictures that need to be transmitted to my brain. That is the only way I can learn things. I wondered how they learn just stting down and take picture of the slides. Do they even write important notes pointed out by the lecturers? Ms Nor Arifahwati taught about note-taking strategies. The lecturer is way different from the previous lecturers of this module. She began her lecture by making interaction will all of us. I thought being in a university, most lecturers do not care about their students names since there are a huge number of them. I believe by learning the right note taking technique will guide me to be efficient and productive because with the right note taking skill, I could save more time. There is another problem I faced when copying important notes. I was not able to do multi task like writing and listening at the same time. The only solution I have is to choose which one I am good at. I would probably choose writing important notes rather than listening because some of the information is not clear for me and I tend to day dreaming if the topic did not catch my attention. The lecturer mentioned another way to take note is by recording during lecture period. Before we do that, we have to ask consent from the lecturer. After that, we did an activity on interviewing session. Each group must have at least one interviewer, interviewee, leader and two notes taker. The main focus on the activity is on note taking strategy. For this group activity, I became the note-taker to test my ability to record only important information. I am grateful that I was able to do the right thing.

Week 7-September 10 After learning todays lesson, I finally managed to boost up my knowledge on the true meaning of communication, factors which caused communication breakdown between the sender and the receiver and the very basic of communication. Every action that we do are being considered as part of communication. In university, there is no specific dress code, so it important for me to wear appropriate outfit as it symbolise myself image and self-esteem. Apart from that, I think I should adjust my volume and tone of voice when talking to anyone in order to avoid communication failure. The way to avoid this, I should adopt healthier lifestyle by getting sufficient time of sleep, be more productive, patience and listen carefully in order to get right ideas what other people are talking about. To be a good communicator, we should think carefully about how, when, where we will introduce our message as it will determine the outcome of the communication. Communication contains vital components as we have to give information, gather information and then making progress. Communication is a two-way street. Even though we have our own point of view, we should also listen to others views as it guide our point of view effectively. I think being a unibridge student is kind of lucky as we are going to be trained the right communication skills especially for presentation. I used to think presentation is just a waste of time and only require for those who will work dealing with public speaking. Now, I know that no matter what field we are working on in the future times require communication skill. There are pressures and problems arise regarding presentation. This week we are being given independent task by finding out the four type of academic writing. There are expository, persuasive, analytical and argumentative for academic writing. When it comes to expository essay, the crucial qualities required are based on how well we defined thesis, supply evidence to support our arguments and reasoning and the essay should be concise. For persuasive writing, the most important that should be done is we have to convince reader s regarding our opinion. Analytical essay is where we have to analyse, examine and interpret things like event, book, poem, play or other work of art. To write effective analytical essay, student should organised their ideas and they should avoid using slang language and contraction. This essay should be written in present tense. Students are expected to create title for their essay. Lastly, argumentative essay is similar to persuasive writing but the difference is that we are arguing for our opinion as opposed to others instead

of trying to persuade readers to adopt our point of view. Facts, quotes, statistics and examples can be applied in this essay to convince readers regarding our argument. Week 8-September 17 Today, we did our lecture during our semester break. Although it is kind of upsetting to have our class during our break after we have been through hectic schedule for other modules. In university level, academic comes first, we as a student should appreciate and respect the lecturer who willing to come to deepen our knowledge. The last topic that needs to be covered is on thinking and problem solving skills. The process of critical thinking involves in identifying other peoples positions, evaluating the evidence, read between the lines and presenting a point of view. The lecturer listed down the pressure and problem that arise for presentation. Each group are being assigned to come up with solutions to overcome each problem related to public speaking. After that, only one volunteer from each group to stand in front of the class and share the points they have. Some of them are so nervous to speak in front of hundred students and this a very good opportunity for them gain more experience. Most groups were able to outline solution that works on me. Week 9-September 24 This is the first week of presentation which coincidently happened to be on happy teachers day. Well, happy teachers day to my lecturers. There will be 3 pairs presenting. The three groups did a well done job as they were able to finish their presentation at the right timing. After the presentation ended, Ms. Akmarul commented on what areas that need to be improved in term of the way we present our slides. She also mentioned we should make eye contact with the audience and avoid reading our points from the slides. Week 10-October 1 Second week of presentation is going to be tiring as there will eleven groups presenting. For my opinion, sitting for too long is not that bad as it actually can help an individual to be patient. As usual Ms Akmarul give feedback regarding the presentation and expected the following group would do better. Week 11-October 8 Another week of presentation, one out of eleven groups did an excellent presentation about animal cruelty. The presentation is about the reality of how the animals being treated that are

happening in this current situation. Since I am taking FBEF module, I realised that many businesses did this to satisfy their objectives of making profit. The group did showed the real documentary on how the animals were being abused and killed. The video is based on the most controversial issue on animal right which is happening now. I guess choose the best topic as their presentation. After viewing the video, I am willing to change my eating habits. Ms Akmarul comments really scared me the most as I am afraid of not being able to project voice and if I perform badly, it will affect my grade. I hope I have more time practising with my partner because my presentation will be next week. Week 12-October 15 This week, my partner and I are the last group to present our slides on Mystery of Anastasia. Actually we booked as the last group because we definitely know the audience will not focus on the presenters after sitting down for long hours and my partner and I could present smoothly. While waiting for our turn, we were practising our presentation a numerous times. I keep on memorising the content for the slide because I am good at memorising things. I think I did a very good job for the presentation because I was able to project my voice and I could see that the audience were listening carefully. My friends were anticipating my voice will not be loud enough for them to hear since I have shy personality trait. They were surprised and complimented me. I used to hate doing presentation. Now after I received positive response, I think I will be able to stand up front of large audience confidently. In conclusion, Unibridge programme have trained me to develop better quality and skills. By entering unibridge programme allowed me to be more independent and gain the courage to speak up in front of hundred audiences. I think this programme is the very beginning chapter of being a university student.