Unbelievable! - Hanya 14.5% ibu di Malaysia menyusu bayi

Hanya 14.5% ibu di Malaysia menyusu bayi - Taken from Harian Metro online - Saturday - 27122008

KUALA LUMPUR: Budaya penyusuan badan di kalangan ibu-ibu di Malaysia sangat rendah apabila kajian menunjukkan 14.5 peratus saja yang memberikan susu badan kepada anak sehingga berusia enam bulan.

Statistik Kementerian Kesihatan menunjukkan kejahilan mengenai nilai susu badan, kurang sokongan anggota keluarga dan kakitangan penjagaan kesihatan serta ibu kembali bekerja sebaik tamat tempoh cuti bersalin antara penyebab utamanya.

Iklan juga memainkan peranan apabila menggambarkan seolah-olah makanan bayi komersial yang ada sama baik dengan penyusuan badan.

Bagi melindungi, mempromosi dan menyokong amalan penyusuan badan di negara ini, kementerian berkaitan merangka satu kod etika produk formula bayi yang berkuatkuasa Ogos lalu menggantikan kod etika pertama yang diperkenalkan pada 1979 yang didapati tidak lagi berkesan.

Kod etika berkenaan memberikan garis panduan yang jelas untuk mengawal promosi yang kompetitif dan mengiklankan produk komersial bayi yang dilihat mengatasi kemampuan susu badan.Ia juga bertujuan memastikan penggunaan formula bayi wajar sebagai produk dan makanan tambahan.

Tujuan utama kod itu bagi mengingatkan pekilang dan pengedar supaya tidak memasar, mempromosi atau mengiklankan produk susu formula mengatasi mutu dan kualiti terbaik susu badan.

Penyelidikan menunjukkan susu badan yang terbaik untuk bayi kerana ia memberikan perlindungan terhadap penyakit dan membantu menjalin hubungan rapat antara ibu dan anak.

Mengenai kod itu yang dikaji semula, seorang jururawat kesihatan kanak-kanak, Tan Bee Lan berkata, ia langkah yang baik kerana syarikat menggunakan ibu yang mengandung, pekerja kesihatan, doktor, malah kanak-kanak sekolah untuk mempromosikan produk mereka.

“Kini diharap dengan kod yang lebih terkini dan berkesan ini, ibu tidak terpengaruh untuk memberikan susu formula kepada bayi mereka,” katanya.

Tan yang bertugas selama 30 tahun berkata, susu badan secara idealnya perlu menjadi satu-satunya sumber makanan untuk bayi sehingga sekurang-kurangnya enam bulan. - Bernama

My Comments:

- This is ridiculous! People should know how good breastfeeding are, and nothing like formula milk could ever replace it.

- Adakah susu formula blh membantu dari segi immunisation? I think, God's creation is the best, and nothing like human's creation could ever replace it! Totally against these statements! I think, if ever the health institution wants to make comments on this, they should compare their research with others like in the US or UK, which is better in terms of health care.

- Kaum ibu harus di tingkat kan kesedaran mereka, harus lebih di dedahkan pada pentingnya susu badan, seperti mana kaum ibu di negara2 lain yg lebih maju. Kajian telah banyak di jalankan, dan sudah terbukti, bahawa susu badan banyak membawa kebaikan, bukan saja dari segi imunisasi, tetapi juga dari segi merapatkan kasih sayang, mewujudkan jalinan mesra di antara ibu dan anak.

- Many things, can come up from this. Like the government can re-look at what they are currently implementing. Yang lebih penting dan utama adalah mewujudkan institusi kekeluargaan sebelum melihat kepada kejayaan sesebuah negara... jika institusi keluarga hancur, maka, timbul lah gejala2 sosial. Jika semua kaum ibu lebih pentingkan kerjaya, maka anak2 akan ramai yg terbiar?!?! I don't know.. but this may relate to many things, negative things in the future...

- Kalau boleh, cuba lihat negara2 yg sudah stabil seperti England, di mana, mereka amat mementingkan breastfeeding... sehingga kempen2 adalah lebih kepada menggalakkan susu badan, dan ada bnyk support group untuk membantu kaum ibu. Even the midwives, health visitor juga banyak memberi nasihat tentang betapa pentingnya susu badan.

- Banyak perkara yg nak saya share.. tapi, amat terhad masa untuk menulis.

But please people.. for the sake of anak2.. breastfeeding is the best!

loving it

i just love what i am doing.. and i'm gonna love it for the next 2 years.. and i'm going to make sure.. it has a future of its own... and i am positive to prolong the research in my career soon...

updates as on the 12th of december

i have been doing some thinking.. a lot actually about my study and research.. the past 8 months, with my previous supervisor had actually taught me some skills which requires some time to be developed. I am very thankful, to be able to slowly develop those skills.. and with my new supervisor, I just need to proceed with my research interest, needing not to worry about these skills... its very hard to explain in details about these skills that I have developed though.. however, I can now say that it actually does helps me a lot with proceeding with things that I am currently doing...

the thing that i am currently thinking is that.. i read several papers... i kept on reading them.. as I wanted to know more about this.. and its becoming more and more interesting.. when you have lots of questions on it.. you keep on looking and searching and finding it... one thing that i find most helpful is that.. when you asked a question about something.. write them in your question book.. then look up for the answers straight away.. you will then understand the relationship of what you questioned and the things you have read before..

another thing that I am currently worried about is the time to make notes of what i have read... being me.. i like to make notes.. but i just do not have the right time to do it.. the 'right time' for me would mean to have the 'MOOD' to write and make notes of it.. if not, it wouldn't be perfect.. and i hate doing things many times.. i like things to be perfectly clear.. before proceeding with something else.. but this would take ample of time..

an idea just struck my head: I need to do lots and lots of MIND MAPPING!!! which will relate to whatever and everything that I am reading.. just found... and things that i need to look at further...

yes.. MIND MAPPING would be perfect..

I don't know what other methods that others are using.. but i think.. what works for me is to make notes.. again and again and again.. until it is stuck in my head.. but i have to have the guts to do this over and over and over.. i know that i don't like repeating the same things twice and many times.. but this is not it.. what i meant is to rewrite again.. in different ways.. a progress from one notes to another.. and hoping that lastly.. would relate well being a MIND MAP.. do you get what i mean? owh well.. it doesn't matter.. its just something that i need to practise and keep on doing.. i'm having a few note books with me.. organized in a manner that each section with each heading... and yep.. i have got to just proceed with it...

my experiments? yes.. i'm proceeding good with it.. very surprisingly good.. i'm happy.. i have some ideas on what to proceed.. just need to write them down and make a mind map.. and discuss with mr SV..

i am positive about this.. i am positive that i will succeed.. i am positive that this is well.. with blesses from Allah.. amin...

experiment.. oh experiment..

at last.. dpt juga buat experiment.. mmg best.. mmg menarik giler!

ada macam2 myths bila buat phd ni.. ada stgh supervisor suruh kita baca.. baca.. baca.. literature review.. kadang2.. baca saja.. mmg memboringkan.. ada supervisor pula.. galakkan buat experiment sambil2 baca.. tapi.. it actually depends on us.. kita rasa yg mana best..

but.. for me.. i like the second one.. buat experiment sambil baca.. it kinds of like absorb better, don't you think? bila buat experiment.. kita belajar sambil buat.. bila kita baca.. kita add on to our knowledge.. bagi kita pemahaman yg lebih mendalam.. i think this method really works well for myself.. i like it..

so.. at the moment.. what i'm doing is experimenting it on myself.. eventhough it seems soooo biasa2 aja.. it is not actually.. even it is self experimenting.. the data is soooo interesting...

actually melly.. my research at the moment.. berkisarkan macammana GPA membantu kita untuk mengetahui sejauh mana competent nya seseorang itu dlm mana2 bahasa... antara bahasa yg sedang di kaji: English, Spanish, German, Korean dan Arabic.

The method i used is so simple. Just copy all the paragraph again, but using GPA to analyse. The software I used is called the TRACE. This was created by my supervisor himself. Gempak tak? best giler ok...

And the system, actually boleh trace pauses duration when pen off from the paper, duration length of each strokes of each letters... like.. very detail ok!

Results dan data adalah amat menarik skali.. there is sooo much prospects in it... and i can actually apply this to many things in the future... this had given me another research goal to catch on in the future...

Since I am actually attached with Department yang berkenaan dgn Early Childhood Education, it does actually relates in a way that.. we learn how human processes understanding language and writing them plus.. from there.. we can actually find out.. how competent they are..

now.. bnyk membaca ttg cognitive science.. its related with psychology a bit.. something that I have been wanting to do all this time... and alhamdullillah sgt2.. dpt gak jump into it..

i am at the moment enjoying every moment of it.. i hope to be able to complete in time.. not mentioning having 2 children and having to manage home.. but.. insyaAllah.. rezeki di tgn Allah.. Allah pasti akan mudah kan.. insyaAllah.. solat.. jgn tak solat..

Untuk sesiapa yg berminat!

SEMINAR ASUHAN DAN DIDIKAN AWAL KANAK-KANAK SECARA HOLISTIK

PERHATIAN KEPADA SEMUA WARGANEGARA MALAYSIA

Pusat Penyelidikan Perkembangan Kanak-kanak (NCDRC) dengan kerjasama Bahagian PERMATA, Jabatan Perdana Menteri akan menganjurkan Seminar Asuhan dan Didikan Awal Kanak-kanak secara Holistik dengan tema "Setiap Anak Permata Negara". Tarikh : 13 & 14 November 2008 Masa : 8.30 pagi - 5.00 petang Tempat : Hotel Crown Princess, Kuala Lumpur Untuk makluman, yuran penyertaan adalah PERCUMA. Pengangkutan juga akan disediakan. Walaubagaimanapun, pengangkutan adalah terhad kepada 48 orang peserta sahaja. Borang penyertaan boleh diperolehi dengan melayari laman web http://ncdrc.upsi.edu.my Maklumat lanjut dan pendaftaran boleh berhubung dengan kakitangan kami sebelum 7 November 2008 :- Cik Norshidahwati bt. Mohd Noor Tel : +605-4505085 Fax : +605-4590169

research work is doing ok

8th oct 2008 - my first meeting with new supervisor PC - it turn out good! I updated on what I have read.. and covered.. and presented my idea.. but was advised not to proceed due to some constraints.. and so.. he gave some ideas.. and i was soo hooked up with one of it..

since i really like the kind of research my friend was doing (UHO), and mentioned them to PC, i was given a set of graphic tablet too.. and was asked to explore it.. with the TRACE software created by PC...

and yeah.. i did explore them.. and i used 5 different languages..
english
german
spanish
korean
arabic

got some raw data from it.. and managed to analyse them.. and shared with PC... on our next meeting...

22nd Oct 2008 - PC looked at the data and was very happy with it.. I think he was surprised at my enthusiasm in doing so.. I am enthusiastic about it.. i really did enjoyed it... and i do like doing research... anyway, alhamdullillah for that..

i know there's a lot more for me to read and cover and understand.. but, i think i like this method better.. doing some experiments.. while reading.. to understand things better.. i like to keep myself busy.. its kind of like a pressure to me but.. positive pressure.. and i think because i'm the type that works under pressure?!?!? u get me?

well yea.. i hope PC knows that i am very keen in this research.. and ofcourse i love it..

i actually believe that.. as far as I know myself (until today).. that i can do whatever that i believe that i can do... and i know that i am creative on anything that is given to me... well yeah.. i just have to tune myself into being very very positive.. and insyaAllah.. things will happen as what I have programmed them to be.. its all in the power of the mind...

same goes to having 2 children at the same time of doing phd... i believe that i can handle it.. so.. i'm sure to work towards it.. no argument ok?

so.. back to my research tadi.. from the 5 languages tu.. after having them written and using the GPA to analyse them.. i found out that.. it is very amazing to see that... English and Spanish is in the same group... these 2 uses the same time duration to write... German and Korean is paired together.. took the same time duration to write.. and Arabic has the longest time taken... which is understood well because of the characters...

question is.. what makes german and korean language berada dlm group yg sama? hmm....

and..

what if.. the results di compare kan dgn results seorang native speaker of the same language? mesti akan ada kelainan kan? so.. that is my next experiment.. and will analyse on that one...

more to that.. bnyk lagi idea2 yg di share oleh PC.. and i hope to be able to do this.. and hoping to present to PC next 2 weeks...

I can't wait!!!

its my first meeting with my new supervisor.. and i am sooo anxious!!! I really hope this time, all will work well...

at the moment.. its all about HANDWRITING...

SV had given me a few options that I could do.. and I am still thinking about this...

a few tasks that i need to complete first:
1. Reading on Cognitive materials..
2. A few paper SV had pointed out...
3. Statistical tests in psychology...

all still in the process of reading...

i hope with GPA - will help me study the process of handwriting... understanding why some people have the difficulties of projecting some letters.. and why some can write quickly, but some takes ages to have a complete sentence written down...

i hope.. to be able to find some uniqueness from my study...

i hope... :D

what happens from August till now?!?! huh?!?!?

oh well..

I had my second baby delivered on the 22nd of august... it was another caesarean, but this time, not an emergency caesarean but, an elective ones... i had to choose this option.. no sign of baby coming out.. head still high up, not engaged... so, we chose friday as the day for baby to come out... and here he is... little brother to my first son...

at the sametime, before the delivery, i was in the process of changing supervisor.. i was sooo determined.. that phd is still my first option.. so, i tried very hard looking for a replacement... i went on meeting several people.. before finally, i managed to find the one! ahaks.. owh yess.. it is a hard work really.. i pushed myself to meet and settle this issue even when i was several days out of the hospital... (my parents & inlaws & relatives would surely be mad at me.. i'm not suppose to even go out of the house during confinement.. haha... but i had to sacrifice a bit.. for my future.. )

but yes.. i was so very happy when i was accepted... i brought with me, this interesting paper which i really love.. and showed to him.. i was overwhelmed that he likes it.. and was happy as well that i showed him that paper.. love it! so, we planned the next meeting.. and he gave me some reading list to cover... since i do not have much background on cognitive science & a little bit of psychology, he gave me some few reading materials to cover.. and I am happy to do it...

oh well.. i am proceeding with my latest research on handwriting.. but, target of experimentees... will be decided on soon... i might still be looking at dyslexic.. maybe... plus, i am also considering the ideas (like 5 of them) given by my new supervisor..

i can't wait to start again.. and i am so very motivated...

apart from successfully settled my supervision problem.. plus, i'm under confinement.. papa (father in law) was around for 1 month and half.. but has gone back recently... we really did missed him sooo much... it was fun having him around.. plus.. a lot of outings together... :D

what else.. baby is fine.. big brother is coping well.. i'm still coping with having 2 sons now... and planning.. planning.. for whats up to come...

2 more days.. will be our EID celebration.. owh.. how i miss my home country so much...

i guess that's a quick update of everything.. hoping to update more on my research further...

taa...

data representation

a friend asked me.. how best to represent her data...

i'm just soooo embarassed that I'm not of a good researcher yet, therefore my own knowledge sources are a bit limited... however.. i tried googling it.. and i found this:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/

this website shows a great idea of representing data... besides having them, plainly on graphs, table forms and SPSS...

hope this helps...

This is a good guidance to poster...

http://www2.napier.ac.uk/getready/writing_presenting/academic_posters.html

click on the link above.. it has a very good guideline on academic posters.

For Dyslexia People out there!

I'm very sad hearing that many of whom had dyslexia had very little help in Malaysia...

And yes.. I mean this so much.. like I said previously, my cousin's son had this problem. Dyslexia is not STUPIDITY! and cannot be related with LAZINESS... its something that has got to do with the brain nerve connection about understanding, registering and recognizing alphabets which later becomes a word. These people with dyslexics, avoid writing, so as to avoid self disappointment, and low self esteem, and in the culture of people in Malaysia, I would say, teachers always quickly assume that their pupils are STUPID and LAZY!

I wouldn't say that this is totally the fault of these teachers, as they were not fully educated about DYSLEXIA. But, awareness needs to be given, to stop from pulling down student's or pupil's self esteem, in front of other students.

Malaysian people out there.. do you think this could be the answer of many drop outs of schools in Malaysia? I have been thinking about this, and it could be related. We have no such facilities to accommodate these Dyslexics in Malaysia as yet. We just started, and only a few schools are practicing it. I think, more needs to be done in the future, and this is needed very soon!

Malaysian Parents' are getting more involved now, and many had been exposed with the knowledge of Dyslexia. We have a group in Malaysia whom looks into such matter. But we need not relax no more... THESE Children or students or adults needs SPECIALIST help ASAP.. but we can't just rely on PRIVATE Consultants... VERY EXPENSIVE!

Everybody has to be educated! Everybody has to know what is dyslexia!

Out of 34 Malaysian people whom had answered my online questionnaire, only 8 knows what DYSLEXIA is? Surprising huh?! But that is the reality.. and those 8 people would be of whom: are having dyslexia or known somebody whom has dyslexia.

Recent conversation with a good friend of mine had motivated me further into understanding the problem of dyslexia. She's conducting a tuition session with this little boy, aged 7. And she's complaining that this boy has some problems with learning alphabet which she guessed might be related to dyslexia. I asked further and yes, indeed.

He seems to memorize all the alphabet, but when asked by pinpointing to one alphabet, he could not do it right. Even not writing. His parents complaint the same, and have no idea on how to offer helps to this 'troubled child'. I pity the child more, when my friend said that he cried one day. He is only 7, and he cried in front of his tuition teacher, expressing his difficulties doing his homework, study and exam. He left his exam paper blank, afraid to ask, because school teacher might embarrassed him in front of others, afraid of being called stupid, and would rather get '0'. His parents did expressed their concern, and my friend is doing her best for him.

I shared with her, techniques that could help him. Use block alphabet, use the fridge magnet alphabet. Ask the poor child to feel the alphabet. Always repeat the same work, repetition is very good for dyslexics. And many more...

I do hope that one day, someone would be able to help this child further. I really hope to be able to come back to Malaysia to educate more parents about this and increase the awareness further...

I really hope to be able to meet this boy... how I wish I could help...

But again, I do not mean to say that Malaysian are ignorant, but somebody need to help increase the awareness, and make this well informed to the Ministry of Education, so as to provide special facilities for Dyslexics Learners. Look at other countries as an example.. those that are well established with providing dyslexics good forms of help...

cheers

so what is it with the word DYSLEXIA?!?!?!?

I'm putting some efforts here reading journals and papers around the area/field that might involve research in dyslexia and some involves information from the psychology background, neurology, social science and even IT. There's a lot to understand and I don't think what I've read is enough.. owh.. it's never enough pamz.. you have to always keep on reading and reading and reading.. until everything is registered in your brain... atleast, that is my target...

my first year viva (that's what i call it) is coming very soon now.. and i am so very scared... of course the panic is everywhere... this is my first time and everybody's first time.. i can't imagine how its going to be like.. had talked to several people whom have had experience before, and mostly said, just be prepared...

SV advised, a short brief reflection of what i've done from the first day i came in.. 2 pages would be enough and another page for a Time Plan for all the things I planned to do for the next 2 and a half years more to go...

So, what about DYSLEXIA that I have understood so far?

I've just got a brief description from a colleague of mine, whom have had experience joining the BDA and some communities, plus husband and son is also having it. DYSLEXIA is an umbrella for Dysgraphia (handwriting problems), Dyscalculia (Numbers and calculations) and Dyspraxia (movements/balancing/motor skills). But recent reading, had mentioned that Dysgraphia and Dyslexia has no relation at all. I'm a bit confused here.

Logically, I would say, it does connects in some way or rather... because, Dyslexia is difficulties that involves reading, writing and spelling. And the inter-relation between reading, writing and spelling is that, one will have to learn the alphabet first (alphabet recognition), then the process of writing (which if a problem, could be dysgraphia) and then, one will learn the spelling processes before being able to read. AM I RIGHT? At least.. this is what I could come up with after a lot of reading...

And, if handwriting involves motor skills of moving your hands which also involves muscle movements, balancing the pen when writing, unable to perform this would lead to Dyspraxia, I suppose?!?!?! (anyone would like to argue with this?)

And in this case, I could not relate much to Dyscalculia, as this involves the calculation processes, that one needs to perform.

And so, at this moment, I am trying to find researches that involves issues regarding:

• handwriting processes
• alphabet recognition
• spelling problems that dyslexics' have
• how the alphabet recognition and writing connects to the brain?!?
  
• how the brain(dyslexics') works?
• how the brain(dyslexics') processes?

Basically, what I need to understand at this stage is how all these are connected.

I am sooo into it, I love this area so much, it has been my passion ever since I applied for a place to further my study, plus this was motivated more by my cousin whom complaints that her son has some learning disability, but lack of helps in Malaysia.

I will proceed with this. Hoping to be able to offer helps in Malaysia, once I'm back!

Looking for information on dyslexia...

hiya everybody and anybody out there..

I am currently looking at whether there is any studies at the moment, involving dyslexia and tablet PC? Anybody with any infos?

I find it so hard to find such information, and would appreciate it a lot if anybody could help. If such studies does already exist...

hope to hear from somebody...

Looking forward to attending some conferences...

I'm actually hoping to be able to attend some conferences, related to my work. But at the moment, with funding still in the process, the only place that would help save the cost would be traveling in the UK itself. This does not matter, because the most important thing for me is to be able to have the experience, and also, being able to mix around with people a.k.a networking.

One conference that is a must for me: http://www.hci2008.org/

I have to go to this one at least!

1st year Annual Review is coming right up! I'm totally nervous about this. Talking about progress, I can only talk about my reading work that I have done, and a few contacts that I have been able to make connections with. But, woah.. it is a big work to prepare. 4 pages of research work reviews, since January 2008. I really hope I will be able to do well. Haven't been able to attend any conferences yet, but am building up some skills through workshops and trainings by the University.

Pray for me people!

cheerio

i've understood it a little deeper

my reading has gone a little bit deeper on how dyslexics learn spelling.. and whether or not, games would function well with these group of people...

It seems hard to find research work done in this area.. anyone with any ideas?

Word games for dyslexics? Does it work?

Literature Reading

It has been 2 weeks plus since I last blogged.. Was very busy with reading...

I need to focus my question now.. I know what I want to do, but, needing to more and needing to be more focus into what questions I would like to be answered...

I am very interested in understanding Dyslexia... My second entry in this blog also discussed about my passion understanding Dyslexia... I quit discussing and learning about them, after being put off by somebody.. but now, I am going back to this interest of mine again..

I hope to be able to put up more issues on it... to help myself understand further...

A number of questions playing in my mind:

• How do I related Dyslexics with Technology?
• Is it the Accessibility issues?

I was searching a few things and found out some key terms that interest me:

• Accessible Game
• Multisensory Learning

More questions:

• Does Dyslexics actually play games?
• Do they like playing games?
• What kind of games?
• How about online Word Games? Like those in Shockwaves website?
• Does this implies to Children or Adults Dyslexics?

Any one care to respond, please?

Thanks!

How do I set up my own reactable / reacTIVision etc?

I'm finding it hard to understand the set up process of making this work... Is there any user guide that is made for novice users like me? And I'm only using a Windows PC, not MAC.. most of the user guide i found is using MAC...

I'm still searching for this.. if anyone could help.. please please leave me some messages.. I have read the reacTIVision 1.3 web, but I am finding it difficult. Is it as easy as just installing all of them.. and it will work afterwards? Or.. do I have to add some of my own programming.. ?!?! owhh... confusing2...

this link is interesting to look at.. I can't read now.. but will look at this later...

http://ssandler.wordpress.com/my-software/

Tangible and Embedded Interaction 2008

A very recent research work that I did had led me to finding this particular Conference of interest. However, sadly to say, the conference was just held a month ago. But, I find it very interesting though, because the research area that I am interested into looking has its own predefined conference for discussions in its very own area.

Now, I have 2 conferences that I could target to for next year's paper submission. Very interesting and I am looking forward to it.

1. TEi2009 - 2008 webpage: http://tei-conf.org/index.html
2. IDC2009 - 2008 webpage: http://idc08.northwestern.edu/index.php

Following just the recently held conference is a Journal Submission of a very special issue on Tangible and Embedded Interaction in a new journal called "International Journal of Arts and Technology (IJART)".

From the research work that I have done, there are many interesting research findings that researchers had found. I am particularly interested in those involving children. Nevertheless, below are some of the current research work that I myself really admire (you should take a look on them, these people are so creative!):

1. Tangible Sequencer


2. Bubblegum Sequencer


And there are many more that you could find. The bubblegum sequencer is going to its first conference : CHI2008. I'm sure they will gain many interest after presenting their work.

More papers can be read through the ACM Digital Library. I will look into this further.

A 1:1 Session with the Librarian

Had just found out about this 1:1 session during our 2nd PROFOLIO course. And I personally think that this would definitely help my research findings. It was just a short session during Profolio, but it gave us enough overview on what it has to offer.

I managed to book a session for myself and I can't wait to go.

Before meeting the librarian, I gave her all the related keywords related to my research interest, and I really hope that it will gives a good outcome. I am still in search of a proper research question, therefore I really need to equip myself fully with information and knowledge. I need to register in my mind that PhD is a 3 year process of being a researcher.

I know that I am lacked of knowledge in being a researcher, as I have not experienced being one, therefore, I have got to focus a lot, being smarter in a way and THINK LIKE A RESEARCHER!

THINK LIKE A RESEARCHER!

Be like one... I know I am capable of doing it. I should be and I will be... Isn't that the purpose of taking this course in the first place? hmm...

I will become a researcher, therefore I can think like a researcher!

FOUND IT! FOUND IT!

I need to blog this in before I forget...

I FOUND WHAT I WANT TO DO!!!

i found my WHAT and WHY Question!!!

I found what I really wanted to find about...

yeay!!!

And I'm in the process of finding the background study, reading, research material so that I will be able to understand this more..

so that I will be able to do a literature review out of it!!!

thank you very much geraldine!

Themes.. themes.. I am still looking out for possible topics for my research...

I've read through (just the important ones) a book on childcare and education, but it is an old version one. But, I managed to get myself to understand some important elements needed to study children. Plus, a few theories involves, for example like play.

And then.. I'm also looking into stuffs related to TANGIBLE:-

tangible interface
tangible technology
tangible etc... etc... etc...

and I found this:

Tangible Sequencer on youtube.

Really cool!

Children & Problem Solving

So, can children actually solve problems?
How do they learn problem solving?
Was it a coincidence?

Nope, not really, they actually build up their problem solving skills by making their own hypothesis. And this actually started when they were first born into this world. Amazing isn't it?

But, how is that?

Example:

A baby cries when they are hungry. They know that if they cry, they will get milk, will be cuddled up by adults, and will keep quiet once they have got it.

They learn that, if they cry, they will get milk.

Next, since they can't talk verbally yet, therefore, they try other methods. They cry again, to get something, for example, to gain attention, to get toys, etc. If their hypothesis did not work, they will then try other methods like whining, or being upset, or making faces.

To understand this further, lets try more methods of mini experiments to see how children solves problem. My target will be toddlers at the age of 1-4 years old.

We will see what I got from this.


A new link that I just found, that might be useful for my further understanding:

http://www.aplaceofourown.net/question_detail.php?id=64

I hate the presentation I did...

It was not a good presentation, I know. There were some points that contributes to myself not presenting good enough:

1. The research topic is not of my interest anymore.
2. I am not keen of presenting it, because I am no more interested in it, therefore, I tend to doing it without much enthusiasm.
3. I did it, because I had to, for my coursework mark. (Even though it does not mean much as it does not contribute to passing my PhD course, but still, I want to do the best that I could.)

However, there were certain things that I noticed:

1. When I'm nervous, I tend to speak very quickly. I think I did this again?!?
2. I was holding a paper. In the first place, I planned to put it down, after finished using it, however due to nervousness and I forget about everything, I kept holding on the paper throughout the presentation.
3. Eye contact were still there, I think and I hope.

Well, above all, I've actually did many presentations in the previous years. However, due to lack of practices, the skills will slowly disappear, you know.

I remembered when I was doing this business presentations, and my manager was always saying to me, that practice will make perfect. Even though not 100% perfect, still, it will becomes better and better each and every time you do it. And I actually did improve a lot from not being able to stand in front of a crowd to being able to talk in front of thousands. But that was a bit different you see... it was in a different language.. it was my mother tongue, malay language...

There are certain things that makes a presentation very good, and these are some that I could think of:

1. Make sure that your eye contact with the audience covers all angle. Meanings, you don't speak with the audiences behind your back. And do not speak to the presentation slide/screen.

2. Make sure that you do not fidget with your hands. Audience will be distracted, and instead of looking at your slides, they will focus at your hands. This also relates to holding pens, papers, and even putting your hands in the pocket. Besides distracting, holding papers can also shows how nervous you are if you shivers.

3. Make sure that you are dressed comfortably. Not wearing something that you are not used to as this will distract your self from presenting well.

4. Slides are also of important value to the audiences. Make sure your slides are suitable, contains not of a lengthy wordings on one page, and are easy to understand.

We did have some discussions on one of our classes about presentation:

These can be seen in the images below (click on them to enlarge it):

About Presentation, what to do and what to avoid:

To summarize this, to be a good presenter, practice does helps a lot. Attending seminars and talks also gives some impacts towards how to prepare a good presentation. However it is, everybody makes mistakes and we have spaces to improve. That's what I personally think.

Poster Presentation

I'm putting up my poster for anyone to comment further.

This is base on work-in-progress method, therefore, no results are collected yet, nor any further work has been done. This is merely for our Poster Presentation Assignment, and I am taking this as an exercise for future work.


Feel free to comment, the research topic is not what I am currently looking at.

Why study Child Development?

Yes. Why do I have to study Child Development, when what I am doing is more on children's interactivity with some things.

Well.. its a very basic knowledge that one have to know in order to further develop understanding about children. It is an essential subject if you are working involving children.

While I was reading this particular book, Childcare & Education, there were some questions that really interest me:

Q1: How children develop in different cultures and in different sorts of society?

I had this course about globalisation when I did my master and was always relating to children no matter what issue involves. The master course I did had really open my mind in a way that we, people, the nation, all countries are actually moving towards being more globalised. Whenever big organisations takes some actions, we should be thinking of going global. Just like the internet has helped us to become nowadays.

Far countries seems so near. Malaysia and UK seems so near when it comes to having a daily internet phone calls conversation. It's very clear as if, I'm talking to that person right infront of me. Plus, with the technology, having a web camera, also helped a lot! Like Parents-in-law, wanting to see their grandchildren, like in my case. That is just how things work.

So... This had make me think further on the next question:

Q2: What is the same about all children? (in all aspects)
: What is different across cultures in the way that children are brought up?

I have always been wondering, when I read some research papers on dyslexia, how English was the hardest language to learn for them. And how true is that, really?! Are there not other language which might be harder than English? Has any research been done on this?

I find learning arabic a bit difficult. People said that Japanese is very easy to learn. And how about my mother tongue, Bahasa Melayu? I could not try Chinese, as they have their special way of accent, like a music, you get me? But I'd love to learn Spanish, which for me, I think is quite easy to learn. Por Que No? Si... (mind the spelling.. i just know how to pronounce it...)

Anyway, back to Question 2, What is the same about all children? Is the way we brought up children are all the same? It sure is different in some ways depending on culture. I can see the differences, when I was small, Mom and Dad were very strict. Even when I'm a teenager, they were strict as well. Its all because of I'm a girl, but I thanked them, as I do not become that wild or very social, but instead, they succeeded in making me a well mannered person. And same goes to almost all of my close friends. But teenagers nowadays in my countries, are so different.

It was really upsetting, that most of them allow media to influence them...

so what do you think?

will update more.. got to go to my poster presentation...

In the process of understanding...

I am reading this book, which I bought at a carboot sale for only 50p. I've never thought of it being very useful for me now as a researcher. I bought them, just to add my knowledge being a mother. But, the whole book actually does help a lot in my research work now.

I am now starting to understand the different theories that exist about learning and development stages of a human being. From being babies, to toddler, to young children... the list goes on.. but it really is fascinating.

My first mini experiment is about understanding the NORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT. I am trying to relate what I have read with observing young children.

I went to this playgroup yesterday with a few objectives in my mind:
1. The main thing, is for my son, FD to build up his social skills besides being able to play with toys.
2. To observe the playgroup activities.
3. To observe young children play and interact.

I am in the process of documenting what I saw, I hope to be able to build up further understanding and to move on to my next mini experiment.

Anyways, NORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT that I am referring to consists of:

• Physical
• Language
• Intellectual / Cognitive
• Symbolic
• Emotional
• Social
• Spiritual

The above list are also called the PILESS Framework.

NORMATIVE DEVT = a milestone devt of a child.

Understanding Children

Understanding Children is not an easy task to do. After reading some books, I notice that there are so many things to learn in order to understand children.

Being a mother myself does not mean that I know from A to Z about children. I admit that I have to read lots of books to learn about a child's development and progress. I became fascinated at how a tiny baby, that I have carried for 9 months, is developing every day, and there is just so many things that I do not know about. To add to that, a baby actually starts learning from inside the womb, and how does that make sense?

I remembered reading a lot of books on pregnancy when I was having my first child. There are just so many things that makes me wonder on how the development of the fetus inside me is growing, and that he is listening to all the conversation that I have, always there when I was doing all my chores, listening to all the lectures I attended (I was doing my master at that time) and everything that I did is somewhat connected to this baby inside me. There must be some kind of a relation between the baby inside me and the world outside.

Being him, I have always wondered what he was thinking. He must have find it hard to imagine what the world is in reality. Quoting from some people, training the baby (in the womb) to listen to the vacuum noisy sound, will make them so used to it, that they will not be surprised or scared of having the loud sound when they were born. Hmm..

And how is that connected?

will continue..

... my research work...

I haven't been posting anything yet on what I'm actually doing... I guess its pretty much of a confidential thingy.. and as a research student, we can't expose it yet, unless its published. Correct me if I'm wrong... but I am being a bit skeptical on discussing them on the net. I do not want other people to be taking my ideas... which I have (at the moment) loads and loads of them...

As my SVs reminds me, I've got to build up a very very strong knowledge base in order to move forward...

Therefore my first study is to understand the thing that I want to focus later on. I would like to be able to submit a paper for a Doctoral Consortium which the dateline is very very soon... As you can see on the ticker above.. Being able to at least participate in the conference would mean a lot to me.. and I found this exciting opportunity to write in a book, which I would love to participate as well. It would mean a lot for my future career. Really2 hope that I will be able to do that... owh, please.. please...

And so, my draft of my first poster piece is done for tomorrow's lecture, the ATC course, and also my very first draft of an ABSTRACT! Way To GO Girl!!! This would be the first start of my writing up!

Cheerio!

Writing an Abstract...

My understanding of writing an ABSTRACT:

1. A summary of the paper you are writing.
2. Need to have all the important things that is there in the paper.
3. People usually read abstract first, therefore need to make it understandable by all.
4. Can't cheat people by having an interesting abstract, but a boring paper, and vice versa.
5. Abstract = portrays the whole paper.
6. Contains the whole contents of a paper in one short paragraphs.

What we did?

1. GF gave us loads of exercises to discuss about the good and bad way of writing abstract. We looked at a few, and managed to point out a few points.
2. We looked at a few example, to see how people writes.
3. We thought about the things needed to be in an abstract, which turns out to be: the whole paper in one short paragraph of abstract. Cool, eh?

This is basically what's needed:

• Intro/Background
• Aims/objectives
• Methodology
• Findings/results
• Conclusions
• Further work/recommendations

(Thank you GF, for all the slides you uploaded, it certainly is useful for us all!)

And, we also learned about TITLE, which I will elaborate more later...

Cheers...

Its PROFOLIO Course!

PROFOLIO is a course run by the University. We were told about this course when we attended the Personal Skills Course. The aim is actually to help guide Research Student (DPhils) throughout the study period and for future preparation as well.

It was short, but good overview of the course. We had it in CETL, the CREATIVE LAB! It is a very very creative lab, one should go to. It is a project of both Sussex Uni and Brighton Uni.

They have projectors everywhere, white boards everywhere, we could write on walls and have them recorded straight away into computers, we were given laptops each for activities, and the most interesting of all, PROFOLIO created a PEN DRIVE, for each one of us, to ORGANIZE our work as a DPhils!

My honest opinion: I've been imagining this (of having a place, like an electronic organizer that contains all the things you need in order to plan your DPhils work).. and I finally got it!!!

YEAY!!!

I was sooo happy, and this I shall use at all times! They even have a journal keeping on it, website link to all the important stuffs, which once open has all the bookmark on it, planner like a diary thingy, and what else.. owh.. loads and loads of them...

I just felt that I am sooo lucky to be here.. (am I promoting the Uni?!?), owh yes.. for sure I AM!!! I don't know, but I just like it... the place is good.. and the training that I had this far, for 1 month of being here as a student, was actually really really great!

There's a lot more to tell, but I don't want to bore some of you... ask me, if you are interested!

But I just love the PEN DRIVE!!! Its free and its a Gig!

Elevator Pitch?

We had this short session of presenting/discussing ELEVATOR PITCH this week.

So what is ELEVATOR PITCH anyway?

This is how I understood it: A very short description of the whole research work that one is doing, but, being said in a very interesting way, as if you are selling it to another person. This should be done within 30 secs, and as its name portrays, imagine being in a lift, and you met somebody that could sponsor your project, and this person asked, 'WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE DOING?'

So, basically, you need to sell it, promote it, makes it sound very very interesting.. so that they will buy your idea! *do you get me?*

I find this exercise very useful, because it helps to make you understand better on the research work that you are interested in, and putting it in layman's word is not as easy as one could think of. It was very hard for a friend of mine, as she was very used to doing and writing technical stuffs.. however, practices is really needed in doing this.

Some quotes from our lecturer: When you meet different people, practice telling them what you are doing.. try different ways, and you will one day find the most easiest/suitable way to explain the whole research you are doing.. even if it is your grandma whom asked!

Anyway, just to reflect on what I did... I volunteered to present mine, and here how it goes:

"Can you imagine that one day, children will be able to control the c*****n their watching? Great isn't it? and bla.. bla.. bla..."

It was a good start, but anyhow, I continued with reading all the thing I wrote on the paper... which was a shame really... as it just puts people off then... duh.... blimey...

It was sooo nerve wrecking standing in front, and having everybody staring at you.. owh.. how I wish I could do better again... And my closing statement, was not that powerful, I just ended it without reminding them again of the good intro I gave. G.F. said that, I should have a good round up to it, so that, it will help people to again catch up with what I wanted to do...

anyway, good try girl! YOU GO!

Learned about Poster at last...

This semester, I have to attend this very interesting course called the Advanced Technical Communication. I was actually really looking forward to it.

This week, we managed to learn about Posters Presentation, something that I really like doing, well, a big YES when it comes to designing creatively! Yeay!!!

So, what was assigned to us on Thursday, was to walk around the corridors, and capture (with our camera) all the posters that might interest us and those that might not. There were many of them, but my mate and I just captured 5 of them, which we thought has some positive and negative points on them. The group mate that I was working with, has many years of experiences going to conferences, submitting posters and papers, and she gave me a lot of tips!!! Which I really really appreciate them. Well, you know, as a new comer, there is not much thing that I have experience before, therefore, having a friend whom knows in and out about this would meant a lot, you know.

And so, once the walk around thingy ended, we went back to the Interact Lab to upload all the pictures. The day ends, and we were to gather again the next day to discuss further on our findings.

Our lecturer had managed to help us in thinking of the bad and good points of designing a poster. She has soooo many collections of them, and put them up for us to see and evaluate. The workshop/class starts with ourselves gathering all the pictures we had taken, and in groups, commented on our findings. It was awesome really, when you discussed about it, you then gets a lot of amazing feedbacks and answers to all your questions in mind.

Being me, who measure myself as having a graphical/visual mind, I love graphics and images and do not fancy having words all over the posters. It is a bit biased though when evaluating posters, because I tend to like those with graphics pictures better. But I did try my best to be balanced and evaluate as fair as I could. Despite all this, I did find this activity very useful for myself, as it answers some of the questions in my head.

What was there in my head?
1. Do we have to have lots and lots of wordings on posters? I hate it! (I'm sorry but I'm just being myself... ;p)
2. Does being able to design beautifully would give extra marks for winning a poster?
3. What does it take to win a poster? Because I've seen a few that won, and it was not being designed beautifully, but, does have a proper way of putting things, like very structured wise. Well, I guess I understand why...

We were then split to 2 groups again, and we discussed on points of good and bad posters:



Now, that we had this short course on Poster design, it really helps to clear up my mind, that:

• Poster could be beautifully designed, but with improper data, would not be at its best presentation.
• Poster could be presented with very good info and even though not creatively design, could win because of its very structured way of presenting ideas or knowledge.
• Poster should have a balance of both knowledge/data and graphics images. Too much of either one would not give the best result.

So, people.. I really hope this would help you in a way...

GOOD LUCK in your Poster design!!!

I need to Plan my Writing.. but how?!?!

I need to plan my writing... for conference paper.. but how? where do i start? how to go about it? any ideas anybody?

i just do not know where to start at the moment.. and i need to present them tomorrow?!?!? huhuuu....

anyways, i'm looking at several website, giving tips:

1. writing your thesis

Some points from the website above:

People's experiences/problems/issues when writing

The practice of writing:

• It's hard to get started, especially if you're out of practice in academic writing: writing doesn't seem to flow as well as it did as an undergraduate. [did it ever flow??]
• even if you have experience in other areas, academic writing is different
• you feel capable of producing an acceptable end product, with adequate prose, but the process of getting there is painful
• feeling inadequate when your writing doesn't come up to your (or others') expectations
• [putting off writing, for fear of writing badly]

Handling the information that you gather:

• feelings of drowning in the literature, in the detail
• how to structure the ideas that are developing
• how you record and process the information
  • hand-written notes, or typed into the computer
  • write up papers as you read them.

Communicating your ideas:

• If your writing is too terse: possibly you're not explaining what you mean sufficiently for a reader to understand?
  - [perhaps the therapy for this is to show your writing to peers, or even better to undergraduates, and ask if they can understand it (and then to revise it until they can)]
  
• If your writing is too verbose: possibly you're not being clear about what you want to say?
  - [the therapy for those of us who are too long-winded is to show your writing to knowledgeable colleagues, and prune it until they are no longer too bored to finish it. Steve's personal ideal (not achieved) is to write such that I'm interesting enough to hold the attention of other researchers, but clear and simple enough that undergraduates can understand it]
  
• problems in structuring the argument.

Time management:

• when is the right time to write?
• should you carry out experiments for two years, then write up in the third?
• how should you structure your work?

and yes!!! I am drowned in my literature reading materials... to much of them.. to many infos.. and i am cracking my head trying to extract out the important points for my work.. woah!!!

2. 10 Tips for a Stress-Free Thesis

1. Don’t save data analysis to the very last minute. Plan ahead.
2. Confirm your table of contents with your supervisor.
3. Write an outline, and stick to it as you write.
4. Don’t reinvent the wheel: Transform your published articles into thesis chapters.
5. Create deadlines for yourself and stick to them.
6. Find a quiet place to write where you will be free from distractions. The lab is usually not a good place to write a thesis. Work from home or in a quiet place like the library.
7. Assign yourself a number of pages to write each day and stop when you are done. This will prevent you from spending 24 hours a day at the computer, agonizing over your progress. When you’ve written your assigned four or five pages, then you’re finished for the day. Turn off the computer and do something else.
8. Take plenty of breaks, and be sure to spend time with friends and family.
9. Get some exercise, eat well, and take care of your health.
10. Don’t work in utter solitude. This is not the time to turn into a hermit. If other Ph.D. students in your lab or department are writing their theses at the same time, consider creating an informal support group in which you can share the stresses of writing a thesis and have people at hand who are willing to review certain sections or even the entire manuscript.

A very good TIPS!

and 1 more:

3. Writing a Thesis



okay.. got to focus now...

Found a new Conference!

Very interesting.. as you go in depth on your research, you tend to find more and more new things, including new conferences that you could participate into...

11^th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs

July 9-11, 2008, University of Linz, Austria

Pre-Conference July 7-8, 2008

http://www.icchp.org

Check out this one.. if it is related to you... Very2 good indeed!


And there are a few more which is very related to myself:

CHI 2008
This years theme will be Art-Science-Balance and will be held in Florence, Italy in April 2008.
According to many, this is a very prestigious conference, and usually it is quite tough to get a place. However, if your paper is accepted, that would mean you are very good indeed.

IDC2008
This is the Interaction Design & Children which is a targeted conference for myself. Also a prestigious conference. This year's conference is held in Chicago, USA in June 2008.

I am very interested in joining this conference as my research clearly involves children and interaction. This year's entry is a bit of a rush for myself, as I am still in the process of reading literature review, therefore, I was not able to write or present any study as yet. However, I am still putting this as my target for next year's entry.

I have seen papers from the previous conferences and it is so exciting as many of them did research in the area of my interest. Many of the researcher which papers I read, usually goes to this conference.

This year's theme is "THINK OUTSIDE THE TOYBOX". I personally think that it is a very creative way of putting a theme. If I were to submit a paper to this conference this year, I would have done something very different than others (I hope), which would certainly be something that no one has ever thought of doing. Think outside the toybox encourages researcher and participants to think creatively in presenting ideas or research work or maybe conducting their research study in a different manner or ways. We might be very used to doing things according to theories evolving computers, but if the theme is taken into account, this would allow researcher or participant to think in terms of other theories that might involves fields of engineering or psychology or social sciences, do you get me?

Well, this is just my personal viewpoint. I'd certainly try my best to participate, if I could. Since, this year is a bit tight for myself to squeeze in with the time, I think I should join the conference next year for better preparation. :)

Cheers!

I really hope that the theme would be related to my studies.

Personal Skills Development Course 9-11Jan'08

This course was made specially for 1st year DPhils student. My comments was that, it was a great exposure for someone as new as me in the field of PhD studies..

We had loads of fun, like playing roles to solve problems, all sorts of problems, like management and being a part of a community. We played games, and our group won the first place. AWESOME isn't in?!

Apart from that, we did some questionnaires on skills and at the end of each day, we recap on what we learned so far.. basically, it was a very nice short course. Love it!