H3 SRP: A success?
Friday, February 29, 2008
I had my H3 Science Researh Programme (SRP) Oral Defence, and I think I totally screwed it up. :(On my way home, I thought about the many questions that I was posed with during the Q&A, and who exactly should be responisble for this flop. I won't deny that probably I didn't put in as much effort as I should (it's not as if putting in effort would really help, you will understand why later), but there are really many reasons behind it.
you see, on the outside, the Singapore education system seems good, or maybe even perfect. It gives you the opportunity to go to most good universities. However, what people are not aware of is that the system in Singapore is a spoon-feeding one. ie students go to class, teachers feed them with lots n lots of theory and concepts and homework and solutions, students simply suck them all up like a sponge and empty them during exams.
even in my school (shall be termed as the school from now), much as the phy tutors try to ask for input from students by asking them to present their answers, you can still feel the high reluctance among students to do so. the point is, you cant change a 10-year habit overnight.
this problem in amplified when it comes to research. research is something which requires alot of self-discipline. alot of things you have to find out on your own; nobody is going to tell you what to do. And the problem comes when Singaporean students being completely lost when they are given a project that is alien.
Lucky them if their research and teacher mentors tell them what to do. But I'm not as lucky. Nobody told me that I should read and understand basic organic reactions, nobody told me exactly why a particular compound was used (although I did ask), nobody told me what are the correct steps when it comes to doing research, nobody told me knowing the name of N=C is important.
which explains why I screwed up mine so badly.
of course, there are other internal reasons from my research institute, of which i don't want to mention here. (hey, its government owned.)
there are also limitations in H3 SRP as well. Most students I believe are not well trained in research. More often than not, they follow their mentors' instructions without knowing why. Those who are more active (ie those who ask) may not get the correct answer from their mentors cos they tend to keep things to themselves. (I even got a wrong explanation. the examiner had to correct me.) Teacher mentors are often too busy to guide you along, and so most of the time you are on your own.
think about it. you are doing something more chim than any other H3. how could you possible survive on your own??
SIGH.
that aside, I realise people in the school have a trend of threatening ppl. Someone threatened not to give my ct rep leadership points when he didn't put up some posters; someone else threatened not to write good testimonials if we weren't serious in our cip.
what infuriates me is that the first one is done SIMPLY because there is some MOE officials coming down for a check. why do all this for show? if you're good, you're good. no need for a facade.
and i guess my ct rep is right. his testimonial is pretty screwed, given his relationship with the ct. like me, he's a 6 pointer, and i think we have a very good reason to regret coming to the school. we could have gone somewhere else and receive better teachers (i hope), lectures and tutorials (i hope too) and easier recommendation for overseas univ. i don't know what -ism you call that, but apparently the school chooses who they want to recommend. and they threaten people with that too. =.=
wells...enough said.
i'm still as crazy over as L as I was yesterday.
definitely going to buy the DVD. :)