4 seasons in the university!

So next week will be another beginning for a new semester. A new quest I guess. Interestingly teaching in a higher education institution is like living in a 4 seasons country.

Preparation Season (Spring) - I relate this time with the spring season because during this time, plants sprout and start to grow. It is the university preparation season, as lecturers start to prepare for the new semester. Preparation of the filing system, assessments for students, online management system and so on. Students start to come for registration. You can see some of them starting to fill up the university space. The university starts to grow and get busy again.

Teaching and Learning Season (Summer) - Then when the teaching and learning starts, it is the busiest season. Similar to Summer I think. During the summer time, everybody comes out to enjoy the sun. Plants bloom and grow. Lecturers start to teach and are busy with their schedule. Students are busy with their classes, assignments, group work, presentation and reading. You can see them everywhere in the university. In the class, the cafe, the library, the lift and the toilets! ahaha

Examination Season (Autumn) - Then, the study week and examination weeks come. It starts to slow down again. The environment starts to be less busy. You see students coming in groups according to their exam schedule. Lecturers also start to become less busy with teaching and learning and are getting ready to receive bundles of answer scripts to mark. At this time, plants mature and some of them start to die off or at least turn yellow in colour.

Marking Season (Winter) - And then the winter comes and it is quiet and almost silent in the university. You hardly see any students in the compund. Only lecturers staying in the room focusing on the marking and later on confirming the marks given to the students. during winter time, the plants are resting and some plants have died.

Okay, those are 4 seasons in the university. To compare with school, it was hard to see the cycle, as during the school breaks teachers are not compulsory to be in school. while in the university, the semester breaks does not mean that you do not come to work! aha... 

PS: I miss the cold during winter time

The BOE Experience

Yesterday (Saturday) was my final day to finish up my semester as a lecturer. Tomorrow will be the next step of my career. I am looking forward to the next challenges. I am not sure how and what will come my way, but I am getting quite curious to see what will happen.

My first Board of Examination (BOE), was quite nerve racking. It was actually okay but because it was my first experience I was a bit nervous about what would happen. In the BOE, we as lecturers need to present and discuss the result of our students. It is the formal process to wrap up the semester by going through and verifying the marks given to the students.

There we discussed the issues that had risen, for example absent students in final exam, carry marks and border line marks. Some decisions needed to me made and some explanations and justifications were required to ensure fair play. The reasoning part was a bit hard I guess. I mean you needed to be prepared and have solid reasons for the issues involving your students in the Main Campus or in the Regional Centres.

Looking at some of my colleagues, they seemed very experienced in this matter and the BOE looked fine for them...aha... As per usual, there will always something to make me nervous, even though I knew I had followed the procedures exactly, kept accurate records and taught the students with quality teaching and learning.

Yay for the first experience! Yay for the first semester experience! Yay for finishing the work! Yay! Yay! Yay!

PS: It doesn't mean that just because you can speak loudly that your ideas are better than the quiet ones you know... :D