Dr Priya Mankara Vijayan gave an in-house presentation to the staff of the English Language center on Action Research and Its Importance on 19.4.2021 as part of an initiative taken by the Professional Development Committee at the UTAS-Ibri. The presentation was moderated by Dr Michelle I Mendoza.
Dr Priya Mankara Vijayan has a doctorate in English Language and Literature. She also holds a TESOL certificate from Trinity College, London and a post-graduate certificate in teaching English from English and Foreign Languages University, India. She has 18 years of teaching experience at college and university levels. Her research areas include ELT and Literature. Currently, she is an ELT lecturer at the ELC, UTAS, Ibri.
Action Research is one of the practical Research approaches and is gaining popularity in social sciences. A succinct definition of action is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking action. The prime objective of this presentation is to highlight the key role of action research in the education sector and ELT. It also brings to the limelight the different stages of action research and its cyclic nature. Moreover, it highlights the role of Action research in initiating actions to improve upon and bring about changes in the existing professional practices and real issues related to our field of study.
Practitioners who engage in action research indeed find it to be an empowering experience. Action research is impressively positive for many reasons. The most imperative is that action research is always pertinent to the participants. Relevance is specific because the focus of each research project is determined by the researchers, who will be the first to analyze the findings.
Perhaps even more important is the fact that action research facilitates educators to be more effective at what they care most about—their teaching and the improvement of their students. When teachers have substantial evidence that their work has indeed contributed to the lives of their students, the endless efforts exerted seem worthwhile.
The head of the center, Dr Abdulsalam Manthari appreciated the commitment of the PDC and lauded the uniqueness of the topic presented at the webinar.
The professional development committee of ELC, UTAS-IBRI, has been striving hard and is at its best to meet the training needs of the ELC staff by hosting series of webinars on a wide range of topics to facilitate and update the faculty members with the dynamics of ELT and other related areas.
Assessment for General Foundation Programme is distinctive as the assessment is designed to determine whether the student meets the learning outcome standards defined by the courses offered. The four skills (LSRW) are assessed through various modes and methods based on the learning outcomes identified.
The speakers Dr Miriam Villaroman-Cordova and Ms Sharon Ruth Devaneson shared a well-tailored and customized in-house presentation titled GFP Exam Writing on 18.4.2021 with the ELC staff. The sole objective of this presentation was to create a general awareness of procedures that are followed to conduct the GFP writing exam. The session was moderated by Dr Mohammed Amir.
Dr Miriam Villaroman-Cordova has been teaching English for the past 16 years. She has a master's degree in Education Major in English. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy Major in Educational Management in 2013. She believes that teaching is an art and considers her classroom as her stage.
Ms. Sharon Ruth Devaneson has 17 years of tertiary-level English teaching experience in Oman. She has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Madras in Chennai, India. She completed her CELTA from the British Council, Oman, in 2007. She enjoys creating material to suit her learner's varied needs and styles.
The presentation made the audience conversant with the various stages of exam writing and how it is administered at the English Language center, UTAS-Ibri, based on the instructions given by the ministry.
Dr Miriam introduced the ELC staff to the members of the Exam Writing Committee and gave a detailed account of Exam specifications, learning outcomes, delivery plan and GFP moderation procedure. She also explained various stages of the exam writing process and the strategies followed to design LSRW question papers and shared the pattern of the exam and justified the way they are sequenced.
Ms Sharon focused on the application part and allowed the teachers to experience the process of exam writing through various activities. Her discussion also centered around different types of questions asked in LSRW exams. She also mentioned that the most challenging to write is reading passages and Listening section 3 and the easiest to moderate is writing.
Another significant aspect of the discussion was the examination platform that is used to conduct LEE exams. Ms Sharon exchanged the know-how of conducting exams through Moodle, which included the nitty-gritty of the examination process to have adhered during the exams.The presenters were committed to sharing videos on how to upload questions on Moodle.
The presentation was highly interactive and informative and the teachers' participation was commendable.
On April 01, 2021, the English Language Center at UTAS-Ibri, invited teachers from across the world to join a seminar on Contemporary Strategies in ELT. The speakers of the event Ms. Hanaa Khamis from Egypt and Dr. Luciana Kinoshita Barros from Brazil, shared their views on interesting topics, which shed light on various dimensions of ELT.
Ms Hanaa Khamis demonstrated the benefits of e-portfolios to both students and teachers in her presentation titled Collect, Reflect and Assess with E-portfolios.The presentation highlighted the strengths and functionalities of e-portfolios and shared some user-friendly online tools to create them.
She defined an e-portfolio as a collection of student/teacher artifacts in the form of documents, images, audio and video. It functions as a digital repository that can record all student/teacher products or showcase their works. E-portfolios act as self-reminders and assessment tools. She also suggested that it can well be used for formative or summative assessment purposes.
Hanaa Khamis is an ESOL practitioner and TESOL trainer who has experimented with instructional technology since 1999. Currently, she is part of TESOL Gulf Board of Directors. She earned an MA in TESOL from the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt in 2007. Her thesis focused on communication strategies among EFL university learners in online interactions. Her research and training interests mainly include pedagogy, technology and assessment.
Another speaker who graced the event was Dr.Luciana Kinoshita Barros, who spoke on one of the major components of higher education: Initial Teacher Education. Sheintroduced the audience to Initial Teacher Education in Brazil as a Higher Education component practiced at UNIFESSPA through her presentation titled Multimodal Narratives to Motivate Student-Teachers. She puts it as an experience of a public university in the Brazilian Amazon.
Dr Luciana described “Initial Teacher Education in Brazil” as a component of higher education. She stated that at UNIFESSPA, some student-teachers learn to make multimodal narratives to share their beliefs about learning to become an English as a Foreign Language teacher. They have the opportunity to reflect on their role in the learning process and learn with each other's beliefs. According to them, free expression of their beliefs seems to contribute to the students' motivation and self-awareness in the teacher education process.
Dr Abdulsalam, the head of the English Language Centre, appreciated the efforts exerted by the Professional Development Committee, who strives hard to connect the ELC staff through webinars to the ELT dynamics across the world.
Dr. Sultan Al Ghafri, a man of many achievements heads English Language Programs at the English Language Centre of UTAS –Ibri. In his presentation, he introduced his audience to a unique realm of teaching and learning replete with interesting approaches that motivate and persuade students to become active learners. A self-explanatory title, “Student Active Learning(SAL),” centered on an active learning approach that engages students in the learning process. He believes SAL is a better way to pave the way for learners to perform learning tasks independently and understand. According to him, SAL encourages students to become more responsible for their learning by giving them the opportunity to share influence with the lecturer and become more involved in teaching-learning process.
Dr. Sultan also admitted that Applying SAL approach is challenging for teachers but essential. Teachers are expected to be innovative and customize their teaching methods and make online teaching meaningful and productive.
The English Language Centre in particular and international audience at large extended appreciation and lauded the efforts of Dr Sultan for his lofty contribution.
A virtual industrial visit to Hydroelectric Power Plant was organised by the OJT and Industrial link Committee, Engineering Department, for diploma and bachelor students of Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering students on 25 March 2021 to enhance students’ knowledge on the real time process of hydroelectric energy conversion in power plants.
Twenty-five students attended the virtual session at 10 AM, and were briefed by the Mr Veera Nagi Reddy, lecturer, UTAS-Ibri, about the major components of a hydroelectric power plant and their functions. The following were shown to the students virtually and explained to them with help of 3D images.
- Aerial view of hydroelectric power plant;
- The reservoir and dam
- Gate house and Spillway
- Powerhouse
- Turbines
- Breaker room
- Substation and surge tanks
- Control room
Outcome
The students were able to understand the internal working of hydroelectric power plant through this virtual presentation. It was an informative session for students in learning concepts of power plant engineering.
The SDC and RCC of the Engineering Department organised a programme on “THE IMPORTANCE OF Node-RED IN IoT REVOLUTION" of the TEQUP series on 1 April 2021 from 2 to 2.30 pm. In this programme, Mr Srilla Jayasankar, Instructor (Engineering Department), delivered the presentation for the benefit of the staff members. He started the presentation with an introduction about the Node-RED application in the area of IoT and IoT environment. He clearly explained how to download and install the software in the local system. He demonstrated how this browser-based visual editor can communicate with hardware devices such as the Arduino microcontroller. Finally, he demonstrated that how to create a dashboard using the Node-RED application.
DR. SUJATA PANICKER, was a very active, always on-the-go, and enthusiastic woman. Whenever she was in the campus, she would often be seen moving with a lot of energy and in a state of urgency and excitement.
She was always willing to help and assist in whatever way she could at work. She volunteered to teach her colleagues needing guidance on how things are done in the Department, and would readily share her files, forms, and resources.
She was involved in most of the activities, programs, and events organized by the Department since the start. She was a coordinator or a committee member for the Engineering Society, SORESA, Engineering Technofest, CASET, and various symposia, conferences, seminars, and workshops.
She was passionate about her job and Chemistry; she loved to read and do research about what's the latest in her field.
She acted as the Team Leader and Supervisor of several RG, TRC, and URG Projects. A couple of the projects she supervised even won National Awards in the Sultanate.
To the Engineering Staff, she was more than a colleague, she was an elder sister and a dear friend, who spent time to ask how things were in their personal and family lives. She would invite friends and colleagues over to dine with her and her family from time to time.
As a teacher, she was fixture in the Chemistry Lab and Classroom, as well as in Introduction to Renewable Energy courses. She taught with zeal and exuberance; students might have found some of the lessons difficult but the classes were never boring.
She was also very competitive; she loves joining contests of wit and knowledge, and during her younger days, she was into sports.
Dr. Sujata, as a pioneer member of the Engineering Department Family, will be missed by everyone whose lives she has touched. As we mourn her sudden passing, may we be comforted that the life that she lived while she was with us had been great and worthwhile.
Nasser Al-Shammakhi
HoD, Engineering
Dr. Ethel Reyes-Chua is presently the Dean of Emilio Aguinaldo College-Cavite, Philippines, School of Education and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Director. In the teaching and learning process, she enjoys undertaking action research including motivational methods in teaching, reflective teaching, professional development, and other practices. She organizes and runs national and international academic workshops and conferences. Dr. Chua loves discussing her research work.
On 6th January 2021, she in a webinar discussed different Online Teaching Resources (OTRs) that will facilitate the teaching and learning process. These OTRs are categorized in these formats: (1) As Learning Management System (2) Assessment Method; and (3) Survey to motivate students in virtual learning environment. Some of these OTRs are open resources and are free of charge.
At the end of the webinar, Dr Abdusalam, the Head of Center, and Mr Faisal Shamali expressed words of gratitude and appreciated Dr. Ethel Reyes-Chua for sharing her experiences.
In collaboration with the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council), the IT Department's Research and Consultancy Committee organised an orientation session for our staff and students on the certification and training programmes offered by the EC-Council. EC-Council is an American organisation that provides cybersecurity certification and training programmes. It is well-known for the range of world-class cybersecurity certification programmes, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA). It is worth mentioning that recently our department (IT Department) took the initiative to sign an academic partnership with EC-Council to support our students to pursue their career in the cybersecurity field.
The orientation session was held on Thursday, 25 March under the title "Webinar on Leadership Career in Cybersecurity". It was organised to learn more about EC-Council's programmes and services and uncover the benefits of the academic partnership to students and staff. The session was delivered by Mr Talha Jawad, regional academia manager at EC-Council. It covered the following points:
- Introduction to various certification career tracks and job roles available
- Demonstration of the virtual lab platform
After an informative and well-structured presentation, the guest speaker allotted some time for the Q&A session. About 54 staff members and students attended the webinar, which lasted for one hour, it concluded at 4 PM. The full video recording is available online via the following link: https://cutt.ly/ax4Tlrq
The SDC and RCC of the Engineering Department organised a programme on “Python, a pathway" of the TEQUP series on 8 March 2021 from 2 to 2.30pm. In this programme D M. Muruganandam, Lecturer (Engineering Department), delivered the presentation for the benefit of the staff members. He started the presentation by stating with basics and history behind the Python programming language. He gave a clear explanation about Python and also explained how to download and install the software and its supporting IDEs. He showed some basic Python programming in comparison with other existing software programming languages. Finally, he demonstrated the learning, testing and training of Python programming through online software.
