Teaching Portfolio: Zaiton Haron
Teaching Portfolio: Zaiton Haron
Teaching Portfolio: Zaiton Haron
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
ZAITON HARON
“Teaching Should Be Linked To Concrete Situations And Emphasizes The Need For Various
Types Of Knowledge And Skills’
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TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGE
2. TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY 4
2.2. Grading 6
2.3. Availability 6
2.4. Feedback 6
3. TEACHING METHOD 7
3.4. Assessment 8
5. EVALUATION OF TEACHING 10
7. REFERENCES 11
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" Teaching " is the most important profession in which a person is involved in shaping the future
of the country. Teaching and learning today inspire creative thinking and innovative
development that is necessary for a Civil Engineer. My first academic teaching experience
began in the third year of my degree when I was giving tuition to form 4 student who weak in
mathematics. My enthusiasm towards helping my junior in school and other activities taught
by my academic career has slowly developed the "teacher " in me. After graduate BSc in Civil
engineering in 1988, 1 was appointed as ‘assistant lecturer’, and served as lecturer for more
than 20 years. As a lecturer, I made myself as a role model for students to have qualities such
as maturity, good communication and interaction, and dynamic knowledge. Although my
students come from different backgrounds, I assume that the students as mature peoples who
have high responsibility for the given works/ assignments. I will help students when they make
mistakes. I will be very satisfied with my teaching when my students understand what I teach.
I also believe that students should also be constantly in the process of continuous learning all
the time. Therefore, students are encourage to do their own learning and not just rely 100% on
my lecture notes if they want to achieve good grades.
I will do thorough preparation before entering the classroom so that I could deliver a lecture
with confident and organized. Thus, it will help students to focus their full attention on the
lecture being delivered. While delivering the lecture, I will make sure that I have enough
knowledge about the topic being taught, and the most important thing is that I have latest
knowledge. A good teacher must be passionate about the subject being taught. Passion and
enthusiasm in a person for his or her work will only become a reality if he is quite
knowledgeable about a particular subject. The learning experience will be much more
interesting and students will find themselves enjoying the lecture that delivered by enthusiastic
lecturers. Students are happy to receive information more effectively than those who are tired
and stress.
In addition, as an academician , I believe a good teacher is responsible not only should focus
on how to make the students to get good grades, but more importantly how to use the knowledge
gained in their daily lives in an appropriate manner. Therefore, I always spend a few minutes
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during my lecture to convey to my students for values such as responsibility, discipline, honesty
and maturity.
2. TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY
2.1 Course taught
I have been teaching at the Department of Structures and Materials, Faculty of Civil
Engineering for more than 20 years. During the early years of my teaching career, on average
I teach two courses per semester. I teach diploma and undergraduate civil engineering student.
Most of my classes are for second and third year student. I teach core subject Reinforced
Concrete Design (DAW 3513, SAW3353/SKAA3352), Theory of Structures (SAM 5913),
Civil Engineering Materials (SAB 2112), Civil Engineering Laboratory (DAW 3952, SAA
3052, SAW 4052, SAM 4051). Besides lecturing the mainstream students, I also teach
Reinforced Concrete Design for part time course at the School of Professional and Continuing
Education (SPACE) for both Diploma and Undergraduate courses. In addition to that, I also
had the opportunity to teach postgraduate student of fulltime Master of Science (Construction
Management) and Master of Science (Construction management) Offshore Program for
Sustainability and Environmental Management in Construction, MAM 1133. MAM1133 is
elective and it has been introduced in 2007 which was our brainchild that provides platform to
master student to instill the element of sustainability in planning, construction and management
in construction industry. The course has received an overwhelming response from the Master
student from various disciplines based on student registration record since 2007.
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examine undergraduate students’ projects. To date, I have supervised more than 50 students for
their final year project (SAB/SKAA 4062 and SAB/SKAA 4064). While for postgraduate level,
I have successfully supervised 16 Master taught course students and 4 Master by research since
2008, and currently am supervising 8 PhDs and 2 Master by researches.
I also actively involves in publication activities including writing journal articles and books. I
have authored Open-ended Laboratory: concrete mix design experiment in 2013 that published
by Faculty of Civil Engineering, UTM. In addition to that I was co-author of Civil Engineering
Material Book published by McGrawHill. I was also involved in collaboration work of UTM-
Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP) as an author and evaluator of several word entries of the
Ensiklopedia Sains & Teknologi.
I was also laboratory coordinator for 5 ½ years and have succesfully help the laboratory
teaching from cook book style to outcome based education (OBE) system. I have successfully
revised the laboratory curriculum to fulfill the current requirements of Engineering
Accreditation Council (EAC) and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
(ABET) as well as MOHE. This aims to produce young engineers who are not only well-versed
in theories, but are also practical and understand practical situations. Beginning in 2008/09
academic session, the execution of the concrete mix design experiment in the Faculty of Civil
Engineering Laboratory, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, was sucessfully changed (Appendix
1). I have introduced the use of rubric for assessment not only for the laboratory report but also
in measuring domain of cognitive, affective and pshycomotor. This rubric is the first of its kind,
as it means that lecturers no longer depend on their own experience, and thus it helps to avoid
large variations in marks. This open-ended laboratory has been currently referred to and
adopted by Universiti Industri Selangor (UNISEL).
OBE system: Each member of the group must participate and demonstrate the spirit of team
working
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2.2 Grading
My grading is based on the overall performance of the student, which will be assessed
throughout the semester. This will cover the participation of the student in class, afford in
submitting assignment, test and final exam. Most of my question will require the student to
have clear understanding on the basic concept that involve in the design philosophy. The
student must be able to choose the most suitable answer if they want to gain good marks, and
this will be discussed frequently in class sessions. Memorizing is not the correct way to obtain
good marks and they may find it difficult to score high marks since my exam question are
designed in such a way requires critical thinking. Student who carefully able to follow the
lecture session, would be most likely able to understand the principle concept of design
philosophy and these student will stand good chance to score high marks in the final exam.
2.3 Availability
I am very flexible when it comes to meeting session with my student with respect to time or
place. Whenever is necessary, I will spare my time for discussion with my student even after
office hours or during weekends.
2.4 Feedback
Feedbacks and comments from my student are very important for my continuous quality
improvement (CQI). The feedbacks will be used to resolve any errors pertaining to knowledge
dissemination techniques and as well as in the course content. This continuous improvement
is very important for future development of the student learning aspect and as well as for my
teaching carrier.
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3. TEACHING METHOD
3.1 Class sessions
In the beginning of my first day lecture, I will throw some thought and ideas on moral values
in term of becoming as a good student and as well as a good person. This is including the
important attribute that UTM should achieve after student complete the course and programme.
The UTM graduate attributes, which includes communication, critical thinking & problem
solving, team-working, information management and lifelong learning, entrepreneurship,
leadership and pro-activeness and ethics and integrity that being urged by the university are
repeatedly being reminded to student so that they are aware and focus on what the university is
expecting from them and more importantly of the real world out there is counting on them to
delivery by having so called as graduate university student.
On the first day of my lecture also, the general overview and objectives of the course,
implementation of the assessment and review prerequisite materials are clearly explained.
These include the explanation on all the Program Outcome (PO), Course Outcome (CO),
Complex Activities (CA), Complex Problem (CP) and Knowledge Profile (KP), which
associated with the course taught. The class session is divided into 2 session; lecture and
discussion/problem solving session. Throughout the class session 1, I will implement the active
learning in which student may interrupt the lecture if they have any questions or confusion. The
second session encourage student to discuss and solve the given problem within the stipulated
time. Students need to think and complete the given problem, which through this students enjoy
the learning process.
In line with the OBE approach, which has been implemented in many higher educational
institutions, in the past few years, I have started incorporated active learning techniques during
the class sessions. Since Reinforced design I is core subject and the fundamental of all
reinforced concrete building design, my intention is that student must understand the underlying
concept so that student will be able to solve various problem arise during real life in order to
sustain the economy, social and environmental aspects. Sustainable issues become main
discussion topic because the over design will not only eventually produce less economical but
also emit relatively high green-house gasses and contribute to global warming crisis. I classify
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this as rule of conduct in design of building or Etiquette. Student will be asked to relate how
the type of element in a structure and its exposure condition to environment will influence the
selected grade of concrete and will determine the optimum the content of cement. Cement is
important material in concrete and also one of the biggest contributor to carbon emission thus
the right exposure is very important in design of any concrete building. To discuss this, student
are group into up to five, etique in the design will be further explored by referring the building
code and related articles. This approach will allow the student to practice their communication
skill, etiquete in design, sustainable in design, critical thinking, accepting different opinions
and ideas and come out with suitable conclusion.
3.4 Assessments
The consolidation of the theoretical and the conceptual framework is realized through
assignments and examinations. The assignments comprises of straightforward questions. While
the final exam will requires the student to have not only good understanding on the basic
concept but also the related application taught in the course. Students can attain good judgment
on selection or decision if critical thinking is encouraged amongst students throughout the
course.
The preparation of the exam question will be based and follow the bloom taxonomy guidelines.
The exam questions are based on the three important domains, which are cognitive,
psychomotor and as well as affective domain. These covering from one to five different levels
of the major categories, such as knowledge, analysis and synthesis receiving, responding to
phenomena, valuing and perception and guided responses. My student will be reminded that
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practicing and memorizing the design procedure will not help the student to score in this
subject. Students need to be able to think and understand the fundamental concept of design.
Design of Reinforced Concrete 1, SKAA 3352 is the course that I taught. It carries two credit
hours or equivalent to 2 hours of lecture per week. This subject is core subjects of the Bachelor
of Civil Engineering at the faculty. The general objectives of the subject are to give students an
understanding and ability to analyze and design reinforced concrete structural elements. This
subject is not only need to be understood in order to pass the exam but most importantly is to
apply the knowledge when they are practicing. A clear understanding on the consequences
upon their decision-making may cause great impact to the environment. The knowledge
obtained from the course is very crucial in practicing sustainable development.
The outline and the latest course notes (Level 1) for SKAA 3352 are presented in Appendix 2.
The student are assessed with two test (30%), projects task that contained project report and
assignment (20%) and final examination (50%). The students are responsible to submit their
project assignments on time as schedule to impose disciplinary among the student. Deduction
of marks will be taken for the delay submission of the task. The students are also strongly
reminded on their responsibility for attending the lectures. Class attendance is taken during
each lecture time. Students will be reminded that they will not be allowed to sit for final
examination if the attendance is less than 80%.
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5. EVALUATION OF TEACHING
The chart below shows the score of my e-PPP for the past five years since 2008 to 2014, which
I could say I have shown excellent improvement in my teaching skill. The highest achievement
for my e-PPP score was during Session 2010-2011 Sem. 2 with an average of 4.76. Please refer
to Appendix III for detail of my evaluation while Appendix IV provides the collection of student
comments.
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3.5
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2.5
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1.5
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0.5
0
With the development and improvement in technology teaching arena and parallel with the
intention of the university to become the world-class university, I have changed my style of
teaching. Traditional lecture method such as using overhead transparencies and white board
was no longer exist. The application of power points, and real pictures that show real situation
and attractive pictures were applied as the teaching tools. For the derivation of design formula
it is shown by free hand on the white board. These approaches will make the lectures become
more interesting, interactive and easily understood. I have also tried hard to improve my
teaching skill. For this reason, I have attended course that can improve the presentation and
public speaking skills organized by UTM and conducted by Lighthouse Consulting.
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To improve the course implementation, results from previous semester will be analysed. For
example, the result of semester 2 session 2012/2013 showed that students marks were
relatively low due to theoretical part eg. analysis of section. Thus, assignment alone are
not effective in enhancing student understanding. Several assignment related to analysis
of structure and analysis of section with high degree of complexity are given this
semester. At the end of semester this CQI effectiveness will be evaluated and new
improvement will be introduced depending upon this semester achievement.
7. REFERENCES
Barr, R.E., Krueger, T.J. and Aanstoos, T.A. (2006) Continuous Outcomes Assessment in an
Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Course, 36th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education
Conference, S1E-9 – S1E-14.
Felder, R.M., Silverman, L.K. (1998). Learning and Teaching Styles In Engineering
Education. Engineering Education, 78(7), 674-681.
Fincher, C. (1994). Learning Theory and Research, in Teaching and Learning in the College
Classroom, edited by Kenneth A. Feldman and Michael Paulson, Ashe Reader Series,
Needham, MA: Ginn Press.
Macdonald, G. (1997) Quality indicators and health promotion effectiveness. Promotion and
Education, IV, 5–8
Spady, W. (1994) Outcomes Based Education: Critical Issues and Answers, American
Association of School Administration: Arlington, Virginia.
Tindill, B. S. and Stewart, D. W. (1993) Integration of Total Quality and Quality Assurance. In
Al-Assaf, A. F. and Schmele, J. A. (eds) The Textbook of Total Quality in Healthcare. St Lucie
Press, Delray Beach, FL, pp. 209–220.
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Students Pack
PREPARED BY : CERTIFIED BY :
Signature : Signature :
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(g) Materials:
Crushed coarse aggregate
Sand
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Admixtures
Cement
Water
Fly ash
Slag/POFA
(i) References:
Civil Engineering Laboratory I, II and III Manual
Material in construction, G.D Taylor, 2000
Civil Engineering Materials, Shan Somayaji, 2001
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EQUIVALENCE : SAB3353
2 Hours Lecture
LECTURE HOURS :
2Hours Practical
LECTURERS E-Mail Room No. Phone No.
Ahmad Zaidon bin Rais [email protected] M46-335 31608
Dr. Zaiton Haron [email protected] M47-119 31537
SYNOPSIS
This is a core course which will provide an understanding and ability to analyze and design reinforced concrete
structural elements. Among the topics discussed are objective and methods of design, code of practice, analysis and
design of sections for moments and shear, checking for deflection and cracking, durability and detailing requirements,
design of simply supported and continuous beams, design of one way and two way restrained and simply supported
slab. Furthermore the students will be exposed to the concept of pre-stressed concrete which covers topics on principle
and methods of pre-stressing, stress limit, losses and selection of section.
Name : Ir. Mohamad Salleh Yassin Name : AP. Dr. Arizu Sulaiman
Head, Dept. of Struc.& Materials
Signature : Signature :
Date : 21st June 2013 Date : 21st June 2013
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TEACHING METHODOLOGY
1. Basic Design philosophies and the use of code of practice will be demonstrated.
2. Students will be required to write reports and/or discussed and on-going or completed design project.
3. Students are required to go through the given tutorials.
4. Students are required to produce design project in group.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
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REFERENCES
GRADING
1. Assignments 1 5 5
2 Project 1 15 15
3. Test 2 15 30
4. Final Exam 1 50 50
ATTENDANCE
The student should adhere to the rules of attendance as stated in the University Academic Regulation :-
1. Student must attend not less than 80% of lecture hours as required for the subject.
2. The student will be prohibited from attending any lecture and assessment activities upon failure to comply
the above requirement. Zero mark will be given to the subject.
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