The Multimedia Technology & Design Head Of Programme, Associate Professor XXX XXX XXXX, and the... Erm... I still don't know what's his actual position, except for being a lecturer in UniSIM, but Dr XXXX XXX, whom I thought was the HOP... They were both in the Video Technology seminar when I arrived, and they were seated at the back of the class.

They chatted with Dr XXXXX XXXXX, the lecturer of Video Technology for awhile and I overheard Dr XXXX XXX say that he was only going to say for about half an hour, and then he had to go. The AP XXX didn't mention when he was leaving though.

Anyway, the lecture was kinda crap 'cause he taught us basic digital signal representation : converting from decimal to binary, to hexadecimal, etc etc, which we should've learned in Audio Technology instead since we needed to use them then anyway. But he did do better in this lecture, I have to admit. He had better structure this time around, and he only messed up minor words (errors became arrows and quotient became caution -__-"). At the end of the lecture, I wasn't quite happy in a way, as I thought that seminar wasn't representative of previous seminars, since there weren't any new technical jargons introduced and we were only learning basic stuff.

At the half hour mark, Dr XXXX XXX hurriedly left, and then during the break, AP XXX left. Neither managed to talk to me, as they had mentioned they wanted to, in previous e-mails, and I really didn't have anything else I wanted to say to them at the time that I hadn't already mentioned in my e-mails to them anyway.

At the end of the lesson, a classmate exclaimed to me, "Wah, the Professor here ah, he teach very good leh. He go already ah, back to normal!" I raised my eyebrows, and asked, "Ah? Really meh?" She replied, "Yah, I didn't understand anything at all after he left!"

I didn't actually notice much change in his teaching manner since I had already learned most of what was in the seminar during my Polytechnic days... And erm, I was kinda glazing over at some parts of what he was teaching since he kept repeating them over and over. And I wasn't quite happy with the way he was teaching too, since what he taught wasn't the way my Polytechnic lecturers taught, and I felt like Dr XXXXX was complicating something so simple. Anyway, as I mentioned, I didn't notice much change in his teaching manner, but for those who really had no engineering background, I would think they would've gotten confused so fast.

Another classmate told me that he overheard the AP talking to the lecturer, asking why he was teaching what he was teaching since it won't have any real-world benefits. I said, "WHAT? Are you kidding me? He asked that?! The hell! He's the Head of Programme leh, shouldn't he know what the hell is in the course programme?! Not doing his job ah?" -.-"

A few days after the lecture, I typed out an e-mail to the AP and Dr XXXX XXX.

Dear Assoc. Prof XXX XXX XXXX and Dr XXXX XXX,

Would you mind sharing your findings from your sit-in during the first Video Technology seminar?

I'm not sure if the first Video Technology seminar is representative of what had happened in previous seminars, as it was fairly straightforward, with not much technical jargons. I believe Dr XXXXX XXXXX has definitely improved, though, even if some of my classmates were of the opinion that after both of you had left, he was back to normal again.

Thank you.

Regards,

Zulkifly

Here are what they replied. 2 e-mails from the AP, that I've joined together here :

Dear Zul,

I'll be there for the whole of this course.

Last week's lesson is not entirely relevant to this module. It is basic computer literacy and perhaps should be in another part of the programme – I'll be looking into that.

Also, as indicated, we are in the process of turning a large part of this course into e-learning, as I've also informed Dr XXXXX and asked if he wants to be part of this course re-development. We'll try out best to address your concerns in the process.

Best wishes,

A/Prof XXX

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I can understand what he is saying, but that's no indication of whether the class does. We'll continue to monitor and feed back to him.

He's really not kidding. "Not entirely relevant to this module." HAH! Anyway, here's the e-mail from Dr XXXX XXX :

Dear Zulkifly,

Just to add on....

We were there early, so we had opportunity to speak to two early birds. I asked very direct questions to these two guys whether they could understand the lecturer and their replies were yes, and that Dr XXXXX is better than the previous lecturer. These two students could possibly be repeat students, so they are able to make comparison. But of course the sample size is too small for me to make any conclusion.

Just like Prof XXX, I was also able to understand what Dr XXXXX said in the entire duration when I was in the classroom. As you pointed out, this could be due to the straightforward lesson with little jargon. I'm glad you observed last Wednesday that Dr XXXXX has "definitely improved" but as you mentioned, the lecturer went "back to normal again" after we left. Please let us know specifically, since you were there the entire duration.

BTW, I was looking for you last Wednesday. There were a number of Malay guys there so I was not sure which one was you. Are you the one who sat beside a slim Malay girl who wears the hijab? If you have any distinguishing physical feature, please let me know so that I can recognize you and be able to greet you.

Cheers,

Dr XXX.

I spoke to Kyle yesterday after my other class, Advanced Graphics Design, regarding this. I told him that they both mentioned that they understood what Dr XXXXX was saying/teaching. Kyle pointed out something along the lines of, "Of course lah, 'cause they know the information already."

Anyway, here is my reply :

Dear A/Prof XXX & Dr XXX,

Thank you for your replies.

I've heard about the previous Nigerian lecturer from other students, and from what I understand, Dr XXXXX's communication skill is definitely a step up from Mr. XXXXXX XXXXXX, and I am greatly appreciative of that.

Also, while you had only asked 2 students regarding their understanding of what Dr XXXXX teaches, and I agree that the sample size is too small and not representative of the entire class, please note that not all students are as vocal about their feelings as I am, and not all students will tell you honestly what they think while Dr XXXXX is standing there. Perhaps an anonymous survey would give you a more truthful answer.

As mentioned in my previous e-mail, it was the opinion of a few of my classmates that he went "back to normal" again after A/Prof XXX left, but personally I didn't notice the shift. You might want to talk to them in the next lesson, if they are willing. As you might have noticed, I am no longer representing my classmates in my e-mails now, as conferring with them takes too much time.

And no, I wasn't the one sitting beside the Malay girl wearing the hijab. I was actually sitting 2 rows in front of you, between a Chinese guy and another Malay guy. I will try to reach much earlier in the next lesson and approach you.

Regards,

Zulkifly

So... What do I think of all this? Are these 2 guys just trying to humour me, to shut me up? Both sitting in, but one going off at the half-hour mark, just to show face, pretending that he cares? Or did he really have something important to attend to? And the AP going off during the break? They stated they will sit in for the whole course, but there are only 6 seminars in total for Video Technology, 3 hours each. Is that really such an effort for them to sit in? Are they just really doing this to improve the system or just to act? I'm still undecided. Hmm... I shall try to think positive and give them the benefit of the doubt. This is after all part of their job scopes.

It would appear this is not the conclusion of this saga as I had thought. I'd rather continue on with my normal irregular blog entries instead of always focusing on this issue though, so I will intertwine my normal entries with this saga from next post onwards.

Video Technology seminar later today, and I really do plan to reach earlier, although I'm still not sure what more I can add on. Kyle had some stuff he mentioned to me yesterday, which I thought were good points, so maybe he can speak instead.

I'll post soon if any interesting conversation occurs later. Otherwise, no need to keep checking back to this site, yah? Haha. (Someone mentioned I did this to get more hits to my blog... Which is not true. I don't care about getting hits to my blog. If I did, I'd have Adsense crap and other adverts pasted all over this site. Which I don't. 'Cause I really couldn't care less about visitor hits.)