Author Archives: lee18776@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Automotive Engineering Club Season 3/4 – Creative

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My overall experience with the Automotive engineering club initially was not the best. Not because of the club but because of my lack of involvement and lack of confidence in the initial stages of the activity. Although I had experience working in the DT labs, I did not have experience working with different tools and making carts as I always worked with simpler things like tables and candle holder in IGCSE. In the first few sessions, I was always very confused on what to do and as the club requires the use of multiple different tools, I did not know how to use the tools or how to safely use the tools. I also struggled with the designing stage mostly due to the fact that I did not have a grasp of what would be a realistic idea and what would not be realistic. Therefore, my group proceeded with a simple idea and decided to make modifications later on if necessary.

Currently, I feel much more confident in using the different tools available in the lab and also feel more reluctant to ask about things that I am unsure about to the student leader of the activity. I think that as I am relatively close with the leader of the activity, I was able to quickly catch on to things and adapt easily. Our group has currently finished making the cart (although not of greatest quality) and we have just had the test runs of our carts in the bus bay. I feel like this activity has given me an opportunity to explore the physical sides of engineering by actually creating a functioning cart and I feel that this is a refreshing change as I have always been studying the theoretical sides of engineering in school.

An issue that can be brought up in this activity is waste management. As many materials are used to create this cart (e.g. metals bars, wood, aluminum plates), it was important for us to keep in mind the resources that we were using. I always stayed aware of this issue and my group tried our best to reuse materials and also waste least amount of materials as possible. For example, although it is much easier to use a new metal bar each time we work on different parts of the cart (not required to sand the edges), we always used one long metal bar and cut it to our required dimensions so that we did not waste any metal bars that could’ve been used for future projects of the activity.

Overall, I have enjoyed taking part in this activity and I am also proud of myself for taking initiative to join the activity, I hope to develop our current project even further for the last few sessions.

LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences
LO7 – Recognise and consider the ethics of your choices an actions

 

Project Week Planning Reflection

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I think that as our group members were very close friends with each other, it made the process much more smooth as we always kept in contact with each other and we were also able to more comfortably share our ideas as opposed to when we are with other people we aren’t as close to, we will be very uncomfortable discussing and planning about PW. Another reason for the planning process being relatively quick and smooth for us was that we started very early with our planning and as we knew we were going to go to PW together even before deciding the groups, we were able to narrow down destinations and also activities and services we had interest in. Personally, I thought that my contributions to the group work were relatively lacking in the early stages of the planning process as it coincided with an academically heavy period of school time, however, as it got to the middle/final stages, I felt that I was contributing more; for example, I played a big role in finding our group supervisor, I helped out with collecting the stamps at the end as 3/5 of our members were in the Geo trip. I think that as I am the media coordinator, I will be contributing more later during and after project week, taking pictures, recording videos and then organizing them later after the trip has finished. I think through this process I was able to reinforce my collaborator skills and improved my organization skills as the planning process had multiple due dates and meeting the deadlines along with school work was a definite challenge. Ultimately, I am very proud of my group for planning our project week and I think that we will have an amazing time in Lombok.

EE Day Reflection

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The EE day was able to help me get an idea of how the economics extended essay was structured and also how I will be able to proceed with the research and survey conducting stage for the EE. I learnt the importance of making effective use of primary research and really seeing if I need to conduct the research or not. For example, I found the activity where we assessed previous real examples of interviews/surveys on economics EE’s most effective as I learnt to determine good and bad questions on surveys.

I am most proud of the different methods of research that I conducted today ranging from looking at physical books to using different and more advanced search engines. I think that now I have almost sufficient secondary research to start writing my intro part of my EE and also the theory part. Also, I want to get my research more organized between the time of now and starting to write my EE.

EE Reflection #1

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Initially, I was uncertain about what my EE subject should be and I mainly focused on figuring out what I would enjoy most; however, as the date got closer to the EE proposal submission dates, I considered the practicality of some of the topics that I was coming up with. Balancing the level of practicality and personal interest was definitely a challenge in choosing a subject and topic. Now that I have decided on a topic, a goal going forward would be to have a solid base of research to improve the effectiveness of the survey that I plan to do.

I believe there is a lot I can learn from the EE process. My measure of success in this would be achieving a sense of completion and pride after completing such a rigorous task and also developing skills from the researching/surveying process as they will most likely prove to be useful in the future.

Word count: 155

Media Co-ordinator

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2 Things to remember when taking pictures…

  • The rule of thirds
  • Capture from a lower angle

I think that as a group we should use the One app, which allows us to film a few seconds of our day in Lombok and this will be organized by the app and it will compile all of our videos we took every day into a single video. I think this would be a great choice for us as we can very conveniently make a simple video of our trip along with a longer video we can work on.

Astronomy Club G11 Season 2 – Creative/Activity

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Season 2 for the Astronomy Club went much more smoothly compared to last season as we broke out from the repetitive and relatively boring structure that we had which was just each group sharing a presentation about a topic on Astronomy. In this season we as a team decided to focus on building rockets out of plastic bottles and experimenting with different variables available to us (e.g. weight, shape, amount of water used, etc.). I think that this was a good decision for us as it intrigued more of our members to come to the activity as some members would not come to all sessions. This also lead to the expansion of the number of members and acted as a sort of advertisement of the Astronomy Club. From having around 7-8 people in our club, the numbers have doubled for Season 3 and 4 which opens up many more opportunities.

In terms of problems that we faced in the Astronomy club in season 2 was that at times we saw our selves distracted and out of schedule a lot of the times. I think that this was due to a lack of organisation and time management as if we had used a doc to keep in track of things we did and things we needed to do, we would have been able to use our time much more efficiently as we only have 1 40 minute session every week. A lot of members also could not come due to Kahaani dance practices during lunch which also could have been a source of the problem.

Focusing on the rocket challenge, it was a struggle at first to initiate action as our members were slacking and I saw myself slacking as well during our sessions. I think the process of actually forming the rocket was the only challenge as it took a lot of effort to gather material and put the parts together; however, after the construction of the rocket was finished it was a much more enjoyable and rewarding experience and the process of trial and error was easier as we would only need to tweak small parts of the rocket. The video below shows a trial of a prototype rocket model and is one of the first rocket launches. The process overall tested my determination and also leadership skills because I had to direct our members as the head of the club.

I hope that the Astronomy club becomes more successful and our next challenge of using the telescope should be a very interesting one and also another opportunity for development individually.

LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences

 

Music Sound Beam Peacehaven Bedok Day Centre G11 Season 2 – Service

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SEASON 2

Reflection

The second season of this service was much more organised and we as a group were able to break away from the limited amount of activities that we had access to during the first season where we would only go meet and play with the elderly.  The activities were also very ineffective as it did not really engage all of the elder and judging by the reaction from the elderly, the activities were very boring and not dynamic.

I believe that in this season, we were more open to receiving help from the staff in Peacehaven (Stella) which helped us utilise the sound beam equipment and the spider gym (shown under in the video) which was much more advanced and enjoyable for the elderly. We were able to join hands with the physiotherapist working in Peacehaven, Andrew, to coordinate activities on the spider gym that the elderly can do that really tests the elderly’s motor skills and coordination. I believe that this change was a very big step forward for the service as a whole and looking long term, this service has become more focused to certain activities and as the spider gym and sound beam equipment is so versatile, a lot of activities can be planned for example, a performance can be coordinated by the students. This change occurred through effective communication between the Peacehaven staff and our group members. I think that when we encounter obstacles in a service or any other project, it is crucial to consult other members of the society willing to help (in this case the Peacehaven staff)

I think that a problem that I believe could be a possible obstacle would be the lack of available melodies on the sound beam machine which is important in coordinating activities on the spider gym. With repetitive songs, the elderly can be very bored as sessions go on. I think that a solution to this problem could be by being less dependant on the sound beam machine and as it is hard to install music to the machine, we could use our personal speakers or laptops to play music. This is an issue that must be addressed to the group as a whole and will be critical to be discussed upon. I think that our current set up for the service can be a good base if we are able to develop it with creative ideas to engage the elderly even more.

Looking in terms of individual development, I think that I feel much less “awkward” confronting the elderly but I think I still lack the ability to have deeper conversations with them; however, this is partly due to the language barrier between some of the elderly. Personally, I have noticed that I keep to myself a lot of the times during discussions. During the remaining seasons, I would like to work on being more engaged with the service and being a better communicator not only with the elderly but also with my service teachers and students. As I am now the logistics officer, it will be much easier for me to be engaged with the service.

I hope that our service as a team can develop the variety of available activities we can do with the elderly with the spider gym and sound beam. These activities that we think of can be passed down to the grade levels below and even be further developed by them.

LO1 – Identifying your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO2 – Demonstrate that you have undertaken, developing new skills in the process
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

 

Kahaani Season 2 – Creative

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I think that during this process I was initially very uncertain whether or not I could perform in front of such a big crowd; however, I think that as I practised more I got much more confident and at the final performance I was rather enjoying the stage than worrying about making mistakes.

Additionally, I think that the dance practices really tested my dedication to the dance as we had to meet up during the Christmas break to practice and not only the Christmas break but a plenty of other afterschool sessions to prepare. I think that these practices paid off and also was very enjoyable sessions in my opinion.

Both preparation and performance for Kahaani was a great experience as it was one of my first times getting involved in such a big dance performance. I think that I worked well with my peers involved in my dance as well as I was already very good friends with them. Although at times we got distracted a lot during our practices, I believe that we were more than prepared for the performance at the end. I really enjoyed being on stage and hope to be involved in more dances to come.

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

 

First term in HL Math

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Initially, HL math was a struggle to adapt to as it was quite a jump from math in previous years. Although I had expected a challenge, I thought that I would be quite quick to adapt, however, that was not the case. I was not able to get very good scores on the tests even though I understood the topic relatively well. Especially, I was quite disappointed about my long test as I thought that it was a relatively manageable test, however, I was not able to achieve a satisfactory score. I believe that I need more practice in solving questions and analyse my mistakes in tests so that I can minimize my mistakes and be able to finish the tests on time.

Throughout the term, there were many things that were enjoyable about math. I enjoyed working on the whiteboards with my partner and also enhancing my skills on new topics of advanced mathematics. I think I learn best when I am with friends as I am able to share my ideas and also listen to their idea and learn from it. I think that math is very similar to physics as not only do they share content, they also link in terms of their difficulty and also in the way that you study for those topics: requires deep understanding and practice (especially HL).

Astronomy Club G11 Season 1 – Creative

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Initial

Since the end of Grade 10, I had planned to set up an astrophysics/astronomy club for our school. Being such an intriguing topic for most students, I was surprised to see that it was not an activity/club yet. Initially, I had gotten the idea from Dover’s astrophysics club. As my friend and I had a lot of interest in physics and astronomy we decided to set up an astrophysics club. Also, being a club activity, I thought that this would help me build my confidence in talking to a bigger audience. However, due to IGCSE exams at the end of the G10 year, we did not have enough time to properly dedicate our time towards planning out our activity. Although planning started around March, the activity did not get finalised and official until a few days before activities sign up for G11 season 1.

Evidently, there were numerous obstacles when we planned out this activity. Firstly, as astrophysics was such an intimidating topic for most students, we had to tone down our content into more simpler things. Hence, our club changed from astrophysics to astronomy club. I feel like that this solution was an important one as many G9s or even G10s would not have signed up, however, we have around 4 G9 members currently in our club. Furthermore, another problem was the popularity of the topic. Another set of students wanted to create an astronomy club as well. Although we had opposing ideas on how to run the activity, through negotiation and compromise, we were able to work together to create an even better activity. Overall, I believe that my friend and I were able to handle these obstacles easily and I believe my organisation skills played a big role in the success of our club.

As of now, we have 10 actively engaged members of our club and I believe that it is only going to grow bigger. I hope that I will develop collaborative and communicative skills through this experience and also learn how to manage the responsibility of setting up an activity.

(Harit and I presenting a video about Apollo 13)

 

LO1 – Identifying your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

 

Reflection

With the help of my partners, I believe that our activity has become a great success. Although it was my first experience creating a certain club, I think that I handled this challenge really well and especially with the support from my peers who helped set up. I feel that I have improved my skills collaboratively, however, I believe I can improve more on becoming a skilled communicator as I planned initially.

For example, my peers and I worked on planning out the schedule of our activity. Having an online group chat, it was much easier to communicate digitally and plan out the schedule. Whilst my partner was setting out the dates, I was researching on ideas that could be presented so that the club members could get an idea of what to present. As the system of our club is having our members present weekly, it was important for us to know who was presenting and when. To build upon the collaborative skills used initially in setting up this activity, I also developed on it during the season of the club. I feel that I have been very organised and determined to run this activity as although there were a lot of school work, I was still able to seamlessly run the club. I always took my extra free time to work on consolidating this club.

Additionally, I feel that I have slightly improved as a communicator. As shown above, in the picture, I showed a lot of engagement with my presentation about the story of Apollo 13. As I had a lot of knowledge about the Apollo 13, I was able to confidently express my ideas verbally to the group. I feel that as I am usually not a very good communicator, I think that it is vital for me to get a better knowledge of the certain topic we are discussing before so that I feel more confident to speak like I did in my Apollo 13 presentation. As our club has not yet had many presentations, I believe that my communications skills will develop more as we discuss more topics.

To wrap up, the first season went very smoothly as a club founder and as this goes for one more season, I have enough time to consolidate my abilities as a communicator.

LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively