This article's focus is motivation and learning for your child. Read and education yourself.

A person, especially a student in school, needs to become interested and needs a purpose or a motive to learn effectively. The teacher has a responsibility to every student in his class to motivate each one to learn. This can be very difficult and yet the teacher has such a wonderful opportunity to motivate and promote learning.

For a person to learn there has to be a need to learn and sometimes the student doesn't appreciate this need as it needs to be a conscious need. A teacher needs to understand a student's needs and bring each one to an awareness of this need. When he brings this awareness to the student then he can guide the student and hold his interest in the subject he is teaching. There has to be a recognition of need from the student.

There are two kinds of interest, the positive and the negative. When a student has positive interest in learning he is getting value because it is something he wants to obtain. Now if he is only having negative interest he may still learn a small portion of what is being taught but not to the extent of positive interest. The student needs to have a desire all his own to learn and not an outside pressure wanting him to learn. He will strive to learn if his interest is positive.

If the student already has an interest in the subject a wise teacher can make use of these interests. He can work towards achieving holding this motivation for learning. Before a teacher can hold his student's interest he needs to have an understanding of how interests are obtained, and how purposes develop in individuals that cause an appetite for learning. A person's daily life, his character and his personality determine his drive for learning. This interest can lead him to move to action and want to acquire knowledge. He needs a desire or an urge. He also needs an inner drive for the power of knowledge and learning. He also needs the desire to be active, if he is lazy he will not have desire and urge. He needs to desire new experiences and to learn. The desire to achieve needs to be in connection with the desire to be active. For a person to succeed a student needs to make progress and want this progress to continue.

A student also needs to have the desire for approval from his parents, from his teachers and his peers. He need to have the desire for a feeling of accomplishment as this causes him to seek more and more knowledge. He needs to feel

proud about accomplishment.

I have not mentioned all of the desires that lead to motivation and learning but only a few of the primary desires that will be helpful to this process. Motivation and learning go together for achievement.

I don't know about this but don't quite like it as feel that it builds on the hardwork of the other people, so called the sub-line etc.

The Star Online has a Malay versin and this came to my attention lor.

MLM boleh untung? Dapat pengalaman adalah, pelajar 25-10-2005 04:43:52 Oleh Wahida Asrani

Bagi sesetengah pelajar yang berkecimpung dalam MLM semasa di kampus, kegiatan ini memberi pengalaman baru dalam bidang perniagaan, walaupun ianya boleh mendatangkan kerugian sehingga beribu ringgit. Bagi Maisarah Muhammad, 23, yang mula melibatkan diri di dalam aktiviti jualan langsung produk kesihatan semasa di tahun akhir pengajianya di Universiti Teknologi MARA, pengalaman yang dilalui begitu berharga walaupun dia tidak mengaut keuntungan. Dia telah diperkenalkan oleh seorang rakan dan kini telah berhenti dari kegiatan itu. "Saya akhirnya terpaksa meminta bantuan ibu sebanyak RM2,000 sebagai modal untuk membeli barangan tersebut bagi memulakan jualannya." Maisarah "Keuntungan memang boleh dicapai jika individu itu rajin dan pandai mencari pelanggan. Saya akui ada di kalangan kami yang berjaya dan tidak dinafikan ada juga yang mengalami kerugian," ujar Maisarah Muhammad, 23. Perniagaan seperti ini, katanya, mungkin agak sukar kerana seseorang itu perlu meyakinkan orang ramai bukan sahaja membeli produk-produk tersebut, malah untuk meyakinkan mereka agar turut sama menjadi pengedar atau agen jualan barangan itu.  Maisarah memulakan perniagaannya dengan bayaran RM50 sebagai yuran kemasukan. Namun, dengan dana pendidikan yang tidak mencukupi, dia akhirnya terpaksa meminta bantuan ibunya sebanyak RM2000 sebagai modal untuk membeli barangan tersebut bagi memulakan jualannya. "Jualan langsung yang saya buat menggunakan sistem mata, dimana lagi banyak modal saya keluarkan, lagi banyak mata dan bonus yang saya boleh kumpulkan. Tapi terpulang pada individu itu sendiri berapa jumlah modal yang mampu dikeluarkan. “Ada juga yang tidak mengeluarkan sebarang modal, tetapi hasil usaha mereka sendiri menjual barangan tersebut, mereka berjaya mengaut lebih banyak keuntungan,” tambahnya. Namun, dia mengaku gagal memperoleh keuntungan memandangkan tiada masa terluang untuknya bergiat aktif di dalam bidang ini. Dan sebaik menamatkan pengajian, dia akhirnya mengambil langkah untuk berhenti menjalankan aktiviti itu setelah mendapat tawaran bekerja. Walaupun begitu, penglibatannya di dalam aktiviti ini tidak langsung dianggap satu perkara yang merugikan. “Memang tidak rugi kerana walaupun kita gagal memperoleh keuntungan, paling tidak, kita sudah ada sedikit pendedahan dalam bidang perniagaan yang kita boleh gunakan kelak,” ujarnya. "...dalam syarikat MLM yang betul, bukan sahaja kita akan diajar  mengenai perniagaan semata-mata, malah perkara lain juga seperti komunikasi dan kepimpinan," Nik Akhtarulhaq Perkara yang sama turut diakui Nik Akhtarulhaq, 23, yang telah mula melibatkan diri di dalam bidang ini sejak tahun pertama pengajiannya di sebuah institusi pengajian tinggi awam di selatan semenanjung. "Memang betul tidak semestinya kita akan berjaya. Tetapi jika kita masuk di dalam syarikat MLM yang betul, bukan sahaja kita akan diajar mengenai perniagaan semata-mata, malah perkara lain juga seperti komunikasi dan kepimpinan," ujarnya. Ketika mula menceburkan diri di dalam aktiviti jualan langsung, Nik akui tertarik dengan keuntungan yang bakal diterima setelah diperkenalkan oleh seorang rakan. Pada masa itu, pinjaman pendidikan yang diterima pada setiap semester pengajiannya merupakan satu-satunya cara untuknya meneruskan aktiviti tersebut. Walaubagaimanapun, perniagaannya hanya mampu bertahan selama beberapa bulan ekoran kegagalan mengaut keuntungan. "Saya tidak pernah rasa menyesal walaupun sukar dapat keuntungan. Malah selepas tamat pengajian, saya menyambung semula aktiviti ini hingga sekarang," tambahnya.

Kandungan Berkaitan Syarikat MLM alu-alukan pelajar MLM tidak wajar di universiti? Pernahkah anda bergiat dalam MLM semasa di kampus?

Sunday October 30, 2005

BY SIMRIT KAUR and KAREN CHAPMAN 

MALAYSIA’S two premier public universities which were among the world's top 200 universities plunged sharply in the World University Rankings 2005 published by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES). 

Universiti Malaya (UM) fell from number 89 last year to 169 this year while Universiti Sains Malaysia, which was ranked number 111 last year, failed to make it into the world’s best 200 universities in the list published on Friday. 

The British newspaper's annual rankings are based on measures like peer review (40%), employer survey (10%), international faculty (5%), international students (5%), staff to student ratio (20%), and the number of times research is cited by other academics (20%).  PROF HASHIM: For the first time a Malaysian university has broken into the top 50. UM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Hashim Yaacob said that the marks the university obtained is more significant than its ranking. UM scored 0 in the employer survey and highest (33) for peer review. The university also scored low in citations (1%) and international students (7%).  “I think that universities have taken the ranking exercise more seriously this year and this has resulted in many of them improving their positions greatly.  “I am not worried because we are still within the top 200 and for the first time a Malaysian university has broken into the top 50 in the arts and humanities and the top 100 in the social sciences.”  UM shared its 169th position with two other universities. However, there was reason for UM to cheer in the rankings as its arts and humanities faculty was placed number 45 while the social sciences faculty came in at number 83.  Deputy dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Assoc Prof Dr Azizah Hamzah said the latest figures proved that UM’s arts and humanities curriculum, teaching, research and publications was topclass.  “UM’s arts, humanities and social sciences fraternity have nurtured many outstanding academics over the years. This I am sure helped us clinch a top 50 placing.”  PROF DZULKIFLI: The high student staff ratio could have contributed to local universities’ poor showing. For the first time, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia made it into the world rankings too. It was ranked among the world’s top 100 science universities.  Too many students  USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said that the addition of new criteria such as the employer survey could have contributed to the sharp drop in the university’s position.  “Our poor standing could also be attributed to the fact that we are a relatively young university compared to UM which is 100 years old. They have built up a stable reputation in that time.”  Prof Dzulkifli also cited the poor staff-student ratio in Malaysian universities.  “Over the past years we have doubled our intake. USM now has 35,000 students including 28,000 undergraduates but the number of lecturers, about 1,800 has not increased in tandem.”  In comparison, the National University of Singapore only fell UM and USM fall in world rankings.  Although Universiti Malaya was the only public uni to make it to the top 200, it fell 80 spots.  Related Stories: Making it to the top 200

Sunday October 30, 2005

The second World University Rankings offers both expected and surprising results in the top 200 universities, after fine-tuning its tools of measurement 

ONCE again, Harvard University is well ahead of the pack in The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) World University Rankings 2005.  Although nine of last year’s top 10 remain in that group, there has been significant movement in the rankings published for the second consecutive year.  The United States is home to 54 of the top 200 universities while the United Kingdom has 24 and Australia is in third place with 17.  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is now Harvard’s closest challenger – both American universities – while Cambridge University has leapfrogged Oxford University to take third place.  The University of California, Berkeley, has slipped from second, and ETH Zurich has dropped out of the top 10.  Among institutions that have risen sharply are Duke University, in North Carolina, which jumped from 52nd to 11th place; the Ecole Polytechnique, from 27th to 10th; and Bristol University, up more than 40 places to 49th.  Six of the top 100 were not in last year’s ranking, and there are many new entries lower down. Similarly, the various disciplines are led by different leaders. Harvard is seen by academics as the forerunner in the arts, medicine and social sciences while Cambridge leads in the sciences and MIT in technology.  Such variety of outcomes, writes THES editor John O'Leary, underlines that universities have different missions and different strengths that make them difficult to compare.  “There is no sign that a high-ranking university in our table is better than one more lowly ranked. However, this exercise focuses on qualities that should be common to universities that aspire to be global institutions,” he adds.  The World University Rankings, said to be the best guide to the world's top universities, aims to offer a consistent and systematic look at the institutions in the context of the globalisation of higher education.  The annual rankings are based on measures like the number of times research is cited by other academics, staff-to-student ratios, and the number of students and staff recruited from overseas.  Martin Ince, contributing editor of THES, states that: “The core of our analysis is peer review, which has long been accepted in academic life and across social research as the most reliable means of gauging institutional quality. The sample used to compile the peerreview column of this table comprises 2,375 research-active academics.”  The peer-review data account for 40% of the available score in the World University Rankings, 10% lower than in 2004 because of the addition of data from major international employers of graduates.  For the first time, the analysis includes a measure based on the views of employers on which universities they prefer to recruit from.  The sample of employers include banks and financial organisations, airlines, manufacturers in areas such as pharmaceuticals and the automotive industry, consumer goods companies, and firms involved in international communications and distribution.  The peer review data and employers' feedback were collected by QS Quacquarelli Symonds and the citations by Evidence Ltd, using the Thomson Scientific Essential Science Indicators data for 1995 to 2005.  Although seven American universities are among the top 10, European institutions assert themselves in more significant numbers lower down.  Most European universities are far more international compared to their American or Asian counterparts although the City University of Hong Kong tops the list with the most international staff.  Universities that nourished the IT revolution and that are now getting involved in the next wave of technological advance in areas such as robotics and nanotechnology include big names like MIT, Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Texas and Carnegie Mellon University.  However, universities such as Cambridge and Oxford in the UK — and a number of Asian institutions in Korea, Singapore and elsewhere — are also attracting significant research groups and are able to fund them in these areas and compete with their counterparts in the US.  Over the next decade, the same may start to happen in China and other continental universities.  US universities may have produced the innovations needed to foster globalisation, but they may not to benefit.

Why international students fail English tests

  http://www.eslincanada.ca/passtests.html

• Students fail because they do not understand the test requirements.
• Students fail because they underestimate the large volume of work necessary to pass.
• Students fail because they have limited English vocabulary.
• Students fail because some English skills are not practiced.
• Students fail because they rely on "secret tips" rather than real skill.
• Students fail because they cram for tests and become confused.
• Students fail because they become upset and cannot perform.

How international students can SCORE HIGH on NEW English tests.

First step in your plan to pass a specific English test is to understand the test requirements. Is the test a written test only, do you have to read a text, do you have to listen to a conversation on tape, how much speaking is required, what type of questions will be asked, what type of answers are required. Students must understand how the English information is presented, what English skills are being tested, and how answers must be submitted.

Second step is to understand the volume of advanced English skills and vocabulary required to score high. Students must have studied and practiced English for 2500 to 5000 hours counting school and self study.

Students require a vocabulary of between 8,000 and 15,000 words to score high on the new TOEFL, TOEIC, AP, IELTS and Cambridge tests.

To score high students require all four English skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) and technical language structure knowledge (grammar) and vocabulary (comprehension) and familiarity with the test formats and answer format requirements.

The "secret tips" of using grammar to decode questions or specific words that have a higher percentage of occurrence in the correct answers may give you the opportunity to raise your score from 0 to 2 %. If your vocabulary is less than 8000 words or your listening skills or writing less than advanced then you will still fail despite using all the "secret tips" or "secret vocabulary indicating correct answers".

Everyone knows that cramming helps memorizing facts for a short time but does very little for the application and practice of the facts. All English tests are a combination of facts and application of English skills. Students who only cram for tests will fail most of the test as answers require the application of English skills. The students who cram can only help some of their factual knowledge if they can remember it perfectly. I have never met a student who can remember crammed English facts correctly.

Students become upset when they read questions they cannot answer, questions they cannot understand, words they do not know the meaning of, or "secret words" that occur in two answers. Remember students that are prepared have less chance of becoming upset. Students that are rested, relaxed and arrive on time at the test site will do better.

What English Should I study to PASS English Tests?

Diagram showing the overlap between the English concentrations

There is only one English language.
There are a variety of programs and courses that overlap each other. Many business English courses cover 90% of what students require to pass the TOEIC exam. Many advanced English courses cover from 80 to 90 % of what is required to pass TOEFL, TOEIC, AP, IELTS and other English tests. Some toefl courses only provide practice tests without teaching any vocabulary or English skills. Students must create a plan to increase all applied English skills, vocabulary and become comfortable with the test requirements and answer formats.

Students can take combinations of programs and still pass tests.

For example: Advanced students could take 100 hours of business English, 200 hours of academic preparation and 20 hours of toefl and score high on the new Toefl test . The only secret is to have a balance of skills and knowledge. The following is an example of a balanced program.

• EXAMPLE PLAN TO PASS ENGLISH TESTS
• 20% vocabulary
• 15% grammar comprehension
• 15% reading comprehension
• 15% listening comprehension
• 15% writing skills, short answer and essay
• 15% speaking skills
• 5% practicing test formats