Name                              : Ida Ayu Fortuna Ningrum

Major                              : English Language Education

Home University        : Ganesha University of Education

Receiving University : Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah

Blog                                 : https://wordpress.com/stats/day/dayufortuna.travel.blog

Name of School          : Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah

Hello fellas! I bet most of you ever watch or even love Upin Ipin cartoon, so do I. Sometimes  people imitate the way they speak and I’m so happy that I can hear it directly from the Malay people in Malaysia. I would like to say big thanks to Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) that gives me this great chance to go abroad exploring different vibes, people’s perspective, and culture. If Hiccup helped his village to seek a hidden world in ‘How to Train Your Dragon 3’, then Undiksha helped me to conquer the world in ‘How to Train Your Ability’. Now I have successfully finished doing teaching practice at Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah, Malaysia. So, here are the reports when I did teaching practice at Politekik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah, Malaysia.

1. General Information

• School Profile

The Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah (PTSB) Polytechnic, formerly known as the Kulim Polytechnic, is the 16th polytechnic under the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. In the state of Kedah, the Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah Polytechnic (PTSB) is the second polytechnic after the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Polytechnic in Jitra.

PTSB began operations on March 1, 2002 at a temporary campus in Seberang Perai Polytechnic, Penang and relocated to its 100-acre campus at Kulim High Technology Park on March 3, 2003. On June 9, 2003, PTSB began recruiting its first cohort of 507 students . The number of students now exceeds 4,500. After operating for 5 years, on March 27, 2007, the PTSB was proclaimed by His Highness Al Sultan AlMu’tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku AlHaj Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Ibni the late Sultan Badlishah, Sultan of Kedah Darul Aman.

PTSB is headed by a Director and assisted by two (2) Deputy Directors along with six (6) Head of Departments. With high enthusiasm and commitment from the front line and all staff, PTSB is always striving to be one of the best polytechnics in Malaysia.

At PTSB, students may choose to pursue diploma programs or certificates offered by four (4) academic departments, the Department of Civil Engineering, the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Commerce. In addition, PTSB also offers a Lifelong Learning Program through Part-Time Courses held every weekend.

• Academic Facilities

There are four faculties located in different buildings at Politekik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah which are Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Commerce. There are six dorms, V1 until V6, where the students can stay during their study with affordable price yet comfortable room. V1 until V3 are for girls and the rest are for boys. For the students who are staying at the dorm, they are allowed to go out until 7 P.M. There will be a consequence if they ignore the rule. There is also quarter, a place for lecturers to stay. They can stay there with their family. Besides for the students and lecturers, there is also hostel for with great facility for guests. Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah is supported by some sports building where the students can do sports activities; 1 football field, 2 volleyball courts, 1 basketball court, 2 netball courts, 1 outdoor futsal court, 1 indoor futsal court, 2 badminton courts, 4 tennis courts, 1 gym, 1 squash court, 1 rugby court, and 1 softball court. This polytechnic is surrounded by green and the building looked well-organized. For the buildings where the students can have food and drink, PTSB has 1 cafeteria (8 A.M – 11 P.M), 1 canteen (8 A.M – 5 P.M), 1 mini store (8 A.M – 6 P.M), 2 mini stands, and some stands owned and organized by entrepreneur students.  PTSB also has lecture halls, meeting room, seminar room, library, and computer laboratory. For transportation, there are three buses that can be used for supporting the students’ activity. The parking area of PTSB is large so it can accommodate all vehicles of lecturers and students.

• Teaching System

As the polytechnic in general, PTSB is divided into several departments where the students will spend 3 years to study there. The learning process of each major starts from 08.00 a.m to 05.00 p.m on  Sunday to Thursday. In Kedah, their holiday is on Friday and Saturday. For the English subject, different departments will get English in different semester. The Department of Civil Engineering, the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Commerce will get English in first and third semester, while the Department of Commerce will learn English in first, second and third semester. The English lecturer will teach them according to their major, or commonly known as English for Specific Purpose.

2. Pedagogical Contents

• Teaching Method

The teaching method applied in PTSB is mixed, both of Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered Learning. It depends on the lecturer, the subject and the material, but mainly Student-Centered. For the  approach, the English lecturers use communicative approach since they teach Communicative English.

• Source of Learning

The class will use two books as the source of learning. The first book is called students’ book containing the material and guidance. The second one is the workbook. Workbook contains of  many questions that the students’ need to answer it. Students answer the question in the classroom or given as an assignment from the teacher.

• Authentic Assessment

Test, midterm and final are used as the assessment used in this school. The teacher will give a unit test for the students for each unit. There are also midterm test conducted in the middle semester and final test conducted at the end of the semester. For the additional points, the students can gain it by answering some questions given by the teacher. This additional points will help the students for their final grade or if they are fail in midterm or unit test, they can use the additional points to fix the score.

3. Teaching Plan

• Curriculum

The curriculum is designed by Curriculum Division of Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education (DPCCE). So, all of the polytechnics in Malaysia will use the same curriculum.

• Lesson Plan

PTSB do not make a lesson plan for each meeting. However, they do Course Teaching Plan (CTP) once per semester and it is online.

4. Teaching Practice

• Teaching procedures in the classroom

The teaching procedures in Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah is similar to teaching procedures in Indonesia. There are three core parts in teaching procedures where both Malaysia and Indonesia use it. Namely opening, core activity, and closure. I use these three core parts to teach in the classroom. The following procedures as follows:

• Opening

I came to the class and greet the students. After the greeting, I did the present list to know who is absent in the classroom. After that, I did brainstorm to relate the material by asking some questions to the students.

• Core Activity

To make the class climate fun, I did game. Game is not only for fun, but at the end the students and I discussed it together along with the material. Game made the students excited and they were encouraged to be actively participated.

• Closure

In this part, I concluded the material before I ended the material by asking to the students “What material that we have learnt today?”. I let the students to emphasize the materials that we have learnt. I just clarified it.

• Time Management and Activities for Each Meeting

In Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah, the students will get 1 meeting a week but different amount of hour. It depends on what semester they are.

• Problem Solving

Since I did many variations in core activity especially variation of game, I felt a bit difficult arranging the table and chair. It took much time because the students were not familiar moving their table and chair. They actually just sit and stand up without moving the position of the table and chair. When they were asked to move their table and chair, they were bit confused and surprised so the rhyme of teaching didn’t run smoothly.

• Others
• 

5. Summary and Suggestions

• Purpose of the teaching practice

Here are some of the purposes of teaching practice: (1) It develops our understanding, attitudes, and skills in teaching as they apply the knowledge/competencies we have learnt and apply it into the real teaching situation; (2) It enables us to gain useful experiences as a result of interacting with the students and teachers; (3) We are able to interact with officials of the school to know more about the school program, the environment of the school; (4) It gives us opportunity to increase out professionality to be a competent teacher.

• Outcomes of the Practice
• Having experience new experiences to teach foreign students.
• Having the competence to compete in the era of Globalization and Industrial 4.0
• Becoming an ambassador of Ganesha University of Education in education and cultural field abroad.
• Challenges of the Practice

In terms of teaching, there was no big problem. The students got the information well, even they showed great enthusiasm; actively participated. The language that I used was easily understood as they were familiar with English. However, there was a bit difficulty in preparing tools, for instance speaker and LCD, because the tools were not available in the classroom so I had to ask permission first.

• Overall Impression

The teaching practice abroad is exciting. I got many things after doing this activity, not only knowing how to teach students with different culture but I can also know Malaysia culture especially Kedah culture, learning the Malaysian language, socializing with Malaysian, and tasting their food.

• Suggestion for Future Improvement

For the next candidate of teaching practice abroad, please brace yourself physically and mentally.  You might be surprised by certain different condition. You might face many stairs, walk to school on foot, and feel exhausted due to the weather. Try to adapt quickly and use your social skill to socialize with people; partners, teachers, staff in the school, students, and society. You also will face many problems, be ready and be wise. A team working is also very useful here. The last is please be an open-minded person because surely we will face differences between Indonesia and Malaysia. Don’t always think that what is true in Indonesia especially Bali will also be true in the other country. But don’t worry too much, don’t spend your time only to be worried. 1 month is not a long time. Time will fly so fast so please enjoy every single moment because you will miss it so bad when it’s done. Good luck and don’t miss this opportunity! Wonderful journey is waiting for you.