PORTFOLIO

2018 Cycle-II

MHM Safnas Kariapper

Email: [Safnas.mhm@gmail.com] Tel: [077 28 23 639]
Office No 32, Dept. of Electrical & Telecommunication
Engineering, SEUSL
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me the possibility
to complete this portfolio charted with induction programme cycle-II 2018. A special
gratitude I give to the programme manager, Mr. R. Senthuran, and his subordinates, whose
contribution in organizing the programme and its related arrangements, helped us to
complete the programme and this portfolio successfully.

Furthermore I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of the
director, Prof. S. Sutharsan, who provided the approval behalf of SDC of EUSL from
enrollment to completion of this Programme. A special thanks goes to the class
representative Mr. Narmilan and folks in the class, who help me to be guided throughout the
programme by gathering and emailing the learning material from the respective lecturers.

Last not but least, many thanks go to the topnotch lecture panel, whose have invested their
full effort in guiding us in achieving the goal of this programme as evidencing ourselves as
efficient and effective lectures through articulating this portfolio as witnessing document.

I am obliged to appreciate the my superiors, Head of the department Eng. Murshid, the Dean
of the Faculty, Dr. SM Junaideen and the Vice Chancellor of SEUSL, Prof. Najim for the
support and endorsement throughout the course.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TO OUT STOCKHOLDERS _________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Strategic Highlights _________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Financial Highlights _________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Operating Highlights ________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Looking Ahead _____________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY_____________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS __________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Statement of Financial Position ________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Statement of Comprehensive Income (Profits and Losses) ________________________ 7
Statement of Changes in Equity _______________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Statement of Cash Flows _____________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Accounts _________________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Debt _____________________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Debt _____________________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Going Concern _____________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Contingent Liabilities ________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Takeaways ________________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Auditor’s Report ____________________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.
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01|WHO IS ME?

01.1 Personal Profile

Name: Mr. MHM Safnas Kariapper
Profession: University Teacher
Working Place: Department of Electrical & Telecommunication Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
South Eastern University of Sri Lanka.

Contact me: +94 77 28 23 639

safnas.mhm@gmail.com

01.2 Professional Profile

Currently working as: Lecturer (Probationay)
Teaching Subjects: Power Systems,
Electrical Installation,
and Engineering-Mathematics.
Working Experience: More than 03 years in Industry and 02 years in Academic.

01.3 Educational Highlights

2015-2019: MSc in Electrical Installation (Currently Reading)
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
2010-2015: BSc in Electrical Engineering (Hons)
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
2011: Diploma in Information Technology
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

01.4 Profile Extract

Having a learning lifestyle for teaching and practicing for the upward mobility of my career
and being active participant of socio-economic development.
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02|HOW DO I DISCOVER ME?

Being a Lecturer in SEUSL among multiple staffs from six different faculties
and the other units, Being an Employee in SEUSL under the Management and
Administration, Being an Allegiant under the governance of SEUSL.

02.1 Being under the Coat of Arm

Figure. 01: Southeastern University Organizational Structure [1]

02.2 Southeastern University Vision & Mission Statement [2]

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The circled area on the figure. 01, clearly positioned me in the university under the
management of office of vice chancellor along with council approval. Where the office of
Registrar manages university resources and implementing law and orders of the university
and administer the privileges by formulating different divisions (a).

Figure. 02: Southeastern University of Sri Lanka front yard (b).

The Bursar office will be the in charge of accounts, budgeting plans, cash flow and
procurement by setting appropriate committees and divisions (c). Further the units/ Centers
will assist and monitor the academic staff in terms of their career enhancement in line with
the vision & mission statements.

The SEUSL Senate is the academic authority of the university. It is vested with the control
and general direction of educational instruction, examinations and research in the University.
The Council is the executive body and governing authority of the University.

(a) For the detail for administrating divisions 0f SEUSL, http://www.seu.ac.lk/generaladmin/registrar_office.php

(b) For the history of SEUSL, http://www.seu.ac.lk/overview.php
(c) For details of the office of bursar ` http://www.seu.ac.lk/financialadmin/bursar_office.php
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03|MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

03.1 My Statement
My objective is that learners should be induced to comprehend the subject
concepts as a kind of Instruments for steering them to the world, so that
learning extends beyond the classroom and the semester. This approach
helps the learners to absorb the material more thoroughly and better use
of it rationally. By pointing up the applications of the theories and
phenomena in the world, I inspire my students to take risks in their
approaches to assignments and discussion. By boosting my students to
explore how principles apply to their own lives, I make my students’
associates in crafting their learning experience toward their personal
interests and goals. I have faith in my students that they are induced to
remain in the journey they began in the lecture hall once they leave.

03.2 Supporting pillars of my teaching philosophy

Teaching & Learning

Learning Goal Framework
Up to date Methods
Learner-Centered

Lifelong Learning

Applied Learning
Engagement

Motivations
Feedback

Expertise
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03.21 Engagement, Interactivity, and Reflection

College students are adults who have access to a world of information far more vast than my generation ever imagined. Therefore, the most
important priority of education is to engage them, interact with them, motivate them to interact with the material, and inspire them to learn. I also
support the importance of student reflection on their learning.

03.22 Feedback Loop

I believe in giving students comprehensive, detailed feedback, especially about their writing. I write detailed comments on their assignments. I
encourage them to bring me their assignments for review – both before and after the assignment is handed in. At the same time, I learn from my
students’ feedback.

03.23 Communication and Personalized Learner-Centered Attention

Communication is s significant element of my classes, so I encourage students to communicate with me and with each other. I learn my students’
names. I encourage them to take advantage of office hours and to seek help. I embrace the diversity of my students – their diverse backgrounds,
ethnicities, learning styles, personalities, and more.

03.24 Lifelong Learning

My goal is to stimulate student interest in continuing to learn for a lifetime about the topics I teach and to model that learning as a lifelong learner
myself. I maintain warm relationships with students I’ve had throughout my teaching career, many of whom still come to me for advice.

03.25 Subject-Matter Expertise and Professional Development

A teacher should know his or her stuff. My five years as an entrepreneur, along with my PhD studies, have solidified my expertise, while my
commitment to lifelong learning ensures that my knowledge won’t grow stale.

03.26 Commitment to Honing Methods

Hand in hand with my dedication to lifelong learning is my desire to always consider new ways to approach teaching. I am always ready to
experiment with innovative techniques to engage students in learning. I am especially interested in ways to use technology and computer-mediated
communication in teaching and learning.

03.27 Applied Learning

As Phi Beta Kappa scholar, I value the rich liberal-arts tradition in which my academic roots are firmly planted. I also strongly support learning with
real-world applicability. Comments from my students suggest that this real-world learning has helped them immensely as they ventured beyond
academia.

03.28 Motivations
When I needed material for teaching college students to write cover letters, I wrote a book to fill that need. I did the same when I needed material
about networking and informational interviewing. The research I’ve done to date largely focuses on andragogical approaches. Such will not always be
the case, but I have consistently maintained that my teaching feeds my writing, and my writing feeds my teaching.

03.29 Learning Goal Framework

Andragogy can be better organized and learning goals attained when they are built on a solid framework of accepted objectives, such as Bloom’s
Taxonomy (in both the Cognitive and Affective domains), the learning goals of the school in which I am teaching, and current scholarship on 21st-
century skills (such as Assess21). My first 65 years of teaching were in an AACSB_accredited business school, and I integrated my school’s AACSB
standards in my teaching. The collective goals must then be synthesized because no one set of goals is sufficient for a complete educational
experience.
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2.1 Learning of Students (Passengers of the train)

2.1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OUTCOME

In this chapter, the reader will get the idea about the passengers of the train. Although the train
is equipped with all the facilities, if the passengers are not doing their proper job, the journey
will never be the best journey. Therefore this chapter will give an idea to the reader about the
roles and responsibilities of the students (passengers) in the learning point of view. The journey
will be superb if the teaching and learning processes are well balanced. Before I discuss about
the practice of my learning agreements I need to educate the reader about the background
literature. At the end of this chapter, the reader will get to know some of the theories related
to teaching/ learning process which I studied after attending certificate course in teaching in
higher education (CTHE).
Outcomes of this chapter:

☞ Identify what learning is.

☞ Recognize the theories of learning
☞ Recognize different approaches in learning

2.1.2 LEARNING

According to the oxford dictionary learning is defined as "The acquisition of knowledge or

skills through study, experience, or being taught". In this teaching/learning process learning
plays a major role. Different people have different views on what learning is. Therefore the
term learning is hard to define. Still Learning can be considered under three main categories.
They are, learning involves change, endures over time and occurs through experience5

LITERATURE ON LEARNING

2.1.3 CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT

Although in the syllabus the learning outcomes are stated, I did not pay much attention to
them prior to CTHE. I focused on teaching the syllabus in a proper manner. However I was
educated from CTHE how important the intended learning outcomes are. After that only I got
it to the practice. Then I started looking at the learning outcomes of the lecture prior to deliver
the lecture.

While we were discussing about intended learning outcomes the word constructive alignment
came in to the picture. Constructive Alignment is defined as a principle used for devising
teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks, that directly address the intended
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learning outcomes (ILOs) in a way not typically achieved in traditional lectures, tutorial classes
and examinations. 6 We can start with the outcomes. Then we should meet the learning,
teaching and assessments which align with the outcomes. Although I did not prepare any
learning outcomes as a learning agreement, I tried my best to align the teaching and
assessments along with the existing learning outcomes. Also I will be practicing that
throughout my teaching carrier. It is because I realized very well the importance of the
constructive alignment.

2.1.4 3P MODEL

The 3P Model is very useful in identifying how the learning occurs. Figure 4.1 shows the Biggs
3P model. It shows the factors related to learning in three different stages.

⬗ Presage - Prior to learning

⬗ Process - In learning
⬗ Product - After learning

There are two kinds under presage stage.

☞ Student based - The knowledge that the student has about the topic, ability of the
student and commitment to the university, etc.
☞ Teaching context based -What to teach, how to teach, how to assess, the expertise
of the teacher, the environment of the class, etc.

Passage Process Product

STUDENT FACTORS

Prior knowledge
ability
Preferred approaches to
learning
LEARNING OUTCOMES
LEARNING FOCUSED
ACTIVITIES
Quantitative, facts, skills
Ongoing approaches to Qualitative, structure, transfer
learning Contextual approaches to
TEACHING learning
CONTEXT

Objective
Assessment
Climate/ethos
Teaching
Institutional procedures
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Figure[1] 3P Model
In the CTHE class the tutor mentioned about learning outcomes and intended learning
outcomes at least once a day. It made me to realize how important the ILOs are. During the
time I was attending the CTHE course our faculty was doing the revision of the syllabus. So I
had to look after the power system section with the help of other academics in the power
system section. It was a great opportunity for me to get involved in preparing learning
outcomes for the syllabuses related to power systems. In this endeavor SOLO taxonomy and
BLOOMS taxonomy were very helpful.

2.1.5 SOLO TAXONOMY

Figure[2] Solo Taxonomy

A visual representation of the SOLO taxonomy is given in Figure [2] SOLO, stands for the
Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome. This model describes the levels of increasing
complexity in student's understanding of subjects. As shown in Figure [2] the model consists
of five levels of understanding.
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⏰ Pre-structural: Students acquire unconnected information, which are not

organized.
⏰ Unstructured: Development of simple and obvious connections are made. The
significance is not met.
⏰ Multistructural: Development of several connections are made. The
Meta -connections between them are not met.
⏰ Relational level: Development of ability to appreciate the
significance of the parts in relation to the whole.
⏰ Extended abstract level: Development of making connections not
only within the given subject, but also beyond it, able to generalize and transfer the
principles and ideas underlying the specific instance.

SOLO not only shows the instructors how the learners are progressing, but also the learners
themselves.

2.1.6 BLOOM'S TAXONOMY

In a very simple manner taxonomy refers to classification. Blooms taxonomy is all about
classification of thinking. Figure 4.3 shows the Bloom's taxonomy stair case. Dr. Benjamin who
was a teacher, thinker, & inventor introduced this Bloom's taxonomy to the world. He worked
at a college and he created a list about how we think about thinking.

I would like to relate it with research. As I can use it to educate my research students. When
doing a research the student should always start with the lower levels of thinking. The student
must have the basic knowledge to create deeper ideas. One great way to improve the
knowledge is to READ, READ, READ and READ about the research topic. When doing
research, always the student need to be sure to stretch the thinking to the higher levels of
thinking. After the exploration of basic knowledge, the student should challenge him or herself
to new ideas. The student should make it a habit to keep a Bloom's Taxonomy "cheat" sheet
with him or her to help in reaching the higher levels of thinking.

2.1.7 CURRY'S ONION MODEL

The model is shown in Figure 4.4.This is based on three levels of learning.

⬗ Inner Layer - Represent the role of personality traits in learning

⬗ Middle Layer - Information processing in learning
⬗ Outer Layer - Role of the instruction and environment in learning
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The link between personality and academic performance is playing a major role in current
Education system. Understanding personality means the understanding of individual
understanding. Moreover, individuals choose learning tactics suit to their personalities. In a
similar manner teaching tactics can also be varied targeting different
Kind of learners.
Human mind is like a computer or information processor. Information gathered from the
senses (input), is stored and processed by the brain, and finally brings about a behavioral
response (output). That is called information processing in learning.

Figure[3] Blooms Taxonomy Staircase

Assessments, assignments can be prepared m a manner to help this information

processing.
The role of the student is that of a learner, a collaborator, and a team member. If the positive
learning environment and the proper instruction are provided, that is it for learning.

Approaches to Learning
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2.1.8 DEEP LEARNING

Students learn the meaning or the message of the subject. They try to relate ideas together and
come up with their own meaning or the message about the subject. Students attempt to relate
that outcome, which is the meaning or the message with their own experience.
2.1.9 SURFACE LEARNING

Students do not try to get more details on the subject. Instead they try to focus their attention
on isolated details. They try to memorize the facts as they are.

Figure[4] Learning Onions

2.1.10 MAKING LEARNING ACTIVE

Learning can be transferred to active learning by following these underpinning processes.

⬗ Wanting - motivation, interest, enthusiasm

⬗ Needing - necessity , survival, saving face
⬗ Doing - practice, trial and error
⬗ Feedback - other people's reactions seeing the results
⬗ Digesting - making sense of what has been learned, gaining ownership

2.1.11 FACTORS FOR BEST LEARNING

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CTI-IE gave a very useful information on the above topic. CTHE listed those factors based on
the input from the previous CTHE participants. Somehow I hope to use most of these practices
in the future to make my students to be benefited from proper learning.

⬗ Lecturer stresses important points

⬗ Relates theory to practical situations
⬗ Uses "learning by doing" method
⬗ Inspires and motivates the learner
⬗ Uses active learning practices

2.1.12 CHANGES I HAVE DONE DURING CTHE

⬗ Prepared intended learning outcomes for the Power Systems course with the
revision of syllabus
⬗ Guided research students to have a cheat sheet of BLOOM's Taxonomy with them
⬗ Looked at the learning outcomes prior to the lecture
⬗ Used active learning practices

2.1.13 SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER

I discussed some of the main learning theories in this chapter. And I tried to relate how I am
going to use those in the future to improve my teaching. Reader get the idea about learning,
the background l literature on theories of learning and different approaches in learning. That
made the reader to think about the responsibilities of the learner in teaching/ learning process.
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CHAPTER 3

3.1 ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS (PASSENGERS OF THE TRAIN)

3.1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OUTCOME

In this chapter, I intend to cover the next major section in this Education process. That is
assessment. Having the background literature about learning in the mind, the reader will be able
to get a sound knowledge about assessments by reading this chapter.

Assessing is not just a simple process similar to teaching and learning. It is a vast process
which needs a lot of requirements to be fulfilled. Good assessment improves student learning. It
also helps the development of life-long learning skills. Assessment mai nly does giving feedback and
guidance to the learner. Also it can be considered as the bridge between Teaching and Learning .

Outcomes of this chapter:

☞ Identify why we need to assess.

☞ Identify assessi ng the learners
☞ Recognize the types of assessments

3.1.2 WHY DO WE NEED TO ASSESS?

In 1994 David Bound has suggested that “Students can escape bad teach ng; they cannot avoid
bad assessment". This statement itself shows the importance of proper assessments. We should
assess students because of the following reasons .

⬗ To select

If there is a need to pick a student for a further course or employment the need of assessments
comes

⬗ To certificate

A particular standard which the student has reached can be confirmed using assessments

⬗ To describe

Assessments can describe what student has learned in the form of a profi le

⬗ To aid lea1ning
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Assessments can simulate learning in many ways

⬗ To improve teaching

Teachers can see the impact of the teaching testing assessments. Consequently they can
change the teaching methods accordingly.
Among the five facts stated above, my concern is greatly with two of them. They are to aid
learning ai1d to improve teaching.
If I consider "to aid learning" factor first, assessments can be used to

☞ promote and motivate students

☞ helping students to track their progress
☞ guiding them for the future work
☞ help students to identify their weak areas and strong areas of the subject

Having all these information in mind, I tried my best to think in deep about assessments.
Whenever I gave an assessment to the students, I made sure that the above requirements are
fulfilled by that assessment. This was my practice. I gave them a quiz. It depends on a certain
part of the subject. They collected the papers and I marked then, I returned the marked quizzes
when they came to the next lesson. When marking the quizzes, I made sure to write specific
comments on the quiz paper itself. I shared the common comments with the whole class. Then
I discussed with the students what have gone wrong and how they need to improve, what they
can do to improve etc. I continued this procedure with most of my lectures.
Now the second factor "to improve teaching" can be considered. When I marked the first quiz,
I got to know how most of the students have understood what I taught. I can reflect on the
summary I got after marking the quiz papers. If the students are not answering to the questions
where I look for logical thinking, I can think of ways to improve that. In a similar manner I can
attend to each and every comment I made based on the quizzes.
Likewise assessment means not just giving an exam. Actually, it is a huge process that gives a
lot of benefits to the learners as well as teachers.

3.1.3 TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS

Pellegrino et al have introduced a different manner in defining assessments. The concept of
assessment s can be considered as a process of drawing inferences from data.
Also it ca11be described as reasoning from evidence. There are three key elements in this
process which are shown in Figure 5.1.15
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☞ Cognition - A model of how students learn

☞ Observation - The response of students to show their learning
☞ Interpretation - The methods and tools used in the reasoning
that turns data into information

Observation
Interpretation

Cognition

Figure[5] Pellegrino’s' assessment triangle

Figure 5 shows a triangle where the above mentioned elements are interconnected staying in
the corners of the triangle. To see the connection, let's consider a simple test item as an
assessment. This may basically depends on the marking scheme or the rubric. But this applies
to interpreting any form of data from the assessment as well.
The purposes and uses of assessments can be discussed as follows. It is worth to identify the
differe11ce between purposes and uses. There are three main purposes of assessment.

☞ Assessment to assist learning - Formative

☞ Assessment of individual students' achievement - Summative
☞ Assessment to evaluate programmes

Also there are three main uses of assessments.

☞ To help build pupils' understanding

☞ To provide information on pupils’ achievements to ... parents, to further and
higher education institutions and employers
☞ To hold individuals and institutions to account

3.1.4 KEY FEATURES OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

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Formative assessment is described by being continuous, involving 1nainly words and purpose
of helping sh1dents to improve. By introducing the key features of formative assessment it
would be easy to identify what a formative assessment is. Following key features can be
identified with formative assessments.

☞ The students get the feedback on how to move forward and avoids making
comparisons with other students
☞ Students understand the goals of their work
☞ Students do the self-assessment and identify how to involve forward
☞ Students do express their skills about the assessment
☞ Communication between the student and the teacher to encourage reflection on
the process

Some of the examples under formative assessments can be listed as follows.

☞ Draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic

☞ Submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
☞ Turn in a research proposal for early feedback

3.1.5 KEY FEATURES OF SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Summative assessment is described by being the end point, largely numerical and conce1ned
mainly with marking evaluative judgments. Similar to identifying key features of formative
assessments, same task can be carried out for summative assessments. They can be listed as
fallows.

⬗ Instead of achieving goals of particular learning activities, broad goals should be

achieved
⬗ Instead of reporting results every day, should be done that at certain times
⬗ Can be based on teachers' judgments, tests or both
⬗ Limited opportunities provided for student self-assessment.
⬗ Same mark scheme can be used to judge all the students.

So one of the examples under formative assessments can be listed as follows.

☞ a midterm exam
☞ a formal project
☞ a paper
 20

☞ a senior recital

3.1.6 FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

"What works” in education is hard to explain. Because everything can works somewhere, at
the same time nothing works everywhere. That is the simple truth on assessments as well. The
best way to practice is the use of the link between formative and summative. This can be
achieved by providing a summative judgment from the data derived from formative process.
Rather than making distinction between summative and formative, it is good to consider the
relationship between the two types as a dimension rather than a dichotomy.

3.1.7 ORAL ASSESSMENTS

There are different methods used in assessing students. It can be done either during the courses
or at the end of the courses. Anyhow there are methods such as traditional written, traditional
oral, lab exercises, and projects. Basically all these methods can be divided in
to two.

☞ Written exams
☞ Oral exams

The type of the assessment which can be used to assess the students depends on the levels of
understanding fro1n Bloo1n's taxonomy shown in Figure 5.2.
To evaluate the first levels, that is from level 1 to level 3, written examinations can be used.
Because the evaluation of knowledge, comprehension, application, can be effectively done
using written type of assessments.
However for higher levels that is not the best suited method. Because it is hard to create
questions which are possible to answer to assess those levels by writing. Therefore oral
examinations can be used to assess analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels. In an oral exam
the number of words is not crucial also it can allow for a discussion and follow-up questions.
As a consequence oral exams are the best suited methods for higher levels.
 21

3.1.8 BLOOM’S TEXONOMY

Figure[6] Blooms texonomy

A proper assessment should cover checking the knowledge of all the important topics of the
course. But with written assessments it is hard to achieve that goal. This can be shown by the
Figure 5.3. Specific level of knowledge can be evaluated by each question not only a specific
topic. Oral assessments are flexible and adaptable. Therefore it is easy to check the level of
knowledge for each topic. If you start with a hard question and give hints till the student finds
the sufficient answer that can be considered as an example. That is an advantage of oral
assessments. There are drawbacks of oral assess1nents as well. A major drawback is the
possibility of the evaluator being biased on the student. Also if too many students are there
logistic problems also come in to play.

Figure[7] Typical levels of knowledge that are being evaluated

Considering written assessments there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

 22

Here are the advantages of written assessments.

☞ Time is provided to think

☞ Easy evaluation if the questions are multiple choice questions
☞ Same questions are provided for all students
☞ Students can be anonymous
☞ Students are not that nervous compared to oral assessments because they do
not need to communicate with the teacher face to face
☞ Scheduling the evaluation is easy (probably the time less than 4 hours)

Here are the drawbacks of written assessments.

☞ Boring to correct
☞ Hard to prepare questions in a good way
☞ Some answers are expected to make the corrections easy

3.1.9 PRACTICAL ASSESSMENTS

In this section I will be focusing on my discipline Power Systems. Power systems is defined as
what Power engineers do. Therefore the students who are studying Power system should get
exposed to what power engineers do at a small scale. The best way to get this is to have
practical work in a laboratory. In general higher time period is allocated for practical courses
compared to theory classes. Similar to theory exams the students receive a grade for practical
work as well. In that basis practical assessments are also more or less having the same
importance compared to theory assessments.
When the student number is high, assessing is not such a big issue with theory papers. You
can set the date, time and venue and get the papers ready. Then you will be done with the
assessing with a theory assessment. But it is different when it comes to practical assessments.
There are several problems we face specially in FE/SEUSL.

⬗ Limited lab space

so we need to have the assessment for two sessions, sometimes two different days, in that
instance, lecturers need to come up with two different exam papers as well

⬗ Lower staff/student ratio

 23

⬗ A lot of staff time spent on demonstrating various practical techniques, in this case
FE/SEUSL need to look for visiting staff as well
⬗ Due to same issue, lack of staff, we cannot evaluate the student's performance in the
practical work.

In FE/SEUSL the practice is to start with Power Systems I, then section A and Section B
laboratory classes. These are done in all three sections of Generation, Transmission and
distribution. When students have gained grades from all 5 practical classes, they have to do
the final practical exam. This is a very tough one. The assessment goes for 4 hours. (Starting
form 2015, earlier it was 6 hours). Lecturers need to be very committed in setting the exam.
There are several factors to be considered, title, coverage of most of the laboratory techniques,
easy to mark, trials should be done, etc.
In 2017 only I involved in final practical exams. My responsibility was to set a
Practical exam co1nponent from functional group analysis which worth 30 marks out of 100 of
the total paper. From the self-evaluation on this practice I found out some facts. I will be using
them with changes in the coming year 2017 and in the future.

☞ As this is the exam I did not ask TAs to do a trial prior to the exam - I am planning
to do it by myself
☞ I gave a mixture of compounds as the sample - It did not work well, I should give
only one compound as the sample
☞ The technique, giving minus marks for the false answers worked well. Students
were discouraged to write answers randomly. It is a good technique to be continued in
the future as well.

3.1.10 CHANGES I HAVE DONE DURING POWER SYSTEMS I

☞ Discussed the common comments of the quizzes with the class.
☞ Gave written feedback on individual quizzes.

3.1.11 SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter gave most of the information about assessing students. What is the need to assess
students, different types of assessments, the comparison among those types are some of the
topics which have been covered in this chapter. Bearing the theories of learning in the mind
 24

from the previous chapter, the reader get further information about the next major section
which is assessments in the Education process. Now the reader has the overall idea about the
Education process. In next chapter I will be taking the reader through my own journey. It will
show how I added facilities to each and every boxes of the train.
 25

4.1 REFLECTION ON TEACHING,

LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT
4.1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OUTCOME

I consider this chapter as the most important chapter having the higher load of the entire
portfolio. This chapter is the most valuable and interesting journey to the reader. It is the
REFLECTION. This describes the reflection on teaching, learning and assessment. My attempt
here is to observe whether the facilities provided in this train are actually good enough for the
passengers to have a great journey. If there are drawbacks, I should address those issues and
let the passengers to have a safe and interesting journey. This chapter will give an idea to the
reader about the view of the driver of this portfolio on teaching, learning (facilities of the train)
and assessment (signals to the train).

Outcomes of this chapter:

⬗ Recognize the reflection on teaching based on LAs.

⬗ Recognize the reflection on learning based on LAs.
⬗ Recognize the reflection on assessment based on LAs.
⬗ Identify the planned improvements for the future based on the reflection
CHAPTER 4

4.1.2 REFLECTION
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Figure shows the Gibb’s Model of reflection (1998). This cycle will be practiced throughout
this chapter.

Figure[8] Gibbs’ Model of Reflection

I have written two learning agreements on teaching, two on learning, two on assessment and
one on both teaching and learning. If I consider one particular learning agreement, there are
plenty of facts which I acquired from CTHE. Some of them are the thinking behind the learning
agreement, the implementation of it and views on the future based on the learning agreement.
I am much honored to be a part of CTHE. Because it has really made a great change in me
towards teaching. Here onwards I will be sharing my experiences with you.

4.1.3 REFLECTION ON TEACHING

CTHE really made me to think deeper about teaching. I am continuing to reflect on teaching
as that will make a great impact in my academic earner in the future. Reflection on teaching
can be achieved by following methods.

⬗ Your own feedback on your teaching

⬗ Your students feed back
⬗ The feedback from a colleague in the role of ‘critical friend
⬗ The feedback from a staff developer who can offer informed advice

4.1.4 PREPARATION FOR THE LECTURE

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I prepare slides at least two weeks prior to the date of the lecture. My practice is to take most
of the material from standard power systems books. But I do refer journal articles as well. Then
I go through the slides, inserting animations accordingly, thinking how to deliver the lecture
in the class. I also make a timetable at which point I should give lecture breaks. And I get the
handouts also prepared well ahead. Giving handouts depends on the subject material and the
date of the lecture.

4.1.5 AT THE LECTURE

I normally reach to the class little early to make sure that laptop, pointer and marker pens are
ready to use. Otherwise those can effect for the delay of starting the lecture. Before I go to the
class I make sure that the handouts are ready. I have the habit of taking a copy of lecture notes
with me and a glass of water when I attend to a lecture.
By having the lecture notes with me I know what I am going to discuss next. After speaking
for some time I need to drink some water. By having a glass of water with me I do not need to
go out of the class in the middle of the lecture. Then I greet the students and talk with them
something irrelevant to the topic for 1-2 minutes. The reason behind that activity is to start the
lecture in a friendly manner.
I start the class by setting ground rules. This is one of the special tasks I learned from CTHE.
CTHE course is started by setting the ground rules first. I also did the same by setting the
ground rules to the lecture. I wanted the students to practice them at the lecture.
Following are the ground rules I set for the class.

⬗ Be on time
⬗ After 15 minutes starting from the lecture, cannot enter to the lecture hall
⬗ Attendance is compulsory
⬗ When I speak they should not speak
⬗ When the time is given for them to talk they should speak up
⬗ Listen carefully
⬗ Do not start taking notes till I ask to do so
⬗ Switch off phones
⬗ Prepare their own notes after the class
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I announce the office hours of mine for that particular lecture in the beginning of the first class
of the lecture series. And I try to maintain the same hours throughout the lecture series.
While delivering the lecture I tried my level best to maintain the proper teaching/ learning
environment in the class. Setting the ground rules helped me a lot in this regard. I used to make
some jokes to create a fear free environment for the students. I also made sure that the students
in the back rows can hear my voice clearly. I tried to maintain eye contact with students.
“Please think logically, Do not do just blindly" has become the motto for my lectures. I
practice the method of asking questions from the students and I encourage the students to ask
questions as well. After asking them to work on a question. I walk around the class and see
what they are doing. I do give homework and relate that homework to the next lecture.
When I did a self-evaluation on these. I could find a negative comment. I think 1 am not
summarizing the lecture in a proper manner. What I practice is, by the end of the lecture I give
an activity for them to do as homework. I get that related to the next lecture. I try to recall what
we have discussed in the previous lecture when it comes to the present lecture. But I do not
have the habit of summarizing the covered material on that particular lecture in a proper way.
So I think I should get that practice in to my teaching in the future.

4.1.6 AFTER THE LECTURE

I asked them to come and see me if they have any questions related to that specific lecture in
my office hours allocated for them. Also I encouraged them to make their own notes and be
prepared for the next lecture. I go through the slides and analyze what are the materials that I
should emphasize more. If I had to clarify, anything related to a question from the student I do
that immediately and I make a note that I have to discuss that in the next lecture.

4.1.7 LEARNING AGREEMENT (LA) 01

Power Generation is a main and important section of Power Systems I. It deals with several
applications which can be used in power grid In order to get a better understanding about this
section the student needs to engage in healthy discussions, read power magazines (example
IEEE Power & Enegry). It shows the need of active learning. Group work is another major type
of teaching methods which can be applied in this class. Questioning the class can also be
considered as a teaching method which can be discussed related to this learning agreement.
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Samuelowicz & Bain (1992), after examining the conceptions of teaching held by academics has
proposed five classifications of teaching as follow:

⬗ Teaching as assisting students to learn

⬗ Teaching as changing the thinking
⬗ Teaching as easing the understanding
⬗ Teaching as transfer of knowledge and attitudes
⬗ Teaching as communicating facts.

A classroom approach where the students are active in the learning process can be described
as active learning. It can be accomplished by using different learning and teaching techniques.
Students can achieve the active learning environment by many ways. Student centered
learning is one major technique where the student plays an active role in the learning process
compared to the teacher. Problem based learning is another method to achieve the active
learning. Students learn by addressing scientific questions. There are a chain of activities
related with problem based learning. They are analysis, relate the findings with theoretical
knowledge, make the conclusion and reflect on the conclusion.
Working in group is another major technique which can be used in teaching. Group
cohesiveness is the bond among the group members which strengthens the group.
Questioning the class is an old practice in the education process. Questions can be categorized
mainly as convergent and divergent. Convergent means a closed question and divergent
means an open question. Narrow list of responses should be expected from the students when
a closed question is asked. But a wide range of responses should be expected for an open
question.
Questions can also be categorized into knowledge dimensions.

⬗ Factual
⬗ Conceptual
⬗ Procedural
⬗ Metacognitive

Above four are the types which Anderson and Krathwohl describe under the classification of
questions.
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Factual knowledge means the knowledge in technical terms, material from the reliable sources,
etc. from the interested discipline. When asking a question to check the factual knowledge it
should be based on the facts that I discussed. Conceptual knowledge means the awareness of
the inter-relationships between the elements of a larger structure. To check the conceptual
knowledge, questions should be asked in a manner which the students get the chance to justify
an answer based on theories. Procedural knowledge means the capability to utilizing criteria.
When asking a question to check the procedural knowledge, it should be based on well-
established methods. Metacognitive knowledge means the consciousness of one's own
cognition. To check metacognitive knowledge, questions should be asked in a manner that the
student can use the cognitive approach to answer the question.
Several objectives can be met in the teaching process by questioning the class. Some of them
can be listed as follows.

⬗ To make the students interested in the lesson

⬗ To make the students actively participate in the lesson
⬗ To check whether the student is prepared for the class
⬗ To develop critical thinking skills
⬗ To develop inquiring attitudes
⬗ To make the students to review and summarize previous lessons
⬗ To motivate the students to pursue knowledge on their own

As the first learning agreement I made one on teaching. When I was teaching EE 33003 Theory
of Electricity class I used to ask questions from the students. As this section of the subject
material involves a lot of drawing of phasor diagrams, I asked them to come to the front of the
class and draw them on the board. Most of the time students refused to do that. I did this class
for the consecutive second year after attending CTHE. So the first change I wanted to do in
teaching regard was based on this issue. I wanted to make a change to avoid this issue. Because
students should get rid of the fear to coming up to work on the board and they should learn
the subject with self-motivation. Students should be actively participating in the teaching and
learning process. With the change suggested I wanted to see whether the students are willing
to come and work on the board.
So my suggestion was as follows. I am giving the question to the class. And I am asking them
to work in a group and discuss it for 5 minutes. Then I will ask one of them to come and write
the answer on the board. Every time 1 will change the group.
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So in 2018 I practiced this change with the EE 33003 class. The class contained around 30
students. The lecture series consisted with fifteen lectures. Each lecture was two hours and the
time was from 8.30 -10.30 a.m. I started the class with the motivational portion of the script and
I continued with the instructional portion of it. My evaluation method of this change was to
check whether the number of students who say NO to come to the board has decreased and to
check whether the number of students who is willing to come to the board has increased.
After practicing that change and taking the observations in to consideration I would like to
discuss on this change on reflection point of view. I think the students like to discuss questions
in a group rather than doing it individually in a lecture. The reason is, when they get a question
at once form the lecturer, he or she is worried whether the answer is correct or not. Also they
feel reluctant to go to the front of the class. But when they discuss the question with the group
for several minutes they are used to the question. And they do not feel bad if the answer goes
wrong because it is not an individual work. It is a group work. So the responsibility is shared
by everyone in the group. Compared to the previous year I felt this method had a great effect
on getting the students to the board to work on a question. Although the majority of the
students were willing to do that, I could still find some students who do not need to do so. But
that number was very few compared to the previous year.
I asked from the students about their comments on this practice. Some students told that they
really like that practice. However few of them complained on that. They told although the
group is there, all the time one student has to go to the board because the group members are
forcing him or her to go. I told them to take it as granted. You get more chance to practice. It is
good on them. But I noted the fact that they pointed out.
I looked in to the student feedback forms on the course as well. Figure 6.2 shows an example
of the student feedback forms that I received. From other forms I took only the comments
section.

####### attach FEEd BACk#####

Figure 6.2: Student Evaluation Forms

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Reflection does not end at this point. According to the Kolb's reflective cycle, (Figure 6.3) I
should be taught from the reflection and plan accordingly.

FIGURE 6.3: KOLB’S REFLECTIVE CYCLE

When I teach this class in the next year I should point out which student should come to the
board from one group. When the same group gets a second chance I should point out another
student. Also I should plan some more questions appropriate for group work. However the
first learning agreement, the overall exercise was successful, and beneficial to students.
By analyzing the feedback from the students I decided to make some changes with the teaching
methods of mine.

⬗ Conducting more tutorials,

I will make sure that the tutorials are conducted in a proper manner. Students should come
to the tutorial after trying to answer the questions. They should not just come to grab the
answers. I also agree with the students that it is good to have more tutorials.

⬗ Be slow in explaining

I did not realize this fact from the point of view of mine. I thought I was doing fine with the
speed of conducting the lecture. But as the students have pointed out that fact I should
address the issue as well.
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⬗ Giving handouts

As this lecture involves a lot of drawing of structures I practiced the way of not giving
handouts. But I also agree with the fact that the students pointed out. I can at least give
some of the slides as handouts and ask them to work for the rest by their own. That will
provide more time for the explanation to be done in the class.

⬗ Providing a 10 minutes break

All my lectures are scheduled for 2 hours. It is well know opinion among phycologist that
concentrating on a single subject for a period more than 30-40 minutes is not efficient and
it should be done in discrete. Therefore prior to introducing an interval system I asked the
students for their feedback. The response was much positive and students were really liked
a refreshing and relaxing time between all subjects. Following figure shows the feedback
given to me by set of student regarding providing an interval.

⬗ Providing sufficient time to note down the important point

When I observed the feedbacks some students have complained that they don’t get
sufficient delay time to note down important point in the lecture. Therefore I adjusted my
lecture as per to their request and made sure they don’t miss any subject matters without
getting noted.
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REFERENCES
[1] http://www.seu.ac.lk/corporate_direction.php
[2] http://www.seu.ac.lk/visionmission.php