1 down (Yeah!) and 9 more to go.... (Grrrrrhhh...)

Just finished a 3hr long paper which could be completed in 2..... I'm drained, I'm sleepy, I'm hungry but I must blog before the ideas disappear...

It has been so many years since I sat for one... The inertia was real great but I'm glad it is over... (though the next will be coming quite soon... )

So what have I learnt from Med 871 Educational Inquiry I, the first of 10 modules .....

There were many learning points but mainly none related to the subject... I shall elaborate:

Lesson #1: I must do what I preach... Burning midnight oil never works

Thought I was 'smart' enough to study at the last minute as I was trying to clear school work before studying.. (though I didn't manage to).

Two days of study leave to cram ard 10 thick chapters, reading most for the first time... Pure stupidity.. I was overly ambitious and rather suicidal. The consequences for my complacency: Information overload in two days, panic, stress, didn't manage to read every chapter before the exam, stomachache, nauseous...

Thank goodness, it was an open book exam which meant that I could still read the chapters while attempting the questions. After the paper, I told myself never to do last minute studying.. There's so much I can handle nowadays... I'm getting old...No longer can I burn midnight oil, no longer can I force myself to sleep at 2-3am, no longer do I have the braincells to absorb so much at a short period of time.

I must do what I preach to my padawans. I feel ashamed that I nag at them for procrastinating their revision and yet I do so.. Haiz.. such a bad example...

Lesson #2: I am equally 'kan cheong' now when it comes to exam as I was a decade years ago

I was never good at handling exam stress. Not sure if it's a typical 'girl' kancheong syndrome.. cos I wasn't the only girl with that issue. The guys however always seem so cool about exams. I remember even up to uni days, during exams I would panick. I had to be driven to the exam halls and calmed down by someone before I could walk into the hall with just a slight increase of confidence.

7 years later, I thought I'll be mature enough to handle any exam stress, having gone through all the ups and downs.... How wrong.. I'm still the old me... panic stricken, last minute revision, self-inflicted physical and emotional trauma before sitting for an exam.

It goes to prove that people don't change.

Lesson #3: Never stay with a neighbour on your left who owns 3 Miniature Schnauzers and another on your right who owns a hen and a rooster.

Waaahhh... let me complain... For the past few nights, when I needed my sleep the most, my neighbour's 3 yelping dogs would bark at 1am plus.. One of them is on heat I think, barking crazily and shaking the metal cage frantically... and the other two just.. well... bark along....

Like that is not enough.....

Recently, the other neighbour, for whatever reason, bought a hen and a rooster to rear!!!! And since last week, I realised I had a new "alarm clock" that perpectually sounds itself at 5.30am and IT SNOOZES!!!!! (i.e.... crows every 10 or so minutes.. )

So, let me do the Maths for you... I can only sleep ard 2plus when the dog on heat finally shuts up and wakes up at 5 plus when the stupid cock crows. That leaves me ... 5 - 2 = 3 hrs of sleep!!! EVERY NIGHT!!!!!

So, make sure you don't live beside a family who owns three dogs and another who owns a hen and a rooster.

Lesson #4: I can't let go of Simpleville...

I told myself to just let go of work but I ended up checking the emails, sending work emails, wondering if my classes were up to any mischief.. and then I found out about an incident that took place recently.... So painful to find out such things about the padawans whom you always thought of as good kids..

Who's to blame? Padawans, Jedis, or the entire Empire.
Should there be blaming in the first place... or should we start to do something about it. Things must change.. but I don't know how..
We could weed out the Phantom Menace or wait for the Return of the Jedi or Attack the Clones of those who are doing the mischief or take Revenge for the boy (of the Sith), or have the entire Empire to Strike Back.

But I prefer to have A New Hope, that something good will still come out of Simpleville. .. if we don't give up and continue to try.

Lesson #5: It's very easy to commit a Type I and Type II error

One of the things taught in Statistical Research is the possible error made when accepting or rejecting a Null Hypothesis.

Essentially, Type I error is the rejection of a true null hypothesis and Type II error is the retention of a false null hypothesis. Technically, they can't coexist. However, from one of the extracts in the textbook (See below pic) I realised that it can be and it has happened....

So if what I postulated in Lesson #2 is true, that people don't change, would a person who made such errors, be capable of making Type I or Type II error or both...... AGAIN...

Pic extracted fr:
Ary, D., Jacobs, J. C., Razavieh, A. & Sorensen, C. (2006) Introduction to research in education (7th edition). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. pp 183

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