Presentation observation

Date: Wednesday 27th June 2012

Venue: T001

Time: 1615

Presenter: Mohd Shams

Subject: Al Hilal Bank

There was too much text on the slides and Mohd simply read out the text, something I had specifically asked the students not to do.

Reams of information were painstakingly ( and painfully, even superfluously) read out.

There were some textual/grammatical infelicities, e.g. What Al Hilal bank offer for you.

The slide on interest rates was better because, in answering a question, Mohd digressed & offered information which was not visible on the slide.

Mohd spoke confidently, clearly and mostly accurately, with only a handful of noticeable mispronunciations. He didn't understand the meaning of pan Arab.

You should always make sure you comprehend the vocabulary you display in a presentation.

Given more time and preparation, Mohd is capable of producing a better presentation. This was not original but he presented dull material quite competently & did enough to satisfy the criteria for passing.

Istanbul

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Meeting CSM 24.06.2012

Date: 24.06.2012

Location: M06

Section: CSM

Time: 1600

Chairman: Mohd Shams

Secretary: Hasan

Participants: Omar & Ahmed Saleh

Topic: traffic congestion in Abu Dhabi

Agenda:

1.       How serious is the problem?

2.      Improving the existing traffic system

3.      Parking

4.      Traffic lights

5.      Raising age of licence holders

6.      Public transport

7.      Recommendations

Mohd Shams called the meeting to order & itemized the agenda. He then invited comments as to how serious the problem is.

1.     Ahmed  said the main  problem is traffic distribution & the lack of flyovers, underpasses etc. Omar said that nowadays a journey that 5 years ago took 10 minutes now takes 30 minutes or more. Mohd said that he felt the main underlying cause was the general increase in the population. In relation to this, he wondered if the overall solution was for more people to live, and work, off-island.

2.     Road improvements: Ahmed said this was badly needed in some areas e.g. Khalidiya. He said there was a need for more flyovers & underpasses. Hasan observed that a major problem with this is that while such infrastructure is being constructed a short-term consequence is inconvenience to road-users, making road congestion even worse. Ahmed said he had visited Seattle in the USA where they have a huge bridge over the city, which helps make traffic flow smoothly: could we do this in Abu Dhabi?

3.     Parking: Omar suggested that all new buildings should have underground parking. Ahmed disagreed, on the grounds of expense. Omar said fair enough, but the government could provide financial assistance. Hasan said that multi-storey  car parking could be the solution; the others all agreed. Mohd pointed out that multi-storey parking & underground parking were both desirable in view of Abu Dhabi’s hot climate.

4.     Traffic lights: Mohd said that in Los Angeles, California, they have a co-ordinated traffic light system which improves traffic flow. He said that they’ve tried this on Salam Street here in AD which makes for smoother traffic flow. Hasan pointed out how roundabouts slow traffic and should be replaced by traffic lights.

5.     Driving licence at 25? Hasan said 18-year old students needed to drive to college. Omar suggested a compromise of 21; Hasan & Ahmed concurred. Mohd said that, ideally, students could use public transport, especially as the 18-25 group causes most accidents & so contribute to traffic chaos; however, he said raising the age to 25 would not work in practice.

6.     Public transport: Hasan criticized the behavior of bus drivers but Mohd said, in fairness, spaces were not big enough for buses to park neatly & safely.

7.     Recommendations:

Omar said improving the existing road system was the best solution.. Hasan opted for the integrated traffic light system. Mohd agreed with Omar. Ahmed said the 18-25 age group should be targeted for a progamme of education & guidance to improve driver behaviour. Mohd summed up by saying all these factors together might improve the situation & this met with general agreement.

Mohd closed the meeting at 1635.

Meeting

Reflection on meeting

Venue: research & innovation centre

Date: Sunday 18th March

Present:

Abdulqadar, H00235057, Chairman

Nabil, H00159003, Secretary

Ahmed Salah, H00138689, Participant

Abdulqadar opened the meeting in an appropriate manner & introduced the items on the agenda clearly. He directed the meeting successfully from 1 item to the next.

The problem under discussion was Emiratisation.

The first item to be discussed was the lack of information from the private sector for students while they are studying. Nabil: HCT has many graduates and they mostly go to government jobs because they don't know about the private sector.

The next issue was the fact that government alone cannot provide jobs for all nationals. Ahmed: we need a better balance between government & the private sector. Students should be encouraged to get work experience in the private sector. Nabil: at present, work experience is always in the government sector. Ahmed: students are afraid of the risks involved in working in the private sector. Nabil: we need theory classes re. the top 5 government & top 5 privatre companies. Even if most students opt for government jobs, some will opt for private & hopefully this number will grow. Ahmed: we need a special programme for students before they graduate. Nabil: the biggest problem is lack of info: the students need clarity.

Hedley asked why it was important to direct students to the private sector. He was told that government cannot provide jobs for all graduates. Those not getting government jobs either work for semi- government institutions, like Nabil, or remain idle until a government post, for which they are not necessarily qualified, turns up.

Recommendations:

1. Special programme for students before they graduate.
2. More clear inf0 re. private sector.
3. Work placement in private sector as well as government, so that students can decide, government or private.
4. Need for people to be qualified to do specific jobs.
5. It would be good for more private companies to follow HSBC's lead in training Emiratis, sending them abroad for training & work experience, and, finally, employing them in full-time positions.

All 3 students contributed to the meeting; it was well-directed; the secretary made notes; views were expressed clearly & politely;the discussion flowed freely and was always interesting.

Reflective Journal

Tuesday 19th June.

Today we created new blogs for this communication course, N101. We filled in our personal details and  I read & corrected them where necessary..

Wednesday 20th June

I introduced the students to the vocabulary quizzes in WebCTVista. I did quiz 1 in class.

Thursday 21st June

Omar has completed  all 10 quizzes in double-quick time.

Sunday 24th June

The 4 students held their meeting activity this afternoon. The personnel, venue, agenda, minutes & recommendations are above.

Monday 25^th June

The meeting was about traffic congestion. The students worked together to produce a clear & coherent agenda.

Mohd Shams opened the meeting, read out the items on the agenda, and guided the discussion from one item to the next; he did this quite well but occasionally the discussion flipped from one item to another. Mohd was aware of this and pointed out that, to some extent, it was inevitable as several points in the discussion were inter-connected.

Hasan took notes throughout the meeting and afterwards the four students divided up the task of typing up the notes for posting in their blogs.

Omar and Ahmed Saleh were active participants. I thought beforehand Omar might prove rather reticent but, nicely encouraged by Mohd, he made his opinions known clearly and often quite forcefully.

The discussion was quite wide-ranging with Ahmed making observations about the traffic system in Seattle and Hasan about Los Angeles.

When it came to recommendations, Mohd invited each student to say which of the possible solutions they had discuseed was the most viable and why. Mohd & Omar went for road improvements, Hasa for an integrated, co-ordinated traffic light system and Ahmed, while agreeing with the importance of road improvements was very keen on an educational programme aimed at young drivers. Mohd suggested that a combination of all solutions might be best and the others all agreed, so the meeting ended harmoniously.

It was an interesting and informative meeting and a pleasure to attend & listen to; very worthwhile & enjoyable.

256 words

Vocabulary

One of the interesting things about being a teacher is watching how different personalities interact with each other in the classroom.


More and more Gulf countries are looking at schemes to diversify their economies.


The novel 1984 was written in 1948 and  first published in 1949.


My powerpoint presentation illustrates some of the attractions of Istanbul.


How did he react when you told him he had failed the exam?


There is a lot of emphasis on speaking in this course.

What is your main criterion when evaluating student success?


Were you implying that he is not up to the job?


We can deduce from the nature of the wound that the victim was killed with a blunt instrument.


I would like to specify exactly what I am looking for in a presentation.


Most of inland Brunei is inaccessible except by small boat or sometimes by helicopter.


Her Majesty conferred a knighthood on him last year.


My hypothesis is that a teacher's ability to directly motivate a student is extremely limited.

I predict that your team will be promoted next season.


Subsequent events have proved him right.


The government's plans are good, but will they be able to implement them?

 These two roads run parallel to one another.


The government imposed severe restrictions on the freedom of the press.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics..


The immigrants have integrated well into their new country.