Sunday, 28 December 2014

A SIMPLE ACADEMIC GUIDELINE FOR FOUNDATION 1 PROGRAM ONLY

My dear friends,

1.   Welcome
Welcome to the Foundation Program of Kolej PERMATApintar Negara. I am writing this guide based on my own experience in Foundation 1 (1 year), and I also support this guide with the guideline book, which I believe you guys will get on the registration day. I know, some of you are the same age as me, and I hope we can get along.

2.   Introduction to my Batch
My batch consists of the 42 of us, 24 boys and 18 girls. Out of the 42 students in the first Foundation batch, the majority of them are students at the age of 13 years, and there are about 8 students who are 12 years old. One of them is me. We are divided into three classes, K1, K2 and K3. I am in K3. There is no streaming for my batch at this point of time.

3.   Syllabus of Foundation 1 (F1)
The subjects listed below are the subjects which start from Form 4.

3.1.1    Biology
3.1.2    Physics
3.1.3    Chemistry
3.1.4    Sejarah
3.1.5    Perdagangan dan Keusahawanan
3.1.6    Pendidikan Jasmani dan Kesihatan (PJK)

The subjects listed below are the subjects which cover Form 1 to Form 3.

3.1.7    Fundamental Mathematics
3.1.8    Pendidikan Agama Islam (PAI)

These subjects have a special syllabus, which is only taught in Foundation.

3.1.9    English (Bridging I and II)
3.1.10  Bahasa Melayu (Penulisan Kreatif dan Komunikasi)
3.1.11  Research and Methodology
3.1.12  Philosophy
3.1.13  Music
3.1.14  Performing Arts or Visual Arts – (choose one only)
3.1.15  International Languages (French or German or Arabic or Mandarin or Korean or Japanese) – (choose any one)

The subjects listed are applicable to all Kolej PERMATApintar students.

3.1.16  Self-Development (Jati Diri)
3.1.17  Co-curriculum

4.   Method of Teaching
Our teachers are known as ‘The Instructors’. The word itself gives you a clue on how they will teach. No spoon-feeding and there are very minimal notes given. You’ll understand why. The method of teaching for the Foundation is through lectures, lab works, slide presentations, group works, and websites.

5.   Assessments
There are four exams a year. The grading table is:
Grade
Marks
GPA
A+
95 – 100
4.00
A
85 – 94
3.75
A-
75 – 84
3.50
B+
70 – 74
3.25
B
65 – 69
3.00
B-
60 – 64
2.67
C+
55 – 59
2.33
C
50 – 54
2.00
D
45 – 49
1.75
E
40 – 44
1.50
G
0 – 39
0

They will display our marks and results at the notice board at the Dewan Serbaguna for every exam (the most stressful time with mixed feelings). You know your ranking in the batch.
For the assessments; some subjects are (60 for exam)-(40 for assignments), and a few subjects are 50-50, and the rest rely fully on assignments and attendance, like Philosophy and Research and Methodology.

6.   Assignments
Assignments include lab reports, pre-tests, post-tests, writing blogs, journals, making parodies, speech choirs, exploraces, making websites, public speaking, show-and-tell, mind maps, inventions and many more.

7.   Class Hours
7.1.1    Monday – The weekly assembly begins at 8:00 in the morning and lasts for 1 hour. The class sessions ends at 4:30 p.m. with two breaks, morning which lasts from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and the afternoon break, which lasts from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
7.1.2    Tuesday to Thursday – The morning assembly lasts from 7:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Classes are as above.
7.1.3    Friday – It is similar to 7.1.2, but it finishes at 12:30 for the Friday prayers. Normally, in the afternoon, there are no classes on Friday except for replacement classes or special activities.

8.   Books and Materials
The college provides very minimal textbooks or reference books. In my experience, I had to buy my own revision books for SPM like revision books, ‘mind map’ books, and past-year SPM questions. For Mathematics and Agama, it is best to buy PMR books.
As mentioned above, we have to do a lot of assignments and presentations. Therefore, we need computers (notebooks) to get access with the Internet, for PowerPoint presentations, blog and website entries, and for typing our reports and research.
Normally, since we have to do many mind maps and scrapbooks, I suggest that you bring magic pens, coloured pens, marker pens, coloured paper, and colour pencils to make your presentation interesting.

9.   Conclusion
Actually, my batch has undergone Foundation 1, but the performance is entirely based on our own hard work, effort, and capability. Do not procrastinate in your work like I did, and don’t play games too much, like me. Hopefully this guide will help you in your Foundation 1. Feel free to ask us for help. Don’t hesitate. Good luck!


BY: Zoey Zeffrey Azman

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