Lessons learnt

It's been a while that I have not update my blog. Not in the mood I guess..

Well, it's been 3 months and half that I have started my PhD program here.

First month:

I was reading..reading and reading..
At this stage usually students will gain information about:
a)what is the state-of-the-art of your current research area
b)what has been done by other researchers about your area
c)what are the problems, issues and important things in your area
d)people who are doing research in the area

It's a bit tried though..you have to read and that makes you feel bored sometimes.
The challenge is: you have to be patient with the terms and terminologies used by the other researchers when reading academic journals.

Second Month:

The reading phase still continue..you will starts to see the patterns of ideas where you can group them together. This is really important when you have to start writing about your topic. While you are in the early stage of PhD, it is advisable to keep records about what you have done and the most important thing is to keep records about your reference lists! From my experience it is good to:

a) to save your journal by its title name. Really helpful whenever you need to find the reference later
b) put your references using any reference manager (ie EndNote,refworks and etc.). If you put them straight away from the moment you save the jounal file into your pc, that would be helpful. I found it is useful when I starts writing my literature review! So it save your time.. and you can keep your notes in you reference manager.

Third month:

I need to submit final refined proposal. Erk..here, at this stage, you should be able to recognise what you are planning to do, scope your research..then it's easier to plan your 3 years PhD journey and you know your direction. I am still refining my proposal. This is very important phase where you should decide...what you are going to do..it's your research.. it's your responsibilities..

English Class for PhD Students

I have decided to join this class as a step to improve my English writing skills. Well, indeed the class is really interesting and beneficial to PhD students like me. This class has been created to give support to international students who is taking PhD in the university.

First time I joined the class, I was really amazed by the lecturer who conducted the session. She is really supportive, welcoming and really enjoy listening to students' responses. As I remember, it was 17 of us in the class, 2 from Poland, 1 from China, 3 from Spain, 3 from Iraq, 2 from Mexico, 1 from Italy, 1 from Oman, 1 from Egypt, 1 from Malaysia (that is me ! :-P) 1 from England and 1 from France.

In this class, you won't feel shy to speak as everybody is very supportive and nobody is going to laugh at you or embarrassing you. I really enjoy attending the classes. We should have that kind of environment in order to make students become more participative in a class.

First Session was about general issues and introduction for all members of the class. Everybody has to speak and talk about his/her research.

Second Session was about how to make a good summary. I left my notes in my office. Will add in the blog later.

Third Session which is today, is about Literature Review.

In the beginning of the session our lecturer ask her students if any of them facing a problem and try to find the solutions together with other members of the class. A person raised his hand and asking about how to read efficiently.. well..well..well.. I am facing the same problem as well.. I am in the 4th week of my PhD program and at this state.. I should have read many journals and other researchers' work related to my topic. I am a slow reader too.. But I am trying and keep trying to improve my reading skills.

Our lecturer suggested a book by Tony Buzan.




In fact I have read the book..and it help me to improve my reading skill..

In general, we can say, literature review is about finding out what has been done or some people refer it as finding 'state-of-the-art' of your research area. Research area is like an ocean which comprises thousands..billions trillians of water drops in it. Our piece of work can be refered as a drop of water in our research area.

Book: PhD, Kecil tapi signifikan

The title itself shows that the book talk about PhD. If you would like to read more about the book do visit this link:

http://www.muhdkamil.net/PhD.html

However, you would find a person has sent a letter talking about how bad the book is. I have read half of the book, yet I think it is still a good book that can give different perspective about the journey of PhD. I appreciate the book since it will give readers a different perspective. I still believe that everybody that facing the journey would have unique experiences. Well, eventhough some of the comments made by the 'unhappy reader' are true but still at least the writer has put efforts with sincere intention to help other readers that might just to embark into PhD journey like me. :-) I would like to quote some of things that I think might be useful for me in the future.

Chapter 4: Misteri Seorang Penyelia

The writer has learnt that in order to have good relationship with supervisor:

Kaji dan amatilah bagaimana :
a) beliau (penyelia) menyelia pelajar
b) tingkah laku beliau
c) kesukaan atau kebencian.

Will update the content once I have finished reading the book.. :-)

Welcome to my Research Diary

This is my first entry and all comments and suggestions are most welcome!