It is finally the last e-portfolio. In this assignment, we are asked to reflect on what difficulties do I face in writing for my engineering classes and how will I continue to improve?
Before taking this class, my vocabulary and grammar are really bad and I usually scored very low marks because the professor cannot understand what I mean. Quantitative-wise, I have no problem but when it comes to explaining my proposal, the readers always cannot get what I mean and therefore have no choice but to give me low marks. However, after this class, both my vocabulary and grammar improve sustainability and now I am able to write quite well. This class has prepared me well for the future project write-up I will encounter.
However, I still some problem of lack of vocabulary sometimes. For example, I always tend to use the word "found" throughout my report. For example, they are a lot of things that can need the word "found" (e.g. I found that hydrogen combined with oxygen make water, I found that the length is 10m). Although I used Microsoft word synonyms function very often to look for word that replaces "found", the synonyms function always gave me the same few words which I have to repeatedly use also.
In order to solve the problem I described, I looked up the journals and realised that the authors used different phrasing sometimes to vary the sentence structures. Thus, I feel that in order to improve continuously, I will need to find creative ways to learn and improve my English. Also, I recently discovered a nice way to improve my writing, that is to use google as a help tool. For example, if I want to write a sentence "the best thing since" but I forget the whole sentence, I can type "the best thing since" and google will tell me it is "The best thing since sliced bread".
Good luck to everyone in this module for the rest of his/her learning journey.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
common grammar mistakes
I made many grammatical mistakes throughout this course. I am happy that this course has taught me a lot of ways to improve my English.
A confusion that I have is the usage of “had” versus “have”. For example, the sentence is “The school has a canteen on level 2”. I have always reminded myself that it is not appropriate to use had in this sentence as the canteen is still at level 2. I believe why this problem arises is because in the past, I was taught to use the same tense for my composition. Thus, I have the tendency to use past tense for my composition.
Another mistake that I commonly make is to put speech into words directly. Until recently, I finally realize that it is not appropriate to do that as it sounds very informal. For example, I wrote the phase “pros and cons” in my report. I was told that it is inadvisable to do so and doing it makes the report informal. There are many better ways to express the idea.
The third mistake is I sometimes have trouble identifying whether to use which, whom, who and where. For example, in the past, I was told that the word “where” is associated with a place. However, I do not understand where people can use “where” to associate with time. For example, “There will be months where there are only four Mondays as the first trading day of the month is not a Monday”. It is very confusing as my school teacher always told me to use when for something that is associated with time.
These are three common mistakes that I make. I believe that I have made many others along my journey of learning English language. In few years time, I hope to master the language so as to write a perfect report!
A confusion that I have is the usage of “had” versus “have”. For example, the sentence is “The school has a canteen on level 2”. I have always reminded myself that it is not appropriate to use had in this sentence as the canteen is still at level 2. I believe why this problem arises is because in the past, I was taught to use the same tense for my composition. Thus, I have the tendency to use past tense for my composition.
Another mistake that I commonly make is to put speech into words directly. Until recently, I finally realize that it is not appropriate to do that as it sounds very informal. For example, I wrote the phase “pros and cons” in my report. I was told that it is inadvisable to do so and doing it makes the report informal. There are many better ways to express the idea.
The third mistake is I sometimes have trouble identifying whether to use which, whom, who and where. For example, in the past, I was told that the word “where” is associated with a place. However, I do not understand where people can use “where” to associate with time. For example, “There will be months where there are only four Mondays as the first trading day of the month is not a Monday”. It is very confusing as my school teacher always told me to use when for something that is associated with time.
These are three common mistakes that I make. I believe that I have made many others along my journey of learning English language. In few years time, I hope to master the language so as to write a perfect report!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
e-portfolio 4
Our group discussed about Biodiesel and its role in fighting global warming.
There are a lot of ways to help to alleviate the problem of global warming: carbon capture and storage technology, sulphur particles scheme, biodiesel technology. The carbon capture and storage technology is to capture the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and store them in the deep ocean or the permeable rocks. The disadvantage is that there may be a leakage. The sulphur particles scheme is to emit the sulphur particles into the atmosphere, by doing this it helps to cool the climate in the Earth. However it creates another problem that cause the delay to recover the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic. Therefore, the best and most efficient way is to use biodiesel technology. The biodiesel is use in transport that usually mixed with convention diesel fuel and renewable resource such as soya bean and palm. The other kind of biodiesel is purely from the renewable resource.
Our group ends with the likely problem with biodiesel that is farmers worldwide may focus on growing foods for biodiesel and not for human. However, we conclude that the biodiesel technology should be one of the best ways to fight global warming unless the scientists who have a better solution than biodiesel.
There are a lot of ways to help to alleviate the problem of global warming: carbon capture and storage technology, sulphur particles scheme, biodiesel technology. The carbon capture and storage technology is to capture the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and store them in the deep ocean or the permeable rocks. The disadvantage is that there may be a leakage. The sulphur particles scheme is to emit the sulphur particles into the atmosphere, by doing this it helps to cool the climate in the Earth. However it creates another problem that cause the delay to recover the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic. Therefore, the best and most efficient way is to use biodiesel technology. The biodiesel is use in transport that usually mixed with convention diesel fuel and renewable resource such as soya bean and palm. The other kind of biodiesel is purely from the renewable resource.
Our group ends with the likely problem with biodiesel that is farmers worldwide may focus on growing foods for biodiesel and not for human. However, we conclude that the biodiesel technology should be one of the best ways to fight global warming unless the scientists who have a better solution than biodiesel.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Group discussion
Group 2’s discussion is about whether Singapore should adopt green chemistry. Green chemistry has many advantages, such as it is renewable and safe to use. However, there are disadvantages such as green chemistry can be harmful to a person health and it is more expensive. However, they believe that one day green chemistry will be able to replace the plastic bags in Singapore as the norm.
Group 3’s discussion is about genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a hotly debatable topic within scientists. Some scientists feel that it is unethical to do so, but many feel that the government should proceed with genetic engineering for the sake of research purpose. The people who are against genetic engineering feel that life is given by god and should not be tampered with. However, some feel that if genetic engineering can help to improve the human’s life, why not? For example, genetic engineering can help to alter some harmful genetic cells such as cancer. This is very good. The group also discusses that genetic engineering can be used to choose the sex of the baby. In my opinion, I feel it is very good as it can be implemented in countries like China. In this way, there will not be so many abandoned babies in China.
Group 4’s discussion is about using carbon capture storage to fight global warming. I feel that it is a good idea as anything that fights global warming is good. However, they pointed out that carbon capture storage is expensive and it is debatable how the different countries’ government will share the cost. Should they share the cost by the countries’ population size? Should they share the cost by how much a gauge of how much they pollute the earth?
Group 3’s discussion is about genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a hotly debatable topic within scientists. Some scientists feel that it is unethical to do so, but many feel that the government should proceed with genetic engineering for the sake of research purpose. The people who are against genetic engineering feel that life is given by god and should not be tampered with. However, some feel that if genetic engineering can help to improve the human’s life, why not? For example, genetic engineering can help to alter some harmful genetic cells such as cancer. This is very good. The group also discusses that genetic engineering can be used to choose the sex of the baby. In my opinion, I feel it is very good as it can be implemented in countries like China. In this way, there will not be so many abandoned babies in China.
Group 4’s discussion is about using carbon capture storage to fight global warming. I feel that it is a good idea as anything that fights global warming is good. However, they pointed out that carbon capture storage is expensive and it is debatable how the different countries’ government will share the cost. Should they share the cost by the countries’ population size? Should they share the cost by how much a gauge of how much they pollute the earth?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Night lecture
On 30th January 2009, we had the honor of having three distinguished lecturers to give us a very interesting talk, which is related to what we have previously seen on global warming. I was very impressed as it is an enlightening experience to hear the three experts speak.
The first speaker is Professor Andrew C. Palmer, who comes from Centre for offshore research & Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering. His specialization is on the field of carbon dioxide. He feels that carbon dioxide can be stored as depleted oil or gas field and need not be released into the atmosphere; hence it can save Mother Nature. As I have mentioned in my previous post, it is not a matter of technological feasibility, but it is a matter of whether countries want to help out. As the role of protecting Mother Nature does not lie on any of the countries, few countries may want to take the effort to help out.
The second speaker is Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool, who comes from Science & Technology Studies. I feel that he is the most interesting speaker of the night. He introduced to us the STS method, which is a outstanding method to test out new technologies.
The last speaker is Dr Rajasekhar Bala, who comes from Division of Environmental Science and Engineering. He gave us a realistic view of what will happen if we do not control the problem of global warming, and what our governments and the citizens can help to fight it.
After hearing the three speakers, I become more enlightened about the harmful effect
of global warming and what I, as a citizen of Singapore and the world, should do to fight it.
The first speaker is Professor Andrew C. Palmer, who comes from Centre for offshore research & Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering. His specialization is on the field of carbon dioxide. He feels that carbon dioxide can be stored as depleted oil or gas field and need not be released into the atmosphere; hence it can save Mother Nature. As I have mentioned in my previous post, it is not a matter of technological feasibility, but it is a matter of whether countries want to help out. As the role of protecting Mother Nature does not lie on any of the countries, few countries may want to take the effort to help out.
The second speaker is Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool, who comes from Science & Technology Studies. I feel that he is the most interesting speaker of the night. He introduced to us the STS method, which is a outstanding method to test out new technologies.
The last speaker is Dr Rajasekhar Bala, who comes from Division of Environmental Science and Engineering. He gave us a realistic view of what will happen if we do not control the problem of global warming, and what our governments and the citizens can help to fight it.
After hearing the three speakers, I become more enlightened about the harmful effect
of global warming and what I, as a citizen of Singapore and the world, should do to fight it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Global warming
I read recently that Sentosa and the Marina Bay will submerge into water soon if the sea level rises 1m. They even suggested us to set our air-conditioner warmer, unless we wish to see beach road back on the beach again. To fight global warming, Singapore has taken up a lot of initiatives, such as educating the young on the importance to fight global warming. For example, in secondary school, we have learned how to reduce our damage to the Mother Nature, such as turning the air-conditioner to 25 degree Celsius.
As global warming is a public problem, there are some unethical groups of people who do not care about global warming. Their goal is to earn as much money as possible, and not caring for the earth at all. For example, they know that global warming is a problem in the long run situation, and as Keynes has mentioned, in the long run, we all will be dead.
Fortunately, there are a lot of not for profit organizations who are set up to fight global warming. They consisted of people from different works of life whose objective are all the same, that is to fight global warming and create a good environment for our further generations to live in. Luckily, our government is very supportive of their initiatives. One notable initiative that these groups of people came up with is the 1 hour lights-off in the central business district on March every year. Although this is good, I believe there is still room for improvement, especially if the government is willing to take the lead. For example, in Japan, the prime minister set a role model by announcing that office employees do not need to wear suit to work on Friday, hence allowing the air-conditioner on Friday to be switched off. I believe this is a good and practical initiative to save Mother Nature. Although Singapore is a small country, I believe by pro-actively pushing for more initiatives, it can inspire other bigger countries and together, we can fight global warming.
As global warming is a public problem, there are some unethical groups of people who do not care about global warming. Their goal is to earn as much money as possible, and not caring for the earth at all. For example, they know that global warming is a problem in the long run situation, and as Keynes has mentioned, in the long run, we all will be dead.
Fortunately, there are a lot of not for profit organizations who are set up to fight global warming. They consisted of people from different works of life whose objective are all the same, that is to fight global warming and create a good environment for our further generations to live in. Luckily, our government is very supportive of their initiatives. One notable initiative that these groups of people came up with is the 1 hour lights-off in the central business district on March every year. Although this is good, I believe there is still room for improvement, especially if the government is willing to take the lead. For example, in Japan, the prime minister set a role model by announcing that office employees do not need to wear suit to work on Friday, hence allowing the air-conditioner on Friday to be switched off. I believe this is a good and practical initiative to save Mother Nature. Although Singapore is a small country, I believe by pro-actively pushing for more initiatives, it can inspire other bigger countries and together, we can fight global warming.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Prof Ramakrishna article (assignment 1)
Visiting the NUS engineering website, the message to us is “Scientists invent things, while Engineers create things”. In NUS, prospective engineers are trained to think systematically by letting them go through a very comprehensive and tedious course. It is hard work, and there is no short-cut to complete this course. For example, the various Mathematics modules enable prospective engineers to try to understand a problem and then solve it. Every step needs to be worked out and the person doing it must be very clear on what he is doing. It also trains prospective engineers to be patient as some of the questions cannot be solved easily.
The school also teaches the students programming languages which train the student to be systematic in their thinking. As the computer is a device that can only operate line by line instruction, the students will have no choice but to try to design solution that are systematic in nature. This is very different from some fields such as arts, where there is no right and wrong answer and creativity is highly valued.
Lastly, the school has a lot of modules that have project works which will help to improve its students. For example, by mixing students of all ability, the school hopes that the better ones be able to influence their weaker peers and help them be more systematic in their thinking. By working with their weaker peers, the better ones can sort of influence their thoughts and make them better engineers. All in all, engineers are the special batches who have unique ability to comprehend complex information and design models for these problems.
The school also teaches the students programming languages which train the student to be systematic in their thinking. As the computer is a device that can only operate line by line instruction, the students will have no choice but to try to design solution that are systematic in nature. This is very different from some fields such as arts, where there is no right and wrong answer and creativity is highly valued.
Lastly, the school has a lot of modules that have project works which will help to improve its students. For example, by mixing students of all ability, the school hopes that the better ones be able to influence their weaker peers and help them be more systematic in their thinking. By working with their weaker peers, the better ones can sort of influence their thoughts and make them better engineers. All in all, engineers are the special batches who have unique ability to comprehend complex information and design models for these problems.
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