Transcript Interviewee 1 (perempuan/P)

Me: Ok Participant 1 could you please define to me what does stem means into
you?

Interviewee:so so sir honestly speaking, i dont really know what is stem eh.. I know it is
science technology is it ya engineering and mathematics so emm I think all of this for this
important to be applied in our daily lives because it will help us to solve a lot of problems eh
because i think it applies problem solving we are given a problem and we have to seek
knowledge on how to solve these problems so it's personal i think is important for everyone
to implement this stem in their lives in order to make the world a better place a bit future
better place eh through problem solving so basically is just like ehh.. somewhat critical
thinking I think so ya.. We all know that critical thinking is also important in order to solve
problem so yaa that is all that I have to say …P1-01

Me: let us proceed, please list out a few examples of stem related subjects that
you learn in your formal school.

Interviewee: eh.. My former school ok so i think there are quite number of subjects I
think that this is related for example the pure science yes of course because in pure science
even like the education system nowadays ehh.. Ehhh.. Pendidikan we like hots questions
through that i know most of the subjects is stem related so emmm one example i can bagi is
additional mathematics i think additional mathematics because we have this one project that
already teacher gave us and then he just gave us questions on how to solve this this this
and it also applies real Life Situation like how to build pond and all that but we use this add
math ehh add math concept on how to actually like build this thing, from there we get to
solve this problem this real life problems to not only macam through maths but then we also
can apply science and all that because it's not only focusing on populations but you also
need to explain on what you think about all of this yaa so one of those are definitely add
maths laa yaa.. I think thats all.. Yaa P1-02

Me: What inspired you to choose and study additional mathematics?

Interviewee: Honestly speaking i love counting subject so ehh by that i love i like
additional mathematics and on of the reason also it is because i want to pursue ahhh to
study engineering and I know one of the subjects that you have to master for engineering is
physic, maths and chemistry i think if i am not mistaken laa so add maths is because i just
love it i love number and even though it is super susah I still like to challenge myself I like
this problem solving eh punya latihan so that's why I just got into add maths because it will
benefit me for my future also and it correlates with what I want to pursue in the future and
thats the reason why I choose to study add math even though it's hard yes.. P1-03

Me: please share with me the obstacle and challenges that your face for learning
additional mathematics.

Interviewee: Even though i said i like challenging questions but I still find it hard
sometimes to actually ehh..... have a glance of what this macam all the concepts because it
is so susah for me additional maths it is just like maths you know all this this this it's right
there even though the hot spoon kan but then it's ok for me additional mathematics is like
you have to think ooutside the box you learn this one equation you learn how to apply all
this formula blaa blaa blaaa but then when it comes to problems solving you have to really
think which one which Formula you have to use which concept you have to apply so to me
it's really susah to actually get of how to solve these problems ehh.... Obstacles and
challenges.... Oh yaa and sometimes ya la macam I can solve this problems but when i do it
once I cannot terus ingat so i have to do it balik balik that is one of the obstacles and I
have to memang seek for so much help in order to actually yeah get the answers to all
these questions. P1-04

Me: So besides all those that you label as personal obstacles, what kind of other
obstacles that you faced also?

Interviewee: Emmm time.... And family... Emmm heheheheee oh okay ohh... Because
sometime when i dont know questions i cannot i dont really get can get the help from my
family because my family you know susah they also lupa lupa about maths already, yeap...
Ya la it's hard for me for one of the obstacles which means i would always have to ermmm..
Jumpa sir because i cannot ask my family but then only know my family still really
supportive they hantar me to tuition so i can like actually get ahh... Extra knowledge like
extra exercise to help on my maths questions laa to actually excel in my add maths
yaa....P1-05

Me: Now what reason keep you persistent in studying add maths?

Interviewee: The only thing had scared me from going is because i want to pursue
engineering like all these scince based ehh or any science based careers and to get
scholarship if you see nowadays most scholarships ehh... You need to get at least A in add
maths... If you dont get A it would be hard to me actually get a scholarship and i dont want
to burden my parent so that is why eh... I just you know.. Keep on going and the fact that i
really love number it is like kept on pushing me because i do what i love so if i do what i
love of course la i will be persistent in my study cause i find joy in doing things i love yaaa..
P1-06

Me: In your opinion, what elements contributed to that might contributed to the
good grade of your subject, for example your additional mathematics?

Interviewee: Ehh.. In general in equal subjects including add maths i think dicipline is the
most important because you have to keep on track and do exercise do exercise and you do
even though you are so tired you have to just keep on going but then emm.. Also have fun
in between because if you get too stress out you will probably got mind burst or something
yaa.. Emm.. I think dicipline is one of it and not to forget also time management you need
to manage your time emm in study you need to also take breaks you need to find time for
your family also so dont so you know you dont get too stress if you get too stress and then
you might not ace subjects so we.. in my opinion la i dont know other people hmmm...
Dicipline, family, time management, i also think good practice is that you need to ask
because if malu bertanya sesat jalan, so you need to keep on asking ehh always seek for
knowledge always ask your teachers on things you dont know and asking your friends also
help if your teacher he/she is not free at the moment because your friend might know more
than you so macam we cannot have the mindset ehh that egoistic mindset that you want to
know everything because emmm you know people can help you more and i think it is more
important that we also learn from other people in order to improve ourselves especially like
in one certain subjects and that is what i would learn laa for my spm days ehhhh.....
Asking... Dicipline..... Time management... You should not be afraid of trying new things like
ehhh try to find ways on how to find your ways of studying i would say find your way of
studying because ehhh in my spm year i realised that there are few times yeah my fall
because ehh we of study is not right so always don't be afraid to try new things if you think
ok you ngam bangun awal pagi then u should try it and if it doesn't work for you then you
should try like sleeping first and then waking up at night to study so it is like you know
trying new things in order to improve yourself because once you find the right way of
studying on how good it is and that then you will get a group of everything everything will
fall into place and you will get there laa.... Stay hidrated and hihihi P1-07
Transcript Interviewee 1 (perempuan/P) (second interview)

Hy Interviewee 1.

Good morning Cikgu Teng. P1-08

Thanks for spending time helping Cikgu Teng today.

Not at all, cikgu Teng. P1-09

This is the context we chatted previously. Here you go and let me know if I need
to do correction if I accidentally type it wrongly.

Okay, Cikgu Teng. P1-10

Well, Interviewee 1. What other things you would like to share to me about your
love and likes toward studying additional mathematics ?

I believe if someone has desire to do something, he or she kan will work on in no matter
how many challenges they face , things will come in handy if they work hard on it. Honestly
speaking I do love mathematics and it has become my enthusiasm of studying and utilizing
maths in my life. Furthermore my future career kan mau jadi engineer. That’s why saya
kena rajin la kan. When we have desire things will change definitely. We will push ourselves
very hard until we get it. Of course la kan, one must disciplined himself/herself for the
desire and enthusiasm faced. He must really take action on things he likes. Like me, I will
ask my teachers and friends if I did not know how to answer the question or when I faced
queries in it. Exercise is a must and we cannot avoid from drills. Practice makes perfect
maa. P1-11

Ohh I see. Could you explain a bit further about desire and enthusiasm in
Additional Mathematics?

Macam kita ne mahu A kan, we will be very disciplined oh like always stay focused in class,
discipline oneself to always focus what teacher taught us in class, do a lot of exercises like
past year questions and also HOTS questions. Just like a person who is passionate about
things he dreamed of. I am passionated of mathematics, calculation and solving problems
using mathematics knowledge and skills. If he didn’t feel motivated of what he likes or love,
he will not even focus on that thing. P1-12

You always said about discipline oneself. Could you share a bit about how to
discipline oneself?

I force myself to work on exercises and I even look for extra exercise to increase my
answering knowledge and skills. When I managed to answer and get all questions correctly,
I feel satisfied and proud of myself. This made me motivated to continue and work on
harder questions. As a former SPM in St Michael, I am extremely busy and occupied with all
sorts of school learning activities such as curriculum organizations and competition, not
including extra curriculum and cocuriculum activities. Therefore, a good personal timetable
is important to me so that I managed to allocate time easily and keep everything on tracks
laa. Time management tu penting sir. With proper time management we can do a lot of
thing and get things done on time. I always pushed myself to be punctual. If can finish
things earlier, then surely I will do it fast so that I can have more time to rest. All these kan
motivated me to stay disciplined all time. P1-13
I remember last time you mentioned about tuition. Please elaborate about it.

I am very thankful laa as I have supportive parent yang sudi sent me to tuition when I
started learning additional maths in Form 4 when I asked them about it because I scored
quite badly in AddMaths that time at the beginning. Besides tuition helps a lot, actually the
biggest bonus here is my school AddMaths teacher, Mr Ma is very dedicated kind and good
teacher to us. He always asked us to think critically and exposed us with HOTs thinking and
questions. Even sometimes until late night I couldn’t solve the maths questions, macam in
2am like that I whatsapp him, he never fail to reply me on time and this motivated me and
gave me strength to continue to discover and learn the subject, beside my passion driving
me forward. He also gave us extra classes and tutorials to help us solve the questions and
exercises. The things is he never asked us for tuition fee oh. That s why when I entered
Form 5 I stopped having outside tuition and just focused and studied with Mr Ma. P1-14

Interviewee 1, you talked about you want to pursue engineering and to get
scholarship. May I know what guided you for this getting scholarship ?

Nowadays most scholarships require you to get at least A in add maths when you apply it. I
don’t wanna burden my parents as they have spent a lot to support my study including
tuition fees for variety subjects , including addmaths. Therefore getting scholarship will help
ease their burden on it and it will motivate me to study and excel in the subject. Motivation
is a good form of activator for me to work harder to excel in add maths. P1-15

Oh I see. Would you mind explain on motivation? what kind of motivation and
can you give examples?

There are many forms of motivation help me to stay alert and focus my study. First one kan,
we must always motivate our own when we couldn’t answer the difficult questions. We all
human being and yet we learn even though we don’t know hot to answer at the first. I
always told myself never mind if I failed in answering the questions as long as I get all other
parts questions done correctly. People makes mistakes and from mistakes we learn. My
teacher always guided us slowly and step by step if we faced obstacles. He will praise and
compliment on the good grades we got. And he will consoled us if we have bad marks. I
always open my ears for compliments but I will shut it when my friends teased on me and
laughed about my bad marks. I just ignored it. Because I know if I do mind about words
they threw on me, at the end I will become more stress and less focus on my study. This
will demotivated me at all so make sure stick to the good one and good friends only. Keep
away from those bad roots. P1-16

Yaa, good saying. Interviewee 1. In your opinion and experience, what are the
factors that lead to your succeed in exceling to addmaths?

Like I said earlier, dicipline, family support, time management, your love and like towards
the subject, motivation….enthusiasm and be a hardworking person. And never forget also
attitude determines everything laa. Always believe in God and pray for the best. When it is
time to learn, learn as many as possible, if comes to play time, lets have fun and enjoy it.
Leverage yourself appropriately so that you will excel in your goal. I think that’s all. P1-17

Oh good. Thanks again for the great conversation, Interviewee 1.

Okay Cikgu Teng. Nice to talk to you too.