This Student Exchange was a new experience for me, especially in the world of university lectures, although it has become a list of experiences that I want to do when I can explore my abilities on campus, it turns out that I was given the opportunity this fourth semester to be able to do an exchange at University Utara Malaysia by taking several subjects to be converted to Lecture Materials at UMSIDA. At that time during the semester break, I received information from a friend of mine who was in the same study program as me if there was an opportunity from our study program to take part in the exchange. In short, we prepared the requirements to join the exchange at UUM Mobility Inbound and during the exchange we got various new experiences. Among them is the holiday system if in Indonesia we have holidays on Saturdays and Sundays, but in Malaysia the holidays fall on Fridays and Saturdays. This is what makes us feel the most culture shock. During the exchange at University Utara Malaysia, I met local friends who turned out to be very friendly and could help me adapt to taking classes in Malaysia. From several Malaysians I know, I remember that at that time I was invited by her to join a group. One of the class subjects there was her name was Hazirah bint Amran. She was very kind and helped me quite a bit in explaining the purpose of the assignments given by our class lecturer.
In my experience, there are not so many differences in learning between Indonesia and Malaysia, especially now that they are both affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so all learning is transferred online. On this occasion I was able to exchange information related to learning in Indonesia and Malaysia. Zirah, with his nickname which we usually call, explained that in Malaysia classes start from 7 am – 14 pm. In Malaysia, the use of video conferencing for classes using webex is very common for friends from Indonesia, so it was quite difficult for us to register our account to the video conferencing application at the beginning of the lecture period. For class attendance there, Zirah revealed that if we need to download the UUM Study Application first, we can scan the class QR code, if there is an internet connection problem, we can ask the relevant lecturer for help to do manual attadance. In Malaysia for three credits for one subject so usually in one subject class it is carried out for one hour and thirty minutes. For assignments, there has also been a plagiarism checking system to train students in preparation for their final project. At UUM Malaysia, for the faculty I took, there was no Mid-Semester Examination, so we immediately prepared for the Final Semester Examination. However, Hazirah revealed that in Malaysia there are also tests that are implemented, namely the first term test, mind test, mid-year test and end-of-year test.
Each student is required to take a final examination for next year studies. Due to thepandemic Exam in Malaysia, lectures at UUM Malaysia itself also use the student portal. E-Learning but there is only a material syllabus without being equipped with pdf references,modules or educational videos. And sometimes when the class uses video conference webex we are asked to see the ppt material along with the video and by doing a quiz, our score will immediately appear. However, in Indonesia, especially at Umsida, the application of online lectures has been implemented since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. And at Umsida online class, you prefer to use zoom meeting or google meet depending on the lecturer in charge of the course. Then because here I happen to be studying while working, I have le ture hours from 18 pm – 21 pm. If morning classes are usually from 7.30 am – 14 pm this is almost the same as lecture classes in Malaysia.
But for the presence itself at Umsida, it includes E-Learning which we use to get lecture material which contains modules, pdf references, ppt to educational videos. Here also in the work of the task there is no plagiarism check directly in the submit column. On the use of language there, Zirah also told me that my friends are more fluent in speaking Malay and Mandarin, but the lecturers there use English a lot when teaching and that is enough to make me practice my skills in foreign languages. Zirah also once told her friends in Malaysia that it is easier for them to speak Malay, so that from the class discussion group with them I was helped in understanding Malay vocabulary. So as long as I joined the Organization Development subject group with 3 friends from Malaysia, I was taught a lot to use everyday Malay language such as "iye", "orite", not in Malay enough to write and many more. While in Malaysia I used English a lot because I was more thigh and all the lecturers also used English when teaching. The lecturers there we used to call them madam for women and Dr. For male lecturers.
Contributor: Mareta Ryarsa Hanyfa