TABLE OF CONTENT Profile Coursework Sheet

Report 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Statement of Problem 3.0 Objective of Study 4.0 Research Questions 5.0 Limitation of Study 6.0 Methodology 6.1 Questionnaire 6.2 Data Collection and Analysis 7.0 Findings and Discussion 8.0 Conclusion and Suggestions 9.0 References 10.0 Appendices

Reflection

Research on the Insufficiency of Allowance among the Trainee Teachers 1.0 Introduction We are the third semester PPISMP trainee teachers from Physical Education option. We have been studying in IPGK Tun Abdul Razak for almost one and a half year. A huge amount of money has been allocated for this course in order to cultivate welltrained professional teacher. Allowance is provided by government for the PPISMP and PISMP trainee teachers for their expenses throughout the course.

2.0 Statement of Problem The amount of allowance provided by the Malaysia Education Ministry is decided after some consideration and survey. In fact, it should be enough for the expenses of trainee teachers while attending the course. Besides, the allowance has been increasing from year to year, but we can still hear complaints about insufficiency of allowance among the trainees. Many trainees have to survive on instant noodles at the end of the month. Some of them even cannot afford to purchase books and stationery for academic purpose. Due to these matters, we would like to make a mini research on the insufficiency of allowance among the trainees.

3.0 Objective of Study The objective of this research is to find out whether the problem of allowance insufficiency is occurring in every trainee teacher and to check whether they are spending the allowance smartly and appropriately.

4.0 Research Questions In our research, there are three questions. They are shown as below: 1. How frequent do you face financial difficulty? 2. Do you think the monthly allowance provided currently is sufficient for your monthly expense? 3. As a trainee, do you think you spend your allowance appropriately and smartly?

5.0 Limitation of Study The study is targeted on 25 PPISMP trainee teachers of semester 3. The respondents are chosen randomly from five classes of different options, which are Arab Language, TESL 1, TESL 2, TESL 3 and Physical Education.

6.0 Methodology 6.1 Questionnaire In this research, we used questionnaire as our instrument to collect data. We have constructed a questionnaire and photocopied to be distributed to 25 respondents of the same batch trainee teachers. (Refer to Appendix 1)

6.2 Data Collection and Analysis From the data that we collected, we found that most of the trainee teachers, which are 15 of them, sometimes face allowance insufficiency. 20% of the trainees only seldom face allowance insufficiency; while another 20% trainees always face this matter. (Refer to Graph 1)

Graph of Number of Trainee against Frequency of Facing Allowance Insufficiency

16 14 Number of Trainee 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Frequency of Facing Allowance Insufficiency Never, 0 Seldom, 5 Always, 5 Sometimes, 15

Graph 1: Frequency of Trainee Teachers Facing Allowance Insufficiency. After knowing the frequency of facing insufficiency among the trainee teachers, we would like to check the sufficiency of the amount allowance in the point of view of the trainees. From the data, we found that more than 50%, that is 13 trainees, think that the allowance provided is definitely not sufficient for their expenses; meanwhile 12 trainees think that the allowance is just enough. Nobody thinks that the allowance is too much for them. (Refer to Graph 2)

Graph of Number of Trainee against Sufficiency of Allowance in Trainee's Point of View

14 12 Number of Trainee 10 8 6 4 2 0 Sufficiency of Allowance in Trainee's Point of View Too Much, 0 Definitely Not, 13 Just Enough, 12

Graph 2: Sufficiency of the Amount of Allowance in Trainees Point of View.

From the above two investigations, we found that the problem of insufficient allowance is really occurring. Thus, we wish to carry out another analysis to check whether the trainees are spending their allowance smartly and appropriately. This is in order to check whether this problem is resulted from their careless spending or otherwise. As a result, we found that two persons admit that they do not spend wisely. Most people, that are 12 persons, think that maybe they are spending smartly. Only seven trainees confirm that they are spending appropriately and smartly, while the other four are not sure. (Refer to Graph 3)

Graph of Number of Trainee against Spending of Allowance

14 Maybe, 12 12 Number of Trainee 10 8 6 Not Sure, 4 4 No, 2 2 0 Appropriately and Smartly in Spending Allowance Yes, 7

Graph 3: Whether the Trainee Teachers Spend Appropriately and Smartly.

7.0 Findings and Discussion From the first two questions in the questionnaire, we can confirm that the problem of insufficiency allowance is really occurring among the trainee teachers since the data shows that most of the trainees face difficulty (Refer to Graph 1 & 2). We also found that seven trainees confirm that they spend wisely; while 12 trainees think they spend wisely. Thus, totally, 76% of the trainees claim that they spend properly.

Our world is facing inflation and many countries are facing economic crisis. Inflation refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. According to Department of Statistic Malaysia, from 2005 till 2012, Malaysia Inflation Rate averaged 2.7%. Due to these matters, everything is increasing in term of its price. Though the allowance is increasing from time to time, the increment still cannot cope with the great inflation which cause the consumer price increases. Nowadays, the expenditure on food is increasing. We cannot get a proper meal by just a pitiful two ringgit, unless we take instant noodles. For your information, the allowance for PPISMP course is barely RM400. However, the average expense on meals is about RM10 per day, which means trainee will spend around RM300 for food in a month. After deducted from the allowance, trainees only have RM100 remained. From the survey we did through questionnaire, we found that most of the trainees spend most of their allowance on food, which is average 40.2% of the allowance. (Refer to Table) According to Maslows Hierarchy of Need (1954), the most basic need that humans desire and need to be fulfilled before stepping into the next stage is physiological needs, including: food, shelter and water. So, it is a necessity for trainees to spend allowance on food to ensure continuous development. Moreover, referring to my senior science teacher, food is the main source of energy which converted from chemical energy to kinetic energy through respiration. Without sufficient of mineral or energy intake, it is impossible for trainees to be motivated in studying. Besides, in the course of PPISMP, there are plenty of subjects, which means trainees need plenty of resources as reference. Referring to the table, approximately 14% of the allowance has been used in purchasing books and stationery. For Physical Education option, we need to spend more money on sport equipment, which is 3.76%. For TESL and Arab language, they need to spend more on books. In the pedagogy of teaching, teachers should prepare teaching aids and materials in order to ensure successful and interesting teaching and learning process. Similarly, trainees need sufficient of resources as references and tools to get trained and practice. Without proper aid, trainees cannot gain 100% the knowledge that they need.

No

Accommodation

Food

Transport

Clothing

Sport

Stationery

Book

Entertainment

Saving

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Total
Average

5 0 20 10 5 0 20 10 2 5 0 0 0 20 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 128 5.12

30 5 5 5 10 20 20 10 10 0 20 10 40 2 2 1 10 10 20 30 10 0 10 10 30 5 10 5 10 10 30 20 10 10 5 0 20 2 3 5 5 5 30 20 10 20 5 5 40 5 10 20 20 0 50 5 5 15 5 5 30 10 30 0 0 0 50 0 10 0 10 0 30 5 10 0 10 10 40 0 10 0 10 0 10 0 20 0 10 20 50 5 10 0 0 5 40 5 10 0 5 10 35 10 20 0 5 20 50 5 5 5 5 0 80 0 0 0 0 0 50 2 10 0 10 10 70 5 5 3 7 3 50 10 5 5 5 5 50 10 1 0 1 10 60 5 2 0 5 10 1005 176 223 94 183 178 40.2 7.04 8.92 3.76 7.32 7.12 Table: Percentage of Trainees Expenses of Allowance.

10 0 5 0 5 20 10 0 3 0 20 10 10 0 20 30 30 10 10 0 2 5 5 8 5 218 8.72

10 10 10 10 20 5 20 0 0 10 10 20 25 20 10 0 0 0 0 0 16 1 0 1 13 211 8.44

0 20 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 20 0 0 5 9 0 84 3.36

From the survey in the table constructed, we can see that trainees only spend 8.72% of the allowance for entertainment, which is a very little amount of money. From here, we can conclude that the allowance given for the trainees are spent quite carefully. Mood management theory (Oliver, 2003), states that peoples entertainment choices should similarly serve the management of moods. Entertainment is a good tool in coping with stress and avoiding burnout among the trainees throughout hectic day with assignments and activities. Thus, spending a little bit on entertainment is not considered inappropriate. Finally, we also found that only 17 trainees out of 25 trainees manage to make their own saving from the allowance provided with a very little percentage which is 8.44% only. This shows that the allowance given is barely enough for the trainees and trainees need to be extremely conservative in order to keep a saving in account.

8.0 Conclusion and Suggestions With money, we cannot do everything; but without money, we cannot do anything. From the study, we found that the allowance provided is quite limited and insufficient for the trainees to cope with this developing world. From the study, we found that trainees have been spending the allowance smartly and appropriately. However, the amount seems to be quite little. To solve this problem, we hope that the government will consider increasing the allowance according to the trainees need. Allocation should be provided in term of books or stationery. Transport should be arranged for trainees to go outing instead of renting car. The college canteen should be economic-friendly instead of setting exorbitant price on the food. The college should also provide sufficient and proper sport facility, so that trainees do not need to spend more on this expense. Trainees should also be responsible and do not spend on the luxurious things that are unnecessary. Trainees should keep some saving for the coming school-based experience, practicum and internship.

9.0 References Department of Statistic Malaysia (2012). Malaysia Inflation Rate. Retrieved on 23rd August 2012 from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/inflation-cpi. Oliver (2003). Mood Management Theory. Retrieved on 23 rd August 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_management_theory. Saul McLeod (2007). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved on 23rd August 2012 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.

10.0

Appendices

QUESTIONNAIRE Date: _______________ Gender: Male / Female Option (Main Subject): _______________

How frequent do you face financial difficulty? Never Seldom Sometimes Always

Do you think the monthly allowance provided currently is sufficient for your monthly expense? Definitely Not Just Enough Too much

As a trainee, do you think you spend your allowance appropriately and smartly? No Maybe Yes Not sure

Write down the approximate percentage (%) of your monthly expense of your allowance on each item below. Accommodation Food Transport Clothing Sport Stationery Book Entertainment Keep as Saving Others TOTAL 100% Please list down:

~Your Kindness is Very Much Appreciated~

Reflection This is my first time I did a research and wrote a report. I have spotted many weaknesses and learnt a lot of new things. Appreciate my senior help and guide in my completion of coursework. My weakness in this coursework is that I am quite confused with all the components in a report. I am not very sure what to write in each component. However, I solve this problem by do many references. During the holiday, I sought guidance from my senior who is more experienced in doing research. I also did collaboration with our lecturer about the questionnaire composed. My strength in this coursework is that I am very committed and diligent in doing work. I make sure that every part of the coursework is neat and clearly presented. I also show great interest in learning by seeking help and opinion of others. I also came out with a plan of every step I need to go through in order to complete this coursework and to be submitted on time. I learn that report writing is not the same with narrative writing and expository writing. The words and sentences written must be based on fact and theory. Our opinions need to be supported with quotes and statistics. I also found that data collection can come in many methods. I used questionnaires because it is easier in collecting data and result in good returning. I think I should add more data collecting instruments on the next research if got opportunity. This will further strengthen my researchs outcome and become better evidence as proofs. I learn a lot from this coursework. I am ready for the next challenge.

Collaboration Form Name: Group: Date Collaboration Comment Signature