UTAR Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS) of Kampar Campus hosted a school engagement project titled “FUN with M. E. P. S.” (Mathematics, English, Psychology and Science) at SMK Seri Teja, Gopeng on 27 July 2022. A total of 120 lower secondary students participated in the workshop.

The workshop was divided into four sessions, each centred on the areas of Mathematics, English, Psychology and Science respectively. The workshop began with a concise introduction by UTAR CFS academic Lionel Keith Vytialingam on UTAR programmes, UTAR Hospital and the background of the speakers.

The first session of the workshop titled “English: Your Everyday Buddy” was conducted by CFS academic S. Tulasi. She shared some strategies to improve English while highlighting various websites that facilitate English grammar and proficiency practice.

The workshop continued with the second session titled “Exploring Mathematics with Games” by CFS academic Pan Wai Seng. In this session, the students formed five groups to compete and play a fun game called “Maths Bingo”. The students showed enthusiasm as they excitedly engaged in teamwork to solve each puzzle.

After a short break, the third session titled “Growth Mindset” was conducted by CFS academic P. Bhargkavi, where she explained the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. By incorporating real-life and relatable examples, she further shared how mindset can influence students’ learning process.

The last session titled “Fun with Forensics” was conducted by CFS academic R. Sree Amertharaj. He gave an insight into fingerprint and bloodstain pattern analysis to the students. Students were also given a brief explanation of the scientific methods incorporated into crime scene investigation.

According to the Project Coordinator and CFS academic, S. Yuvashini, all four sessions received good responses from the students. They engaged actively, especially in the “Maths Bingo” game. The speakers had good interaction with the students and the school management was very supportive of the workshop. SMK Seri Teja Principal Khairulaniza binti Khairuddin expressed her sincere appreciation to the committee for sharing valuable knowledge with the students.

The workshop ended with a group photography session and an exchange of tokens of appreciation.