Bkn viva PhD, tp viva MRes (Master by Research). But since di UK ni, viva PhD dia tertutup x leh ada org lain attend, maka this is the closest that I will get to sit in dan belajar. Mmg lah masa MSc dulu aku pon buat by research, so technically dah pernah kena viva satu kali, tp nak la jgk tgk di UK ni expectation dia mcm mana. And, internal examiner yg soal kawan aku ni jgk MUNGKIN jd internal examiner aku, sbb Prof dah bgtau sket2 bbrp nama yg dia rasa nak nominatekan utk thesis aku nanti.
So di kesempatan ni aku nak tulis soalan2 yg dia tanya (kot la in the future aku leh formulate soalan mcm mana yg bakal internal aku ni akan tanya), and also nak tgk gaya bahasa viva di sini.
Berbalik pada cerita asal, tajuk thesis kawan aku adalah 'Understanding Music With Neuro*science". Quite heavy stuff. The candidate was given 10 minutes to explain his thesis, intro sket, then dlm 7 minit kat LR, pastu explain methodology 2 minit and then terus contributions. Chairman dia Prof aku,so dia diam aje, and jaga masa. Cukup final minute dia suruh kawan aku tu wrap it up. After that sesi soal jawab ngan examiner plak.
Mula2 aku nak tulis sket pengamatan aku psl viva session ni, dan maybe sedikit comparison dgn pengalaman viva aku di Msia dulu.
- Examiner
Examiner kat sini mmg baik2, bkn jenis nak buat org gelabah x tentu psl. Mcm yg ni td, awal2 lg ckp, 'You have a very good thesis. I feel that I have learnt something from this" --giler humble! Bkn nya nak menunjuk dia tahu semua benda in the 'i-am-the-best, you-grovel-at-my-feet' kinda way langsung, tp bole lg merendah diri dgn org baru nak ada master. Yg examine ni bkn calang2 org, ada dua PhD lg, ok? (bkn kes repeat PhD tp, buat PhD dlm dua bidang).
Pastu very encouraging. Kawan aku ni mula2 terketar2 dan susah nak bina ayat, tp examiner tolong sket by rearranging the questions. Kira understanding la kan. Bkn makin nampak org tu gugup makin sergah dgn soalan2 bertubi2.
Bila jawapan tu menyakinkan, dia bagi puji i.e. 'point well-given and well-taken'.
-Chairperson
Chairperson dia diam. Awal2 lg chairperson tu inform semua org, dia x bole bersuara. Dia explain mcm mana proses viva ni. Dia jaga masa, dia tanya ada apa2 soalan lg ke x? Dia x sibuk2 nak tanya. Ni mmg aku nak relate dgn kisah viva aku dulu, yg mana chairperson aku yg tanya lagi byk drpd examiners semua. It was a harrowing experience for me, sbb dia plak yg tanya lebih2, mcm nak membunuh pon ada, walhal examiners lain mcm dah selesai bertanya eh eh eh....
-Questions
Byk nya tanya psl fundamental questions, dan jg pendapat. 'What was your opinion ...' or 'Why do you think...' Maknanya, benda ni x de betul atau salah, and it opens up a space utk berdiskusi, bkn ada satu jawapan je. Pastu x rujuk sgt thesis, sbb thesis examiner dah baca. Seolahnya mcm dia nak tahu, dlm beratus2 mukasurat yg ko tulis, apa yg best, ceciter, ceciter... Tapi maybe ni MRes nya level kot, PhD aku suspek lagi la mencabar, but just the way things are asked, dah cukup utk membuatkan calon tu rasa konfiden atau tidak.
Anyway, kongsi citer sket, masa aku viva dulu, fuh penuh Post-It stickers aku kena tampal kat thesis, sbb kejap2 kena tanya, mukasurat mana yg u tulis tu (mungkin ini aku yg ngek sbb x tulis dlm thesis). Tp ada jg part mmg aku dah tulis, tp examiner or chairperson yg mmg jelas kantoi x baca habis thesis student la kan tu tanya exact page. Mmg menggabrakan la kalo ko tahu ko ada tulis dlm thesis pon, tp kalo on the spot dia suh bg mukasurat, x ke berpeluh sejuk?
Ok tu je lah aku nmpk perbezaan sket td. Bkn nak kata kat Msia teruk, no no no. As a matter of fact aku rasa kat msia lg strict (which could be good) tp aiyo, mmg seram la kalo aku kenangkan kembali. Harap2 rezeki aku pon dpt examiner yg sympathetic sket. Takut la. Sbb ni semua bhg dan rezeki masing2. Semoga Allah permudahkan segalanya...
Bole jgk aku nak note kan, bahwasanya, kawan aku tu aku dah x nmpk dlm bbrp mggu kot, kerja keras utk prepare viva dia ni. Kurus dah dia ko!!! Obvious sgt. Penangan research la ni. Mula2 dia mmg gugup, tp in the end dia dpt gained balik confidence dia, good for him. Aku harap2 dia lulus. Aku rasa xde problem dah, tp unlike PhD, MRes ni kena tggu examiner mark thesis baru dia tahu lulus ke x. Tp xde la teruk sgt pon dia kena hentam and internal tu ajak satu lab gi minum kopi jap lg, so aku yakin no hal lah tu...
Ok ni utk diri aku sendiri, aku tulis balik soalan2 yg ditanya td, kot2 la examiner ni recycle besok2. Part ni kalo x suka bole skip...
1. Explain the basic similarity in the music and language structure.
2. What was your opinion on why they wrote that paper
3. Do you believe that music is just an 'auditorial cheesecake'?
4. Explain the difference between mirror neurons and canonical neurons
5. If you were to take a stab in the dark, what would say the next thing you could have improved?
6. Why is there still a link between music and movement for sounds that have never been heard before?
7. What is the function of emotions?
8. How can music be linked to movement, and emotion be linked to music, but emotion not necessarily linked to movement? Can they be triggered by music?
Ooo pastu sblm majlis viva dia ni bersurai td kan, SV aku (chairman) tu mintak semua org tanya at least satu question dkt candidate tu. Ada yg tanya soalan general, like "Lps dah dpt MRes ni ko nk buat apa?', ada yg tanya soalan specific sket. Masa turn aku plak (aku last), aku tanya 'Auditoral Cheesecake tu apa?' hehehe... Nasib baik ramai x pernah dgr jgk terma ni. Rupanya korg buat2 tahu je lah ye td masa kawan kita tu present td ek, chettt...
8 comments:
tu la, orepun ingat lg experience maso viva undergrad. soale mem emembunuh jiwo. tubik jah dr viva, ore teriok koo sbb taku x pass. SV ore siap puju2k dio oyat ni baru viva undergrad jah, buke nyo master or phd. examiner tu x patut tny solan dasyat2 sgt mace nk tunjuk pandai .
ore tgk maso hubby present hari tu pun, examiner rilek jah tny soale...siap ado yg suruh betul kan grammar jah dlm tesis ..xdop bui soale membunuh pong hahahaha
Now, in my opinion kalau thesis mmg dah bagus, presentation bagus, senang nak baca, originality in presentation, contribution mmg jelas, dan ada publication mmg examiner akan kata, it's a good thesis tahniah etc, maknanya viva pun akan smooth sailing.
TAPI... kalau sebaliknya... do expect soalan bertubi2, every single detail of thesis will be well investigated (to ensure its originality, tak main copy paste saja) equation yg ditulis mesti faham its physical representation... bukan main tulis equation hebat2, tapi tak tahu apa yg ditulis. I have heard many of them who has had their hard time in viva which last for up to 4 or 5 hours or more. Some has passed with minor/moderate/major corrections. Fail pun ada jugak kalau contribution tak cukup.
rasa cuak pula bila memikirkan viva hehe..kalau di Denmark specifically DTU, utk viva PhD, candidate kena bg lecture selama 45 minit dulu then baru jawab soalan dp examiner..chairperson juga tak boleh tanya soalan..maksimum keseluruhan session adalah 3 jam sahaja sejak mula lecture..jd takdela smpi 4-5 jam..semua viva adalah open, sesiapa shj boleh masuk..kalau ada kwn dp Msia viva, mesti rmi Malaysians dtg bg moral support hehe..from my experience attending a lot of my colleagues' viva, mmg semua examiner baik2 belaka..semua supportive dan membantu candidate supaya bertenang..
Aku rasa benda ni mentality la..kalau kat mesia, examiner kita ni selalu anggap student tu, dalam bahasa kasar, bodoh. Of course la student tu banyak tak tau tapi bila first impression examiner tunjuk ko tu bodoh lagi la nervous nak present kan.
pastu aku nampak examiner kat sini lebih kepada nak cari ilmu. Bukan nak condemn student tu. Even kalau ada mistake pun sangat jarang la dorang condemn. Selalunya tanya reason kenapa tak buat camni tapi buat camtu. Kalau pun reason tak berapa nak betul, dorg akan cakap, okay you can expand it later, put it in future works, gitu. takde la condemn student depan2 tu sampai student tu patah semangat tak boleh nak bercakap dah..
Tapi based on my own experience present my work kat sini, better rehearse dengan kawan2 dulu..kalau ada sapa2 tak paham kena betulkan balik la presentation tu.
keh keh keh..memula ingatkan noris nak citer ttg kete Viva....pelik dah..ada Viva ke kat plymouth...bila baca sekali lg baru ler paham...viva rupanya hik hik hik... k.anis rasa..examiner malaysia patut contohi examiner yg mcm ni...bukan main hentam saja student tu...dahla berpeluh segala celah nak siapkan thesis...yer tak? tp rasanya ada gak kot examiner kat msia yg mcm ni...so noris...esok2 jd ler mcm examiner yg baik cenggini ye
keh keh keh..memula ingatkan noris nak citer ttg kete Viva....pelik dah..ada Viva ke kat plymouth...bila baca sekali lg baru ler paham...viva rupanya hik hik hik... k.anis rasa..examiner malaysia patut contohi examiner yg mcm ni...bukan main hentam saja student tu...dahla berpeluh segala celah nak siapkan thesis...yer tak? tp rasanya ada gak kot examiner kat msia yg mcm ni...so noris...esok2 jd ler mcm examiner yg baik cenggini ye
keh keh keh..memula ingatkan noris nak citer ttg kete Viva....pelik dah..ada Viva ke kat plymouth...bila baca sekali lg baru ler paham...viva rupanya hik hik hik... k.anis rasa..examiner malaysia patut contohi examiner yg mcm ni...bukan main hentam saja student tu...dahla berpeluh segala celah nak siapkan thesis...yer tak? tp rasanya ada gak kot examiner kat msia yg mcm ni...so noris...esok2 jd ler mcm examiner yg baik cenggini ye
yatie: oo sensei2 otai di jepun pon bkn jenis bekeng2? kalo gitu gak x leh nok sabit ko 'budaya org asia' la, meme budayo org msia la ni heheh
noor: 4-5 hours? seriously? wow lama nya... betul jg pendapat noor tu. kalo thesis nya bagus, insya Allah viva pon smooth sailing jg. cuma nya, saya kurg bersetuju terhadap approach sesetengah examiner yg suka buat muka kelat semasa viva berlangsung. obviously kalo mmg calon tersebut hampeh, x wajar lah kita luluskan dia. cumanya, i am under the assumption that kalo SV dia dah kasi submit and sit for viva, it is likely that hasil kerja nya is already deemed passable and of PhD quality by the SV, unless the SV has not done his/her job properly, which sadly can the case sometimes. but kalo examiner nya lebih candidate-friendly sket pun tidak merugikan, malah lebih encouraging utk calon bercerita psl kerja nya, secara tidak langsung dpt lah kita pasti kan sama ada thesis calon itu genuine atau cap ayam :)
azizul: bagus la ada time limit, at least kalo azab pon tahu maximum 3 jam saja hehehe... seronok jg kalo bole attend viva PhD, sayang nya di UK viva nya tertutup.
azri: aku setuju sgt psl demo kat kwn2 dulu. slalu nya bila kita wat keja kita sendiri, kita rasa org lain akan faham mcm kita faham gak, tp slalu nya pemahaman kita berbeza2, dicampur dgn background knowledge yg x sama dsb nya. susah jg nak cari balance, klo ko explain sket, org x faham. kalo ko explain byk (sampai detail2), org kata patronizing plak. so kena sedang2 eheh. tp bab nervous tu mmg la, kena examiner yg masuk2, buat ekespresi muka ala2 semak tgk muka ko, aduhaiii luruh jantung, blank otak. aku tgk kawan aku ari tu pon, dlm 10-15 minit terakhir baru warm up. tu yg examiner baik. kalo yg garang? mau x terkuchil...
kak anis: ala comelnya... terseleweng dgn tajuk cerita hehe. lebih comel lg, kak anis tulis, nak faham cerita ni kena 2 kali baca. noris tambah, dah faham cerita, kena 3 kali komen keh keh keh... btw, x pikir lg kalo noris jd examiner nak wat camne. sendiri pon belom lulus... huhu... kak anis doa2 la noris punya senang lulus deh... runsing2...
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