Knewton National School students learn at Curtin Malaysia

Miri – 5 September 2022 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently hosted 27 students and three teachers from Knewton National School (Secondary) in Miri for a ‘Biodiversity in Campus and Methods of Flora Identification’ activity.

The activity, which was part of Curtin Malaysia’s ongoing community engagement and school immersion programme initiatives, was designed to teach the students about plant biodiversity and identification by studying plants found at its campus, which comprises about 1,200 acres of landscaped gardens and surrounding wetlands.

The students were from forms 1 to 4 classes at the school located two kilometres from the Curtin Malaysia campus. It was the second event at Curtin Malaysia for Knewton students this year. An earlier event in July for international students of Knewton Global School introduced the students to geology, which is taught under a Bachelor of Science in Applied Geology at the university. For this latest group of students, however, different facets of the Bachelor of Environmental Engineering were highlighted.

Facilitating the half day of activities at the Faculty of Engineering and Science were Head of the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering (which delivers the environmental engineering degree programme) Associate Professor Wong Kwong Soon, senior Lecturer Dr. Tan Yee Yong and lecturer Dr. Tay Ai Chen, who were assisted by eight volunteers from the student-run Curtin Environmental Engineering Club (CEEC) and Curtin Civil Society (CCS).

Assoc. Prof. Wong kicked things off with a welcoming speech, which was followed by a discussion between Dr. Tay and the students and teachers on global environmental issues. Dr. Tay, who has a PhD in plant ecophysiology and a MSc in environmental chemistry, also briefed the students on the plant identification activities they would be carrying out.

Divided into groups, the students then headed out onto the campus grounds with the CEEC and CCS volunteers for their fieldwork, which involved identifying and cataloguing the large variety of trees, shrubs and flowering plants found on the campus. Upon completion of their fieldwork, the students proceeded to give group presentations on their findings, including both the scientific names (family, genus and species) and common names, the uses and conservation status of each plant they found.

Dr. Tay said plant identification is one of the basic learning activities in the Curtin undergraduate environmental engineering programme. It is aimed at helping students understand the importance of plant biodiversity and appreciate the environment before they undertake more in-depth studies in global environmental issues.

Meanwhile, one of the Knewton teachers, Hailing Ajus, said her students really enjoyed being in the campus environment and found the fieldwork very educational and rewarding. She also said the CEEC and CCS volunteers were a great help in guiding the students in the fieldwork and the lecturers were very knowledgeable.

Another teacher, Laura Gomis, said the activity was very meaningful and beneficial to the students. They not only learned about the environment in general but also different types of plants, their uses, and their IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) status, which is very important to ensure that threatened species are preserved.  The students also had high praises for the Curtin student volunteers and lecturers, saying they made the activities fun and engaging and they learned a lot from them. The students also commented that the Curtin Malaysia campus was also very big with lots of places to explore. Furthermore, there was a large variety of plants that they could study.

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit https://s44937.p1679.sites.pressdns.com or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

The Knewton students and teachers pose for a group photo with Curtin lecturers and student volunteers.

Dr Tan Yee Yong speaking to the students.

Knewton students studying some of the plants on campus.

The students compiling data from their fieldwork with guidance from Curtin student volunteers.

Students giving their presentation.

Another group of students giving their presentation.