Engendered profound critical thinkers

SEGi’s American Degree Program students receive a visit from UIU

FOR THE ALBUM: ADP students with the representative from UIU – Malaysia Office.

KUCHING – “Critical thinking skills give students the ability to understand what they have read or been shown while also building upon that knowledge without incremental guidance, as it stands on the notion that knowledge is fluid and builds upon itself and not simply rote memorization or the ability to absorb lessons unquestioningly,” said SEGi College Sarawak’s Vice Principal, Mdm. Elina Tiu when interviewed after the meeting with the representative from Upper Iowa University – Malaysian Office, recently.

Harbouring this idea, SEGi College Sarawak through its American Degree Program beliefs that, critical thinking courses encourage students to think for themselves - to question hypotheses, to develop alternative hypotheses, and to test those hypotheses against known facts.

“None of this is to say that memorizing facts is necessarily bad, it means only that if rote memorization takes precedence over problem solving, logic, and reason, the students will suffer in the later years.”

The American Degree Program at SEGi is gaining momentum in popularity among Malaysian students due to its unique liberal teaching methods that place critical thinking as one of its main focuses.

The American-styled education system focuses on assessing students throughout each semester through pop-quizzes, presentations, assignments and class participation rather than just on the final examinations alone.

“This creates well rounded critical thinkers who tend to be more vocal, creative and confident as compared with students who study under the conventional education system,” added Tiu.

“Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of other people, although it can be used in exposing fallacies and bad reasoning, critical thinking can also play an important role in cooperative reasoning and constructive tasks.”

The four-year Bachelor of Science degree programme will expose students to some of the most up-to-date developments in the world because United States is the leader in several areas of research and technology.

The degree is awarded by Upper Iowa University (UIU) and students can complete their American degree in Kuching at a fraction of the cost of studying in the US.

However, if the students have the budget, the program gives them the flexibility of interchanging between SEGi and UIU’s Fayette Campus in the United States.

This means that they can choose to study a term, a semester, a year or even complete their entire degree at the American campus if they so choose as the university allows for flexible credit transfer.

DYNAMIC… Representatives from Upper Iowa University – Malaysia Office posing for the camera, together with the management and lecturers of SEGi College Sarawak.

Naturally the cost will escalate as students need to take into consideration of the cost of living, accommodation, airfare, visa application and the tuition fees in the US.

Globally, more than half a million international students choose to study in the United States and that makes it the number one destination for studying abroad.

The program offers five majors, namely, Finance, Management, Psychology, Communications and Marketing plus the option of pursuing double majors at no extra cost or duration of study.

“The entry requirement is 5 SPM credits or its equivalent. Students with Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) can also qualify to enter this program,” said Tiu. STPM and A-Level holders will gain credit transfer and may only be required to take 3 years to complete the program.

PTPTN loan is available and students can also opt for EPF withdrawals or the SEGi interest-free instalment payment scheme. The January intake is in progress.

Outstation students can take advantage of SEGi’s flight subsidy offer of RM150.

For more information on the American Degree Program, call 1-300-88-7344 or 082 – 252566 or walk-in to the main campus at, 211, Jalan Bukit Mata, Kuching, email infoswk@gmail.com or visit www.segi.edu.my.