What is SPIRE
The Specialised Programme in Inquiry and Research (SPIRE) is a signature programme in National Junior College (NJC) under Research@NJC where NJC Junior High 3 students conduct their self-designed critical inquiry project under the mentorship of a teacher mentor in specialised disciplines (e.g. material science, computational science, mathematical modelling and product design) within the Sciences, Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences.
The NJC website writes: SPIRE is conducted in 3 phases – Research Design Phase, Experimentation Phase and Communication Phase. Through this programme, students gain invaluable learning opportunities in crafting a research problem via close analysis of the knowledge schema in a particular academic field through critical reading of existing literature, designing feasible experimental protocol and actualising their plans through collaborative experimental work. Students will culminate their SPIRE journey through a formal professional presentation and a thesis report of their work to their peers and a wider audience.
The following is my reflection on my almost year doing research in SPIRE.
Major Learning Points
Commitment. SPIRE was a journey that was tiring just as it was rewarding. There were times we struggled and were stumped in finding what to do and there were times we met every day of the week and worked our butts off to find the solution. SPIRE has taught me to commit and continue and eventually pull through even when it is challenging. Commitment is powerful because it plays a huge influence on what you do. Unlike a half-hearted hope or ‘best shot,’ making a commitment meant trying harder, looking for solutions when faced with obstacles and discarding giving up as an option.
Teamwork. In the project, I learnt the importance of teamwork and to work with my group mate. Admittedly, it was terrible at times and initially, there was a lot of bullishness and power play. Ironically, our research motivation was originally just about winning and losing which stemmed from our competitiveness yet through the whole experience, I have actually understood that most of the time we are not playing a zero-sum game and there need not be a winner and a loser (especially not in a team!). Just as how the origin of the word “compete” was “competere” which means to strive together, from Latin “com-” (to come, seek, agree, to go to) and “petere” (together), working in a team should not be about being better than others. We should strive together and understand the synergistic value of teamwork.
Preparation. I have learnt that preparation is absolutely essential. Adequate preparation is not always fun and personally (even now) I do not look forward to doing it most of the time but I really do value organisational talent. Prior to SPIRE, I particularly loved the ‘buzz’ of spontaneity and disdained preparation and organisation. Not only did I believe myself to be intractably disorganised, I believed that organisation sucked and organised people wasted time thinking, whereas I lived a chaotic, unplanned, thrill of a life. However, through SPIRE, I have understood that preparation is the key to easing build-up of stress and anxiety and doing the absolute BEST you can. I also appreciate that preparation makes life a lot less scary than before.
Areas to Improve
I need to improve how I communicate. To function with a partner, I needed to be able to communicate clearly on both intellectual and emotional levels so as to, not only explain my ideas and ask questions to clarify others’ ideas, but also express my feelings in an open but non-threatening way, especially when disagreements occur. To improve, I need to be more open. I found out that I liked sticking to solitary work, but over the past year I have learnt about teamwork and how it important it was. Unspoken issues can be very destructive to friendship and productive group functioning. When we are willing to communicate openly with one another, we can work together more happily and effectively.
I need to improve how I work. I have come to realise that I put a lot of effort, almost too much, into some things I like and absolutely forget about others I do not like. I have also come to realise that I despise failure. Not because of I like protecting my ego but because of the effort I have put into the failure. In both cases, when I dislike something or when I fail at it, I am likely to just give it up, even though I know that it’s not what I should do. Failure is crucial as feedback, closing the loop for improvement and I recognise its importance. I hope to become more resilient and open and by realising that excuses like “that’s not easy” are of no value and that it pays to “push through it” at a pace you can handle.
Word of Advice
Research on what you want to know and are passionate about, not something on the list because it is on the list. Passion is the only thing that can drive you to suck it up and continue your work when things fail, drive you to finish the project when things get tough, drive you to do your best throughout the whole process, and drive you improve on your work even when it seems good enough.