Image

The School of Foundation (SoF) at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), in collaboration with the School of Psychology (SoP), recently concluded its third outreach session with students from Elshaddai Refugee School on 23rd May 2025.

Building on the momentum of earlier sessions, this session focused on enhancing students’ self-confidence, cognitive skills, and creativity through a combination of movement-based activities and psychology-driven tasks.

Lecturers responsible for overseeing this session:

1. Ms Iman Danish Sha (Lecturer, SoF at APU)
2. Ms Raihan Munira Moh Sani (Lecturer, SoP at APU)
    

This third session began with an energising note with a zumba icebreaker, which helped students feel more relaxed, energised, and ready to engage. 

Students were then guided through a series of carefully curated activities designed to support cognitive and motor development:

1. Memory Challenge: A group game in which students passed sequences of movements from one to another, improving short-term memory and concentration.
2. Cerebellum Course: A motor skill challenge where students balanced ping-pong balls on spoons while navigating obstacles, testing their coordination and focus.
3. Multidrawing: A creativity-driven activity where students collaboratively controlled a marker using strings to create abstract artwork, promoting non-conformity and original thinking.
4. Stroop Test: A psychological task that challenged students’ mental flexibility and focus, as they responded to conflicting text and colour cues.
    

The success of this collaborative session was reflected in the students’ enthusiastic participation and growing confidence.

It demonstrated how well-designed interventions that combine movement, creativity, and cognitive tasks can meaningfully support the emotional and developmental needs of students.

By fostering inclusivity, communication, and personal growth, sessions like this serve as a vital platform for learning beyond the classroom; affirming APU’s dedication to education with empathy and impact.