Sunway Psychology Alumni for Master in Applied Behavorial Analysis

For the past two years, graduates from the BSc (Hons) in Psychology programme under the Department of Psychology at the School of Science and Technology, Sunway University have been accepted into Western New England University’s very competitive Master of Applied Behavioral Analysis programme. First Class Honours degree holders, Fiona Goh Shi Zhen and Eunice Tan Ai Jia have both successfully entered the WNEU programme in Massachusetts, USA.

This Master of ABA is a 3-year professional master degree that would qualify them as Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) accredited by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). BCBA holders are considered as independent professionals who provide behaviour analytic services, including being supervisors to assistant behaviour therapists and behaviour technicians who provide behaviour analytic interventions. This qualification would make both Fiona and Eunice very rare professionals in Malaysia given that the field of behaviour analysis is a very new one in the country and that there are very few who can be supervisors.

Applied Behaviour Analysis, or ABA is a field that employs behavioural psychology concepts and techniques in helping people make effective changes in their behaviours for improved performance and well-being. It is typically used within special education, treatment of autism spectrum disorders, rehabilitation, mental health behavioural treatments, as well as performance enhancement interventions in organisations.

Eunice Tan Ai Jia with Assoc Prof Dr Alvin Ng Lai Oon during her recent visit to the Department of Psychology.

Eunice Tan is an alumna of the Cambridge GCE A Level at Sunway College Johor Bahru, who enrolled in the BSc (Hons) in Psychology program in March, 2013; and graduated in July 2016. She worked at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore as a research assistant after her graduation. She will be starting her programme at WNEU in September 2019.

Eunice visited the Department of Psychology recently to share the good news of her acceptance into the WNEU programme and to thank her lecturers for providing her with guidance during and after her studies at Sunway University. She said, “Throughout my undergraduate years at Sunway University, I wasn’t only given the opportunity to learn from the knowledgeable and experienced lecturers in classes, I also had the opportunity to be involved in research work at Sunway Baby Lab (https://university.sunway.edu.my/sci-tech/facilities/sunway-baby-lab) under its coordinator, Ms Woo Pei Jun. On top of that, our lecturers always helped connect us with mental health and special needs organizations, which helped us to learn more about the mental health sector in Malaysia. The theoretical, research and practical experience I gained from my undergraduate degree in Sunway University has definitely helped prepare me for my current success.”

Eunice has passion and enthusiasm for mental health and special needs issues, and she hopes to learn from the experts at WNEU, to be better equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to help the special needs population and to improve their quality of life.

Fiona Goh with her former Final Year Project supervisors, Woo Pei Jun and Alvin Ng during her recent visit to the Department of Psychology

Fiona Goh is an alumni of the Canadian International Matriculation Program (CIMP) at Sunway College Kuala Lumpur that she completed in 2010. She joined the BSc (Hons) in Psychology Programme at Sunway University in 2011 and graduated in July 2014 with a First Class Honours. During her final year, she interned for three months at Kairos Resources Centre for children with special needs. It was from there that she was inspired to be more skilled in providing help for individuals with living with special needs. After graduating, she worked as an early intervention teacher and lead therapist at Adapt Enrichment Centre until August 2017.

Fiona got in to the Master of ABA at WNEU in September 2017 and is moving to her final year in the programme this coming September. She was awarded the best teacher award during her first year. Her current roles and responsibilities involve being a shift manager, a case manager for a specific student, a clinical lead for all 10 boys’ in a clinical projects team, and specifically a toilet training project lead for the team. Fiona is also American Red Cross certified and calm-physical procedures certified. She is also currently working part time as well as completing her practicum hours as a Residential Team Teacher at The New England Centre for Children, an internationally well-known research-based centre for individuals with special needs, specializing in autism spectrum disorder. Fiona’s current research project involves teaching social referencing skills to adolescents and teenagers with autism spectrum disorder.

When asked to comment about her experience studying at Sunway, Fiona had this to say, “Without the practice of achieving the constant high expectations from my professors and lecturers, I would not be able to strive in the working field. It does not matter if it is in Malaysia or in the USA, Sunway Education Group had helped me better prepare myself in facing challenging and stressful situations. The support system Sunway College and Sunway University have is huge and kind. People from all roles – from teaching assistants to directors of departments, are very warm, friendly, and supportive at all times. Regardless of the amount of workload and responsibilities each of them has, they will not hesitate in freeing up time to provide a helping hand to students in need. They always act upon the best interest of the students and I know many of us, as alumni, do drop by for a visit from time to time, as we consider them our family and Sunway, our home.”

Fiona’s former supervisors, Assoc Prof Dr Alvin Ng and Woo Pei Jun can attest to Fiona’s diligence and passion to improve her skills towards improving the lives of individuals with special needs. They are very pleased with her progress and are very proud of her successes.

The Department of Psychology is very happy that its alumni, Eunice Tan and Fiona Goh, are pursuing a very valuable postgraduate degree to contribute to improving live of people with special needs. We wish them all the best in their training, and look forward to their return to Malaysia to serve our country’s special needs population.