Classroom assessment practices of a pre-university academic in Malaysia: preliminary findings

Classroom assessment practices (CAPs) can significantly impact students’ academic success. This study was aimed at exploring CAPs performed by an academic staff at the Centre for Foundation Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia. This grounded-theory study deployed a face-to-face interview in order to gain insights into the informant’s CAPs. A possible theory emerged from this study is that academics constantly refer to internal and external sources when they are uncertain about their CAPs. Since this is a pilot study, a document analysis on relevant documents should be carried out as a means of triangulation in order to increase the credibility of the study. As required by grounded-theory theorists, more participants should be included for theme comparison

Readability of COVID-19 information by the Malaysian Ministry of Health

Background and Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has caused catastrophe to global health. To collectively break the chain of infection, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MMoH) disseminates information about COVID-19 through its official websites. Since they are intended for the general public, this crucial information must be easy to comprehend. A textual analysis was conducted to assess the readability level of COVID-19 information by the MMoH. Methodology: Out of 661 materials related to COVID-19 from four MMoH’s websites, 14 texts were purposively selected for the analysis. The Formula Kebolehbacaan Khadijah Rohani (FKKR) and Sistem Kebolehbacaan Bahasa Melayu (SPIKE) were then employed to check their reading difficulty. Findings: It was found that most of the texts were written above the recommended level, 6th grade or year 6. The findings suggest that this information is readable to three-quarters (78.7%) of Malaysian adults aged 15 and above. However, the remaining 21.3% of the same population, which equals 5.3 million Malaysian adults, may not be able to comprehend this information due to their illiteracy or minimal education. SPIKE Dyslexia scores revealed that nine texts are categorised as difficult. This could impede those with reading difficulties to understand the COVID-19 information provided by this ministry. Contributions: These research findings are hoped to be useful for the improvement of health literacy among the general public by taking into account reading difficulty of health information

Assessing the quality of Selangor Islamic Religion Council (MAIS) website: a descriptive study

MAIS is the main authority of religious affairs in Selangor. Its website has served an important platform for the state government to communicate with the public matters related to Islam. However, little research was done on the quality of this website. This study used quantitative approach method. Three experienced ICT lecturers were purposively selected to rate the website using Chua, Goh and Ang’s web quality indices. Out of 15, the overall quality of the MAIS website is in the range of 9.75 to 12.75. The three dimensions of web quality indices were viewed favourably. However, there is a need to improve on the aesthetic aspect of the website

Introduction to the English language

This book is constructed to provide students with adequate and thorough reading on the English language from three main aspects: linguistics, historical and professional, in line with the goals set by the Department of Languages and Management in coming up with a subject of the same nomenclature. In this book, students and other readers will be exposed to the five main branches of linguistics, the origins of language and finally, the development of English as a language throughout history up until the modern day as we know it. Thus, it is with great hope that not only will the book equip readers with supple knowledge of the English language, but also instil an interest among them towards the language as a whole

Readability level of ‘about-us’ section of Malaysian hospital websites

This study analysed the websites of the panel hospitals under the Malaysia Healthcare Tourism Council (MHTC) to determine their readability level. Thirty-three hospitals fulfilled the criteria for this study. SMOG and FOG readability formulae were used in this research. The study shows that there was a significantly positive correlation between FOG and SMOG. Using FOG and SMOG indices, it was found that the reading level of most of the ‘About-us’ sections was too difficult to the majority of the readers

Integration of SDGS into Presentation Skills: Sharing Practice by LMD

Since 2018, the University has vigorously geared its direction towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the introduction of Sejahtera Academic Framework (SAF) in 2020, the University expects all KCDIOs to manifest it in their practices. Echoing this, the Department of Languages and Management (LMD) agreed to include SDG elements in one of the assessments of its new subject, Presentation Skills. The students were tasked to choose one of SDGs for their group presentation. The main objective of this poster is to share some insights gained from the previous semester when SDGs are concerned. To do so, we plan to 1) analyse overall student performance across the four programs under LMD, 2) find out the common SDG topics selected by students and perhaps to 3) have the teaching staff share their experiences

How to gain basic language communication skills

This research and descriptive analysis aims to identify how to gain basic language communication skills for base Arabic students. Language and communication is usually through the interaction between the two parties exchanger: sender and the future and their message to written or spoken language going in the channel continues to lead to satisfy the needs of this linguistic communication. It is worth mentioning could play linguistic communication active role amid the novice to learn Arabic if it is used in the process of teaching and learning the four basic learning skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing. And our skills learning here came out of the complexity of modern life, and the many means of communication and diversity, and this makes a man in desperate need of owning communication skills linguistic arts audio oral such as listening and talking, and arts literacy written such as reading and writing in order to be able to persuasion and conviction

ACTION VERBS IN ACTION VIA AUGMENTED REALITY (AVIAR)

In Outcome-based Education (OBE), action verbs (AVs) used must be clear and measurable to ensure successful learning experiences. Students who fail to understand the implications of the stated AVs are likely to fail inmeeting their lecturers' expectations. Motivated by the Dual-coding theory, AVIAR is developed to help students and teachers visualise the underlying expectations of AVs through Augmented Reality (AR). Past studies show that AR can help students master vocabulary faster when they are able to visualise the words learned. When the selected AVs scanned using AVIAR, virtual information will appear either in English, Arabic or Malay. Hopefully, AVIAR will reduce mismatches between student comprehension and teacher expectation