The determinants that influence job performances among service counter workers at Pos Malaysia Berhad / Nor Hafiza Ahmad

Recent studies have stated that the success of service organizations in general depends upon the performance of its frontline employees. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the most dominant factor that influences job performance of service counter workers in post offices. 57 of the total employees that work in Pos Malaysia Berhad post offices around Shah Alam were the selected respondents. In finding and examining the factor, this study is based of three main research objectives. First is to identify the most dominant factor that influences the job performances of service counter workers at Pos Malaysia Berhad. Second is to examine the level of job performances among these service counter workers, and finally to study the relationship between the independent variables, which are job rotation, perceived co-worker support, reward systems and employee characteristics, with the dependent variable, job performance. In collecting the data, population design is used instead of sampling design. Data were collected through interview and survey questionnaire. In analyzing the data, reliability test, descriptive analysis and coefficient correlation was used to measure the data. Pilot study was firstly done as to test the reliability of the formulated questionnaire, and it was found that the internal consistency reliability of the measures used in the pilot study is good and acceptable. The results of the data analysis have also concluded the three research objectives. First, the most dominant factor that influences job performance is job rotation. Second, the level of performance of the service counter workers was found to be good, and finally, it was found that there is a positive relationship between job rotation, rewards and employee characteristics, with job performance. Furthermore, the findings show that there is no relationship between perceived co-worker support and job performance

Level of Learning Organization Practices in Two Primary Schools in the Central Melaka District, Melaka

This preliminary study was conducted to see the level of learning organization (LO) practice in two primary schools in the district of Melaka Tengah, Melaka. Both schools were selected based on Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) 2019 School Average Grade (GPS). The questionnaire instrument used in this study was modified from the Learning Organization Practices Profile (LOPP) instrument developed by O'Brien, 1994 and conducted on 60 respondents from two different schools. The overall questionnaire reliability analysis gave a Cronbach’s alpha scale of 0.78. Study data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) For Windows 25 program with descriptive analysis. The findings of this study show that the most dominant LO practice is the system and structure aspects of work, followed by staff development and performance and the lowest is the leadership aspect. The results of the overall study show that the level of LO practice in the schools studied is still at a weak level

Pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran terhadap prestasi sekolah

Tuntutan organisasi sekolah melaksanakan perubahan ke arah menjadi sebuah organisasi pembelajaran adalah untuk memastikan organisasi sekolah mampu melaksanakan gerak balas secara responsif, adaptif dan efisien terhadap asakan perubahan yang berlaku. Meskipun konsep organisasi pembelajaran telah dibangunkan lebih tiga dekad yang lalu, namun kajian empirik yang melibatkan organisasi sekolah masih kurang. Malah kajian yang meneliti hubungan antara pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran dengan prestasi sekolah adalah amat terhad. Kajian ini dilaksanakan untuk mengenal pasti persepsi guru terhadap tahap pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran, menentukan hubung kait antara aspek kepimpinan, sistem dan struktur kerja dan pembangunan dan prestasi staf dan mengenal pasti hubung kait antara pelaksanaan organisasi pembelajaran dengan prestasi sekolah. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah penyelidikan tinjauan kuantitatif yang melibatkan 13 buah organisasi sekolah menengah yang terdapat di daerah Melaka Tengah, Melaka. Soal selidik yang diadaptasi daripada model Learning Organisation Practices Profile yang telah dibina oleh O’Brien telah diedarkan kepada 500 orang responden yang terdiri daripada sumber manusia yang berkhidmat di organisasi sekolah yang terpilih. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis menggunakan perisian (SPSS) 25.0. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahawa pelaksanaan kesemua 12 komponen yang terkandung dalam model Learning Organisation Practices Profile berada di tahap yang tinggi. Aspek organisasi pembelajaran yang mencatatkan nilai min yang tertinggi ialah aspek kepimpinan, diikuti oleh aspek sistem dan struktur kerja dan pembangunan dan prestasi staf. Analisis korelasi peringkat Spearman menunjukkan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang kuat antara ketiga-tiga aspek organisasi pembelajaran. Nilai Pekali Korelasi Peringkat Spearman yang dicatatkan bagi aspek kepimpinan dan sistem dan struktur kerja ialah .73, bagi aspek sistem dan struktur kerja dan pembangunan dan prestasi staf ialah .78 dan aspek pembangunan dan prestasi staf dan kepimpinan ialah .64. Ini menunjukkan bahawa pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran tidak akan berjaya tanpa sinergi yang utuh antara ketiga-tiga aspek organisasi pembelajaran. Analisis korelasi peringkat Spearman juga menunjukkan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang lemah dan boleh diabaikan bagi aspek kepimpinan serta sistem dan struktur kerja dengan prestasi sekolah manakala aspek pembangunan dan prestasi staf pula mencatatkan hubungan yang rendah dengan prestasi sekolah. Nilai Pekali Korelasi Peringkat Spearman yang dicatatkan bagi aspek kepimpinan dan prestasi sekolah ialah .11, bagi aspek sistem dan struktur kerja dan prestasi sekolah ialah .18, bagi aspek pembangunan dan prestasi staf dengan prestasi sekolah ialah .21 dan bagi pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran dan prestasi sekolah ialah .17. Pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran mencatatkan hubungan yang lemah dengan prestasi sekolah. Ini menunjukkan bahawa pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran mempengaruhi prestasi sekolah namun terdapat faktor lain yang mempengaruhi prestasi sekolah. Dapat disimpulkan bahawa tahap pelaksanaan di organisasi sekolah yang dikaji berada di tahap yang tinggi dan amalan organisasi pembelajaran memberikan pengaruh yang positif terhadap prestasi sekolah. Kajian ini telah menyumbang kepada kajian empirikal yang meneliti hubungan pelaksanaan amalan organisasi pembelajaran dengan prestasi sekolah

Phenol degradation behavior via photocatalytic of ZnO/Ag2CO3/Ag2O nanoparticles

The present study successfully conducted the synthesis of ZnO/Ag2CO3/Ag2O nanocomposite using co-precipitate technique and phase transformation route. The resulting nanocomposite photocatalyst were characterized by TEM and UV–vis spectra, while their photocatalytic activities were subsequently tested in the mineralization of phenol solution. Meanwhile, the heterojunction of Ag2CO3/Ag2O over ZnO lattice that influenced the surface-phase structure of the nanocomposites managed to generate higher absorption in visible light region in UV NIR spectra. In addition, the surface phase structure was produced via Ag2O crystal growth over Ag2CO3 which was heterojunctioned on ZnO lattice, thus leading to an effective charge carrier transfer that indirectly suppressed the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. The results of the current research on the photocatalytic behaviour of the nanocomposites demonstrated that the phenol peak area for ZnO/Ag2CO3/Ag2O under UV light decreased 25.4 % compared to visible light radiation of 14.1 %. The presence of photo-oxidation products was detected in the liquid phase products in phenol-oxidation even though phenol was not completely removed. Overall, it was remarkable to discover that the formation of Ag2CO3/Ag2O mixed phase heterojunction over the surface of ZnO significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

BIOTECHNOLOGY ISSUES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - NBBnet - The National Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Network: A Malaysian initiative towards a national infrastructure for bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is a necessary technology and tool, which current molecular biologists cannot do without in light of the genome data explosion and advent of fields such as genomics and proteomics. Yet, even with this in mind, there is still a limited pool of human resource to support and develop bioinformatics particularly in poorer developing nations. The highly multidisciplinary nature of this field can be an obstacle in converting just any molecular biologist into a proficient and capable bioinformaticist. Coupled with the high costs of software, hardware, technical maintenance and systems support; many developing and poor countries may not be able to fully realize their biotech potential either academically or economically due to the inability to fully utilize bioinformatics as a technology to support and co-develop with molecular biology oriented research programmes. Malaysia, a developing South East Asian nation took steps to counter these problems and develop an infrastructure for bioinformatics to support nationally important biotech research agendas, particularly government initiatives in genomics and proteomics, with the setting up of NBBnet - The National Biotechnology and Bioinformatics network. We further propose the setting up of similar models in other developing countries, an endeavour which we are willing to share our experiences and resources. We hope that these networks may in the future evolve into a super network of national or regional networks on biotechnology and bioinformatics

Improvement of foundation student performance in biology through intensive station based learning approach

A growing revolution is underway in teaching introductory science to foundation studies. Recent educational research explains that traditional teaching approaches in large classes often fail to reach many students. To address this problem, we conducted an intensive station rotation-based workshop called “Bio Made Easy” for a group of students who obtained F grade in the first Biology assessment, N = 120. The workshop was designed to improve students’ understanding of selected Biology topics by providing simple examples, analogy, and explanation of the concept using various active and interactive approaches. The goal was to change the students’ perception of biology and deliver the content within a short period of time. The students were divided into small groups and required to complete all stations conducted by different instructors. For each station, students were directed to perform activities that required them to actively participate, interact, and discuss among the group members. A comparison was made between their performance during the first test and the second test of the semester. From F grade in the first test, about 88.3% of the students accomplished higher performance grades in the test 2 assessment. This reflects an encouraging sign that active-learning practice and direct engagement of students in the station rotation-based learning approach improve student performance in biology subject and serve as one of the strategies to motivate students for better grades

Development of repetitive current control for lead acid battery using arduino

This project focused on development of repetitive current control for lead acid battery using Arduino. The project uses Buck-Boost converter circuit with reference voltage of 14V from lead acid battery. The range of buck operation input voltage is between 18V to 15V while boost operation input voltage range is between 10V to 13V. The current sensor uses in this project is to measure the output current with rating 50 A versions and 40 mV/A output sensitivity. The results of simulation output current slightly increase with the minimum value of 0.11A and the maximum value of 0.26A. While the hardware output current is constant at1.71A for 10V to 18V. This project uses MATLAB R2013b and Arduino UNO microcontroller with specification of ATmega328 processor. A repetitive current controller is been developed using MATLAB Simulink Toolbox which communicates with Arduino Support Package library in order to generate the pulse width modulation (PWM) signals.The project with the aid of MATLAB software and Arduino is able to develop repetitive current control for lead acid batter

An in vivo biocompatible study of antimicrobial biocomposite membrane: preliminary outcome

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is a surgical procedure that uses barrier membranes to treat bony defects. The membrane plays an important role in proper bone regeneration. A triple-layered membrane containing poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) matrix with bioactive apatite filling and lauric acid (LA), which is a naturally derived antimicrobial substance is one of the examples of membrane used. Critical Size Defect (CSD) is an experimental method in evaluating the effectiveness of newly developed biomaterials to stimulate bone formation before clinical application. New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are commonly used rabbits for laboratory research and industry toxicology studies. By using the CSD technique in the New Zealand White Rabbit, this study seeks to investigate the biocompatibility and new bone growth potential of the bio composite membrane through in vivo analysis

Reka bentuk dan pembinaan personalized learning courseware berasaskan konsep objek pembelajaran digital bagi pembelajaran animasi dan rangkaian komputer

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk membangunkan sebuah perisian pendidikan bagi topik Rangkaian Komputer menggunakan pendekatan Objek Pembelajaran Digital (OPD). Penghasilan bahan pengajaran yang berkonsepkan digital biasanya memerlukan masa yang lama dan kos yang tinggi. Menurut Wiley (2000) Objek Pembelajaran Digital ialah memecahkan isi kandungan pelajaran kepada bahagian-bahagian yang kecil yang boleh digunakan kembali dengan pelbagai persekitaran pembelajaran. Dengan membangunkan perisian menggunakan pendekatan OPD, masa dan kos dapat dijimatkan. Selain itu, OPD juga boleh menjadi salah satu sumber untuk menyokong pembelajaran kerana ia mempunyai ciri-ciri yang sangat efektif seperti kebolehgunaan semula, pakej pembelajaran yang kecil, interaktif dan merupakan pembelajaran yang bermakna. Pakej-pakej pembelajaran yang kecil ini dapat digabung menjadi satu pakej yang besar. Melalui perisian yang dibina, pelajar boleh memilih topik yang ingin dipelajarinya berdasarkan OPD yang disediakan. Setelah membuat pilihan topik, pelajar secara tidak langsung telah membina menu yang terdiri daripada topik-topik yang hanya ingin dipelajarinya sahaja. Dengan itu, pelajar akan lebih fokus kepada apa yang ingin dipelajarinya. Di dalam setiap topik, pelajar akan didedahkan dengan pendekatan pembelajaran yang bermakna seperti, pembelajaran berasaskan masalah, simulasi, permainan dan juga kuiz berperingkat. Perisian ini boleh digunakan oleh pelajar-pelajar yang mengambil matapelajaran Animasi Komputer dan Rangkaian Komputer. Perisian ini dibangunkan dengan menggunakan perisian pengarangan Macromedia Authorware 7.0 dan perisian sokongan yang lain, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Macromedia Flash 8 dan Ulead Gif Animator. Perisian ini berpotensi meningkatkan pengalaman pembelajaran individu terutamanya pada era teknologi maklumat yang semakin membangun