Traditional Islamic education in Asia and Africa: a comparative study of Malaysia’s Pondok, Indonesia’s Pesantren and Nigeria’s traditional madrasah

The Muslim world has witnessed the emergence of several Islamic-based institutes and universities in the last three decades, in keeping with some of the recommendations of World Conferences on Muslim Education. Such a development has greatly improved the quality of higher Islamic education especially with regards to the contribution to Islamic scholarship of some of the graduates of such Islamic institutes and universities. However, the traditional system of Islamic education at the pre-university level has not been greatly influenced by such a development. There has not been a comprehensive study of the system as operated in various contemporary Muslim settings, with a view to assessing the degree of its efficacy. Therefore, there is a long-felt need for such a research endeavour. The purpose of this paper is to carry out a comparative study of Malaysia’s pondok, Indonesia’s pesantren and Nigeria’s traditional madrasah system. The choice of the three educational settings was informed by the growing impression that Malaysia and Indonesia, both Asian countries, offer some of the best practices in traditional Islamic education, which may be used as standards in improving upon what operates in Nigeria, an African country with the largest Muslim population and largest number of madaaris (pl.). The paper traces the origins of the traditional Islamic education system, discusses the evolution of each of the three systems and addresses such salient issues as ownership of the school, the structure of the school, the curriculum, teachers’ requirements and qualifications, teaching methods, evaluation procedures, teachers’ welfare and salaries, the socio-economic status of the teacher, the schools and the challenges of higher education in the face of urbanization, as well as practical recommendations for reforms. The paper, which is both historical and analytical in nature, employs the philosophical method, in its critical perspectives and practical suggestions. The significance of such a comparative study lies in its potentiality to expose the strengths and deficiencies of each of the educational settings, as well as highlight their commonalities and differences

Development and stability evaluation of olive oil nanoemulsion using sucrose ester

Nanoemulsion is a type of emulsion that consist of fine oil-in-water dispersions, with the droplets covering the size range of 20-200nm. It can be achieved through self-emulsification process. One of the processes is through low energy emulsification method. Olive oil was chosen in this study due to its efficiency in treating skin problem. Pre-emulsion was prepared by mixing oil, sucrose ester and glycerol under heat at 80 °C. After the pre-emulsion was formed, it will be self-emulsified with water under gentle agitation. Olive oil nanoemulsion was prepared using sucrose ester as a surfactant to produce droplets size below 200 nm with low size distribution. The pre-emulsion was very stable when stored at 4 “C. However, it was unstable when stored at 25 °C and 40 °C. Therefore, 4 °C is the ideal storage condition for this pre-emulsion

Profesionalisme Pustakawan Akademik Berasaskan Penjenamaan Peribadi Autentik Di Universiti Sains Malaysia

Nilai teras profesionalisme bagi pustakawan akademik bermakna menyokong penyediaan perkhidmatan Perpustakaan untuk memenuhi keperluan dalam aktiviti pembelajaran, pengajaran, penyelidikan serta sosial selain memainkan peranan penting ke arah pencapaian matlamat Institusi Pengajian Tinggi (IPT). Pustakawan perlu menerapkan kriteria Penjenamaan Peribadi Autentik (Criteria of Authentic Personal Branding) dengan menilai diri secara mendalam, mengenalpasti dan menggunakan kepakaran serta kebolehan yang dimiliki dengan konsisten tanpa meniru individu lain selain cuba meminimakan persepsi negatif dan stereotaip masyarakat terhadap profesion kepustakawanan. Kini, peranan yang dimainkan oleh pustakawan akademik di Perpustakaan Universiti Sains Malaysia, bukan hanya tertumpu kepada perancangan, pembangunan serta pengurusan sumber dan koleksi semata-mata, sebaliknya turut berperanan sebagai konsultan, koordinator, fasilitator, kurator, teknologis, jurutera, pemudahcara dan pegawai perhubungan awam untuk organisasi. Kertas kerja ini bertujuan untuk berkongsi pengalaman dan amalan pustakawan akademik di Perpustakaan Universiti Sains Malaysia dalam merencanakan program serta inisiatif bagi Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Pengguna & Literasi Maklumat, Perkhidmatan Rujukan & Maklumat Elektronik serta Perkhidmatan Sokongan Akademik & Penyelidikan dengan menerapkan kerangka Assocation of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Entertainment VS. Education: Students’ Perspectives on the Use of Apps

The use of mobile application also known as apps is fast becoming a trend in education since it offers users fun and entertaining learning experiences. Weighing similarly important, a particular app should also offer educational opportunities to its users. The current study attempts to investigate the students’ perceptions on these two perspectives of using mobile application among students at the tertiary level education. A focus group discussion was conducted on 13 international students taking Preparatory Intensive English course in one of the university in the East Coast of Malaysia. The findings of the study revealed that an app may facilitate learning. For optimal use of app, entertainment features i.e. videos need to be integrated in the app to ensure that students can learn and play at the same time. Last but not least, multimodal texts need to be integrated in developing a language learning app to sustain students’ learning motivation

Challenges and strategies to enhance Online Remote Teaching and Learning by tertiary institution educators: a literature review

In 2019, Covid-19 has been declared as a global pandemic. Online remote teaching and learning is the most practical solution to continue teaching and learning particularly at tertiary institutions. There is a drastic change from face-to-face teaching and learning to a fully online teaching and learning environment. Tertiary institutions need to ensure that they consolidate the curriculum and adjust it in accordance with online teaching and learning. In accordance with the new normal in teaching and learning, educators must adapt to new and creative strategies to engage students during online remote teaching and learning. This paper is a literature review on 1) the challenges faced by tertiary institution educators in online remote teaching and learning and 2) strategies that they used to carry out their teaching during this Covid-19 outbreak in order to overcome those challenges

Students acceptance on online learning

Learning Management System (LMS) has been implemented in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) since year 2000.LMS is one of the information technology tools that provide avenues for communication and knowledge sharing among lecturers and students.Due to its importance, the study meant to investigate the level of students’ acceptance towards online learning and its impact on their learning performance.Referring to the study, this article reflects critical outcomes in view of the impact on the students’ learning performance.There are 100 students from second, third and fourth year of Bachelor of Operation Management, from School of Technology Management and Logistics, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) which has access of using Online Learning have been selected to participate.The framework of this study is based on Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). This article shows that there is a significant and strong positive correlation between level of students' acceptance towards online learning and its impact on their learning performance. Equally important, this research is also expected to provide full suggestions on maximizing the benefits of Online Learning

Integrated approach for species identification and quality analysis for Labisia pumila using DNA barcoding and HPLC

Labisia pumila is a precious herb in Southeast Asia that is traditionally used as a health supplement and has been extensively commercialized due to its claimed therapeutic properties in boosting a healthy female reproductive system. Indigenous people used these plants by boiling the leaves; however, in recent years it has been marketed as powdered or capsuled products. Accordingly, accuracy in determination of the authenticity of these modern herbal products has faced great challenges. Lack of authenticity is a public health risk because incorrectly used herbal species can cause adverse effects. Hence, any measures that may aid product authentication would be beneficial. Given the widespread use of Labisia herbal products, the current study focuses on authenticity testing via an integral approach of DNA barcoding and qualitative analysis using HPLC. This study successfully generated DNA reference barcodes (ITS2 and rbcL) for L.pumila var. alata and pumila. The DNA barcode that was generated was then used to identify species of Labisia pumila in herbal medicinal products, while HPLC was utilized to determine their quality. The findings through the synergistic approach (DNA barcode and HPLC) implemented in this study indicate the importance of both methods in providing the strong evidence required for the identification of true species and to examine the authenticity of such herbal medicinal products

Jom Baca@PHS: Building Foundation for Lifelong Learning

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is a pioneering university that strives to empower future talent and next generation towards a sustainable knowledge transformation. Hamzah Sendut Library in supporting this effort has formed the Reading Campaign Committee with the tagline „Jombaca@PHS‟. This committee is established to promote love for books and reading culture to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) community in particular and society in general. The Library realizes that the expertise to manage reading materials shouldn‟t be keep by its own, but rather to be shared to others in need. Since its inception in 2009, various programs have been carried out to meet the objective. Numerous programs were conducted under three main programs, namely Community Network, Exhibition and Sharing is Caring. Starting as small-scale projects, now these initiatives have shown its positive impacts especially in building foundation for lifelong learning among USM community

Jom Baca@PHS: Inisiatif Perkongsian Ilmu

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) merupakan sebuah universiti perintis yang berusaha untuk memperkasakan bakat masa depan dan mengupayakan generasi awal demi mentransformasi kesejahteraan ilmu pengetahuan. Perpustakaan Hamzah Sendut (PHS) dalam usaha menyokong usaha tersebut telah menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Kempen Membaca (JKM) untuk menabur bakti dengan mengadakan program kesedaran tentang kepentingan membaca dan memanfaatkan Perpustakaan dari peringkat awal. Program Jombaca@PHS merupakan program utama yang dijalankan oleh Jawatankuasa Kempen Membaca (JKM) bertujuan berkongsi kepakaran tentang pengurusan Perpustakaan dengan masyarakat terutama komuniti dalaman USM