Governance strategies in sustainable campus using Rasch model

In moving towards sustainability, university needs to establish a good governance strategy which practices to transform a positive sustainable culture toward successful green campus. Howe ver, due to constraint of knowledge and commitment regarding sustainability integration has caused weakness in the implementation of green concept in majority of Malaysian universities. This paper is presents one of the five dimensions of a developed hypot hetical integrated sustainable campus model which is university governance. The university governance dimension consists of 5 constructs and 23 items which are strategies for the university to be complied. These strategies were uncovered using questionnair e survey with 35 selected experts who are currently active in sustainable campus activities and researches. Collected data from this survey was analysed using Rasch method in Winstep software to measure items reliability, separation index, items polarity, item fit and item person map. Results from the analysis indicated that 19 strategies were significant to be implemented. Thus, it provides good information for universities to adopt these sustainable campus strategies in making their campus as a role mode l for a sustainable and conducive living environment

Water mass characteristics in the Strait of Malacca using ocean data view.

The main purpose of this project was to identify the pattern of water masses in Malacca Strait. The physical properties of seawater investigated were water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen over the Monsoon season. Ocean data view software was used to process the data and to create contour visualizations. Data from world ocean database were taken from 1900 to 2005. The results show the significant low salinity input from West coast Peninsular Malaysia in Northeast Monsoon season. During Southwest Monsoon period, there was an intrusion of high saline water from Andaman Sea to the Strait. The blowing of Southwesterly wind may push seawater from Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea intruding the Strait from the Northern sector. The Strait also were found to be more stratified in warmer condition. However, Southern sections are more homogeneous in every season indicating better mixing. This further study can improve the better understanding of seasonal water mass variation in the Strait of Malacca

Level of readiness to become entrepreneurs among lifelong learning programmes participants in Malaysian community colleges

An entrepreneur needs to be physically and mentally prepared, with creative thinking skills, risk taker attitudes, as well as being a wise decision maker. Individuals aiming to be successful entrepreneurs need to have adequate entrepreneurial readiness with respect to knowledge, interests, motivation and abilities. The purpose of the research is to measure the level of readiness towards becoming entrepreneurs among participants of the lifelong learning programme in Malaysian community colleges. This research focuses on four elements of readiness comprising knowledge, interest, motivation and ability which were measured using a self-perception questionnaire. The sample for this research consisted of 236 participants from 305 students in the Lifelong Learning (LL) programme for Pastry making at Malaysian community colleges under the Ministry of Education. Data were analysed using mean and Kruskal Wallis test. The data analyses results show that the level of readiness from the aspect of knowledge (M = 3.67, SD = 0.58) is moderate, interest (M = 4.13, SD = 0.55) is high, motivation (M = 4.13, SD = 0.55) is high and ability (M = 3.8852, SD = 0.64) is moderate. No difference was found on entrepreneurial readiness between participants of different age groups indicating that age may not be a contributing factor towards entrepreneurship among pastry making LL programme participants

The effect of an augmented reality teaching kit on visualization, cognitive load and teaching styles

The purpose of this study was to identify the visualization of the students, the students' cognitive load, and the teaching style of the teacher while teaching using the augmented reality (AR) teaching kit in the classroom. The population involved 90 Welding Technology students at Vocational College of Batu Pahat. The purposive sampling method was used and involved 30 respondents. The instrument used was a questionnaire to obtain information. Data were collected and analyzed descriptively. Based on the pilot study, the Cronbach Alpha value was 0.94. The results showed that the use of an AR teaching kit was able to enhance students’ visualization and reduced the cognitive load experienced by the students. In addition, teaching and learning are more interesting because of the teaching style of teachers who use theories and practices simultaneously. Furthermore, the use of AR in education can enhance the visualization of students abstractly, which helps them when conducting experiential tests and establishing a safe teaching and learning environment

Characterization of the performance of aluminum oxide nanoparticles modified asphalt binder

This study investigates the physical and rheological properties of asphalt binders modified by nano aluminum oxide (AL2O3). Several conventional tests were conducted, including penetration, softening point and ductility, rotational viscosity and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). Based on the results of the tests, it was found that the hardness of modified asphalt binders increased with the addition of nano AL2O3 up to 5%. As a result of the increased hardness, the softening point of modified asphalt improved compared with base asphalt binders. The rheological property of modified binders was enhanced at low and high temperatures. The results of a DSR test revealed that the G* were improved, whereas the δ decreased slightly. The addition of a different percentage of AL2O3 to base binder had a remarkable influence on resistance to permanent deformation (high temperature rutting and low temperature fatigue). Results recognize 5 wt.% as the optimum content of the modifier. Therefore, nano AL2O3 can be considered as a proper alternative additive to modify the properties of asphalt cement

From Christianity to Islam: an analysis of Ibn Rabban’s approach towards Sira Nabawiyya

With the expansion of Muslim territory in the ninth century, non-Muslim communities’ reactions to the denials of the prophethood of Muhammad created an impact on the development of Islamic prophetology. Vigorous refutations from non-Muslim community, specifically the Jews, Christians and Brahmins urged Muslims to develop a solid mechanism in defence of the status of their beloved Prophet. One of the works that has been recognized as an apparatus to defend the Prophet Muhammad veracity is al-Din wa al-Dawla composed by Ibn Rabban, a physician of the Caliph’s court. This study analyses the novelty of his approaches in exploring Sira Nabawiyya and defending the prophethood of Muhammad. The study employed a descriptive, comparative and critical approach where it analyses and extracts the author original approach in explaining the legitimacy of Muhammad’s prophethood and enlightening the Prophet’s biography. The study argues that most of Ibn Rabban arguments in this work are actually developed from the foundations of Biblical scripture. His style of interpreting Biblical passages indicates a possible dependence on Ibn al-Layth’s letter. However, the way in which he presents Quranic references seems not to be in accordance with Ibn al-Layth’s perspective. This is where the novelty of his approach is distinguished. As a result, the study also affirms that Ibn Rabban imposes his own standards of selection and interpretation of Quranic verses when he applies it as reference to the Prophet’s life

A prospective study on patterns of use of schizophrenia medications in outpatient pharmacy department, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Selangor, Malaysia

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder and pharmacotherapy plays a major role in its management. The 1950s and early 1960s saw milestones in the introduction of psychotropic drugs in clinical practice. A review of drug prescriptions in different settings provides an insight into the pattern of drug use, identifies drug-related problems and may be used to compare recommended guidelines with actual practice. This effort led to the evaluation of the drug prescribing pattern of antipsychotics in patients attending the psychiatric clinic at a government hospital. The data from 371 antipsychotic medication prescriptions that included 200 prescriptions for schizophrenia were collected during one month (1rst-31rst August 2008) at the outpatient pharmacy department. The mean age of patients was 35.0 years (SD = 1.131), with a male to female ratio of 2:1. The most widely used oral antipsychotic was haloperidol (16.3%) while the most common depot preparation prescribed was zuclopenthixol decanoate (8.8%). The daily dose of the average antipsychotic prescribed in this clinic was 342.06 mg equivalent of chlorpromazine. There was no relation between the doses received and ethnicity of the patient (Malay, Chinese or Indian). However, there was a significant relationship between the prescribed dose and patient age (P < 0.042). Nearly 32% of the schizophrenia patients were prescribed with atypical antipsychotics such as olanzapine (10.8%), risperidone (10.0%), quetiapine (7.6%) and clozapine (3.2%). Monotherapy was given to 73.0% of the schizophrenia patients. The majority of patients also received antidepressants. To conclude, this study gave evidence that physicians had a strong preference for monotherapy with conventional antipsychotic drugs while the use of atypical drugs was less prevalent

Development of roundabout delay models using traffic simulation programs: a case study at Al-Mansour City, Iraq

Due to the increased number of vehicles, shopping centers and rapid growth population of Al-Mansour city, daily trips have been increasing besides generating traffic congestion in major roundabouts in the city. Those will make developing an imperial delay model in roundabouts important due to the traffic and geometric influences. Therefore, two major roundabouts have been selected in the city to be taken as a case study. Geometric features for the selected roundabouts have been measured accurately by satellite images via ArcGIS. Traffic and geometric data analysis indicate that both are significantly important on delay models. The delay time produced by SIDRA and SYNCHRO has been compared with the delay time measured from the field. A significant difference in delay for roundabouts is noticed. This difference could be attributed to the difference in driver behaviour. Ideal saturation flow is the main factor related to driver behaviour, so it adjusted to be the average of the saturation flow measured from the field (2200 vphgpl)

Undergraduates’ interest towards learning genetics concepts through integrated stemproblem based learning approach

Scientific and innovative society can be produced by giving priorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as emphasized by Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint (2015-2025). STEM need to be implemented at higher education because universities need to produce competent graduates to support economy growth and sustainable development. Learning STEM through Problem Based Learning might allow the undergraduates to become more enthusiastic when problem-based instruction is incorporated with STEM by implementing teamwork and problem-solving techniques to engage the first-year undergraduates fully with the learning. This study was conducted to investigate whether Integrated STEM Problem Based Learning module could enhance and retain the interest towards genetics concepts among first-year undergraduates. Topics in genetics was considered difficult not only to teach but also to learn. In this research, to overcome the genetic concepts learning difficulties, genetic related topics were chosen to introduce STEM through problem-based learning approach, which might help first-year undergraduates to acquire deep genetic content knowledge. This is very vital for the first-year undergraduates, as the knowledge gained in their first semester will be applied in the upcoming courses in their entire undergraduates’ programs of study. A Pre-Experimental research design with one group-posttest design was applied. A total of 50 participants who are first-year undergraduates from Faculty of Biology from one of the public universities in Malaysia were involved. The Genetics Interest Questionnaire used to study if the STEM Problem Based Learning module could enhance and retain the interest towards genetics concepts. The research has proven that Integrated STEM through problem-based learning approach could enhance and retains the interest in learning genetics concepts among first-year undergraduates