Evaluating the effectiveness of website branding for institutions of higher learning in the Klang Valley

The intention of this study is to determine the perception of students in evaluating the effectiveness of website branding for institutions of higher learning (IHLs). In addition, it is also to measure the effectiveness of website branding and the important role it plays as a medium in branding for institutions of higher learning. Besides, it is also to determine how brand recall may influence students’ decision to enrol into a particular school. The findings of this research are, hopefully, intended to provide accurate and useful information so as to facilitate further research in similar fields of study. Permission was granted by the Directors of the IHLs to deliver and collect the questionnaires. Questionnaires were given to 600 students of 10 selected IHLs in the Klang Valley. The respondents involved were students enrolled in the social science, technology and arts and design courses as well as all the school administrators ranging from the Principals to the key personnel of the departments. The respondents were asked about their perception with regard to evaluating the effectiveness of website branding for institutions of higher learning so as to gain their true interpretation and understanding of website branding. Responses from the respondents have shown that, generally, branding through a website was more important as compared to the use of other traditional mass media. The website was another medium that could be important for branding of IHLs. Many student respondents agreed that the website was more effective in their search for information compared to the use of the traditional mass media. From the traditional mass media, one might find it difficult to obtain the required information since many IHLs seldom employ any publicity using the traditional mass media. Educational institutions that posted good websites that could provide clear and sufficient information to their potential students would then have a competitive advantage over those that did not. The findings have shown that strong brand recall could provide customers with an assurance of quality and a reduction of search time in the purchasing process. Besides that, the findings have also indicated that branding through a website was definitely more effective in influencing the students in making decisions to enrol in their courses compared to the use of traditional mass media strategies

BRANDING THROUGH FACEBOOK FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING

The intention of this study is to determine the perception of students towards the effectiveness of Facebook branding for institutions of higher learning through the use of social networking sites (SNS). It is also to explore the important role they play as a media in branding for institutions of higher learning. The findings of this research are intended to provide accurate and useful information so as to facilitate further research in similar fields of study. Permission was granted by the Directors of the IHLs to deliver and collect the questionnaires. Questionnaires were given to 200 students of ten selected institutions of higher learning in the Klang Valley. The respondents involved were students enrolled in the social science, technology and art and design courses as well as all the school administrators ranging from the Principals right down to the key personnel of these departments. The respondents were asked about their perception with regards to its current Facebook website and how does it play a role in branding the institutions of higher learning so as to gain their true interpretation and understanding of Internet branding. Responses from the respondents showed that, generally branding through Facebook was more important when compared to the use of other traditional mass media. Website was another medium that could be important for branding institutions of higher learning. Many student respondents agreed that branding through Facebook was more effective in finding information as compared to the use of the traditional mass media. From the traditional mass media, one might find it difficult to obtain the required information since many institutions of higher learning seldom employ any publicity using any traditional mass media. Educational institutions that posted good websites that could provide clearer and sufficient information to their potential students, would then have a more competitive advantage compare to those who did not. Besides that, the findings have also indicated that branding through a website was definitely more effective in influencing the students in making decisions to enroll in their courses when compared to the use of traditional mass media strategy. Keywords: Facebook, Branding, Institution of Higher learning, social networking, Internet branding

Functional glass slides for in vitro evaluation of interactions between bone cells and mineral-binding surfaces

Primary amine-functionalized glass slides obtained through a multi-step plasma treatment were conjugated with anionic amino acids that are frequently found as mineral binding elements in acidic extracellular matrix components of natural bone. The modified glass surfaces were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements. Human osteosarcoma TE85 cells were cultured on these functionalized slides and analyses on both protein and gene expression levels were performed to probe the ‘‘biocompatibility’’ of the surface ligands. Cell attachment and proliferation on anionic surfaces were either better than or comparable to those of cells cultured on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). The modified glass surfaces promoted the expression of osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase activity and ECM proteins such as fibronectin and vitronectin under differentiation culture conditions. Transcript analysis using gene chip microarrays confirmed that culturing TE85 cells on anionic surfaces did not activate apoptotic pathways.Collectively, these results suggest that the potential mineral-binding anionic ligands examined here do not exert significant adverse effects on the expression of important osteogenic markers of TE85 cells. This work paves theway for the incorporation of these ligands into 3-dimensional artificial bone-like scaffolds

Testing the effectiveness of health risk messages : threat and efficacy processing / Thinavan Periyayya and Vincent Wee Eng Kim

This is a micro study of an on-going macro study of the different categories of fear appeals used in the on-going national anti-smoking campaign. A quasi-experimental design was used to study the respondents’ responses to the anti-smoking print advertisement campaign. Two types of advertisements were selected, one which depicted a social threat and the other a damaging health threat. Each type of advertisement was evaluated by two separate groups of participants. The evaluation was based on the extended parallel process model’s (EPPM) risk diagnosis scale. The social threat advertisement had a low fear and efficacy message while the health threat advertisement had a high fear and efficacy message. Findings showed that the social threat (low fear/efficacy) was able to make the respondents of the study take a preventive behavioural or danger control position to avoid the negative consequences. In comparison the damaging health threat (high fear/ efficacy) was found to move the participants to a fear control position or maladaptive behavioural position. The study supported the main predictions of the EPPM, and showed that the efficacy construct determined how the fear appeal was processed (danger control or fear control)

Making sense of mathematics through perception, operation & reason: The case of divisibility of a segment

The conception of infinity as a process (potential infinity) or as an object (actual infinity) is important for students to acquire understanding in many other related areas in mathematics. This study attempts to describe the infinite divisibility thinking of mathematics student teachers in an Institute of Teacher Education in Malaysia by making sense of mathematics through perception, operation and reason. Data were collected through a self-reporting questionnaire that was administered to 238 elementary school pre-service teachers from selected Teacher Education Institutes in Malaysia. Researchers categorised qualitatively different types of thinking and reported them by using descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the percentage of respondents who conceived infinity as an object was just slightly lower as compare to the percentage of respondents who conceived infinity as a process. Additionally, this study found that there were respondents with problematic conceptions as shown by their inconsistent answers. The open-ended explanations given by all the respondents revealed that most of the pre-service teachers used perception to make meaning on finite and infinite divisibility

Engaging gen Y through social network sites / Vincent Wee Eng Kim and Vivien Wee Mui Eik @ Bee Jade

Social networking sites are able to build on the interactive power of the Internet. This study attempts to discover the influence of social media on the present generation Y as consumers, their buying behaviour and to determine the roles that the social media plays as a popular medium to communicate a message. The findings of this research will provide clear and useful information to facilitate further research in similar fields of study. A set of questionnaire was administered to 200 students from ten selected institutions of higher learning in the Klang Valley. The respondents were asked about their current perceptions regarding their interaction with the social media websites and how these websites have influenced their purchasing behaviour which would enable further understanding about the social media. The respondents, responses show that, generally social media was used to seek useful information. They prefer to purchase in groups and the social media acts as a community platform to post and share their views. The respondents agreed that social media was more effective in finding information as compared to the use of the traditional mass media. Viral advertising in the form ofvideos are very appealing to them. Furthermore, social media also improves customers service and business networking

A Framework for Diagnosing Dyscalculia

This paper outlines the development of mathematical items which evolves from making sense of mathematics through perception, operation, and reason. There are three main constructs in this framework, and it involves seven tests namely simple reaction time, short term memory, number sense, matching Items, dot enumeration, number comparison and arithmetic. This study is concerned with how a group of students struggle with basic numerical skills which may be caused by dyscalculia. One of the most important contributions of this study, in addition to its wider theoretical and practical applications, is that it has come out with a set of standardized instruments which is called the Malaysian Dyscalculia Instrument (MDI) for primary school students. This tool could be further used widely in the fields of psychology and education, especially special education and particularly research studies related to education