The development of Malaysia ICT subject school based assessment management system (SBAMS4ICT)

Curriculum Development Division (CDD) has introduced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in 2006 as an elective subject for Malaysia Education Certificate.The Malaysia Examinations Syndicate (MSE) designed the assessment instruments based on the syllabus released by the CDD.Anyhow, the management of the assessment records by assessor on ground is still on manual effort. Assessor need fill in same data into different forms. Records need to be bind in a ring file (student’s portfolio), and placed in the locked and secured place.Increase assessors’ workload, tendency to writing error, time consuming, not updated records, and a few to mention the weakness of this approach.For that regard this project is proposed and the prototype of School Based Assessment Management System for ICT Subject has been developed.The requirements needed have been identified and the prototype development has employed Agile System Development Methodology.By using a Test Script method has tested the functionalities of the prototype. System evaluation has utilized Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease-of-Use instruments. The system prototype has enable assessors to manage assessment records easily compared to manual approach.School admins would have capability to monitor the assessment progress. Students will have a copy of their progress notified through email

EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT ON SURFACE ENERGY AND THE INFLUENCE TOWARDS COATING ADHESION

Surface energy is a characteristic factor which affects the surface properties and interfacial interactions such as wetting and adhesion. A high adhesion is achieved on substrates with high surface energies, in particular high polar shares. Substrate surface treatments prior to the coating deposition process are carried out using 2 categories of solution which are A (sodium hydroxide) and B (sodium hydroxide, distilled water, acid, distilled water, alcohol). The surface treatment was carried out using ultrasonic cleaner by varying the solution, time and wiping process. The main aim of this study is to determine the effect substrate surface treatments on the surface energy of the tungsten carbide (WC) substrate. The surface energy of the substrate was measured using two liquids with dominant polar and dominant dispersion components which was distilled water and methylene iodide. Owens-Wendt method carried out to calculate the surface energy of the substrate. The WC substrate was titanium nitride (TiN) coated using PVD coating machine. The adhesion test was employed using Rockwell indenter. The result showed that cleaning process using solution B for 20 minutes without the wiping process lead to the highest surface energy of 0.1263 N/m with the polar share of 0.0805 N/m which lead to the best coating adhesion. Wiping process reduce the surface energy of the substrate due to carbon residue left on the substrate surface. Finding from this research suggested that solution, time, interaction between solution and time, interaction between solution and wiping, interaction between time and wiping, and interaction between all factors significantly influence the surface energy of the substrate

Fatty acid profile of salinity tolerant rice genotypes grown on saline soil

This paper reports the effect of salinity stress on the fatty acid profile of salinity-tolerant rice grown on saline soil. Three salinity-tolerant rice genotypes obtained from IRRI, namely SS1-40, SS1-41 and SS1-42, were used. The leaves of the control and treatment plants were sampled during the various developmental phases: vegetative, reproductive and ripening. The fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) contents were analysed using gas chromatography techniques. The results revealed that salinity stress significantly influenced the fatty acid content of the three rice genotypes. Palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), linoleic (C18:2) and linolenic acid (18:3) are the fatty acids that may be involved in the regulation of salinity stress. The levels of these fatty acids were higher in plants that planted under salinity stress than in the control during the vegetative and reproductive stages, but lower during the ripening stage. The finding suggested that salinity stress triggers the biosynthesis of fatty acids, such as linolenic acid, responsible for adaptation and growth development of rice plants in response to salinity stress