Practitioners’ views on learning using children’s peer interactions amongst under three year old children in Selangor, Malaysia / Farhana Wan Yunus.

Research on children’s peer interactions shows many benefits for children’s development especially in developing children’s social competence. Drawing on a case study data from a study that investigated peer interactions among under-three year old children in three Malaysian childcare centers, this paper provides a picture of how the children’s peer interactions was understood by largely untrained practitioners at the start of the project, and how the complexity of children’s lived experiences remained hidden to the practitioners until they took part in the video-stimulated recall (VSR) interviews based on children’s peer interactions, and focus group discussions. The latter provided practitioners with an opportunity to deepen their thinking about children’s peer interactions and to begin to see them as linked with learning. In particular, the practitioners perceived that (i) play; (ii) familiarity; and (iii) having friends constituted important learning for children during peer interactions at their early childcare centres. This has implications for understanding the roles of early childhood education practitioners to children’s peer interactions as well as how practitioners can help support children’s learning to make a social difference

Gender differences on the identity status of the Malaysian preparatory students.

The number of students who wishes to change their major is increasing everyday. There are quite a number of students who are still unsure about their future plans even though they have enrolled in a university program. A reason may be that the students are still in conflict about their own identity. Students who are doing their preparatory program should already develop their own identity, which is identity achievement. A survey aimed to study gender differences on the identity status among the preparatory students was conducted. A questionnaire regarding the students’ identity status was used to collect the data. A Likert scale with a four point system was used to measure responses on the questionnaire which consisted of the students’ view of their own choice of major, friendship, recreational activities, dating style and political believes. The findings of this study are important to the lecturers teaching the preparatory programs so that they are aware of their students’ sense of identity as well as help them reach identity achievement

Gender Differences on the Identity Status of the Malaysian Preparatory Students

The number of students who wishes to change their major is increasing everyday. There are quite a number of students who are still unsure about their future plans even though they have enrolled in a university program. A reason may be that the students are still in conflict about their own identity. Students who are doing their preparatory program should already develop their own identity, which is identity achievement. A survey aimed to study gender differences on the identity status among the preparatory students was conducted. A questionnaire regarding the students’ identity status was used to collect the data. A Likert scale with a four point system was used to measure responses on the questionnaire which consisted of the students’ view of their own choice of major, friendship, recreational activities, dating style and political believes. The findings of this study are important to the lecturers teaching the preparatory programs so that they are aware of their students’ sense of identity as well as help them reach identity achievement.Keywords: Achievement; adolescent; diffusion; foreclosure; identity status; moratorium Résumé:  Le nombre d'étudiants qui souhaitent changer leur spécialité augmente tous les jours. Il y a un certain nombre d'élèves qui n'ont toujours pas de plans sur leur future, même s'ils se sont inscrits dans un programme universitaire. Sans doute une raison est que les étudiants sont toujours en conflit avec leur propre identité. Les étudiants qui font leur programme préparatoire devraient déjà développer leur propre identité. Une enquête visant à étudier les différences entre les sexes sur le statut d'identité parmi les élèves dans les programmes préparatoires a été effectuée. Un questionnaire concernant l'état d'identité des étudiants a été utilisé pour collecter les données. Une échelle de Likert a été utilisée pour mesurer les réponses dans le questionnaire, qui demande les avis des étudiants sur leur choix de la spécialité, de l'amitié, des activités récréatives, du style de dating et des préférences politiques. Les résultats de cette étude sont importantes pour les enseignants des programmes préparatoires afin qu'ils soient au courant de la perception des élèves sur leur identité. Ainsi ils peuvent les aider à construire leur identité.Mots-clés: realisation; adolescent; diffusion, forclusion; statut d'identité; moratoir

Fabrication and Crystallization of ZnO-SLS Glass Derived Willemite Glass-Ceramics as a Potential Material for Optics Applications

Willemite glass-ceramics were successfully derived from conventional melt-quench ZnO-SLS precursor glass by an isothermal heat treatment process. The effect of heat treatment temperatures on the physical properties was investigated by Archimedes principle and linear shrinkage. The generation of willemite crystal phase and morphology with increase in heat treatment temperature was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. X-ray diffraction revealed that the metastable -Zn 2 SiO 4 and thermodynamically stable zinc orthosilicateZn 2 SiO 4 phases can be observed at temperatures above 700 ∘ C. The experimental results indicated that the density and shrinkage of the glass-ceramic vary with increasing the sintering temperature. FTIR studies showed that the structure of glass-ceramic consists of SiO 2 and ZnO 4 units and exhibits the structural evolution of willemite glass-ceramics. The characteristic of strong vibrational bands can be related to the [SiO 4 ] 4− tetrahedron corresponding to reference spectra of willemite

Peer interactions among under three years old children in Malaysian childcare centres: A case study approach

Research on infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions in childcare centres shows many benefits for children’s social competence. With increasing participation of under-three year olds in group-based early childhood services worldwide, there is also growing interest in the role played by childcare adults in supporting children’s social competence. In the Malaysian context, where the number of childcare settings is growing rapidly, early childhood research remains limited and is non-existent within the field of understanding the complexity of infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions. At the same time there has been a mounting discourse by Malaysian economists promoting the benefits of non-cognitive skills to a country, thus focussing attention on social skills, of which peer interactions are a form. This study opens up this under-researched field in Malaysia through three qualitative case studies – one in each of three childcare centres in the state of Selangor. Each case study involved individual semi-structured interviews with the childcare practitioners, video-recorded observations of the children’s peer interactions, and video-stimulated recall interviews. A focus group discussion was conducted too with all of the practitioners after that. The aim of the study was to examine how practitioners perceived peer interactions among children under three years old in their childcare centres, and the kinds of peer interactions that occurred among the children. Drawing on constructs from a range of social constructivist theoretical perspectives, the findings revealed that at the start of the study, the practitioners saw themselves as promoting peer interactions by facilitating group activities and managing interactions between children by responding to their conflicts. The observations of children’s peer interactions revealed complex negotiations by the children who were actively creating a sense of belonging and togetherness at their childcare centres like embracing the centre’s routines, and responding to the needs of others including through humour and laughter. In the process of these interactions, children exercised their agency and learned the skills of becoming socially competent participants in their centre. Through video-stimulated recall interviews and focus group discussion, the practitioners deepened their thoughts on children’s peer interactions and saw peer interactions to be linked with learning around three main themes: learning through play; learning through gaining familiarity with others; and learning about having friends. My findings provide a picture of how the children’s peer interactions were understood by largely untrained practitioners, and how the complexity of children’s lived experiences remained hidden to the practitioners until they took part in the video-stimulated recall interviews; the latter opened up and deepened the practitioners thoughts about children’s peer interactions. This study differs from earlier studies in that it is based in Malaysia where the provision of group-based early childhood care and education services is still a relatively new social and educational endeavour staffed by largely unqualified practitioners. This has implications for future childcare training initiatives in Malaysia

Peer interactions among under three years old children in Malaysian childcare centres: A case study approach

Research on infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions in childcare centres shows many benefits for children’s social competence. With increasing participation of under-three year olds in group-based early childhood services worldwide, there is also growing interest in the role played by childcare adults in supporting children’s social competence. In the Malaysian context, where the number of childcare settings is growing rapidly, early childhood research remains limited and is non-existent within the field of understanding the complexity of infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions. At the same time there has been a mounting discourse by Malaysian economists promoting the benefits of non-cognitive skills to a country, thus focussing attention on social skills, of which peer interactions are a form. This study opens up this under-researched field in Malaysia through three qualitative case studies – one in each of three childcare centres in the state of Selangor. Each case study involved individual semi-structured interviews with the childcare practitioners, video-recorded observations of the children’s peer interactions, and video-stimulated recall interviews. A focus group discussion was conducted too with all of the practitioners after that. The aim of the study was to examine how practitioners perceived peer interactions among children under three years old in their childcare centres, and the kinds of peer interactions that occurred among the children. Drawing on constructs from a range of social constructivist theoretical perspectives, the findings revealed that at the start of the study, the practitioners saw themselves as promoting peer interactions by facilitating group activities and managing interactions between children by responding to their conflicts. The observations of children’s peer interactions revealed complex negotiations by the children who were actively creating a sense of belonging and togetherness at their childcare centres like embracing the centre’s routines, and responding to the needs of others including through humour and laughter. In the process of these interactions, children exercised their agency and learned the skills of becoming socially competent participants in their centre. Through video-stimulated recall interviews and focus group discussion, the practitioners deepened their thoughts on children’s peer interactions and saw peer interactions to be linked with learning around three main themes: learning through play; learning through gaining familiarity with others; and learning about having friends. My findings provide a picture of how the children’s peer interactions were understood by largely untrained practitioners, and how the complexity of children’s lived experiences remained hidden to the practitioners until they took part in the video-stimulated recall interviews; the latter opened up and deepened the practitioners thoughts about children’s peer interactions. This study differs from earlier studies in that it is based in Malaysia where the provision of group-based early childhood care and education services is still a relatively new social and educational endeavour staffed by largely unqualified practitioners. This has implications for future childcare training initiatives in Malaysia

Urban Students’ Attitude towards Learning Chemistry

AbstractIn this current era, the world is facing environmental challenges where the future communities are losing interest in science subjects such as chemistry. There are many factors that contributed to students’ success. One of the factors is the students’ attitude in learning. The result of this study revealed that majority of the urban students have positive attitude towards learning chemistry when they conduct chemistry experiments in the laboratory. Students also show positive attitude towards teachers’ teaching style. Result also revealed that most students have negative attitude towards chemistry because they lack interest in the subject and the syllabus itself