Preparedness to teach : the perceptions of Saudi female pre-service mathematics teachers : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Being well prepared and experiencing a sense of preparedness for teaching is a key learning outcome of any initial teacher education (ITE) program. In order to understand more about the nature, development, and sufficiency of mathematics teacher readiness to teach, this study explores the phenomenon of preparedness. The aim of this study was to investigate how well Saudi pre-service teachers (PSTs) feel prepared to teach mathematics at secondary or middle schools (i.e. to explore their sense of preparedness to teach), delving into the nature and origins of that sense. The participants in the study were a sample of female mathematics PSTs (N=105), who were near the end of their teaching methods course in the final year of their 4-year education degree. The construct of preparedness was operationalized through a survey of PSTs’ efficacy to teach mathematics and an interview-based exploration of the factors influencing these perceptions. The data were collected over 4 months from 2015 to 2016. The quantitative data were analysed in SPSS and thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The key findings of this study indicated that for the PSTs, being prepared to teach means having teaching efficacy, good knowledge for teaching, a sense of preparedness, and professionalism. However, PSTs are not fully aware of all the kinds of knowledge needed for being prepared. The study showed that PSTs were generally confident that they were sufficiently prepared to teach. They felt most confident in the areas of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) rather than pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The findings showed that the PSTs felt inadequately prepared in some aspects of their teaching roles, and needed more support and guidance from their university–school communities. The majority felt that classroom and behaviour management was the aspect in which they felt least prepared. They also expressed only a moderate level of general teaching efficacy (GTE), expressing a lower sense of efficacy relating directly to supporting students as learners. These were related to the disjunction between theory and practice that resulted from the two most influential factors shaping PSTs’ sense of preparedness and feelings of efficacy: the practicum experience and the ITE. Although these factors had positive impacts on their perceptions, they also expressed how the classroom environment, challenges, and school culture encountered during the practicum had lowered the PSTs’ sense of preparedness and teaching efficacy. Indeed, half of the PSTs felt that the school was neither sufficiently prepared nor sufficiently resourced to support PSTs learning the work of teaching. The challenge of closing the gap between theory and practice has led to PSTs’ desire to have more time in the mathematics methods course, as well as extra time in the practicum. It is hoped that the findings from this study concerning PSTs’ current perceptions about preparedness, combined with the suggestions for improving their levels of preparedness, will contribute to improvements in ITE and teaching quality in Saudi Arabia

Assessing regional integration: The progress of ASEAN regional grouping

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is now entering a new phase in its integration process. Beyond AFTA, it is now preparing a roadmap towards deeper economic integration, namely the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Economic integration is to be encouraged if it can contribute positively towards the achievement of this goal and the overall developmental goals of the ASEAN countries. In view of the importance of enhancing economic integration in the era of globalisation, this paper evaluates the progress of ASEAN regional integration for the past decade to see to what extent ASEAN economic integration efforts have been successful. In this paper, the progress and developments of ASEAN countries are evaluated using performance indicators of regional integration based on ASEAN economic integration index. The scope of analysis of economic integration focuses on the three most important sectors of the thrusts of ASEAN economic cooperation, that is, trade; Investment; and human resources and labour mobility

Analisis Pelaksanaan Promosi Pada PT. Bank Danamon Tbk Cabang Bagansiapiapi

Promotionisthe effortsmadebythe companymoneyin order tonotify, informaboutthecompanyandtheir productsin the form ofservices andproductsto the middle-finished goodssociety, clientsorcustomers, so that theproductbeknownandusedbycustomerswiththeconvenience and benefitsof all forms ofpromotiongiven.This research was conductedat PT. Bank DanamonTbk Branch BagansiapiapiCommerceRoad RT 06 RW 01Bagansiapiapi. The purposeof this studywas conducted toanalyzethe implementation ofthe promotion ofthePT. BankDanamonTbkBranchBagansiapiapiIn this study,the methodology usedisdescriptivestatistics, wherethe sampleused istheBankBranchBagansiapiapicustomersandas a sourceof informationistheHR,marketingmanager, todetermine the sampleusing theformulaSlovin, withaccidentalsamplingmethod ofsampling, data collectionthroughinterviewtechniques, questionnaire.From the analysis ofthe implementation ofthe campaign carried outbyPT.BankDanamonTbkBranchBagansiapiapiwhichincludesadvertising, personal selling, salespromotion, statingthatsuch promotional activitiesareinboth categories with apercentage ofthedistancebetween thenotesis very goodwithverylittlepoorly.Keywords: promotion, advertising, sales promotion, personal sellin

The Effect Of Education, Income, Lifestyle And Taxation Sanctions On The Awareness Of Motor Vehicles Tax Payers In Sidenreng Rappang District

This study aims to determine the effect of education, income, lifestyle and tax sanctions on the awareness of motor vehicle taxpayers in Sidenreng Rappang Regency. It is hoped that the results of this research can become material for scientific research in the field of regional financial accounting, especially for reviewers of taxpayers' understandings in Sidenreng Rappang Regency regarding motor vehicle tax payments. The research was conducted at the SAMSAT office of Sidenreng Rappang Regency. The data collection techniques used in this study were observation, recording and questionnaire surveys. The sample of this study was 94 motor vehicle taxpayers in Sidenreng Rappang Regency as respondents. The data analysis technique in this study used multiple linear regression analysis with the help of the Windows version 20 SPSS (Static Product and Service Support) application. The results showed that based on the analysis carried out there was a significant, simultaneous and partial influence between education, income, lifestyle and tax sanctions on the awareness of motor vehicle taxpayers in Sidenreng Rappang Regency

A study on customers satisfactions towards services quality at the Store Soon Seng Plaza Melaka / Siti Fatimah Ibrahim

This research study is conducted at The Store Melaka. This study is on ‘Customers satisfaction towards Service Quality at The Store Melaka. The main objective of this study is to determine the level of customers satisfaction towards service quality provided at The Store Soon Seng Plaza with using five variables of SERVQUAL which are tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy as determinant. The researcher has adopted the descriptive research in order to conduct the research on the issue. The researcher’s sampling design is the Non probability sampling which is the Convenience Sampling Technique and 100 questionnaires were distributed to the customers of The Store Melaka which refers to the local and international target population of the research. The questionnaire was distributed to customers when purchasing at The Store Melaka. The researcher adopts Scientific Program of Social Science (SPSS) application to analyze the data that is gathered throughout the research process in order to obtain accurate answer for the questions. Based on findings, the researcher see that the customers moderate satisfied with Service Quality at The Store Melaka

Improving Collapsibility and Compressibility of Gypseous Soil using Cement Material

التربة الجبسية منتشرة في كثير من مناطق العالم فمن الضروري دراسة خواص مثل هذة الترب بسبب المخاطر الذي تسببة على البنايات من الداخل او الخارج. يمثل هذا البحث النتائج للدراسة المختبرية على الانضغاطية والانهيارية للترب الجبسية في البصرة ويوضح تاثير المادة الاسمنتية الممزوجة مع التربة الجبسية على خواصها الفيزيائية. التربة الرملية تغطي الطبقات السطحية لمنطقتي الدراسة (تربة منطقة البرجسية وتربة منطقة الزبير) وتحتوي على نسب عالية من الجبس تقدر ب (63%) و (34%) على التوالي، ووجد ان التربة هي تربة انهيارية لذا استخدمت المادة الاسمنتية كمادة مضافة لتحسين مثل هذة الترب، وتتمثل الفكرة الاساسية لهذة الدراسة بإضافة مادة الاسمنت بنسب مختلفة (2% , 4% , 8% , 10% , 12%) للتربة الجبسية من اجل تحسين خواص هذة الترب. تم عمل برنامج الفحص الذي يتكون من (12) موديل لنماذج التربة الجبسية معاملة وغير معاملة لدراسة تصرف هذة الخلطات وتأثيرها على الخواص الفيزيائية وانضغاطية وانهيارية التربة. ومن خلال هذة الدراسة وجد ان هناك نقصان في الانهيارية تصل الى (87% - 92%) لنسب خلط (12%) من مادة الاسمنت على الترب الجبسية لمنطقتي البرجسية والزبير على التوالي.Gypseous soils exist in many regions in the world. It is necessary to study the properties of such soils due to the damage caused by these soils to buildings on or in it. This paper presents the results of experimental studies on the compressibility and collapsibility of Gypseous soil in Basrah and show the effect of mixing cement material with Gypseous soil on those properties. The sandy soil, which covers the surface layer(up to 1m) for the two investigated areas(AL-Brgsia and AL-Zubair) consists of high gypsum content ( 63% ) and (34% ),  respectively. The soil was found to be a “collapsible” soil. The cement material have been used as improving agents for such soil. The essential idea of this study represents an investigation of the possibility of using cement as additive with different percents (2%, 4%, 8%,10%, and 12%) to  enhance these soils. Tests were conducted on 12 models of untreated and treated gypseous soil specimens to study their behavior as well as the effects on physical properties, collapsibility and compressibility characteristics. It is found that a reduction in collapsibility appraches 87 and 92 % for the 12 percent mixed cement to (AL-Brgsia and AL-Zubair) soil, respectively

The mediating effect of employee’s trust on e-government and good governance in the public sector of developing countries

The main purpose of this paper is to study the mediating effect of employee‟s trust between e-government and good governance in the public sector of the developing countries.In addition, it presents a conceptual research framework to understand these relationships supported by literature review from recent studies.The main findings indicate that empowering public sector employees through practicing e-government creates trustworthy behaviors which are necessary to promote effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and innovativeness as means of good governance. Implications and limitations of the study are also discussed where future studies are recommended to extend the research empirically and highlight more on governments of developing countries which are in need to such kind of transformation for an effective economic refor

A study on employer requirements towards applicants in Jobs Malaysia, Iskandar Malaysia through online advertisement / Norashikin Senin and Siti Fatimah Ibrahim

This study was discussed on the employer requirement towards applicants in Jobs Malaysia Iskandar Malaysia. This study analyze about the job offer in Jobs Malaysia in Johor Bahru area. Job advertisement through online has attracted job seekers especially new graduated students from universities to find any job vacancy that suits with their qualification and skills. This study gets 300 of job advertisement to be analyzed. This study analyze the job advertisement using seven elements which is skills, experiences, academic qualifications, academic courses, language, industry, and job positions. It is analyze using SPSS and the result of skill that higher demand by employer is communication and interpersonal skill, higher demand of experience is less than two years, higher demand of academic qualification is Diploma, higher demand of academic course is Business and Management, higher demand of language is Malay and English, higher demand of industry is manufacturing, and higher demand of job position is engineer

EFEKTIVITAS PRODUKSI BUDIDAYA UDANG VANAME (Litopenaeus vannamei) PADA KOLAM BUNDAR DAN PETAK DI CV. MARKISA FARM ACEH BARAT DAYA

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengevaluasi efektivitas produksi budidaya udang vaname (Litopenaeus vannamei) pada kolam bundar dan petak di CV. Markisa farm Aceh Barat Daya. Metode yang dilakukan secara deskriptif dan perhitungan statistik hasil budidaya kolam bundar dan kolam petak. Serta partisipasi langsung dalam kegiatan budidaya udang vanamei dengan teori literatur atau pedoman yang digunakan. Penelitian menggunakan 2 kolam yang berbeda yaitu kolam bundar berukuran 706 m2 (diameter 30 m) padat tebar 170 ekor/m2 dan kolam petak berukuran 800 m2 padat tebar 206 ekor/m2. Parameter uji utama terdiri dari laju pertumbuhan, kelangsungan hidup dan efisiensi pakan, sedangkan parameter uji penunjang yaitu pH, suhu, salinitas dan oksigen terlarut dan performa udang vanamei meliputi Mean Body Weight (MBW), biomassa, survival rate (SR) dan Food Convertion Ratio (FCR). Data yang diperoleh selanjutnya dianalisa secara deskriptif. Panen total pada DOC 110 di kolam bundar MBW 30,30 gr, kolam petak 27,02 gr, SR kolam bundar 92,60%, kolam petak 86,65%, dan FCR kolam bundar yaitu 0,82, kolam petak 1,47. Analisis Usaha pada kolam bundar biaya investasi Rp.47.098.000, kolam petak Rp.64.015.000, biaya operasional kolam bundar 45.835.500, kolam petak Rp.77.335.500, penerimaan kolam bundar Rp.181.035.100, kolam petak Rp.170.799.600, total biaya kolam bundar Rp.88.163.764, kolam petak Rp.128.510.924. Dalam penelitian di CV. Markisa Farm Aceh Barat Daya efektivitas budidaya udang vanamei di kolam bundar dengan hasil yang baik

Effect of Different Wheatstone Bridge Configurations on Sensitivity and Linearity of MEMS Piezoresistive Intracranial Pressure Sensors

Monitoring of intracranial pressure for traumatic brain injured patients is very critical.  Many intracranial pressure monitoring systems use the MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor to measure the signal.  The piezoresistive pressure sensor is very sensitive to temperature change.  Hence, the Wheatstone bridge circuit is normally employed in this type of sensor to lessen the effect of temperature variation.  This paper presents the effect of using different configurations of Wheat-stone bridge on the sensitivity and linearity performances of the piezoresistive intracranial pressure sensor.  Six designs comprise of 3-turns meander shaped piezoresistors ranging from full-bridge to quarter-bridge were simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics.  Based on the simulation results, the number and position of active piezoresistors were found to greatly influence the sensitivity of the sensor.  The latter also influenced the sensors’ linearity error.  The active perpendicular piezoresistor produced the higher change in resistance which gave rise to higher sensitivity, while at the same caused the higher nonlinearity performance.  Overall, the piezoresistive intracranial sensor comprises of full-bridge Wheat-stone circuit produces the highest sensitivity and medium linearity