MGS Cluster School: expanding expertise

14 Nov 2009. The last phase of Methodist Girls School Cluster School programme, which consists of two short courses namely, Professional Development for Teachers and English Communication, took place for 8 hours

ENGINEERING LECTURERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS EFFECTIVE CONCLUSION SECTION IN ENGINEERING FINAL YEAR PROJECT PRESENTATION

Final year project presentation (FYPP) assessment in the engineering field aims to evaluate students’ comprehension in the principles and concepts learnt and its application in resolving problems through engineering projects.The components assessed in FYPPs include the presentation slides that comprise introduction, content and conclusion sections. Many studies have emphasised the significance   of the conclusion section in project presentations; however, there has not been much research that explores the students' knowledge and practice on conclusion moves in their FYPPs from the FYPP lecturers’ perspective. Therefore, this qualitative study, through focus group interviews, explored the perceptions of 12 engineering lecturers from a private higher institution in the east coast region of Malaysia. These lecturers, who were also the students’ FYP supervisors were asked about the students’ overall performance in delivering FYPP conclusion section, the significance of the conclusion section and the challenges faced by engineering undergraduates when presenting their conclusion section. The findings indicate that the lecturers rated students' conclusion presentations as average. The findings reveal that for the lecturers, the conclusion section is significant as it is part of the FYPP assessment rubric and it reflects students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills. In addition, the key challenges faced by students in presenting an effective conclusion section were the English language barriers and obliviousness of the essential elements of a conclusion section. Pedagogical implications include providing training that highlights the importance of the conclusion section in FYPPs, and all the moves necessary in the conclusion section

Industries want work-ready graduates

7 February 2022 - Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) comprising of Mr Mohd Yusrizal Mohd Yusoof (Mercedes-Benz Malaysia), Mdm Farah Hani (DRB Hicom), Mr Mohd Najib Ibrahim (Cyberview Sdn Bhd), Mr Mohd Hazaruddin Muhammad (BASF Petronas Chemicals) and Mr Mohd Nizam Yaacob (Mercedes-Benz Malaysia) all gave very insightful feedback to industry current issues and needs related to local fresh graduates in the recent IAP meeting with the Centre for Modern Languages (CML), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) that was conducted via Microsoft Teams platform

Go the extra mile and focus on communicative competence and confidence for competitive edge, says study committee sc

17 February 2022 - The Centre for Modern Languages (CML) finally had a meeting with its Study Committee (SC) that had been scheduled in December 2021 along with the Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) meeting but had to be postponed due to imminent flood. This time round, the meeting was conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams

Effects of Noticing Model Texts Using the Translanguaging Approach on L2 Learners' Syntactic Awareness in Multimodal Texts

Writing is challenging for any ESL learner, even at tertiary level. This study investigated the effects of noticing model texts using the translanguaging approach on L2 learners' syntactic awareness in multimodal texts in a private college in Malaysia. This mixed method case study employed a pretest-posttest design to measure participants’ writing performance before and after the intervention, which involved the participants to work collaboratively to produce multimodal texts on Instagram based on selected eight-picture stories in two phases. In both phases, participants had to compare their multimodal texts with a model text employing the translanguaging approach to discuss the similarities and differences of the texts in group chats on Instagram and then, renarrate another eight-picture story. All the texts went through error analysis and the Instagram chats underwent content analysis. Findings revealed that the noticing of model texts using the translanguaging approach in Instagram chats helped the participants in heightening their syntactic awareness which was evident in the writing improvement of the group tasks but not as obvious in individual writing performance. This study is significant because it shows that using model texts for students to notice linguistic features through comparison with their own writing empowers them to be more student-centered and the texts act as a scaffold for the students to assist one another to learn the target language. Future studies are recommended to include individual multimodal writing tasks in the intervention to reduce participants’ reliance on ‘more knowledgeable others’ and internalize syntactic awareness better on their own

Mandarin virtual winter camp 2022 – two worlds connected online

6 March 2022 – Universiti Malaysia Pahang through its Centre for Modern Languages (CML) and Centre for International Relations (CIR) successfully organized a two-day virtual winter camp in collaboration with Tianjin Normal University (TNU), which was held from 5 to 6 March 2022 via Voov. The camp was joined by 31 students from Universiti Malaysia Pahang who are currently doing their dual degree programme. These students need to pass their Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) level 3 in order for them to pursue their studies in China

Kindy talk free workshop

5 June 2021- The Centre for Modern Languages’ Kindy Talk Team successfully organised a 3-hour free online workshop on Using Technology for Early Childhood Educators via Google Meet from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with 17 early childhood educators, many of whom are from Kuantan and 3 as far as from Selangor and Kelantan

Development of Efficacy-Enhanced Heart Failure Rehabilitation Patient Education Materials for Health Behavior Change

Background: Patient education materials (PEMs) are often used in health education programs to empower patients to self-manage their disease for better health outcomes. Heart failure (HF) patients wanted more information about self-management and educational materials that were easy to understand. Programs with self-efficacy as the core component have proven to be effective in improving patients’ self-management. Purpose: To develop practical, efficacy-enhanced, tailored HF rehabilitation PEMs that satisfy our clients to drive long-lasting behavior change and evaluate the materials’ quality (readability, understandability, actionability, and acceptability). Methods: Exploratory mixed methods study involving: i) semi-structured interviews; ii) evaluation of the PEMs; iii) revision and reevaluation of the PEMs; iv) publication. An appointed panel of experts evaluates content accuracy, understandability, and actionability. The Patient Education Material Assessment Tool assesses content understandability and actionability. The content read ability was assessed using Flesch Kincaid Calculator. Clients’ acceptability was assessed using Educational Material Acceptability tool. Results: The newly developed PEMs have good understandability, actionability, readability, and acceptance. Discussion: Patient-centered PEMs have good acceptance and satisfaction among clients. However, the effectiveness of tailored efficacy-enhanced PEMs for behavior changes needs further evaluation. Translation to Health Education Practice: All stakeholders should be included in developing PEM

UMP perkenalkan budaya Malaysia kepada pelajar luar negara melalui jendela maya

Meskipun cuma mampu berhubung melalui paparan skrin alat komunikasi masing-masing kerana terpisah dek jarak fizikal, Pusat Hubungan Antarabangsa (PuHA) dengan kerjasama Pusat Bahasa Moden (PBM), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) telah menganjurkan kursus secara dalam talian, Camp Rasa Sayang 2022: Destination Malaysia untuk pelajar-pelajar dari universiti luar negara pada 5 hingga 6 September dan 12 hingga 13 September 2022 yang lalu

Tertiary Students’ Perceptions of Learning Oral Presentation Skills in In-Class and Online Learning Environment: A Case Study

Online learning is seen to be the solution to education throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Instructional sessions and assessments are conducted in the virtual setting which affects instructors and students alike. Oral assessments like presentation sessions are conducted on teleconferencing platforms which bring different dimensions in pedagogy and online learning strategies employed by students. Thus, this study aimed to determine undergraduates’ perceptions of online and in-class presentations. These undergraduates went through remote learning sessions and were not physically campus bound. For this study, the mixed-method approach was adopted and a set of questionnaires with two open-ended questions was distributed online to 1187 Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) undergraduates who were enrolled in the English for Professional Communication (UHL2432) course for Semester 2, session 2020/2021. Quantitative data were collected, and the descriptive statistics were calculated. The findings revealed students’ mixed perceptions towards the effectiveness of applying delivery skills and elements of professionalism in online and in-class oral presentations. Furthermore, although findings have shown that students have adapted to online learning and preferred certain elements of oral presentation in a virtual environment, they also indicated that students preferred to learn oral presentations in a face-to-face classroom. Students’ mixed perceptions were due to challenges in aspects such as maintaining eye contact, projecting voice, using visual aids, gestures and postures as well as interacting with the audience virtually. The findings of this study will provide a useful guide for the enhancement and development of online teaching and learning methodologies