The ‘Voices’ of Beginning Teachers in Malaysia About Their Conceptions of Competency: A Phenomenographic Investigation

This study gave ‘voice’ to 18 beginning teachers in Malaysia about their own teaching competences within their teaching profession through a phenomenographic investigation. The aim of the study was to discover what beginning teachers themselves conceive as competence in relation to what they did everyday as teachers. These beginning teachers were interviewed and the transcripts analysed to reveal how they conceived the phenomenon of competence. The results showed that beginning teachers’ conceptions of competence fell into five qualitatively different categories: (i) classroom and behaviour management, (ii) knowing subject matter, (iii) reaching out for assistance and support, (iv) understanding students and (v) possessing values of professionalism. This study could serve as a platform to further extend beginning teachers’ understandings of the teacher profession, and to provide them more possibilities to extend their competences to enable them to continuously develop and create opportunities for their own students

The Approaches to Teaching Inventory: A Preliminary Validation of the Malaysian Translation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a Malaysian translation of the 22-item Approaches to Teaching Inventory for application in higher education. The Approaches to Teaching Inventory was a quantitative measure used by teachers of higher education to gauge their own teaching approaches that had been psychometrically assessed and widely used in western universities. Data in the present study came from 172 teachers in two institutions of higher learning. Principal factor analyses with varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analyses support a model with 17 items categorized into five sub-factors that were subsumed within two main factors. The alpha values of both the sub-factors and main factors were good. While broadly supporting the use of the Malaysian version in providing insights into the teaching approaches, the findings of the present study suggested the need to examine other factors that may contribute towards the inventory’s future improvement for application in the Malaysian higher education context

Trends and factors for dropout among secondary school students in Perak

The study sought to investigate the dropout trends and patterns among the secondary school students by district in Perak. The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods involving cohort flow analysis of student enrolment, interviews and document analysis. In the first part, student enrolment by grade level in 2000-2010 in all the nine districts in Perak from the database provided by the Ministry of Education was analyzed. In the second part, data were gathered through interviews from Batang Padang District that demonstrated highest dropout rate so as to further understand why secondary school students dropped out from schools, what are those students doing after leaving schools and explore their views on what could have beendone to keep them in schools. Results showed that average of total loss between Form 1 and Form 5 in Perak State was 8.11 percent. The highest percentage of dropout was in Batang Padang (16.52%), followed by Manjung (11.9%), Hilir Perak (11.06%) and Kinta District (10.87%). Major factors of dropout were poor academic achievement, lack of interest in schooling, and influence from non-schooling siblings and home environmental factors. Majority of the students werestill staying with their parents with a few of them doing part-time jobs or helping out their parents while many just stayed at home or hanged out with friends. Some policy implications and recommendations were also discussed in the paper

Integrating English with total physical response for pre-schoolers’ cognitive development

This study explores the integration ofEnglish with Total Physical Response (TPR) for pre-schoolers’cognitive development. Research wasbuilt upon, review of cognitive developmental theorists, stakeholders, teachers’feedback and experience. Five TPR related lesson plans arespecially created and vetted by experts in order to collect data related to young learners' cognitive development with the integration of English with TPR.This study employs anaturalistic observational methodology. The researchersconducted observation, attentive listening and tool field notes concurrently. A structuredreflective notefrom the researchers isalso used for analyses. The observation procedure seeksto record descriptive details about cognitive processes, ambience, and social activities among pre-schoolers. The findings indicate that there is improvement in language progressions,observable cognitive output with the ability to think, questioning skill,justifying thoughts and opinions and higher interest in learning through TPR.Therefore it isconcluded that by integrating English with TPR, pre-school educators can maximize the output of their teaching

Prácticas pedagógicas de aprendizaje mixto para mejorar la autonomía de aprendizaje de los alumnos y los resultados académicos en el aprendizaje

This study investigated whether blended learning was more effective in inculcating learner autonomy and improving academic results among students when compared to conventional learning practices.  The study used a quasi-experimental design. The participants of the study consisted of 78 lower secondary students. The study carried out two different teaching methods; a blended learning classroom for the treatment group, meanwhile a conventional learning classroom for the control group. There were 40 pupils in the treatment group and 38 pupils in the control group.  Post-test analysis was carried out to understand the effectiveness of blended learning towards students’ academic achievement.  A set of questionnaire was developed to identify learner autonomy after the treatment.  The results indicated that there was a significant increase in academic achievement based on the pre and post-test analyses. The study also found that blended learning pedagogical practices could improve students’ learning autonomy in learning.Este estudio investigó si el aprendizaje combinado era más efectivo para inculcar la autonomía del alumno y mejorar los resultados académicos entre los estudiantes en comparación con las prácticas de aprendizaje convencionales. El estudio utilizó un diseño cuasi-experimental. Los participantes del estudio fueron 78 estudiantes de secundaria inferior. El estudio llevó a cabo dos métodos de enseñanza diferentes; un aula de aprendizaje mixto para el grupo de tratamiento, mientras que un aula de aprendizaje convencional para el grupo de control. Había 40 alumnos en el grupo de tratamiento y 38 alumnos en el grupo de control. Se llevó a cabo un análisis posterior a la prueba para comprender la efectividad del aprendizaje combinado hacia el logro académico de los estudiantes. Se desarrolló un conjunto de cuestionarios para identificar la autonomía del alumno después del tratamiento. Los resultados indicaron que hubo un aumento significativo en el rendimiento académico basado en los análisis pre y post-test. El estudio también encontró que las prácticas pedagógicas de aprendizaje mixto podrían mejorar la autonomía de aprendizaje de los estudiantes en el aprendizaj

La preparación de los maestros de ciencias y matemáticas de la escuela primaria en la implementación del programa de lenguaje dual (DLP)

This research was conducted to determine the readiness of science and mathematics teachers in implementing DLP (Dual Language Program) in primary schools. This quantitative research using questionnaires forms. A total of 100 samples consisted of science and mathematics teachers who were randomly selected from primary school district of Batang Padang. Descriptively, the data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The findings show that the level of readiness of science and mathematic teachers in terms of knowledge is high while the level of implementation and the interest of teachers towards the implementation of DLP is moderate. Inferential analysis based on the correlation analysis that has been conducted also shows that there is no significant relationship between the level of teacher's readiness and experience teaching of science and mathematics in primary schools for implementing DLP. In summary, science and mathematics teachers are generally willing to implement DLP where their knowledge of DLP is high, but their skill and interest are still moderate, and it has no relation with teacher’s teaching experience. All parties should play a role to help science and mathematics teachers so that their skill and interest in DLP can be improved in an effort to ensure that the implementation of DLP more successful in the future.Esta investigación se realizó para determinar la preparación de los maestros de ciencias y matemáticas en la implementación de DLP (Programa de lenguaje dual) en las escuelas primarias. Se forma esta investigación cuantitativa mediante cuestionarios. Un total de 100 muestras consistieron de maestros de ciencias y matemáticas que fueron seleccionados al azar del distrito escolar primario de Batang Padang. Descriptivamente, los datos se analizaron mediante distribución de frecuencia, porcentaje, media y desviación estándar. Los hallazgos muestran que el nivel de preparación de los maestros de ciencias y matemáticas en términos de conocimiento es alto, mientras que el nivel de implementación y el interés de los maestros hacia la implementación de DLP es moderado. El análisis inferencial basado en el análisis de correlación realizado también muestra que no existe una relación significativa entre el nivel de preparación de los maestros y la experiencia en la enseñanza de la ciencia y las matemáticas en las escuelas primarias para la implementación del DLP. En resumen, los maestros de ciencias y matemáticas generalmente están dispuestos a implementar DLP donde su conocimiento de DLP es alto, pero su habilidad e interés son aún moderados, y no tiene relación con la experiencia docente del docente. Todas las partes deben desempeñar un papel para ayudar a los maestros de ciencias y matemáticas para que su habilidad e interés en DLP puedan mejorarse en un esfuerzo por garantizar que la implementación de DLP sea más exitosa en el futuro

Mobile Augmented Reality Hand Wash (MARHw): Mobile Application to Guide Community to Ameliorate Handwashing Effectiveness to Oppose Covid-19 Disease

The global concern about a new pandemic associated with the insufficiency of vaccines has necessitated basic practices of handwashing to get prevention in Covid-19 disease in modern health issues. At this point, due to that, the researchers develop a simple mobile application engaging augmented reality to educate the urban and rural community on a notable effect of basic infection prevention practices peculiarly on hand wash guidance to prevent Covid-19infection. A quality of a hand wash could be attained by washing hands in conformity with health standard guidelines. In this study, we analyze a sample size of 83 participants (n=83), there were categorized by age, young adult (ages 15 to 35, n=28), middle-age (36 to 55, n=28) and older adults (older than 56 years, n=27) through three main formulated hypotheses namely as a step, movement, and duration and being analyzed by SPSS version 25by using Anova. The differences in demographics and gender are not being compared amongst the group. The final result underlying a statistical significance draws two significant factors for step and movement and there was no significant effect at the time factor of utilizing this mobile application. Hence, the final result could mitigate the Malaysian government sector peculiarly to the health department to alleviate the load of educating a community about a proper hand wash that would ease the process

Understanding Student Teachers’ Behavioural Intention to Use Technology

This study sets out to validate and test the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the context of Malaysian student teachers' integration of their technology in teaching and learning. To establish factorial validity, data collected from 302 respondents were tested against the TAM using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for model comparison and hypotheses testing. The goodness-of-fit test of the analysis shows partial support of the applicability of the TAM in a Malaysian context. Overall, the TAM accounted for 37.3% of the variance in intention to use technology among student teachers and of the five hypotheses formulated, four are supported. Perceived usefulness is a significant influence on attitude towards computer use and behavioural intention. Perceived ease of use significantly influences perceived usefulness, and finally, behavioural intention is found to be influenced by attitude towards computer use. The findings of this research contribute to the literature by validating the TAM in the Malaysian context and provide several prominent implications for the research and practice of technology integration development

Interactive Whiteboards: In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives of Potential Pedagogical Benefits and Issues in Teaching Science for Young Children

Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) have made a very rapid penetration into Australian schools since 2003. Many junior primary teachers have accepted them as core teaching technology for teaching young learners, yet there is little Australian research that examines the use of IWBs in early year’s science education. This paper reports on preliminary findings from a recent Australian study which highlighted a number of affordances, practices and challenges relating to teaching science to children aged five to six years using IWBs. A mixed methods approach comprising case studies, surveys and work samples has been adopted in this study. Data was collected from teachers and pre-service teachers to explore their individual experiences and perspectives about the uses of IWBs have been recorded. The preliminary analysis of the data summary across the case studies revealed that the teachers used IWBs in a wide range of ways with the intention of bringing a contemporary content into the classroom and leading to the facilitating in inquiry based science. Promoting authenticity and connectedness, multimodality and versatility, and efficiency were the most frequently emerging themes. This study also illustrates the disruptive effects of conventional classroom settings, low technical support and insufficient training towards implementation of IWBs