Hubungan antara penyeliaan pengajaran, kesediaan mengajar dan profesionalisme guru di kalangan guru teknikal

Bagi memperbaiki kualiti pendidikan, penyeliaan pengajaran yang berkesan perlu ditegaskan dalam proses pengajaran guru. Penyeliaan sebagai salah satu mekanisme penting dalam Standard Kualiti Pelajaran Malaysia (SKPM) untuk menjadikan pendidikan negara bertaraf dunia, sekali gus mengesan kelemahan dan membuat penambahbaikan. Kajian yang telah dijalankan adalah berbentuk kuantitatif untuk mengenal pasti hubungan antara penyeliaan pengajaran, kesediaan mengajar dan profesionalisme guru di kalangan guru teknikal. Kajian ini bertujuan bagi mengenal pasti persepsi guru terhadap tahap kepentingan penyeliaan pengajaran, tahap kesediaan mengajar guru semasa penyeliaan pengajaran berlaku dan hubungan di antara persepsi guru terhadap kepentingan penyeliaan pengajaran dengan tahap profesionalisme guru. Secara khususnya kajian ini adalah berbentuk tinjauan di mana setiap maklumat itu diperolehi daripada borang soal selidik yang diedarkan kepada guru teknikal di enam buah Sekolah Menengah Teknik di Pulau Pinang. Sampel kajian adalah seramai 120 orang responden. Dalam kajian rintis, nilai alpa penyeliaan pengajaran keseluruhan mencapai 0.963. Perisian Statiscal Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 13.0) digunakan dalam pemprosesan dan penganalisaan data. Kesemua data dianalisis dalam bentuk statistik deskriptif dan statistik inferensi. Kaedah frekuensi dan peratus digunakan untuk menganalisis profil responden. Kaedah purata skor digunakan menganalisis data bagi persepsi guru terhadap tahap kepentingan penyeliaan pengajaran dan tahap kesediaan guru semasa penyeliaan pengajaran. Kaedah korelasi Pearson digunakan untuk mengenal pasti hubungan di antara persepsi guru terhadap tahap kepentingan penyeliaan pengajaran dengan tahap profesionalisme guru. Dapatan kajian mendapati guru sedar akan kepentingan penyeliaan pengajaran dengan purata keseluruhan skor min 3.15 dan sisihan piawai adalah 0.593. Tahap kesediaan mengajar guru adalah tinggi iaitu purata keseluruhan skor min 3.39 dan sisihan piawai adalah 0.396. Keputusan yang diperolehi daripada analisis korelasi Pearson merupakan hubungan yang positif dengan pekali korelasi yang sederhana iaitu r = 0.502. Guru-guru perlu didedahkan kepada konsep dan matlamat penyeliaan pengajaran, justeru itu dapat memperkembangkan potensi guru secara berterusan dan meningkatkan profesionalisme guru

Comparative taxonomy and breeding behavior of five populations of betta pugnax group (osphronemidae) from Johor, Malaysia [QH1].

Taksonomi dan kelakuan pembiakan kumpulan Betta pugnax berdasarkan lima populasi dari Johor, Malaysia telah dikaji. The taxonomy and breeding behaviour of the Betta pugnax group based on five populations from Johor, Malaysia was investigated

Integrating knowledge management with project management for project success

This paper aims to study the improvement of project success in organizations by integrating knowledge management strategies with project management practices in a typical project lifecycle.  According to the Standish Group’s Chaos Report for 2009, only 32% of all surveyed projects are considered to be successful and are delivered on time, on budget, with the required features and functions. This could be an indication that project management practitioners have not fully acquired and transferred knowledge learned from past projects to ensure a higher success rate for current and future projects.  Knowledge management is an emerging discipline and practice in organizations. This paper proposes an integrated model that combines knowledge management with project management to improve project success and thus contribute towards competitiveness and sustainability in organizations. &nbsp

AGE DIFFERENCES AND MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS ON FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

Low income populations are more severely affected by economic downturns than their high income counterparts because they are at high risk of unemployment and face reduced earnings in recessions. The use of food stamp benefits and other types of welfare are one mechanism that families can use to buffer the economic shock brought about by income losses due to unemployment during a recession. As a result, during unfavorable economic conditions, low income households disproportionately rely on public assistance including food stamps. What is less understood are the differential effects of macroeconomic conditions on the participation propensities of different population subgroups. Of particular importance are differential effects by age. Depending on their age, poor workers are likely to experience different patterns of unemployment so that their welfare participation patterns also differ. For example, once older workers lose their jobs, their probability of re-employment is lower than that of their younger counterparts. The reduced expectations of re-employment coupled with fewer opportunities to invest in re-training are discouraging to older unemployed persons, often implying that job losses for older workers are permanent, and eventually lead to long term reliance on welfare programs. In contrast, younger poor workers have comparatively higher chances of re-employment and exit from welfare. Whether the age differences in welfare participation will remain unchanged during economic recessions as well is still unanswered. Understanding variations in FSP participation propensities across age groups and their dependency on macroeconomic conditions is essential to predict future demand for food stamp benefits and, by extension, other welfare programs. The continuing growth in FSP demand may point to unexpectedly large fiscal burdens for future taxpayers. Moreover, understanding differential effects of macroeconomic conditions on participation propensities for different groups will allow policy makers to better identify and eventually reach genuine needy families. Therefore, this study aims to investigate FSP participation patterns with a special emphasis on the differential impact of macroeconomic factors across several demographic groups with a particular focus on age cohort effects. Specifically, transitions into and out of FSP will be explicitly addressed using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) 2004 panel. To measure the impact of economic conditions, we match SIPP data with economic measures such as the unemployment rate and wages at the state level available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Using the data, monthly movements on and off of FSP of individuals is followed and categorized into entry sample and continuation sample. A household not participating in FSP in one month, and thus being part of the entry sample, can choose between entering or not entering FSP in the subsequent month. Similarly, a household enrolled in one month (and thus part of the continuation sample) can choose between either continuing to stay on FSP or exiting FSP in the next month. This gives rise to two types of transition models. The first model, referred to as the entry model, tackles the decision between entry versus non-entry into FSP, conditional on non-participation in the previous months. The second model, referred to as continuation model, addresses the decision between exiting from versus continuing FSP, conditional upon participation in the preceding month. Two transition models are estimated using probit technique while controlling for individual specific effects. This study finds several important results. First, there are significant age differences in entry into and exit from the FSP. The propensity of entry into the FSP among younger people is higher than among older people while young cohorts are more prone to exiting FSP than the oldest cohort of retired or retirement-bound people. The implication for the elderly is that once receiving FSP benefits, they are very likely to continue the FSP. Their observed low FSP participation rates can thus primarily be attributed to FSP entry barriers. Second, rising unemployment boosts FSP entry propensities and lengthens FSP spells. Changes in wage levels, however, affect neither entry nor exit propensities. Third, the effect of unemployment on FSP continuation propensities varies by age. The youngest cohort responds to increasing unemployment by drastically prolonging their FSP spells whereas the older extend their FSP spells more gradually. For the oldest cohort, FSP exit probabilities are even found to rise in association with rising unemployment, a phenomenon that can be explained by retirement and special transfer programs for the elderly.Food Stamp Program, Age, Macroeconomy, Transition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, I38, J64,

Bond strength and characteristics of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) bars in concrete beams.

An experimental investigation of bond strength and characteristics of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) bars in concrete beams has been conducted at the University of Windsor. A total of twenty-eight concrete T-beams reinforced with CFRP bars was tested statically as simply supported beams. Three types of CFRP bars were used and three different parameters affecting bond characteristics were considered in the test program, namely (1) pressure induced on the bar due to support condition, (2) embedment length and (3) transverse reinforcement. Results indicated that the average bond strength of the three types of CFRP bars varied from each other and depended primarily on their surface conditions. It was found that the tensile force in the CFRP bars increased when the bond length increased, but the average bond strength decreased when the bond length increased. Confinement provided by transverse reinforcement increased the average bond strength of CFRP bars and the average bond strength varied as fc\u27 when other factors were constant. However, the results gave no satisfactory information about the influences of support conditions on bond strength. It has also been concluded that the expressions for development length and bond strength of conventional steel reinforcing bar provided in the CSA and ACI codes cannot be directly applied for the use of CFRP bars due to their inherent physical and mechanical properties. Preliminary expressions for bond strength of the three types of CFRP bars were developed, as well as expressions for development length depending on the types of CFRP bars.Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2000 .L54. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-03, page: 0747. Advisers: George Abdel-Sayed; Murty K. S. Madugula. Thesis (M.A.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

Measurement Of Nose Radius And Wear Of Multiple Cutting Tool Inserts From 2-D Scanned Images With Sub-Pixel Edge Detection

The nose radius of a cutting tool insert is known to affect the surface quality of the finished workpiece, machining stability, power input as well as the condition of the insert due to the direct interaction of the tool nose with the workpiece during machining. Conventional approaches for measuring the nose radius using profile projector and toolmaker’s microscope require manually selected points from the nose profile which cause inaccurate measurement of nose radius since only a few points from the sector of an imperfect circle from the nose edge are selected. A novel approach for the measurement of nose radius and wear of multiple cutting inserts using 2-D images scanned using a high resolution low-cost flatbed scanner is proposed. Investigation on the effect of scanner’s lighting conditions, tool orientation and location on the accuracy of sub-pixel edge detection of nose radii were carried out. The results of the measurement of nose radii using the scanner approach were compared with a profile projector and the variable-focus 3-D metrology system (Alicona InfiniteFocus). The polar-radius transformation method was used to calculate the projected wear area, Ap and maximum nose flank wear, VBc(max) before and after machining using images from scanner and InfiniteFocus. The measurement of the nose radii of multiple inserts yielded average error of less than 1%. The digital profile projector method yielded a highest error of about 11% in nose radii measurement. For the projected nose wear and nose flank measurement, the maximum deviation are about 6% with a slight underestimation of nose wear for scanner due to the resolution difference between the two scanning methods. Thus, the low-cost and high accuracy approach proposed in this study enables fast and accurate assessment of multiple tools and provides a new solution for tool nose inspection and wear measurement

Strategic alliance with Frenemy in Electric Vehicle Industry for Commercialization

576-581Eco-friendly technologies are crucial for firms to sustain their competitiveness as well as properly cope with international agreement which encourages reducing greenhouse gases. Electric vehicle (EV), in terms of this view, is significant since it would be dominant mobilities in the future by allowing firms to have competitiveness and solving for environmental problems. Hence, it is pivotal for firms to commercialize relevant technologies. In order to this, we used patent analysis to identify firms’ strategic characters and core technology in electric vehicle industry. The analysis of strategic characters was carried out via patent portfolio analysis by calculating patent indicators regarding technology commercialization. Plus, network analysis was carried out to identify the core technologies of firms. With the two results, the final strategic framework for commercialization was established. The framework could be used for choosing appropriate collaboration partners and avoiding useless competition

The risk factors of self-destructive behaviours among Malaysian young adults : a preliminary finding

Young adulthood has been identified as the developmental stage with highest suicidal risks in Malaysia. This study aimed to examine the risk factors associated with self-destructive behaviours (i.e. non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation and suicide attempt) among Malaysian young adults. This is a preliminary finding of a survey on 531 university students aged 18 to 25 years old based on a self-reported questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire – 28(GHQ-28). The prevalence for non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation and suicide attempt was 8.5%,8.4%, 5.8% and 3.6% 3.5% respectively. Further analysis found that severe depression were positively associated with these self-destructive behaviours as well as overall psychological distress. Furthermore, some chronic physical health problems found to be associated with self-destructive behaviours. Insights on the risk factors of self-destructive behaviours among Malaysian youth are crucial in comprehensive mental health management of this alarming problem, as most research rarely focuses on effective measures of treatment and intervention of such behaviours. The findings of the current study may of benefits to policy makers, parents and mental health professional as self-destructive behaviours may be a signal of psychological distress among young adulthood