Enhancing Persistence on Mastery Tasks Among Young Preschool Children by Implementing the “I Can” Mastery Motivation Classroom Program

Task persistence plays important role in school readiness and helps to enhance young children’s cognitive development and academic skills; thus, designing and implementing programs to enhance it is vital. The objective of the present research was to assess the effectiveness of the “I Can” mastery motivation classroom program in enhancing young children’s persistence on mastery tasks. Altogether, forty-four (n = 44) children between the ages of two to three years selected from three kindergartens in Malaysia participated in the research, which was conducted by using a randomized pretest and posttest experimental-control group design. Persistence on three mastery tasks and mastery pleasure were assessed by using the Individualized Assessment of Mastery Motivation manual. The experimental group (n = 25) was exposed to the “I Can” mastery motivation classroom program, while the control group (n = 19) attended regular classroom lessons. There was a significant gain score difference between the experimental and control groups on task persistence for puzzles but not for shape sorters, cause and effect toys, and mastery pleasure. Thus, the program was effective in enhancing persistence on some mastery tasks. The content and findings of the intervention should help policy makers understand this important aspect of early childhood education

Media and the Kadazandusun People’s Way of Life

This study aims at exploring the inclination of belief about the ways of living among Kadazandusun people – whether leaning towards spirituality or materialism. Nowadays humanity are greatly consumed with the idea that happiness would only be achieved when someone accumulate huge worldly possessions and wealth. Obsession to acquire and accrue a great deal of material possessions to gratify people’s needs, wants and desires has been said to be promoted by the mass media. Therefore, apart from exploring the choice of living styles, this study also examines the role that media might have in propagating materialistic values among the Kadazandusuns in Sabah.  The outcomes of study show that Kadazandusun people are yet to indulge into extreme materialistic lifestyles, instead they are generally inclined quite strongly towards religious way of life. This study also found out that TV viewing appears to cultivate spiritual values instead of materialism. Keywords: Advertising, Kadazandusuns, Spirituality and Materialis

The Relationship of teachers interaction and self-esteem,with perception on baby dumping behaviour among Multiethnic secondary school students in Sabah

The study aims to examine the relationship between teacher interaction and self–esteem with perception on baby dumping behavior among multi–ethnic secondary school students in Sabah. A total of 781 middle school students from diverse ethnic groups have taken part in this survey. This survey study conducted by questionnaires, School Attachment Questionnaire (SAQ) to measure teacher interaction, Rosenberg of Self–Esteem Scale to measure self–esteem, and perception on baby dumping behavior questionnaire to measure the dependent variable. Results showed that self–esteem correlates with perception on baby dumping behavior. In fact, the results also showed teacher interaction are not correlated with perception on baby dumping behavior among secondary school students from various ethnic groups in Sabah. Besides, there was no significant difference in the perception on baby dumping behavior among ethnic group students. Implications of the study were discusse

Media and the kadazandusun people way of life

This study aims at exploring the inclination of belief about the ways of living among Kadazandusun people whether leaning towards spirituality or materialism. Nowadays humanity are greatly consumed with the idea that happiness would only be achieved when someone accumulate huge worldly possessions and wealth. Obsession to acquire and accrue a great deal of material possessions to gratify people’s needs, wants and desires has been said to be promoted by the mass media. Therefore, apart from exploring the choice of living styles, this study also examines the role that media might have in propagating materialistic values among the Kadazandusuns in Sabah. The outcomes of study show that Kadazandusun people are yet to indulge into extreme materialistic lifestyles, instead they are generally inclined quite strongly towards religious way of life. This study also found out that TV viewing appears to cultivate spiritual values instead of materialis

Relationship of teacher interaction and self-esteem with perception on baby dumping behavior among multi-ethnic secondary school students in Sabah

The study aims to examine the relationship between teacher interaction and self-esteem with perception on baby dumping behavior among multi-ethnic secondary school students in Sabah. A total of 781 middle school students from diverse ethnic groups have taken part in this survey. This survey study conducted by questionnaires, School Attachment Questionnaire (SAQ) to measure teacher interaction, Rosenberg of Self-Esteem Scale to measure self-esteem, and perception on baby dumping behavior questionnaire to measure the dependent variable. Results showed that self-esteem correlates with perception on baby dumping behavior. In fact, the results also showed teacher interaction are not correlated with perception on baby dumping behavior among secondary school students from various ethnic groups in Sabah. Besides, there was no significant difference in the perception on baby dumping behavior among ethnic group students. Implications of the study were discussed

Sokongan sosial dalam kalangan pelajar kaunseling di Malaysia

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau tahap sokongan sosial dalam kalangan pelajar kaunseling di tujuh buah universiti awam di Malaysia (N = 299). Dapatan kajian menunjukkan skor min sokongan sosial pelajar kaunseling adalah tinggi iaitu 5.34 (SP = 1.41). Sokongan sosial daripada aspek keluarga menunjukkan skor yang lebih tinggi berbanding dengan aspek rakan-rakan dan aspek orang yang signifikan. Pernyataan yang paling dipersetujui oleh peserta dalam aspek sokongan sosial adalah item 3 “Keluarga saya benar-benar cuba membantu saya,” disetujui oleh 41.8% peserta. Manakala pernyataan kedua yang paling dipersetujui ada dua iaitu, item 4 "Saya dapat bantuan emosi dan sokongan yang saya perlukan daripada keluarga saya," dan item 11 "Keluarga saya bersedia membantu saya dalam membuat keputusan,' ditanda oleh 35.1% orang peserta. Ini menunjukkan sokongan dari keluarga merupakan sokongan sosial utama pelajar kaunseling di Malaysia. Sokongan sosial daripada ahli keluarga adalah sumber yang sentiasa menyediakan bantuan semasa krisis. Bagi perbezaan sokongan sosial antara jantina pula, dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan sokongan sosial antara jantina t(297)= 2.42, p>.05. Dapatan ini menunjukkan kedua-dua jantina adalah sama dalam sokongan sosial semasa Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan. Dapatan-dapatan kajian ini diharapkan boleh membantu pihakpihak yang berkenaan seperti penggubal dasar pendidikan atau pihak institusi pengajian tinggi untuk menyediakan program-program yang bersesuaian bagi menjalinkan hubungan sokongan sosial terutamanya dari segi keluarga. Ini kerana kajian ini menunjukkan aspek keluarga merupakan aspek yang paling penting dalam sokongan sosial pelajar

Peningkatan kualiti diri melalui intervensi interpersonal (Improving Self Qualities Through Interpersonal Intervention)

The study aimed to identify whether social emotional intelligence training can increase the level of interpersonal. This quasi-experimental study used self evaluation report that was given during the pre and post tests after 14 weeks of training. Each training was 2 hours each week. Second year students of Psychology at Universiti Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. 19 students were selected into the expeimental group and received an intervention, while 22 students were selected for the control group. The selection of participants was based on students who had low scores for social emotional intelligence using the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) that consists of 133 items, divided into 5 components and 15 subscales. Pre test was given at the starting of the semester to get the basic scores and comparisons for the outcome after the participants received training using the ‘Modul Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial’ which was developed by the researchers. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney analyses were used to examine the difference between pre and post social emotional intelligence training within and between groups. The results showed that social emotional intelligence interpersonal skills increased after training in the treatment group. The comparison between the control group and the treatment group showed that there was a significant difference. In conclusion, social emotional intelligence training (interpersonal) has a positive effect on participants in the treatment group

Tv commercials and choice of food among children in Sabah, Malaysia

This study examines the relationships between television (TV) advertising and patterns of food choice among children. This relationship is crucial in understanding the intricate interplay among several interrelated variables such as TV viewing, preference for certain foods and the problem of obesity. Specifically, the study investigates the degree of recognition of adverts and patterns of food choice among lean, overweight and obese children. This study uses an experimental test, but the assessment of the effects of advertisements was undertaken through questionnaires. There were 50 participants involved in the experiment. The outcomes of the study indicate that TV advertisements make a substantial contribution to what food a child chooses. Although there were some variations in terms of responses between age groups and gender, generally, children seemed likely to choose fast foods after treatment. Further analyses were performed which revealed that media, particularly TV advertising, appear to contribute significantly in terms of influencing children to choose fast food, followed by taste. The study also seems to suggest that there is a strong correlation between the weight of a child and food choice. In short, children who were inclined to choose fast foods tended to be overweight or obese

Isu sosioemosi dalam kalangan pelajar sekolah rendah di negeri Sabah

This study aims to identify socio-emotional issues that often exist among primary school students, especially in the state of Sabah. The respondents involved were a total of 580 people consisting of teachers in several schools from all over Sabah. Respondents as class teachers are required to evaluate and identify socio-emotional issues that often occur among students based on the questionnaire provided. After analysis, the results showed that the majority of 59.8% or 347 respondents have chosen the answer that shows that various socio-emotional issues exist simultaneously at one time. The issues identified have involved more than one pair of issues for a class that has been assessed by the respondents. Next, 16.9% of respondents chose the issue of “emotional behavior disorder”, 8.8% of respondents chose the issue of “changes in the family (divorce, separation)”, 6.2% chose the answer of “being alone with peers”, and 4% chose the issue of “bullying”. The issue of "autism" was realized by 1% of respondents, while 0.7% reported that there was an issue of "death among family members" of their students which caused the socio-emotional level of the students involved. The remaining 2.6% of respondents were aware that all the issues suggested in the answers had been experienced by their students. It is hoped that this study can be used as a guide to understanding more specifically the conflicts that are often experienced by children who are in early school life