Students' perceptions of the use of asynchronous discussion forums, quizzes, and uploaded resources

This research inspects students’ perceptions of the utilisation of asynchronous discussion forums, quizzes, and uploaded resources in platform CIDOS LMS among polytechnic students. There has been an expansion in the utilisation of LMS in many levels of education in polytechnic institutions. CIDOS LMS has variety tools examples assignments, video, scorm, and tutorial. Purposive sampling was used to choose the research participants for this study. The participants consisted of 60 diploma students from Polytechnic Sultan Ibrahim who are enrolled in a Mathematics course. The Cronbach’s alpha of the instruments is 0.899. The questionnaire was divided into four categories. The categories addressed students’ perceptions of CIDOS LMS tools, namely the discussion forums, quizzes, and the utilisation of uploaded resources. Likert scale rated from strongly disagree to strongly agree. All the data were analysed using IBM Statistical to obtain the percentages, frequencies, means, standard deviations, independent sample t-test, and Pearson correlation. The results of this study show that the practice of CIDOS LMS among engineering students at Polytechnic Sultan Ibrahim is at a high level during the learning process. Further research would explore the educators’ need to figure out the best ways in CIDOS LMS to engage students as the millennial generation continues to dominate the workforce

Critical thinking dispositions among polytechnic students: why does it matter?

This study explored the critical thinking dispositions of polytechnic students. The study was conducted in the northern zone of Malaysia on 194 polytechnic students from the Departments of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Data were collected using the Engagement, Maturity, and Innovativeness (EMI) critical thinking disposition assessment. Then, the data was analysed using the SPSS version 21 software. Analysis of data comprised of descriptive statistics (percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (one-way analysis of variance, independent sample t-test, and Pearson’s correlation). The study points to no significant relation between gender and department. Further analysis showed that there is a strong relationship between CGPA and critical thinking disposition. Therefore, there is a need among students for special assistance in cultivating their critical thinking dispositions from the aspects of engagement and maturity

The influence of e-learning towards metacognitive enhancement in mathematical problem solving

This research aims to observe the influence of e-learning on metacognitive enhancement in mathematical problem-solving. The e-learning environment would encourage students to play more active roles in their learning. This research involves the students of Mechanical Engineering Department enrolled in the subject of Engineering Mathematics 4. It was found that the elearning method gives positive impacts on students' learning process. Therefore, it is suggested for educators to apply this method in their teaching. This is a suitable approach for students to be involved actively during their learning process. The lecturers should be more creative and innovative to vary their elearning to be lively, interesting, suitable, challenging while being in line with the students' cognitive development to provide comprehensible input

Design and development of critical thinking learning strategy in integral calculus

Difficulty in understanding problem solving is due to the absence of critical thinking. Students lack knowledge in assessing critical thinking during problem solving. Hence, there is a need to study critical thinking infused through a learning strategy to enhance problem solving. Critical thinking (CThink) is a learning strategy designed which combines critical thinking and Integral Calculus. The development process of CThink combines the critical thinking process and questioning for critical thinking using the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) model. In the learning strategy, questions were applied based on CThink processes which consist of interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation. Besides, different questioning for CThink is presented based on the critical thinking process. CThink has achieved a content validity of 94.12% with a coefficient value of 0.94, and the value is above 70% or 0.70. Based on the result, the contents in the CThink are considered of good validity. From the calculation of the percentage from the expert given score, CThink has achieved the validity measurement for the language of 97.50% with a coefficient value of validity is 0.975, which is above 70 or 0.70. Based on the result, the activities and syllabus used in CThink achieved good validity measurements. The experts concluded that this CThink meets the content of Integral Calculus, in line with the level of polytechnic students, allowing students to think critically to solve problems as well as activities in CThink help to enhance student problem solving

Validation of Mathematics Test to Assess Polytechnic Students’ Problem Solving

Mathematics education and problem-solving are inseparable due to the significance of solving problems with educational implications. This study aims to describe the process of developing and validating a test that measures problem-solving skills in Integral Calculus. This study is done to identify traces of the intended strategy in the answers, style, and quality of the student's responses. Data collection techniques were carried out through mathematical tests using problem-solving questions. The difficulty index, discrimination index, and reliability were calculated to analyze the data for each problem-solving instrument. Based on expert reviews, evaluations, and data analysis tests, five valid problem-solving instrument items with a discrimination index greater than 0.30 and Cronbach's alpha reliability greater than 0.60 have been developed. Therefore, it can be concluded that the developed maths test questions can enhance the problem-solving skills of Ibrahim Sultan Polytechnic students

Community structure of trees in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia

A study on community structure of trees >1cm Dbh was conducted in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR), Puchong Selangor, Malaysia. AHFR is one of the three remaining forests left in the Klang Valley and it is the only logged-over lowland Dipterocarp forest in urban settings. The aim of this study was to describe the tree community structure through structural attributes which are stem density, basal area (BA), aboveground biomass (AGB) and height distribution. A total of 7359 stem ha-130.57 m2 ha-1 (BA) and 232.7 t ha-1 (AGB) were estimated for 1-ha. The most abundant species for Dipterocarpaceae and Non-Dipterocarpaceae were Hopea sulcata Symington and Agrostistachys longifolia (Wight) Benth. (Euphorbiaceae), respectively. This study shows that AHFR is recovering but slowly and has good regeneration potential

Assessing critical thinking skills in polytechnic

The level of critical thinking skills and its relationship to CGPA is investigated in this study. 80 men and 21 women from two engineering department at Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan participating in this investigation. This research utilized The Malaysian Critical Thinking Skills Instrument-MyCT which consists of 60 items. Data analysis were performed using SPSS 22.0 for descriptive and inferential statistics. Comparative findings across studies revealed that the critical thinking level of engineering students at Polytechnic Ibrahim Sultan was intermediate (47.42%). The Mann-Whitney U test determines the variables between four categories in critical thinking skills and obtained no significant differences. The correlation of commuting between critical thinking skills as calculated with Spearman's rho is not statistically significant. There was a negative weak correlation for analytical and logical (r=-0.098). Analysis of the computed findings revealed that the critical thinking is at a moderate level but weak in analytical and logical and disposition skills. In conclusion, lecturers must be more sensitive to this phenomenon, in which the emphasis on analytical and logical and disposition are important in teaching and learning

Establishment of a 10-ha permanent plot in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor

Generally, the establishment of permanent plots is for obtaining long-term data on plant diversity, forest dynamics and demography of species. A 10-ha permanent plot in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR) was established to meet these purposes. Completed in October 2012, the plot establishment started with site selection, boundary marking and assignment of quadrat numbers following standard procedures and protocols. Gathering of the plant inventory involved tree measurements, tagging, marking, mapping and sample collection

The Influence of E-Learning towards Metacognitive Enhancement in Mathematical Problem Solving

This research aims to observe the influence of e-learning on metacognitive enhancement in mathematical problem-solving. The e-learning environment would encourage students to play more active roles in their learning. This research involves the students of Mechanical Engineering Department enrolled in the subject of Engineering Mathematics 4. It was found that the e-learning method gives positive impacts on students’ learning process. Therefore, it is suggested for educators to apply this method in their teaching. This is a suitable approach for students to be involved actively during their learning process. The lecturers should be more creative and innovative to vary their e-learning to be lively, interesting, suitable, challenging while being in line with the students’ cognitive development to provide comprehensible input