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

Emerging math-related critical thinking theory in civil engineering practice

Engaging critical thinking and mathematical thinking as a two-dimensional perspective in civil engineering practice is consistent with engineering criteria of the Engineering Accreditation Council, Board of Engineers Malaysia. Thus, it is timely and crucial to inculcate critical thinking and mathematical thinking into the current engineering education. Unfortunately, information about the interrelation between these two types of thinking in real engineering practice is not well established in literature. Therefore, this thesis presents an empirical research using a modified grounded theory approach which studied critical thinking and mathematical thinking in real-world engineering practice. The study focused on developing a substantive theory pertaining to these two types of thinking. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with eight practicing civil engineers from two engineering consultancy firms. Multiple levels of data analysis comprising open coding, axial coding and selective coding were used. The emerging theory, Math-Related Critical Thinking consists of six essential processes of justifying decision reasonably in engineering design process, namely complying requirements, forming conjectures/assumptions, drawing reasonable conclusion, defending claims with good reasons, giving alternative ways/solutions and selecting/pursuing the right approach. The theory explains the interrelation and interaction among the pertinent elements through the process of justifying decision reasonably in dominating orientation. The study contributes useful information in the form of a substantive theory for engineering education, which is aligned with the expectations of engineering program outcomes set by the Engineering Accreditation Council

Improving polytechnic students’ high-order-thinking-skills through inquiry-based learning in mathematics classroom

Mathematics is one of the most emphasized subjects and has grown immensely to provide a strong base for programs in science, engineering and technology. Training students in this field will give them the opportunity to improve their high order thinking skills (HOTS). But the students’ HOTS level is at low stage due to the learning approaches employed in classrooms. As a result, the study aimed at looking into the effect of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in improving polytechnic students’ level of HOTS. Quasi-experimental design was used in this study involving two sampled National Diploma II classes. There were 73 students participated in this study (36 students for experimental group and 37 students for control group). HOTS questions and worksheets based on IBL are the instruments used for this study. At the α=0.05 (p=0.000) level of significance, the results of the independent-sample t-test revealed a significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the experimental group and the control group. Moreover, the students’ overall HOTS level was discovered to be (applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) improving through this approach. In conclusion, IBL can have a positive effect on the HOTS of polytechnic students in mathematics classroom

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

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

Primary School Teachers’ Identity in Mathematics: The Aspect of Specialist Teaching and Learning

Background: Identity is closely related to the professional development of teachers in teaching and learning. Teachers of primary school do not have only one identity, because they work as class teachers. Mathematics is one of the school subjects taught, so that primary school teachers also have a mathematical identity in the teaching and learning that they do. Objectives: This study aims to explain the teaching and learning aspects of primary school teachers, as seen from their mathematical identity. Design: This type of research was qualitative by employing an explanatory approach. Setting and Participants: Forty-six teachers who concluded the Primary Teacher Education, who work as in-service teachers at a primary school in Tarakan city, grouped into three types: turning point, failing, and roller coaster. Data collection and analysis: The data collection used an open question questionnaire, and the data reduction process took into account the type of teacher and mathematical identity. In-depth interviews with six primary school teachers representing types were conducted as a triangulation process. Results: Based on the mathematics identity of the teacher, there are three findings in implementing teaching and learning, specifically: (a) hesitation in mathematics knowledge (b) teaching mathematics because it is fun versus it is part of the duty of primary school teachers, and (c) support for teaching mathematics. Conclusions: We suggest that a teacher professional development strategy based on mathematics learning is needed, such as group learning activities, especially mathematics. Further research is needed to see the identity of primary school teachers in classroom practices and their changes

Primary school teachers’ identity in mathematics: the aspect of specialist teaching and learning

Background: identity is closely related to the professional development of teachers in teaching and learning. Teachers of primary school do not have only one identity, because they work as class teachers. Mathematics is one of the school subjects taught, so that primary school teachers also have a mathematical identity in the teaching and learning that they do. Objectives: this study aims to explain the teaching and learning aspects of primary school teachers, as seen from their mathematical identity. Design: this type of research was qualitative by employing an explanatory approach. Setting and participants: forty-six teachers who concluded the primary teacher education, who work as in-service teachers at a primary school in tarakan city, grouped into three types: turning point, failing, and roller coaster. Data collection and analysis: the data collection used an open question questionnaire, and the data reduction process took into account the type of teacher and mathematical identity. Indepth interviews with six primary school teachers representing types were conducted as a triangulation process. Results: based on the mathematics identity of the teacher, there are three findings in implementing teaching and learning, specifically: (a) hesitation in mathematics knowledge (b) teaching mathematics because it is fun versus it is part of the duty of primary school teachers, and (c) support for teaching mathematics. Conclusions: we suggest that a teacher professional development strategy based on mathematics learning is needed, such as group learning activities, especially mathematics. Further research is needed to see the identity of primary school teachers in classroom practices and their changes

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 design and development of a learning strategy to enhance students' engagement in simultaneous equations: an evaluation viewpoint

In the 21st century, teaching and learning mathematics courses witness significant expansion and development of technology use, which creates a shift from teacher-centred to student-centred learning engagement. Student engagement (SE) faces many challenges of poor performance and student difficulty in solving simultaneous equations involving indices (SEII), among others. This paper presents an evaluation viewpoint of the learning strategy (LS) with cooperative learning strategy (CLS) and GeoGebra (GG) integration to support SE in SEII. The LS employs the think-pair-share approach and the six (6) principles of learning phases associated with constructivism ideology. The discussion of the preliminary mathematical achievement test (MAT-test) from pre-and post-tests with 41 students who have learned SEII using the developed LS is also presented. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three experienced lecturers to provide feedback and recommendations on interacting with LS. The themes that emerge from those lecturers include the connection between LS phases, specific material, cooperative activity, playfulness in the discovery process, and thinking. Experts’ feedback on the LS’s content reasoning and content learning strategy through a questionnaire was tested using Fleiss multi-rater Kappa and showed good inter-rater reliability and agreement between them. The estimated marginal means covariate of the ANCOVA test was then examined, and the results supported the necessity for a learning strategy to be developed. The findings revealed that the LS, with CLS and GG integration, has the potential to be educationally effective in enhancing SE in SEIIPeer Reviewe