Ranking Competencies for Software Developers in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to prioritize/rank 12 existing software developer competencies and to find the pattern correlation among these competencies. A survey was designed to elicit responses from a target group (N=350) of software developers, system analysts, lecturers in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), ICT managers and others related to software industry (e.g. information technologist, software architect, computer technicians) in 14 organizations in Thailand. The return rate was 80.57% or 282 out of 350. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Factor analysis was used to identify correlations among the 12 competencies. The 12 competencies were previously identified in a study of competencies for software developers in Thailand. The ranking was as follows: expertise; teamwork; logical thinking; system thinking; relation and communication; creative thinking; achievement; future thinking; emotion and ethic; flexibility; service mind; leadership and influence. In terms of correlations Future Thinking; System Thinking Relation & Communication; Teamwork are correlated. The second set of correlated factors are as follows: Leadership & Influence; Expertise; Emotion & Ethic; Flexibility. This research was limited to an investigation of competencies for software developers in Thailand only

The Development and Evaluation of a Computer Instruction Package Using Multimedia for Teaching about Musical Instruments in Elementary School in Thailand

In this paper, the authors present a study aimed at developing and evaluating a self-learning Computer Instruction Package CIP with multimedia. The evaluation focused on the quality of the multimedia, learning effectiveness as well as on students‘ satisfaction. The CIP was designed for the teaching of musical instruments to students in grades 4 and 5 in Thailand. The sample group consisted of 40 students randomly selected from grades 4 and 5 at a public school in Bangkok, Thailand. The CIP development process included five main steps: content analysis; instructional design; prototyping; implementation and; evaluation. The CIP‘s quality was evaluated by three multimedia and CIP experts. Results revealed that the quality of CIP was at a good level. Pre and post testing revealed that the CIP could help improve the students‘ learning effectiveness up to 66.67%. The CIP evaluation conducted with students revealed a high level of satisfaction. The style of narration presented along with images of the musical instruments encouraged students‘ interactivity with the package

Learning to Teach Spoken Mandarin toward High-school Students through Technology-based Affective Learning Designs

Technology provides occasions for language learners to engage in authentic communication with native speakers around the world. However, in order for such language learning to be successful, it must take into account learners’ affective or emotional needs. Traditional approaches to language learning have neglected the affective domain. This study reports on the creation and verification of the learning framework. This framework relies on a case study in which pre-service Chinese language teachers use and apply technology to learn how to develop their future Mandarin as a foreign language speaking skills using affective learning strategies. Participants were 30 pre-service Chinese language teachers high-school teachers of spoken Mandarin in a ten-week teaching with technology course. Results showed that the learning framework for affective language learning included six processes, including 1) Remembering, 2) Understanding, 3) Applying, 4) Analyzing, 5) Creating, and 6) Evaluating. In addition, results indicated that the pre-service teachers used the affective strategies in terms of low anxiety and high motivation to design the website the most. The current research suggests the need for applying technology to learn how to develop future students’ Mandarin as a foreign language speaking skill using affective learning strategies