A mixed-method analysis on students’ critical thinking and problem solving skill development in Malaysian public universities

Employers nowadays are looking for potential fresh graduates who are able to think outside the box, so that they can produce with quality works. However, they are failed to do so and this situation result in high unemployment rate among graduates, mainly in Malaysia. With this concern, this paper aims to examine students’ critical thinking and problem solving skill development after undergoing an industrial training. Further investigation also examines relationship of the skill development with respect to supervisors’ leadership styles. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed, with three hypotheses were tested. A total of 2,000 undergraduate students from six public universities in Malaysia involved in pre- and post-training surveys. In assessing students’ critical thinking and problem solving skill, eleven items in Belbin inventory on Thinking role was used. Meanwhile, nine employers and twelve students were participated in the interviews and they were asked regarding their perception of industrial training in assisting the development of critical thinking and problem solving skill. Descriptive analysis (such as mean), paired samples t-test, correlation and content analysis were utilized for the data analysis. Overall, results reveal that students developed in their critical thinking and problem solving skill upon completion of the industrial training. The results also demonstrate that there is a relationship between transformational leadership style the skill development. The findings of this study provide the necessity for industrial training stakeholders to improve industrial training program, mainly by implementing appropriate leadership style

Ethics of undergraduate students: a study in Malaysian public universities

This paper aims to determine the ethics of undergraduate students in four aspects of moral processes; awareness, judgement, intention and behaviour. It further explores the impact of gender and academic disciplines on these four moral processes. A total of 2000 undergraduate students from six public universities in Malaysia involved in this study. Data were collected through survey consists of 14 ethical statements developed based on previous studies. Descriptive analysis (such as mean), t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed for the data analysis. Overall, results reveal that student’s ethical level was mixed. The results also demonstrate that engineering students have low level of ethics, as compared to social science and science students. In terms of gender differences, female students appear to have higher level of ethics than their male counterparts. The findings of this study provide some educational and theoretical implications

Caturan politik pelbagai kaum di Tanah Melayu 1946-1957

Political cooperation between the different races in the Malay Peninsula started in a period following the Second World War. Given the existing challenges of that time, some had succeeded and some had come to a dead end. The Malays‟ political maturity and openness started with the joint cooperation of Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (PUTERA) with THE All Malayan Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) in 1947. This political tolerance succeeded in giving birth to the People‟s Constitution. However, it was promptly rejected by the British as it was put forward by radical group. Thereafter, another political cooperation, this time of the moderate parties, involving the United Malayan National Organization (UMNO) and Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) gave birth to what is famously called PERIKATAN in 1949. In the run-up to the Independence, there was another failed effort at political cooperation among the radical groups, known as SOCIALIST FRONT. Eventually, the political cooperation managed to prove to the British that the Malays and non-Malays can exist together and politically cooperate in order to fulfill their common aspiration of achieving independence. Thus, this article will explore the early history of multi-racial political cooperation and tolerance in Tanah Melayu

Striving to capture the state : official ulema in Indonesia and Malaysia

This study examines the religious and political behaviour of Indonesian and Malaysian official ulema vis-a-vis their respective states. Official ulema are those Islamic religious scholars who serve in state-sponsored institutions. In Indonesia, the main official ulema institution is the MUI (Ulama Council of Indonesia); but for Malaysia, official ulema function in at least one of the following institutions: the JKF-MKI (National Fatwa Committee); JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia); and IKIM (Malaysian Institute for Islamic Understanding). The study looks at the state-ulema power dynamic, in particular, two processes. The first is "co-optation," which refers to states' attempts to neutralise ulema's influence. States invite ulema to participate in the religious bureaucracy and support their ideology and policies in return for rewards, status and recognition. The second is "capture," which refers to ulema capitalising on their position in state institutions to strengthen their authority, to gain access to important political and economic networks, to lobby their personal or groups' agenda, and to push through agendas that are not necessarily those of the state which co-opted them. There are two central questions in this study. First, as the Indonesian and Malaysia states strive to co-opt official ulema, in what ways have official ulema managed to capture parts of their respective states? Second, has the increase in political competition since the 1997 Asian financial crisis led to stronger or weaker capture by official ulema in both countries? In answering these questions, I engage with existing writings on Indonesian and Malaysian official ulema. These works have made two broad generalisations. First, official ulema are becoming more conservative and Islamist compared to their behaviour in the past. Second, they had been co-opted by the state during the authoritarian rules of Suharto and Mahathir, but MUI has been more assertive and powerful vis-a-vis their respective states in the competitive political environments after 1997. I argue that Suharto's and Mahathir's co-optation strategies shaped contemporary official ulema capture objectives. During the New Order period, MUI's role was limited to issuing fatwas and explaining national policies to the masses, and doing strictly what the government wanted. Since 1997, MUI wanted Indonesian laws to recognise its role in Islamic economics, halal certification, and public morality. In contrast, since the 1980s, the Mahathir government has entrusted Malaysian official ulema with these roles. The ulema had much wider scope for action and influence right from the start. However, since the Abdullah Badawi government (2003-2009) came to power, they have claimed exclusive rights to interpret the state's ideology; appeal for the right to define Islam; and seek to fulfil other material interests. I also contend that the Malaysian official ulema's capture of the state has proceeded much further than that of their Indonesian counterparts. Three modalities explain Malaysian ulema's relative success: they have a clear institutional role, a coherent ideology, and organisational unity. The absence of these factors in MUI-a reflection of its organisational fragmentation-impeded its capture of the state

Niyazi Bey, 'çalıştı, hak etti'

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 112-Lokantalarİstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (TR10/14/YEN/0033) İstanbul Development Agency (TR10/14/YEN/0033

Users’ perception on difference richness level of corporate social responsibility disclosure: Trust and attitude perspectives

The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of trust and attitude on organizational image at different levels of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) information richness. In this study, trust is divided into three categories; trusting belief, trusting intention and emotional trust. On the other hand, attitude is divided into two categories, namely attitude towards website and attitude towards information. This study used mixed methodology; experimental and survey. 241 students from a public university in Malaysia were selected as respondents that represented the consumers in this study. The respondents were divided into two groups based on the level of richness; rich presentation and lean presentation of CSR information on the website. Path least square multiple regressions were used to analyze data. The results revealed that trusting belief and emotional trust are the antecedents in determining organizational image. The impacts of media richness on trust factors are mixed. The rich CSR information presentation has a significant influence on trusting belief and lean presentation has a strong influence on emotional trust. The result also showed that the attitude towards website and information are the determinant factors for organizational image. Further analysis disclosed that attitude towards website has a significant effect on organizational image in both levels of richness. Attitude towards information has a significant effect on organization image only in the lean presentation of CSR disclosure. The outcome of this study provides additional insights to business managers on potential investments in CSR communication in the scope of website disclosure.. For academicians, this study extends the visual disclosure literature that potentially manipulates users’ perception of the organizatio

Pendidikan Sebagai Institusi Sosial

: Education and society cannot be separated; education takes place in society while the existence and the quality of society's life were determined by the level of education experienced. As a social institution, education grows and develops in society without knowing the level of culture, whether in traditional or modern society. Along with the development of society, raise also a demand to agencies and social institutions, a set of norms that revolve around a basic need in people's lives, including education. Thus, educational institutions are born as social institutions, from kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, and higher education