Lecture-Centred or Student-Centered: A Case Study in a Public University

This study is aimed to investigate the current practice of teaching methods among lecturers in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. A total of 357 lecturers participated in this study. The result showed that the general practice was influenced by lecturer’s field and years of teaching experience, not gender, qualification and designation. Comparing the specific teaching methods applied in three fields, it found that lecturers in science and technology used lecture and discussion much more frequently than those from engineering and social science. Among the six specific teaching methods, discussion and lecture were the most frequently used teaching method, which is scored significantly higher than the other four teaching methods. However, an interesting finding was reported  when  lecturers were asked to rate their preference in the six specific teaching methods.  Lecture was rated at the lowest level of preference but it was reported as one of the most frequently used teaching method. It may imply the changes on lecturers’ perspectives. Discussion method obtained the highest preference score, which is also applied frequently in current teaching practice. Keywords: general teaching practice, teaching method, lecture

Re-examining personal practical knowledge of teaching as university teacher’s self muhasabah: a story from a doctoral journey

In this narrative account of my doctoral journey, I share my story of how I re-examined my personal practical knowledge of teaching in higher education. The research journey took me back to my familiar educational landscape, during which I conducted my fieldwork. It was the time when I was a narrative inquirer, one who embraced the dual role of a critically reflective teacher/lecturer (Brookfield, 1995) and a reflexive researcher (Etherington, 2004). The opportunity to revisit my practice and unpack my teaching with a pair of new eyes had allowed me to confront and challenge my habitual frames of reference and taken-for-granted assumptions (Mezirow, 1997; 2000) about teaching and learning. These were indeed the roots of my puzzle of practice (Russell & Munby, 1991). At the end of my research journey, insights from critical reflections on my personal and professional selves led me to revisit the traditional concept of self muhasabah, in relation to my teaching professionalism. By sharing these episodes from my doctoral journey, I hope to highlight the relevancy of critically reflective practice to self muhasabah in the context of teacher professional development. My learning experience is also an exemplary story that accentuates how such complementary nature of these two concepts can be practically applied in any given educational settings as a mechanism for personal growth and continuing professional development (CPD) among teachers, educators and practitioner

Battling bad weather along the way: Meaning making in narrative inquiry and its challenges

This paper is a personal account on how I embrace reflexivity while making meaning of my experiences as a narrative inquirer. Revisiting my doctoral journey, I describe the stage when my research field texts were generated from the experiences throughout my four-month research fieldwork. I then illustrate the challenges I encountered while managing my data corpus after my fieldwork ended. The biggest obstacle was during the interpretive process when I attempted to make sense of these experiences, constructed into my research texts, while travelling in the directions of an inquiry: inward, outward, backward, forward and situated within place. It was the time when I fully submerged in my reflexivity and critical reflections, but at the same time had the difficulties to emerge from the depths of meaning making. Admittedly, I was drowned in my own confusions, self-doubt and dilemma while trying to understand the true meanings of my inquiry. The decision on re-storying such experiences was another overwhelming period at this particular stage. Metaphorically, it was the time during the journey when I sailed through a stormy sea – the going was rough and bumpy. The important lessons learned throughout these meaning making experience are also accentuated towards the end of the narration

Who am I in my story of teaching?: Confronting puzzle of practice through narrative inquiry

This paper showcases an episode during which I embraced my inquirer self as an attempt to confront my puzzle of practice that had long became the basis of my uncertainty towards my own teaching. Chronologically, the paper is of seven parts. The first part depicts my initial intention of revisiting my teaching practice as means of unpacking my frames of reference that were the basis of my puzzle of practice. Part two describes how I employed narrative inquiry as my main research design, while incorporating the elements of self-study and autoethnography that served as the powerful mechanism for my research. Two main field texts were gathered during this particular phase of my fieldwork: my teaching/research journal and my students’ learning journals that were analysed and transformed into research texts. The next three parts of this paper illustrate how I re-story the time when I re-experienced my teaching and critically re-examined my teaching approach and strategies with the help of my students’ feedback in seeing my practice through a different lens. These parts also accentuate the struggle I faced with in my effort to transform my teaching practice - from a “teacher-focused strategy” or a “teacher-directed”, into one that promoted “student-centred” learning approach. In part six of this paper, I attempt to answer the question of “Who am I in my story of teaching?” by reflecting on the three main lessons learned throughout my research journey. Finally, in hindsight, it came to my knowledge that in searching the possible answer to my puzzle of practice, what I needed most is to continuously make my frames of reference more open, reflective, and emotionally able to change

Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL): how does it perceive by engineering lecturers?

Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) refers to an active, conscious and continuous act of research in teaching by lecturers with specific aims to share it with other fellow lecturers later on through scholarly writing or publication. It is proposed that SoTL is fundamental to improve the teaching practice of lecturers which will influence students’ learning. SoTL is highly contextualised because it involves the culture of disciplines in which it is applied. Therefore, it is important to investigate the conceptions of SoTL that lecturers held in which it might influence their effort in engaging in any activity related to SoTL such as research in teaching which can be done through action research. Findings from a study showed that unfamiliarity with the concept of SoTL by lecturers might lead to their indifference attitude toward the practice of SoTL. Therefore, this study aims to examine the conceptions and practice in SoTL in various institutions of higher education in Malaysia especially in the scientific and technological based faculties. This article describes a study using a case study approach in which two lecturers from an engineering faculty will be selected as the respondents. Purposive sampling will be used as sampling design to investigate the conceptions and practice of teaching and learning that Malaysian lecturers held in which it might influence their effort and engagement in any activity related to the SoTL such as by two lecturers of a scientific and technological based faculty i.e. engineering faculty. They will be selected based on the different experiences that they have in teaching and also working in the industry. For data analysis, the researchers will use thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data. The findings of this study might uncover the perceived importance of the practice of teaching and learning that Malaysian lecturers held in which it might influence their efforts and engagements in any activity related to SoTL such as by two engineering lecturers. In addition, the findings of this study will be used to prompt future research in which the emerging themes could be used as constructs in constructing questionnaire items that explore the practice of teaching and learning that Malaysian lecturers held in which it might influence their efforts and engagements in any activity related to the SoTL such as using quantitative method

A single case study on the practice of scholarship of teaching and learning

This study examines the conception and importance of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) as perceived by a lecturer teaching in an engineering faculty in a local university in Malaysia. A case study was used to explore the way SoTL is understood and the extent the participant engages in research in teaching. Typical case sampling was used as sampling design to investigate the conception and practice of research in teaching and learning which might influence the effort and engagement in any activity related to the SoTL by lecturer. The qualitative finding showed that the importance of SoTL is undervalued due to lack of understanding of SoTL and its importance to students’ learning and development. SoTL is perceived as less important as compared to conducting research related to one expertise. SoTL is also regarded as a distinctive form of research that is commonly involved academics in social science fields especially education. It was also found that the pedagogical practice of the respondent is adopted from the pedagogical practice of his lecturers and senior faculty members that serve as his mentors. Even though the pedagogy of a discipline is related to its content knowledge, yet from this study, it was found that the respondent perceives that as long as one posseses the mastery of the content knowledge, one will have the mastery of the pedagogical knowledge. This assumption indirectly undermines the importance of pedagogical knowledge to be mastered as compared to the content knowledge. Based on the findings of this study, it further actions are suggested be taken into consideration to enhance the engagement of lecturers from scientific and technical based faculties in the scholarship of teaching and learning to enhance their teaching practice and their students’ learning

Resolving Gender Difference in Problem Solving Based On the Analysis of Electroencephalogram (EEG) Signals

Problem solving is regarded as one of the core work-related abilities and skills, which are highly demanded by the workplace and industry. Current literature suggests that problem solving abilities might differ from one individual to another due to biological factors such as brain activationa, cognitive functions and hormones, as well as due to socio-cultural and socio-economic factors like gender roles, self-perceptions and stereotyping. Hence, this study used electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to investigate the differences in problem solving skills among the Malaysian undergraduates based on their gender differences. 29 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) served as the subjects of the experiments in this research. Specifically, 16 female and 13 male subjects engaged in two main problem-solving tasks: mental arithmetic task and Tower of Hanoi (TOH) task. The EEG data were analysed using partial directed coherence (PDC) and power spectrum estimation (PSE). Based on the results, female subjects achieved only 1% higher performance in mental arithmetic task, while male subjects achieved about 13% higher performance in TOH task. The differences in terms of the functional connectivity between brain regions, i.e. in PDC, as well as the power distribution of 6 EEG waveforms, i.e. delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma and high gamma bands are also highlighted and represented graphically in this paper

A study of emotional intelligence among Malaysian medical students in a public university in Egypt

This research was conducted to explore the emotional intelligence among final year Malaysian medical students in one of the universities in Egypt. Emotional intelligence is often being associated with one’s selfefficacy, emotionality, interpersonal skills, empathic skills. This research was conducted by using qualitative method. Narrative research design was used to gather data from the respondents. Four respondents were chosen by using purposive random sampling. The objective of this study was to explore students’ EI related to self-efficacy and emotionality of final year Malaysian medical students as they were preparing themselves for professional exam before being placed in Malaysian public hospitals to complete their housemanship. A semi-structured interview questions were developed and validated before interview sessions were conducted. Content analysis was used to analyse the data obtained from this study. The results were then presented in an inductive content analysis approach. The findings of this study suggested that one’s emotional intelligence would affect one’s career-decision making and coping behaviour during emotional distress

The practice of entrepreneurship education in a Malaysian higher education institution: a single case study

This study assessed the practice of entrepreneurship education in a Malaysian higher education institution (HEI). The teaching methods adopted by lecturers are integral in enhancing the quality of entrepreneurship education in Malaysia. As such, a single case study design was employed, in which a lecturer served as the purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview was conducted to generate qualitative data. Drawing on Arasti’s et al., [1] teaching methods in entrepreneurship education, concept-driven thematic analysis was performed. The study outcomes may serve as reference and guidance to other academicians and stakeholders. This study is an effort to intensify interest among students towards entrepreneurship and is an excellent platform to embrace the idea of self-employment as an entrepreneur upon graduation

Entering university experience and selfregulated learning among undergraduate students

The present research explored the experiences of students as they reflect about their transition from pre-university to university level. Moreover, self-regulation in studies that ensued as a consequence of university life was also explored. Five successful final-year undergraduate female students took part in a focus group discussion. A modified and limited version of grounded theory method was used to analyze the generated narrative. The participants reported that entering a university was quite a novel, challenging as well as exciting experience for them. They had to adapt their study strategies as per requirements. Focus on present and future goals helped regulate themselves to be on their successful educational track. Self monitoring and self reinforcement were found to be important aspects of self-regulation. Fears also played a role in self-regulated learning of students. The goals and fears of students were individualistic and collectivistic in type. Individualistic goals and fears were related to the personal life of the students' self, whereas collectivistic goals and fears were related to their family and societal milieu. The collectivistic aspect of self-regulated learning, found in this study, can be considered a new direction in the field which can be quite relevant to collectivistic cultures