Reconstructing Sustainable Outdoor Learning Environment in Malaysia from the Understanding of Natural School Design and Approaches in Indonesia

AbstractWith current development in the pedagogy of teaching and learning approaches in the world, not many studies have been done on outdoor learning in Malaysia. Most of the study was focusing on the development of curriculum and the delivery of knowledge but not many writing and approaches has been done to see outdoor learning as one of the alternative methods of learning in school design. This paper tries to briefly explain the philosophy and approaches of one of the alternative school in Indonesia which is the Natural school or Sekolah Alam which grow tremendously fast in Indonesia. With its unique methods and learning philosophy, this Toto Chan's style of learning has been considered one of the fastest growing alternative school in Indonesia. With its successful attempt in grooming unordinary children this school has proofed to be the most effective implementation of outdoor learning study methods in Indonesia. The discussion itself will consist of four (4) main parts First part will discuss on the current problem and situation in teaching and learning in Malaysia, while the second part will try to explore and review on the definition of outdoor learning with its importance and character in learning environment. The third part will focused on the lesson from Natural School approaches and philosophy of learning while the last part will do some analysis and comparison which result on the suggestion and recommendation for outdoor learning facilities design in Malaysia

Understanding the potential of modern community center as social architectural spaces in Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the classic examples of a multi-ethnic society. The country is proud of its multiracial culture which makes it a model for other countries. The ubiquitous community hall in the Malaysian landscape, as it stands now, has long passed its time of usefulness. These halls are labelled with names like dewan serbaguna, dewan orang ramai or even balai raya. But as it stands today, the community hall in our midst is nothing more than a large empty space used for games like badminton or ping pong and the occa-sional event. The changing modern Malaysian society demands more of this simple out-dated facility; there must be a place for the various ethnic groups to meet and fulfil modern needs such as family days, health checks, child’s play, music lessons and many more important uses This paper strives to identify and analyse some of the architectural problems in current community centres in Malaysia with the focus on the spatial aspects and space usage. It is expected that this paper can give a clear picture of the problems faced by Malaysian community centres with some considerations and a framework to develop a new scheme for community centre development in the future

Isu dan kepentingan dokumentasi serta klasifikasi dalam kajian, pendekatan dan interpretasi terhadap seni bina Islam moden di nusantara

Tujuan utama dari penulisan kertas kerja ini adalah untuk menjelaskan tentang kepentingan proses dokumentasi dan klasifikasi yang memberikan implikasi terhadap interpretasi dalam Seni Bina Islam Moden di Nusantara. Kajian ini sangat penting dalam usaha menentukan halatuju kajian terhadap Seni Bina Islam di Nusantara terhadap beberapa kajian sejenis yang telah dijalankan sebelum ini. Pembahasan ini juga penting bagi memahami dan menjelaskan permasalahan yang terjadi akibat kekurangan dokumentasi dan penelitian yang mendalam terhadap aspek nilai dan pemikiran dari Seni Bina Islam di Nusantara. Pembahasannya akan terbahagi kepada dua bahagian utama. Bahagian yang pertama akan membicarakan tentang kepentingan dokumentasi dan klasifikasi terhadap aspek pemikiran, idea-idea dan teori Seni Bina Islam manakala bahagian yang kedua akan membicarakan tentang isu dan masalah yang seringkali menjadi asas dalam proses dokumentasi dan klasifikasi dalam Seni Bina Islam Moden di Nusantara. Melalui kajian ini didapati bahawa satu kepentingan yang harus dilakukan terhadap proses dokumentasi dan klasifikasi bagi pembentukan kerangka teori dan falsafah Seni Bina Islam di Nusantara. Kajian ini juga mendapati beberapa isu dan masalah yang lahir daripada kekurangan dokumentasi dan klasifikasi teori dan falsafah seni Bina Islam di atas. Diharapkan kajian ini akan dapat memulakan sebuah sebuah dokumentasi dan analisis yang lebih lengkap dan menyeluruh terhadap Seni Bina Islam Moden di Nusantara secara umum dan Malaysia secara khusus

Conversion of glycerol to methanol over copper and nickel supported on HZSM-5 zeolite by hydrothermal process

The use of biodiesel nowadays is in highly demand and forecasted to increase steadily in the future. Due to the surplus of glycerol as the major by-product from biodiesel processing, it gain attention to convert glycerol to methanol such a renewable and biodegradable fuel. This study discussed on conversion of glycerol to methanol in a benign environment. The reaction was conducted using hydrothermal process with reaction temperature within 250-380°C, 60-90 min reaction time and various feed concentration. The hydrothermal stability has also been evaluated using modified catalyst. The catalyst used was HZSM-5 zeolites modified by impregnation of Cu and Ni metal. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The catalysts performances have been investigated for glycerol conversion and methanol yield. Under the reaction condition, higher Ni metal loaded was found to show higher methanol yield from glycerol conversion. This study was carried out on the effect of reaction temperature, reaction time and feed concentration where 16 experimental runs were conducted. CuNi-HZSM-5 catalyst was chosen for further tested to determine optimum condition on methanol yield. Optimization of methanol yield from glycerol via Response Surface Methodology (RSM) showed 0.0697 mole of methanol/mole of glycerol reacted was obtained at the optimum reaction temperature 302°C, 59.2 min reaction time and 41.7 wt. % of feed concentratio

Review on the community centre design in Malaysia : problems of object centre discourse and failure to address cultural context in modern community in Malaysia.

Malaysia is one of the classic examples of a multi-ethnic society. The country is proud of its multiracial culture which makes it a model for other countries. The ubiquitous community hall in the Malaysian landscape, as it stands now, has long passed its time of usefulness. These halls are labelled with names like dewan serbaguna, dewan orang ramai or even balai raya. But as it stands today, the community hall in our midst is nothing more than a large empty space used for games like badminton or ping pong and the occasional event. The changing modern Malaysian society demands more of this simple out-dated facility; there must be a place for the various ethnic groups to meet and fulfil modern needs such as family days, health checks, child's play, music lessons and many more important uses. This paper examines how such spaces can be redesigned to make them truly relevant to today's Malaysian Community

Authentic Assessments or Standardized Assessment New Attitude to Architecture Assessment

AbstractTo know about an educational system, we must look to its assessment procedures. Assessment is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where they are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. Assessment should not be seen separable from instruction, but also as a powerful tool for promoting deep learning activities. Assessment culture refers to educational evaluation practices that are compatible with current ideologies, social expectations, attitudes and values so the emergence of assessment cultures needs to be discussed with reference to current views on learning and education. The target of this paper is to understand whether same methods in architectural pedagogy can satisfy different learning styles, different backgrounds and cultures or not

Reconstructing Sustainable Outdoor Learning Environment in Malaysia from the Understanding of Natural School Design and Approaches in Indonesia

With current development in the pedagogy of teaching and learning approaches in the world, not many studies have been done on outdoor learning in Malaysia. Most of the study was focusing on the development of curriculum and the delivery of knowledge but not many writing and approaches has been done to see outdoor learning as one of the alternative methods of learning in school design. This paper tries to briefly explain the philosophy and approaches of one of the alternative school in Indonesia which is the Natural school or Sekolah Alam which grow tremendously fast in Indonesia. With its unique methods and learning philosophy, this Toto Chan’s style of learning has been considered one of the fastest growing alternative school in Indonesia. With its successful attempt in grooming unordinary children this school has proofed to be the most effective implementation of outdoor learning study methods in Indonesia. The discussion itself will consist of four (4) main parts First part will discuss on the current problem and situation in teaching and learning in Malaysia, while the second part will try to explore and review on the definition of outdoor learning with its importance and character in learning environment. The third part will focused on the lesson from Natural School approaches and philosophy of learning while the last part will do some analysis and comparison which result on the suggestion and recommendation for outdoor learning facilities design in Malaysia

Analisis tipologi dan pendekatan perancangan masjid moden di dunia

Kertas kerja ini akan berusaha melakukan dokumentasi, mengklasifikasikan dan menjelaskan pelbagai pendekatan dan kaedah perancangan yang digunakan pada perancangan masjid moden di serata dunia. Kajian dijalankan dengan melakukan analisa kandungan atau kajian pustaka dan literatur terhadap pelbagai pendekatan perancangan masjid moden tersebut. Pembahasan kertas kerja ini akan terdiri dari pendekatan revivalisme, pendekatan metafor, pendekatan geometri, pendekatan strukturalisme dan pendekatan regionalisme. Masjid yang dijadikan objek kajian sendiri terdiri daripada masjid yang dibangunkan di antara tahun 1950 hingga tahun 2000-an. Walaupun mungkin dirasa tidak mencakupi banyak masjid namun diharapkan kajian ini dapat memulakan sebuah kajian yang lebih mendalam dan lengkap bagi mengklasifikasikan dan mengelompokkan pelbagai masjid moden tersebut berdasarkan karakter dan pendekatan yang dimiliki di masa depa