Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Critical Thinking in KSSR Classroom and Its Importance to Students

To investigate the primary school teachers’ understanding of critical thinking skills in KSSR classroom. To explore teachers’ perception on the importance of critical thinking to student

Promoting Critical Thinking Skills among Students in KSSR classroom

Students need to be equipped with critical thinking skills as they are the 21st century skills that will help students to face challenges in life ahead. Teachers themselves should be first to be equipped with the skills before they could teach student

Monitoring students’ metacognition in KSSR classroom

The ability to think critically is essential for students to face the challenges of the 21st century. Students should be equipped with the skills as those skills will help them to solve problems, make wise decisions and analyse information. One of the approaches to cultivate critical thinking is by monitoring their metacognition. Thus, the purpose of the study is to explore the methods of monitoring students’ metacognition used by teachers in KSSR (Primary School Standard Curriculum; Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah) classroom. Six primary school teachers were purposely selected in the study. Qualitative design was utilised where they were interviewed separately and probing was done to elucidate or illuminate the issue of study. Observation was also done as a method for methodology trigulation. The data from both sources was recorded and transcribed. Data coding was used to analyse the data where the transcribed text was segmented and labelled to form descriptions, main ideas as well as themes. These emerging themes were analysed and interpreted. The findings suggest that the studentcentred approach exercised in the curriculum has enabled students to share and discuss information among them. The teaching techniques which include questioning approach, asking students to predict outcome and provide reasons were also employed. Formative assessment such as indirect questioning with diverse assessments were also exercised in monitoring students’ thinking about thinking or metacognition. (Abstract by authors

What predicts job satisfaction in Malaysia?

The purpose of this study is to address the gaps in the literature and to examine the predictors of job satisfaction. In this study, the hypothesized predictors influencing one’s job satisfaction are a) gender, b) age, c) level of education, d) salary, e) role in the job, and f) years of working in the organization. This study used Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) as a data gathering tool. The questionnaires were administered to 89 male respondents, and 121 female respondents. For data analysis, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed. In addition to conducting a multiple regression analysis (MRA), descriptive statistical analysis was also carried out as part of the data analysis. Of all the predictors studied, results indicated gender as the only significant predictor of one’s job satisfaction. Several recommendations for future studies were also listed

A review of mental illness among adolescents in Malaysia

Research Objectives: 1. To explore the mental illness cases among adolescents in Malaysia 2. To investigate the factors that contribute to mental illness 3. To explore the signs and symptoms of mental illnes

Promoting Environmental Sustainability Among Oum Adult Learners

In line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education, Open University Malaysia strives to promote environmental education and create environmental awareness through its lifelong learning framework. The university has embedded environmental component in one of topic with one of its university courses that is offered in the first semester. Topic 10 within the OUMH1603 course on Learning Skills for 21st Century is titled Environment and Us. This study aims to measure the level of environmental literacy and examine the correlation between learner’s disposition and learning experience among learners who have taken the course. The 2011 Framework for Assessing Environmental Literacy by the North American Association for Environmental Education was adopted for this purpose. Data were collected through online survey in two phases. The level of knowledge of the OUM students were proven to be high, ranging from an average means score of 3.86 to 4.33. The second part of the analysis shows that there is also a significant strong correlation between students’ learning experience of the course (3.99 to 4.44) and their dispositions as well as their willingness to volunteer in environmental projects. The findings suggest that embedding environmental education within a widely distributed formal education framework can contribute positively to the effort to create environmentally literate adults

Analysing the styles of thinking among primary school teachers

One of the focuses of Malaysian National Philosophy is the holistic development of individuals, which includes the ability to think in higher order. Teachers are the most important agents in the teaching process, so it's critical to pay attention to their capacity to teach students the skills. As a result, the purpose of this research is to examine teachers' thinking abilities and determine if there are any differences between genders. The Teaching Skills Inventory was completed by 266 primary school teachers in the Selangor area, and the results revealed that teachers use executive thinking skills. Despite the fact that both genders preferred executive thinking skills, a t-test indicates that male teachers scored significantly higher in all of Sternberg's suggested thinking styles. At the conclusion of the study, some recommendations for future research were included (Abstract by authors

Teachers’ model for teaching critical thinking in primary school

The general purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of the teachers’ model for critical thinking in primary school to several selected schools. The model suggested several steps need to be fulfilled to promote critical thinking in the classroom. Thus, the study employed 25 primary school teachers to investigate their understanding of critical thinking skills and their techniques for teaching the skills. A training was given to teachers to help them improve their teaching techniques. Findings revealed that teachers understood the concept and were able to infuse the techniques in their teaching. They believed that the techniques were not new, but after the training, they are able to teach the skills more systematically. This shows that the model can be used in exploring the promotion of critical thinking and primary school classroom

General health status and online teaching readiness among educators during Covid-19 pandemic

The current COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in several life adjustments, including modifications to education. Online learning has become the primary mode of teaching and learning. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to determine the level of educators' overall health and its impact on their readiness for online teaching. The study used a total of 220 educators from primary level to tertiary level, both private and public. These characteristics were evaluated using the General Health Questionnaire and the Online Teaching Readiness Questionnaire. The results indicate that the participants' general health is excellent and that they are highly prepared for online teaching. According to correlational research, the two variables are also significantly connected. A few suggestions for future research are offered at the conclusion of the publication