STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AT THE HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS: The Case of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

Abstract - Universities in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), just like other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), strive to be at the forefront of academic excellence. Towards this end, HEIs endeavour to provide their students, their primary clientele with the most conducive learning environment in order to maximise their potentials and prepare them to the real world of work. Do the students really make the most of the learning experiences in the university? Are the students really actively “engaged” in the teaching programmes and learning activities provided by the university? What might be the implications of student engagement to curriculum, instruction, policy and decision making, and educational administration? This paper focused on the level of academic challenge provided to students. In this study, “academic challenge” was based on study time and course requirements for reading, writing, and application of higher-order thinking skills rather than on student judgments of the difficulty of the coursework (Carini and Kuh, 2003). Specifically, this investigation attempted to ascertain the types of engagement activities at the HEIs of Malaysia and the UAE. Interesting findings are presented, and recommendations are offered in light of student engagement in the context of higher education

Penggunaan strategi pembelajaran bahasa untuk menguasai kemahiran membaca dalam kalangan murid pemulihan khas

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji penggunaan strategi pembelajaran bahasa berasaskan kemahiran membaca dalam kalangan murid Pemulihan Khas. Seorang guru Bahasa Melayu dan enam orang murid Pemulihan Khas dipilih sebagai peserta dalam penyelidikan ini.Kajian kualitatif ini menggunakan reka bentuk kajian multicase single site.Data diperoleh melalui analisis dokumen, pemerhatian dan temu bual.Data pemerhatian dan temu bual ditranskrip bagi memperoleh tema, diuruskan dengan menggunakan perisian Nvivo8.Kesahan data dilakukan secara memeriksa kesan penyelidik, triangulasi pelbagai sumber data, dan bertaklimat dengan rakan sejawat dan pengesahan daripada peserta kajian.Kebolehpercayaan data diperoleh melalui audit trail. Hasil kajian menunjukkan strategi pembelajaran bahasa (SPB) berasaskan kemahiran membaca menggunakan sama ada pendekatan, kaedah, dan teknik (a) abjad, (b) sebutan suku kata dan dan bacaan perkataan bermakna, (c) latih tubi, (d) sifir bahasa, (e) bacaan berfokus, (f) Visual Audio Kinesthetic Tactile (VAKT), dan (g) rakam dan tayang, diaplikasikan oleh peserta kajian bagi menyelesaikan masalah penguasaan kemahiran membaca dalam kalangan murid Pemulihan Khas. Kajian ini telah menyumbang kepada pendidikan Pemulihan Khas dalam penguasaan kemahiran Bahasa Melayu melalui strategi pembelajaan bahasa berasaskan kemahiran membaca

A review of teachers’ assessment literacy proficiency measures

At present, there are several literature reviews on teachers’ assessment literacy (AL). However, little attention has been paid to a systematic analysis of AL measures. The review on AL measures helps to evaluate the available tools and provide recommendations for developing AL measures in further exploration. Hence, the purpose of the current literature review is to focus on analyzing the measures of teachers’ AL proficiency from 1991 to 2020. Across the contexts, 28 quantitative tools made up of questionnaires or tests were collected. Among them, 10 were designed to investigate overall AL proficiency and 18 were constructed to examine the sub-categories of AL proficiency among teachers. Each instrument was analyzed from the format, guiding framework, item characteristics, targeting population, and psychometric quality. Results showed that the current AL measures were derived more from instrumental than social-cultural conceptualization, examined more on sub-categories than the overall proficiency level, targeted more at in-service teachers than pre-service teachers, and focused more on elementary and middle education than pre- or higher education. Further studies are welcomed from four aspects: construct social-culturally, test generalizability, target at specific groups, and cover various types of AL

Hubungan Kualiti Penyeliaan Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Di Bilik Darjah Dengan Efikasi Guru (The Relationship Between Quality Teaching And Learning Supervision With Teachers’ Efficacy)

Artikel ini membincangkan hubungan kualiti penyeliaan pengajaran dan pembelajaran dengan efikasi guru. Dalam konteks kajian ini, elemen kualiti penyeliaan pengajaran dan pembelajaran didukung oleh tiga faktor iaitu, faktor pengetahuan, kemahiran interpersonal, dan kemahiran teknikal. Kajian-kajian lampau membuktikan bahawa ketiga-tiga faktor ini memainkan peranan penting dalam menentukan keberkesanan penyeliaan pengajaran yang dijalankan dalam usaha membantu meningkatkan tahap efikasi guru. Oleh itu, satu kajian kolerasi secara telah dijalankan bagi mengenal pasti hubungan antara kedua-dua pemboleh ubah ini. Kajian yang dijalankan terhadap 856 orang guru sekolah menengah menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara kualiti penyeliaan pengajaran dengan efikasi guru. Selain itu, didapati bentuk penyeliaan berupaya mempengaruhi hubungan di antara kedua-dua pemboleh ubah ini. Kesimpulannya, penyeliaan yang berkualiti akan berupaya meningkatkan efikasi guru dan begitu juga sebaliknya

Developing the scholarship of teaching and learning community of practice

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, also known as SoTL, is currently at an infant stage in Malaysia.In other parts of the world, several studies (Livshin, 2011; Li, 2011; Sams and Sams, 2011) pointed out that the promotion of SoTL efforts and other scholarly activities in this area often is liaised via the centre for the advancement of teaching, academic development centre, centre for teaching and learning of the respective universities.The study by Raja Maznah et al. (2012) for example, revealed that the participants in general perceived the importance of and need for SoTL training.The majority of the participants indicated a need to develop a comprehensive SoTL training framework and overall, there was a general consensus on the need to enhance teaching practices through SoTL. However, many participants were unfamiliar with SoTL literature and generally were exposed to it informally.Support by the institution seemed to be important to the participants.This keynote session intends to address some pertinent questions related to SoTL activities.How do participants develop reflection skills while learning to do SoTL? What is the process that participants go through when they are engaged in SoTL? How does the process of transferring SoTL learning take place among participants? And most of all - the key question: What is the process of developing a Community of Practice (CoP) in Higher Education

Dimensions of teaching: A cross-cultural study

This paper server as a study of cross-cultural comparison of teaching. Responses from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) senior faculty members' perceptions about teaching were analyzed and compared to responses in studies conducted by Dunkin and Precians (1992), and Clawson (1994).Dunkin and Precians studied twelve award-winning teachers' ideas at the University of Sydney.Clawson, on the other hand, interviewed 26 tenured professors at the eight public four-year institutions of West Virginia.The study revolves around four dimensions of teaching: teaching as structuring learning, teaching as motivating learning, teaching as encouraging activity and independence in learning, and teaching as establishing interpersonal relations conducive to learning

Teacher readiness in applying ATL skills in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Schools

This article aims to understand the challenges faced by teachers in implementing the Approaches to Learning Skills (ATL Skills) for the teaching of Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Schools (MYPIB) in Malaysia. This qualitative case study employed purposive sampling that involved six resilient teachers who were directly involved in the implementations of ATL Skills consisting of four Bahasa Melayu teachers, a MYPIB coordinator and ATL skills coordinator. Triangulation was used to compare data from different sources using semi-structured interviews, story completion tasks, and document analysis. Using the ATLAS.ti software as an aiding tool, thematic analysis was carried out to identify the themes that emerged from the codes. Findings showed that teacher readiness is a challenge that needs to be addressed in the process of applying ATL skills in the MYPIB implemented by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. Teachers still need courses and training to improve their mastery in the ATL skills application. This study provided implications to teaching and learning, and recommendations to teachers as well as the Ministry to make improvements in the effort to apply ATL skills in the teaching-learning processes at the MYPIB schools

The use of reflective practice towards achieving effective English language teaching at primary schools

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of reflective practice by English language teachers in providing effective English language teaching in primary school classrooms. This qualitative case study involving six in-service English language teachers who were selected based on purposive sampling. The data in this study were collected using teachers’ reflection logs and a series of semi-structured interviews with the English language teachers. Thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes based on the codes gathered from the interviews and teachers’ reflections logs. The results showed that the English language teachers used reflective practice erstwhile in preparing and providing effective English language teaching for the students. They reviewed what has been accomplished and identify constructive guidelines to follow to succeed in the future teaching. They have also been doing variations of changes in teaching based on reflecting on the quality of instruction, levels of instruction, using incentive to motivate the students and managing time equally in teaching and learning process to help the children in learning English language. Since there is no clear guideline for teachers who use reflective practice in their classes, this study provided some insights on the preparations and the use of reflective practice as part of their teaching and learning process

Kefahaman guru pada pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 dalam membuat modul pembelajaran di SMKN 3 Kota Banda Aceh

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji kefahaman guru pada pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 dalam membuat modul pembelajaran. Kajian ini bertitik tolak dari pada Isu bahawa kurikulum 2013 merupakan kurikulum perubahan.Pada perubahan kurikulum guru diharuskan membuat modul pembelajaran yang baik, fakta dilapangan menunjukkan bahawa tidak semua guru mempunyai kefahaman yang sama untuk melaksanakan kurikulum baru, kemampuan guru terhad maka sering terjadi masalah, oleh itu perlu kefahaman guru dalam melaksanakan kurikulum. Melaksanakan kurikulum 2013 sangatlah memerlukan kreativiti dan kemandirian guru terutama dalam menyusunnya dan pelaksanaannya, memang bukanlah pekerjaan mudah untuk melakukannya apabila guru tidak mempunyai kefahaman yang kuat dan sekolah tidak memfasilitasinya, untuk itulah strategi pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 haruslah diarahkan untuk meningkatkan kapasiti guru, untuk mewujudkan pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 yang berkesan dan efektif perlu dikaji kefahaman guru dalam membuat modul pembelajaran di SMKN 3 Kota Banda Aceh. Pada kajian ini menggunakan kajian kualitatif dengan pendekatan kajian kes, menggunakan kaedah ini membolehkan penyelidik mengenal pasti kefahaman guru dalam pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 di Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMKN 3) Kota Banda Aceh, peserta pada kajian ini ditentukan secara persampelan bertujuan (purposive).Peserta kajian terdiri daripada pengetua dan guru SMKN 3 Kota Banda Aceh, kaki tangan, sokongan dan pelajar. Data dikumpulkan dengan pemerhatian ikut serta, temubual, analisis dokumen.Analisis data dilakukan dengan content analisis. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa guru belum mempunyai kefahaman yang luas tentang Kurikulum 2013 menyebabkan mereka sukar melaksanakannya.Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa guru mendapat kesukaran dalam merangka modul pembelajaran. Oleh itu diharapkan untuk meningkatkan kefahaman dalam pelaksanaan Kurikulum 2013, sokongan pelaksanaan Kurikulum 2013 dari guru sendiri merupakan faktor penentu untuk memberikan sumbangan dalam kejayaan pelaksanaan Kurikulum 2013.pengetua sekolah diharapkan dapat berhubungan baik secara vertikal atau horizontal dengan Dinas pendidikan kota, provinsi dan jabatan tingkat pusat untuk mendapat peluang dalam menyelenggarakan latihan dalam merangka sebuah modul untuk semua guru SMKN 3 Kota Banda Aceh

Nigerian students' perceptions on student-centered learning (SCL)

Learning is essential in human’s life as it is evidenced by the transformation of biological being to a knowledgeable being via learning process. It is now a global concern to device an educational pedagogy that can support long life learning that can enhance the productivity and creativity of the learner. This led to the adoption of the Student-Centered Learning (SCL)curriculum which has contributed immensely in this regard. Nigerian educational system is characterized with the passive traditional teacher-centered lecture method; which renders the students inactive. There have been series of probing question on such an outdated learning approach. Therefore, this paper presents the findings of the study carried out to investigate the perceptions of Nigerian students in some Malaysian public Universities about the SCL approach in terms of the perceived benefits and satisfaction. The study involves 222 students from four public Universities in Malaysia using questionnaire as the survey instrument which was developed for the two constructs (perception (benefits) and satisfaction). The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study showed that the surveyed students perceived SCL to be of great advantages in their learning process and they were satisfied with the approach especially the collaborative form of SCL