Problem Solving Strategies among Primary School Teachers

The purpose of this article was to examine problem solving strategies among primary school teachers. The researchers employed survey research design to examine their problem solving strategies. The participants of this study consisted of 120 primary school teachers from a public university in Peninsula Malaysia who enrolled in a 4-year Graduating Teachers Program (Program Pensiswazahan Guru) majored in mathematics. Purposive sampling technique was used to select these participants. This article presents the analysis of the responses of the participants related to a particular problem, namely fencing problem. Result of the study suggests that 79.2% of the participants have successfully solved the fencing problem. They employed various problem solving strategies: (i) trial-and-error (also known as guess-and-check), (ii) using algebra, (iii) making tables, charts or systematic list, (iv) drawing diagrams, (v) identifying pattern, and (vi) logical reasoning. Result of the study also suggests that 85% of the participants used same strategy to check their solutions for the fencing problem without being probed. The implications of the results were also discussed. Keywords: problem solving strategies, primary school teachers, survey research design

Enhancing Primary Pupils' Geometric Thinking Through Phase-Based Instruction Using The Geometer's Sketchpad

The purpose of this study was to enhance primary pupils' geometric thinking through phase-based instruction using The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) based on the van Hiele theory of geometric thinking. Specifically, it sought to examine Year Four pupils' van Hiele levels of geometric thinking about equilateral triangle, square, regular pentagon and regular hexagon before and after phase-based instruction using GSP, and whether there was any significant difference in the pupils' van Hiele levels of geometric thinking about the regular polygons after the intervention. The researchers employed an exploratory case study research design and purposeful sampling to select a class of 26 mixed-ability Year Four pupils from a primary school in Selangor. A van Hiele level test based on Mayberry's (1981) test and scoring criteria was devised and administered to the pupils before and after the intervention to assess their van Hiele levels of geometric thinking about the regular polygons. The results of the pre-test showed that the pupils' initial van Hiele levels were predominantly at Level 0 (Pre-recognition) for regular pentagon and regular hexagon but at Level 1 (Recognition) for equilateral triangle and square. However, the results of the post-test revealed that the pupils' van Hiele levels after the intervention were predominantly at Level 2 (Analysis) for all the regular polygons. In addition, the results of the Wilcoxon test showed that there was a significant difference in the pupils' van Hiele levels of geometric thinking for all the regular polygons after phasebased instruction using GSP. The median van Hiele level in the post-test was higher than the median van Hiele level in the pre-test for all the regular polygons, indicating that the intervention had significantly enhanced the pupils' geometric thinking about the regular polygons

Primary School Mathematics And Science Teachers' Stages Of Concern About The Implementation Of Lesson Study

In this study, the Japanese model of Lesson Study was introduced as a teacher professional development programme to nine low-performing primary schools in Malaysia. The objectives of this study were to examine to what extent Lesson Study can improve low-performing primary mathematics and science teachers' stages of concern about the implementation of Lesson Study in their schools and their teaching quality as well as student learning performance. The sample consisted of 97 primary mathematics and science teachers from three types of primary schools: the National School (SK); the National Type Chinese School (SJKC) and the National Type Tamil School (SJKT). Before the implementation of Lesson Study, a workshop was conducted in every school to introduce participating teachers to the concepts of Lesson Study and the research procedure. After the workshop, the participating teachers were asked to complete the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) in order to identify their initial stages of concern about the implementation of Lesson Study in their schools. The SoCQ was developed based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). It consists of 35 items, categorising teachers' concerns into seven stages: Stage 0 (Awareness); Stage 1 (Informational); Stage 2 (Personal); Stage 3 (Management); Stage 4 (Consequence); Stage 5 (Collaboration) and Stage 6 (Refocusing) (George, Hall & Stiegelbauer, Measuring implementation in schools: The stages of concern questionnaire (2006)). The same SoCQ was also given to the participating teachers after every Lesson Study cycle to determine whether their stages of concern changed before and after the implementation of Lesson Study cycles. In this paper, only the data collected from the first SoCQ given were analysed. The results showed that the profiles of the SK, SJKC and SJKT teachers' initial stages of concern about the implementation of Lesson Study in their schools were quite similar. The SK, SJKC and SJKT teachers' concerns were the highest in Stage 0 and the lowest in Stage 4, indicating that these teachers had a high level of concern about a number of other initiatives, tasks, and activities besides Lesson Study and they had quite a low level of concern about the consequences of implementing Lesson Study for their students, respectivel

Preservice teachers’ assessment knowledge: Do teaching experiences make a difference?

This study aimed to statistically compare preservice teachers’ assessment knowledge in crafting assessment task and selecting assessment method in relation to their teaching experience. This study involved 397 preservice teachers’ who were final year undergraduate students in a local university. The instrument of data collection consisted of eight superitems test. Data collected was analysed by using statistical method (SPSS version 22.0). The result showed that preservice teachers for all categories of teaching experience performed better in the selecting assessment method than crafting assessment task. However, there was no significant differences existed between the three categories of teaching experience of preservice teachers for both standards of assessment knowledge assessed

Looking deeper: Using deep learning to identify internet communications traffic

Recent years have shown an unprecedented reliance on the internet to provide services essential for business, education, and personal use. Due to this reliance, coupled with the exponential growth of the internet traffic being generated, there has never been a greater necessity for effective network management techniques. Network traffic classification is one key component of this network management which aims to identify the types and quantity of traffic flowing through a network. Previous traffic classification techniques are limited by the use of non-standardised port numbers and the encryption of traffic contents. To tackle these challenges, we propose using deep learning techniques for network traffic classification. This paper investigates the viability of using deep learning for traffic classification with a focus on both network management applications and detecting malicious traffic. Our preliminary results thus far show that a highly accurate classifier can be created using the first 50 bytes of a traffic flow.Daniel Smit, Kyle Millar, Clinton Page, Adriel Cheng, Hong-Gunn Chew and Cheng-Chew Li

Bioactivity-guided isolation of anticancer agents from Bauhinia kockiana Korth

Background: Flowers of Bauhinia kockiana were investigated for their anticancer properties. Methods: Gallic acid (1), and methyl gallate (2), were isolated via bioassay-directed isolation, and they exhibited anticancer properties towards several cancer cell lines, examined using MTT cell viability assay. Pyrogallol (3) was examined against the same cancer cell lines to deduce the bioactive functional group of the phenolic compounds. Results: The results showed that the phenolic compounds could exhibit moderate to weak cytotoxicity towards certain cell lines (GI50 30 - 86 µM), but were inactive towards DU145 prostate cancer cell (GI50 > 100 µM). Conclusion: It was observed that pyrogallol moiety was one of the essential functional structures of the phenolic compounds in exhibiting anticancer activity. Also, the carboxyl group of compound 1 was also important in anticancer activity. Examination of the PC-3 cells treated with compound 1 using fluorescence microscopy showed that PC-3 cells were killed by apoptosis

Colon Carcinogenesis: The interplay between diet and gut microbiota

Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence increases yearly, and is three to four times higher in developed countries compared to developing countries. The well-known risk factors have been attributed to low physical activity, overweight, obesity, dietary consumption including excessive consumption of red processed meats, alcohol, and low dietary fiber content. There is growing evidence of the interplay between diet and gut microbiota in CRC carcinogenesis. Although there appears to be a direct causal role for gut microbes in the development of CRC in some animal models, the link between diet, gut microbes, and colonic carcinogenesis has been established largely as an association rather than as a cause-and-effect relationship. This is especially true for human studies. As essential dietary factors influence CRC risk, the role of proteins, carbohydrates, fat, and their end products are considered as part of the interplay between diet and gut microbiota. The underlying molecular mechanisms of colon carcinogenesis mediated by gut microbiota are also discussed. Human biological responses such as inflammation, oxidative stress, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage can all influence dysbiosis and consequently CRC carcinogenesis. Dysbiosis could add to CRC risk by shifting the effect of dietary components toward promoting a colonic neoplasm together with interacting with gut microbiota. It follows that dietary intervention and gut microbiota modulation may play a vital role in reducing CRC risk