Elements of Digital Technology Needs Among Technical and Vocational Education Students

This study was conducted to identify digital technology needs among final year students of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) at the School of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)-. The elements selected for this study are the students' technical skills, attitudes and the availability of facilities. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument in this quantitative study. A total of 89 respondents were selected at random. The collected data was analyzed using the Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 26.0 to obtain frequency values, percentages (%), means, and standard deviations. According to the findings of the study, the need for digital technology among final-year TVE students is satisfactory, with the mean value for the entire research question obtained being 3.50 at a moderate score level. Therefore, the School of Education at UTM needs to increase the need for the use of digital technology to facilitate students in the teaching and learning process

Factors Contributing to Students’ Attainment in Design and Technology Project Work

Design and Technology (Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi) or known as RBT, is a new subject introduced as part of the Secondary School Standard Curriculum (KSSM) in 2017. The content of this new subject focuses on the daily application of technology, specifically through the implementation of RBT project work. There is a need to assess whether this subject has a positive impact on students’ achievement, especially in project work. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing the performance of lower secondary school students in Johor Bahru district in their RBT project work. A total of 374 form three students were selected as a sample using descriptive approach and utilising quantitative research design. A questionnaire was used as the research instrument. A pilot study was conducted, and the result was analysed using the Rasch Measurement Model to determine the validity and reliability of the instruments used. Furthermore, the study’s data were analysed using the SPSS 25.0 software. The study found that students’ interest (m), attitude (s), knowledge (p), and skills (k) in RBT is at a moderate level with the mean value for each variable for (m) = 2.61, (s) = 2.79, (p) = 2.75, and (k) = 2.73. The Pearson coefficient found a significant relationship between interest, attitude, knowledge skills, and students' academic achievement, where r = 0.543 (p <0.05) for interest, r = 0.568 (p <0.05) for attitude, r = 0.526 (p <0.05) for knowledge, and r = 0.515 (p <0.05) for skills. The results of this study prove the need for a more interactive and effective teaching approach to increase students’ interests, attitudes, knowledge, and skills to improve their performance in RBT project work

Students’ engagement through technology and cooperative learning: a systematic literature review

Students’ engagement (SE) is an inherent part of learners’ participation in a classroom instructional task through different and diverse activity-based media. This paper analyses a logical literature of SE with cooperative learning (CL) and technology integration (TI). The outcomes reveal the impact of instructional methodology such as active learning through cohort instructions to generate conceptual understanding and SE, critical thinking, and student-centred activities, blended and flipped learning, Google Docs (a free Web-based tool that allows you to create, edit, and store documents online), and massive open online course (MOOC) to improve student homework. The systematic review of the literature establishes outcomes from current research conducted between January 2013 and June 2022. Out of 114 papers, thirty publications fulfilled the refining and exclusion/inclusion guidelines after standard evaluation screening of the journals and review, along with the additional elimination of repetitive records from the study. The goal of the evaluation is to analyse the effectiveness of all the papers utilised in the research. The literature review possibilities are illustrated by the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework. The limitations and discussion from this systematic literature review (SLR) address some gaps, future directions for SE, and implications for education and research

Augmented Reality Applications in Teaching and Learning for topic of Current and Voltage Division for Technical and Vocational Education

The combination of technology Augmented Reality (AR) with educational content aims to create new ideas that can improve the effectiveness and attractiveness of teaching and learning for students in real-life scenarios. The use of AR technology can make the process of teaching and learning more enjoyable, in which students' interest in learning can be stimulated. The AR technology has three characteristics. The first feature is that AR technology is a combination of virtual objects with the real world. The second feature is that AR operates in real time and interactively. The last feature is that it has 3 dimensions (3D) for virtual objects. In this study, the ADDIE model includes five phases, namely Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation, which are utilised to develop applications based on AR technology in education for the topic of Current and Voltage Division. To identify the effectiveness of the application of AR technology, a survey using questionnaire was conducted among pre-service teachers to know their perceptions of the development of AR applications namely as Voltrent AR. As this is a quantitative study where questionnaires were distributed to 73 students from the class of Bachelor of Technology with Education (Electric and Electronics) with Honours and Bachelor of Technology with Education (Living Skills) with Honours at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Skudai, Johor. Most respondents gave very positive feedback on the use of AR in education, especially for the topic of Current and Voltage Division. AR is viewed as a medium of instruction that is innovative, interesting and effective. Voltrent AR application development is successfully developed based on the ADDIE model, and the application development of the constructivism theory was applied in this AR application. Thus, the AR application development has reached the desired objective of producing application-based Augmented Reality as a teaching aid.&nbsp

Enhancing students' mathematical problem-solving skills through bar model visualisation technique

Previous studies revealed that many students cannot perform well when it comes to word problem-solving questions. There are various problem-solving strategies that can be applied to help students to overcome the problem. Visualisation techniques in learning have been used to help students enhance their conceptual understanding of the mathematical problem-solving and the use of bar model visualisation technique is one of the strategies. This study aims to investigate students’ achievement in mathematical problem-solving after applying the Bar Model and to explore students’ experiences while applying the technique. This study employed a pre-experimental design of the quantitative research. There were 32 participants of year three students. The instrument used in this research consists of questions of pre-test and post-test and a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using SPSS 20.0 software and thematic analysis. The test results showed that there is a significant difference in participants’ mathematical problem-solving achievement. The analysis of semi-structured interview transcripts revealed that level of understanding and motivation influence students’ performance. Findings of this study showed that students perform better after the implementation of the Bar Model in mathematical problem-solving. This study can provide an alternative or guidance for teachers to improve students’ mathematical problem-solving skills

The blockage ratio effect to the spray performances

Nozzle sprays are used in wide range of application. The used of nozzle application is depend on the spray characteristics, by which to suit the particular application. This project studies the effect of the air blockage ratio to the spray characteristics. This research conducted into two part which are experimental and simulation section. The experimental was conducted by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) method, and ANSYS software was used as tools for simulation section. There are two nozzles were tested at 1 bar pressure of water and air. Nozzle A (with blockage ratio 0.316) and nozzle B (blockage ratio 1.000). Both of the sprays performances generated by the nozzles was examined at 9 cm vertical line from 8 cm of the nozzle orifice. The validation result provided in the detailed analysis shows that the trend of graph velocity versus distance gives the good agreement within simulation and experiment. From result, nozzle A generated a wider spray angle and higher water droplet velocity which are 31.41 degree and 37.317 m/s compared to nozzle B which has produced 27.13 degree of spray penetration angle and 16.49 m/s water droplet velocity. As a conclusion, blockage ratio has affected the spray system by increasing the velocity of air inside the spray system. This is happened at a condition of 1 bar air pressure

Modeling work practices under socio-technical systems for sustainable manufacturing performance

In light of the overwhelming consumption of resources by the manufacturing sector, this paper examined three key subsystems that are critical in greening the sector. Whereas the extant literature has focused on technological development to reduce environmental damage, it has not analyzed profoundly how manufacturing processes can be greened effectively. Hence, using carefully gathered data of 299 respondents and structural equation modeling, this paper sought to investigate the mediating effect of social, environmental, and technical subsystems on the relationship between management support and sustainable manufacturing performance. The results show that management support has a positive relationship with sustainable manufacturing performance (p < 0.005), while social, environmental, and technical subsystems partially mediate this relationship. Hence, efforts must be taken to encourage management of manufacturing firms to support sustainable management performance, while at the same time supporting them to introduce innovative social, environmental, and technical practices

Factors contributing to students’ attainment in design and technology project work

Design and Technology (Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi) or known as RBT, is a new subject introduced as part of the Secondary School Standard Curriculum (KSSM) in 2017. The content of this new subject focuses on the daily application of technology, specifically through the implementation of RBT project work. There is a need to assess whether this subject has a positive impact on students’ achievement, especially in project work. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing the performance of lower secondary school students in Johor Bahru district in their RBT project work. A total of 374 form three students were selected as a sample using descriptive approach and utilising quantitative research design. A questionnaire was used as the research instrument. A pilot study was conducted, and the result was analysed using the Rasch Measurement Model to determine the validity and reliability of the instruments used. Furthermore, the study’s data were analysed using the SPSS 25.0 software. The study found that students’ interest (m), attitude (s), knowledge (p), and skills (k) in RBT is at a moderate level with the mean value for each variable for (m) = 2.61, (s) = 2.79, (p) = 2.75, and (k) = 2.73. The Pearson coefficient found a significant relationship between interest, attitude, knowledge skills, and students' academic achievement, where r = 0.543 (p <0.05) for interest, r = 0.568 (p <0.05) for attitude, r = 0.526 (p <0.05) for knowledge, and r = 0.515 (p <0.05) for skills. The results of this study prove the need for a more interactive and effective teaching approach to increase students’ interests, attitudes, knowledge, and skills to improve their performance in RBT project work

Beyond climate change : Examining the role of environmental justice, agricultural mechanization, and social expenditures in alleviating rural poverty

Extreme weather events and extreme poverty are two sides of the same coin, with far-reaching consequences for emerging nations like Pakistan. Rural people are more likely to experience poverty and inequality as climate change worsens. This research aspires to close the gap between environmental ethics and justice by investigating how climate change issues contribute to poverty in Pakistan. The study used Robust Least Squares (RLS) regression to analyze the impact of water scarcity, extreme temperatures, and excessive rainfall on rural poverty in Pakistan from 1990Q1 to 2022Q4. Further, the study examines the effect of environmental justice in�terventions, access to healthcare and education, agricultural value-added and agricultural mechanization on the country’s rural poverty. Results reveal that climate change contributes to rural poverty in Pakistan, while environmental justice initiatives, healthcare access, and agricultural automation alleviate poverty incidence. The Impulse Response Function (IRF) estimates suggested that rural poverty will be exacerbated over the next decade by water scarcity, high temperatures, and low agricultural value added but alleviated by excessive rainfall, environmental justice intervention, healthcare access, and agricultural mechanization. According to Variance Decomposition Analysis (VDA) projections, agricultural value added will substantially impact rural poverty by 2032, increasing it by 11.431%. Addressing these problems requires policymakers to prioritize the interests of the most marginalized groups by fostering fair results. Policies should cut GHG emissions and encourage sus�tainable development to combat climate change. Modernizing farming techniques and expanding access to healthcare are also necessary for increasing efficiency and production. It is essential to execute environmental justice interventions so that all communities have access to environmental resources and protections equitably. Promoting equitable outcomes and reducing poverty in Pakistan’s climate change context may be achieved by closing the gap between environmental ethics and justice

Math-related critical thinking theory in civil engineering design

Design is the fundamental soul to all branches of engineering. It is a prime context for understanding how civil engineers use critical thinking and mathematical thinking in engineering problem-solving. However, information about the interrelation between these two types of thinking in real-world engineering practice is found lacking in the literature. This paper presents the first-hand experience of developing a substantive theory which relates both critical thinking and mathematical thinking used by practicing engineers in the civil engineering design process. The qualitative research using modified grounded theory method was employed in this study. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with practicing engineers from two engineering consultancy firms. Six essential processes of justifying decisions reasonably in engineering design process were identified, namely complying requirements, forming conjectures, drawing reasonable conclusions, defending claims with good reasons, giving alternative ways and selecting and pursuing the right approach. Findings of this study may advise prospective civil engineers of the applicability and indispensability of critical thinking and mathematical thinking in making and justifying decisions during the engineering design process. The study also contributes useful information to engineering education on fulfilling the expectations of engineering program outcomes set by the Engineering Accreditation Council