The effects of problem-based learning in students reading comprehension for mastering the content and vocabulary acquisition

English reading comprehension is the most crucial language abilities in colleges where English is learned as a second language. A vigorous and powerful reading ability is certainly crucial in primary studies for students to accomplish in advanced education. However, the method in which they are instructed through lecture and paper pencil’s method were less relevant and effective in 21st Century. Students become passive, demotivated, bored, and feeling shy by the conventional teaching and learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) on student’s English reading comprehension for mastering the contents and vocabulary acquisition. The study used a quantitative data where using an experimental pre-posttest design and the independent t-test and one-way ANOVA has been performed to test the hypothesis of the studies. The result indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups for student’s reading comprehension for mastering the content and vocabulary acquisition using PBL. The results showed that the students who received PBL learning approached achieved higher performance outcome than student who is not received the PBL approach

The effects of problem based learning on knowledge acquisition, critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation of electrical engineering students

It is timely with the agenda of polytechnic educational transformation, this research was initiated to examine the effects of Problem Based Learning (PBL) on students’ knowledge acquisitions, critical thinking ability, and intrinsic motivation and thus to propose a PBL instructional procedure, for the polytechnic’s electrical engineering course. An experiment, consisting of pre-test and post-test, was carried out on 53 undergraduate students of electrical engineering course, who attended the Electrical Technology Module (ET101) in their first semester. A control group was maintained in order to verify the results of the experiment. The treatment used a special design of PBL procedures in the experimental group for a ten weeks period, and the existing method of conventional teaching was retained in the control group. Participants completed pre-test and post-tests based on three instruments: knowledge acquisition test, translated version of The Cornell Critical Thinking Test Specimen set, and intrinsic motivation questionnaire. The data were analysed using MANCOVA and results were obtained. Students’ knowledge acquisition in the PBL group was significantly higher than that of their counterparts [F (1, 44) = 5.37, p < 0.05], with medium effect size (d = .68). Students’ intrinsic motivation in the PBL group was significantly higher than that of their counterparts, [F (1, 44) = 5.18, p < 0.05], with medium effect size (d = .68). However, students’ critical thinking ability in the PBL group was not significantly different from that of their counterparts in the TLA group [F (1, 44) = .019, p > 0.05]. Therefore, it can be concluded that PBL enhances students’ knowledge acquisitions and intrinsic motivation, but does not improve students’ critical thinking ability as compared to conventional approach. The implication is that the PBL procedures used in this study may be useful for educators in polytechnics, though some modifications are required to fine-tune the original framework for future implementation

A hybrid facilitation model for inexperienced students via integration of teacher-centred and student-centred roles

Inadequate experience in handling Student�Centred Learning (SCL) approaches may hinder teachers from demonstrating the full spectrum of the facilitation as proposed in the Heron facilitation model. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the utility of the Heron facilitation model in SCL among teachers and students of higher educational institutions who are relatively inexperienced in SCL. The participants were 177 teachers from a higher engineering educational institution, and a survey using questionnaires was carried out to gauge their experience with the SCL facilitation methods. The results obtained by using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) indicate the presence of four new dimensions instead of six, as proposed in the Heron model, namely planning, shared decision-making, flexible teamwork, and shared outcome. The first construct indicates teacher-empowered teaching, while the other three indicate students’ empowered learning. The finding provides a set of new guidelines for novice teachers in planning the facilitation of SCL

PROBLEM BASED LEARNING: ADAPTING MODEL OF MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT TOWARDS CHANGING TO STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING

Exam oriented system has long time been practiced whether in the school or at higher educational level. It is common to see that students learn to rote memorization as preparation to pass in the examination. As consequences, the graduates&rsquo; ability to apply knowledge in the workplace becomes an issue to be debated. This has led to the loud calls for the new authentic learning environment that may increase students&rsquo; ability to apply knowledge, skills and at the same time promoting students&rsquo; with higher order thinking levels such as problem solving and critical thinking skills. Within this, the need on educational revamp is seem crucial, and this should be done from the grass root levels. Therefore, student centered learning using Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach is suggested to be introduced in integrated living skills subject. The model will be designed to focus on monitoring and assessment methods in fostering student continuous development in three domain areas of knowledge, technical and personal skills. Moreover, this method is believed to be able to incorporate lifelong learning and self directed learning skills that helps student to sustain in our educational system. Thus, the study aims to look into the possible ways of adapting PBL monitoring and assessment methods into existing practices in lifelong learning settings in TVET

IoT-based occupancy display system in office

: A structured organization consisted of management personnel is important for an educational institution as each personnel must carry out their responsibility to achieve the goals set for each department. However, most of the management personnel in Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education (FPTV) at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) also worked as a lecturer which requires them to manage their time with lectures and meetings. As this leads to the inflexibility of their schedule, it is difficult for any students to set up a personal appointment with them especially for the final-year students. In any case of emergency leave without early notice from these personnel, students are then left waiting in front of their office. Thus, the purpose of developing this project is to provide an informative board on each office of the personnel that is equipped with display to regularly update on their occupancy status. Thus, the Waterfall model is used to identify and analyze the requirements needed by the respondents on this project. Based on the developed prototype of using NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module as the microcontroller, the system is able to detect motion through the output sent by PIR motion sensor when the room is occupied which was displayed through I2C LCD and LED while a pop�up notification is sent to Blynk application when the system did not detect any motion after the specified delay time. The validation of this project has been collected from several experts within relevant field where the future suggestions for improvements include the installation of ESP 32-CAM on the system

A review of effective doctoral supervision: what is it and how can we achieve it?

The success of doctoral students greatly depends on effective supervision. Many factors however, are involved in ensuring effective supervision. This study identifies the different definitions of effective supervisions, types of doctoral outcomes and the associated factors that contribute to these outcomes, with a view of proposing a framework to achieve the goal of effective supervision. A systematic review was conducted on published articles from the year 2000 to the year 2018. The documents were selected based on the three major components of doctoral supervision namely, management system, students and supervisor, thus framing the systematic review. The review resulted in several key findings namely, definitions, domains of doctoral outcomes and factors that can potentially contribute to doctoral outcomes. Diverse definitions of effective supervision were observed; often associated with self-development, professional growth and career development of doctoral students. Four domains of doctoral outcomes were identified: knowledge-base, research skills, attitudes and professional skills. Factors that influence doctoral outcomes include environment, attitude and aptitude of doctoral students, and experience and training of supervisors. The findings of this review provide useful information for guiding the implementation of an effective supervision framework

Cat’s tracker and health monitor

Most people get pets for companionship, but tedious to take care, especially cat. Previous research suggests that having a pet associate to many benefits. However, problem arises when someone’s lovely pet had lost, illness, injury, or facing death. As a consequence, the owner has facing a hard time to find out and track cat’s last location. Also, monitoring cat’s health condition from time to time need a certain expertise. Therefore, the purpose of this product development is to monitor health status by indicating body temperature, and track his location. The prototype was developed based on the design thinking model; Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test phases. The prototype circuit consists of the module for GPS detector and temperature detector. GPS will display the location of the pet's presence on the Google Map and the cat's body temperature readings will display after upon request. Testing indicates the prototype works according to flow. Thus, it can satisfy the purpose of this project to ease the pet’s owner

Kajian gaya pembelajaran dan motivasi terhadap pencapaian pelajar diploma kejuruteraan di politeknik

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti gaya pembelajaran yang dominan berdasarkan Model Felder dan Silvermann dan mengkaji aspek motivasi yang mendorong pembelajaran dalam kalangan pelajar diploma kejuruteraan di politeknik. Kajian tinjauan telah dijalankan dengan menggunakan soal selidik terhadap 291 orang pelajar diploma Kejuruteraan Elektrik. Data di kumpul dan dianalisis secara statistik deskriptif dan inferensi menggunakan ujian ANOVA satu hala. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan dimensi visual dan verbal merupakan gaya pembelajaran yang paling dominan dengan kecenderungan kepada sub skala visual. Manakala motivasi ekstrinsik pelajar adalah didorong oleh faktor keluarga. Tambahan lagi, gaya pembelajaran dengan pencapaian pelajar tidak menunjukkan perbezaan yang signifikan. Implikasinya, pensyarah di politeknik secara umumnya perlu mempunyai kesedaran tentang penggunaan lebih banyak visual sebagai peneguhan dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di samping keluarga perlu memainkan lebih banyak peranan dalam memotivasikan pelaja

Nominal group technique application towards design of components and elements of non-digital game framework

Non-digital games are a tool that can help children to build and improve problem solving skills in early mathematics learning. Teachers need to design a learning activity using non-digital games taken account problem solving skills in the learning activities. However, the application of problem-solving skills in early mathematics learning activities is challenging, as there is no specific reference that can be used as a guide in implementing effective learning activities. The nominal group technique (NGT) approach is used to design the main components and elements of ProSkiND non-digital games framework based on the expert validation. A total of 12 experts were selected to validate the proposed main components and elements of the ProSkiND non-digital game using NGT online workshop. There were five main components with 41 elements were proposed: activity objective, teacher’s preparation, teacher’s role, children’s role, and activity evaluation. In this study, experts are asked to evaluate the ProSkiND non-digital games main components and elements based on the percentage value of agreement. The value of percentage of agreement that exceeds 70% (≥70%) is acceptable. The findings in this phase are used to develop main components and elements of the ProSkiND non-digital game framework based on problem solving skills for preschool early mathematics using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach

Association of interest, attitude and learning habit in mathematics learning towards enhancing students’ achievement

Mathematics is fundamentally important for Science and Technology, as well as in engineering. Mathematics is compulsory for students since all engineering subjects were Mathematically oriented. However, the preliminary study found that students’ achievement in Mathematics courses have been associated with three main factors, namely interest, attitude and learning habit, as in the KASH Model (Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits). This Model stipulated that poor performance is not just lacking in knowledge and skills but also including poor attitude and habits. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the students’ level and relationship between interest, attitude and learning habit based on KASH Model. A total of 58 students were selected as a sample of the study, who enrolled in the Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics and Solid Mechanics subjects. A set of questionnaires with 21 items was used to collect data; a descriptively analysis was used to find the mean and percentage, as well as correlation index using Pearson. The results; high level of factor of interest, attitude and learning habit, and high correlation between interest, attitude and habit. The implication is that teaching and learning process must equally fostering all these variables to achieve a high level of students’ achievement, especially in Mathematics subjects