Career Profile among Malaysian In-Service Teachers

Personal aspects of teachers is an important area in teacher education studies. This they are closely linked to various issues and challenges of teachers such as attrition and early retirement. The purpose of this study is to investigate two important personal aspects among in-service teachers, namely, reasons to become a teacher and feeling about being a teacher. A total of 467 in-service teachers from public schools around Malaysia was sampled to provide responses for the study. Results showed that enjoy working with children, the opportunity to further studies and assurance of job were the three most important reasons. With regards to feeling about being a teacher, we found that primary school teachers showed significantly positive feelings compared to their secondary school counterparts. Their feeling about being a teacher was also significantly varied according to their teaching experience. Nevertheless, no significant difference was reported on the feeling of being a teacher according to gender and ethnicity. We also provide discussions within the context of teacher professional development in Malaysia.Group C: Teacher Professional Developmen

Comparing the Effect of Inquiry-Based Multiple Intelligence Approach and Non-Inquiry Based Multiple Intelligence Approach on Achievement in Science

The paper focused attention on comparing the effect of inquiry based multiple intelligence approach and noninquiry based multiple intelligence approach on achievement of pupils in some selected primary schools. Two primary schools were selected purposively with one intact class from each school. Each intact class of thirty (30) pupils were randomly assigned to the two groups used for the study. A total of sixty (60) pupils were used in the study. The two groups were assigned each to the inquiry based multiple intelligence approach group and the noninquiry based multiple intelligence approach group. The research design was a quasi-experimental design, involving a pretest and post-test in achievement of students. The reliability of the test instrument was established at 0.75 which was considered adequate. A pretest- was administered to the pupils .The pupils were taught science concepts based on the curriculum of the ministry of education for a period of eight (8) weeks using the inquirybased multiple intelligence approach and non- inquiry multiple intelligence approach for group A and B respectively after which the post-test- was administered. Findings using the statistical techniques of mean, median, standard deviation and one way analysis of covariant (ANCOVA) were used to proffer answers to the generated research questions and hypotheses revealed that there was significant difference between the achievement scores of pupils in science for the use of non- inquiry based multiple intelligence approach and noninquiry based multiple intelligence approach on. It was also statistically established that the effect of inquiry based multiple intelligence approach was on achievement is science was better. Conclusion and recommendations such as introducing and enhancing the use of inquiry based multiple intelligence approach in primary schools was made

Publication Trends in Physics Education: A Bibliometric study

A publication trend in Physics Education by employing bibliometric analysis leads the researchers to describe current scientific movement. This paper tries to answer "What do Physics education scientists concentrate in their publications?" by analyzing the productivity and development of publications on the subject category of Physics Education in the period 1980--2013. The Web of Science databases in the research areas of "EDUCATION - EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH" was used to extract the publication trends. The study involves 1360 publications, including 840 articles, 503 proceedings paper, 22 reviews, 7 editorial material, 6 Book review, and one Biographical item. Number of publications with "Physical Education" in topic increased from 0.14 % (n = 2) in 1980 to 16.54 % (n = 225) in 2011. Total number of receiving citations is 8071, with approximately citations per papers of 5.93. The results show the publication and citations in Physic Education has increased dramatically while the Malaysian share is well ranked

Modification and characterization of phytases for animal feed production

Phytases catalyze the hydrolysis of inorganic phosphate from phytic acid and improve the nutritional quality of phytate rich diet. Monogastric animal such as poultry and fish do not have the ability to completely hydrolyze phytate. As a result, beneficial nutrient necessary for growth becomes unavailable and its elimination through excretions leads to land pollution, eutrophication of ground water and aquatic environment. Besides, it leads to the negative effect on vitamin utilization that lead to the emaciation, retarded growth and reproductive failure in animals. In view of these adverse effects phytases are added in animal feeds. Phytases from microbial sources are commonly used for their commercial exploitations. Waste water bacterium phytase is the subject of interest in this project. In the present study in-silico experiments are used to identify and examine active site of phytase.The factors influencing the ligand binding strength in the active site is analyzed and computational site directed mutagenesis experiments have been carried out to evaluate the effects of mutations on the binding strength. Compare to native enzyme, structural prediction suggest that single mutations at position M216R and E219R add hydrogen bonds surrounding the active site, which increases in the binding of the phytate substrate eventually leading to better degradation. Detailed results from out single and multiple mutation studies provide new direction towards design and development of new phytases with enhanced functional properties

The characteristics of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) through Moodle: a view on students’ knowledge construction process

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is based on the pedagogical process of observation where students will learn progressively through active group interaction. CSCL is an emerging branch of the learning sciences concerned with studying on how people can learn together with the help of computers. Thus, this research was conducted to measure the characteristics of the CSCL learning environment through Moodle that assists the process of students’ knowledge construction during the teaching and learning process. The CSCL learning environment is an educational learning system which develops to help the teachers and students in managing School Based Assessment (SBA) in selected secondary school in Malaysia. Samples involved two groups of students and two Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers from two different schools. A total of 61 students, who were taught using CSCL approach through Moodle, underwent the process of teaching and learning using their school computer laboratory. The finding shows that the characteristics of the CSCL learning approach that used in this learning environment for the first group are at a high level with overall mean of 4.17 and the second group at moderate level with overall mean of 3.62. The result proves that the characteristics of the CSCL learning environment help students to build their knowledge during teaching and learning process at the high level with an overall mean score of 3.87. The mean of these two groups may vary according to students’ background, as well as learning environment facilities. Although, CSCL leads to students’ self-development, improving learning quality, sharing knowledge and assisting students’ in the process of building their knowledge, implementation of CSCL must first considering the technology relevant facilities, especially computer laboratory and internet accessibility in school. The implication is that designing a good CSCL must also taking into account the targeted users’ cultural background and socioeconomic factor

Social Network Analysis to Examine the Effectiveness of e-PBL with Design Thinking to Foster Collaboration: Comparisons between High and Low Self-regulated Learners

In TVET teaching and learning, learners’ collaboration is important to ensure learning effectiveness. However, employing either design thinking or online problem-based learning would not lead to fruitarian. Hence, to devise teaching and learning that employs design thinking (DT) and online problem-based learning (ePBL) pedagogies used in tandem with social media learning environment in Facebook are hypothesized to improve TVET learner’s collaboration. By adopting the Social Constructivism learning theory that social interaction fosters collaborative learning and build learners’ knowledge and understanding, this study is commenced. Social interaction that fosters learners’ collaboration is moderated by type of learners’ self-regulation (SR) towards learning. Previous research hypothesized that ePBL alone only worked effectively for high self-regulated learners. The learning outcome inequity present due to the pedagogy limitation. This research devises ePBL with DT as a combination of pedagogies that benefits the low SR learners as well. To monitor collaborative learning occurrences, network ties via social media footprints of individual TVET learners is tracked from the learners’ Facebook group. The effectiveness of treatments is monitored using social network analysis i.e. graph theory and centrality concept employing NodeXL software. Samples of 142 TVET pre-service teachers that currently enroll in Design and Technology course at Teachers’ Training Institutes in Malaysia participated in this study. The samples are intact group and classified into high-SR learners and low-SR learners. Social network analysis using Vertices index, Geodesic distance and graph visualization findings show that ePBL with DT works in fostering learning collaboration for both high-SR and low-SR learners. This implies that national e-learning policy and ePBL embeddedness into technical subject is promising, regardless of the type of learners provided that DT is incorporated into the pedagogy

Technology Trust and E-Banking Adoption: The Mediating Effect of Customer Relationship Management Performance

The electronic revolution in the Malaysian banking sector has started in the 1970's. The first visible form of electronic innovation in the Malaysian banking industry was the introduction of Automated Teller Machines in 1981. Finally, on June 1, 2000, the Malaysian Central Bank gave the green light for locally owned commercial banks to offer Internet banking services. Due to the drastic changes in the business environment, it leads financial institutions to revise their marketing strategies to stress long-lasting relationships with customers. Relationships is important criteria in the selection of private bank. In many conditions, customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between antecedent’s factors and marketing performance. Hence, CRM performance is about maintaining good relationship and repurchases behavior, word-of-mouth and customer retention. Trust has been studied in traditional physical commercial environments. In the marketing and management literatures, trust is strongly associated with attitudes toward products, services, and purchasing behaviors. So that, the main objective of this research paper is to investigate the role of CRM performance as the mediator in the relationship between trust and E-Banking adoption. Hence, this empirical paper confirmed the role of customer relationship management performance as the mediators in the relationship between trust and electronic banking adoption.Key words: Trust, Customer Relationship Management Performance, E-Banking Adoptio

Review paper on Assessing of depression by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

The study aimed at investigating the impact of depression on mental health and assessing this disease by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Depression is the significant mental disorder that has effect on quality of life and it is one of the main reasons for death in the world. Assessing depression can have an important role to play .The study discusses about measurement that is such an important issue needs to receive a great deal of attention in order to create grounds to be prevented or cured. This tool is appropriate for the study because it allows the reader to understand how to measure and identify symptoms of depression. One of the recommendations of the paper is that the tool should be carefully applied in order to improve mental health and reduce the prevalence of depression

Viewing mathematics teachers’ professional identity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Lens of Social Theory of Learning and Gender Schema Theory

The purpose of the study is to explore the profile of the professional identity of Mathematics teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the influence of Social Theory of Learning and Gender Schema Theory. The descriptive approach is used in this study. The sample size of this study is 600 secondary Mathematics teachers. This study used an adapted version of the questionnaire designed by Albaqi'i (2014) to profile the Mathematics Teachers' Professional Identity (TPI) of the participants. The findings of the study showed that there is no significant difference of Mathematics TPI in gender wise, but there is significant differences of Mathematics TPI based on teaching experiences and qualifications among the Mathematics teachers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The finding of the profile analysis gives some implications to understand how TPI is evolved among Mathematics teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the influences of teaching experience and professional development, which represent by their qualifications. The findings also informed that male and female Mathematics teachers did not perceive their professional identity differently, which suggest that Saudi Arabia culture permit equal participation in building their professional identity

Teachers’ professional identity measures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the perspective of Rasch Model Framework

This study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the professional identity measure of the professional identity of Mathematics teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Professional identity topic has not been widely addressed in the Arab environment. Studying the Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Identity (TPI) is important because only few and inadequate body of research has been performed in the Arab environment. Establishing measuring tool on the TPI contributes on the evaluation of the teachers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their roles in the educational process in the country. This study applies descriptive approach. 600 secondary Mathematics teachers were involved. The adapted version of the questionnaire designed by Albaqi'i (2014) used to measure the Mathematics TPI. Delphi techniques in three rounds to gather experts’ opinion about the suitability of Mathematics TPI questionnaire used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia context. Rasch model as a framework applied to assess the psychometric properties of Mathematic TPI questionnaire. The results are valuable in terms of analyzing the psychometric properties for the first version of Mathematics TPI, to improve Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and the psychometric properties for the revised version of Mathematics TPI Questionnaire