Assessing Urban and Rural Teachers’ Competencies in STEM Integrated Education in Malaysia

In order to fulfil the need of sizeable skill workers, Malaysia will introduce STEM integration education in mainstream schools throughout the country. However, like any educational reform, one important issue that needs to be taken into account is the teachers’ readiness especially in terms of their skills and competency in implementing the reform. As such, the purpose of this study is to assess differences between teachers’ competency for STEM integration education between urban and rural teachers. A total of 244 teachers (urban = 129, rural = 115) are employed as sample in this cross-sectional quantitative study. Responses from an 18-item questionnaire were analysed using Rasch Model analysis to determine characteristics of item that measure competency between urban and rural teachers. The DIF analysis shows that items related to competency in (1) ICT integration, and (2) organizing co-curricular activities showed a significant difference in their measures between both sets of teachers. The result from this study would certainly provide useful information to relevant stakeholders, especially with regards to providing training for the teachers in the designated areas

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

Examining the factor structure of the teachers’ sense of efficacy scale with Malaysian samples of in-service and pre-service teachers

This study examined the factor structure of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) with a sample of Malaysian in-service (n=191) and pre-service (n=122) teachers. The longform (24 items) of the TSES was tested using two plausible rival models, the one-factor model, and the theoretically-driven three-factor model. Results from confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the baseline three-factor model had a better fit. Standardized factor loadings, standard errors, inter-correlations between factors and reliability coefficients for each factor are reported together with the goodness of fit indices. Minor revisions to improve the fit of the scale for Malaysian teachers are recommended. The TSES scale and the conceptualisation of teacher efficacy are discussed in terms of the cultural and educational context of Malaysia. This study advances the use of the TSES for measuring teachers’ sense of efficacy by demonstrating its factor stability within the Malaysian context

Gender differences in anger expressions among secondary students

Individuals with choleric temperaments easily get angry and can be problematic if not expressed appropriately. The purpose of this study was to identify gender differences in anger expressions among secondary school students. Respondents were secondary school students in four states in the Northern region of Malaysia. A total of 3348 students were involved, including 1,800 males and 1,548 females. Respondents aged between 13 and 16 were randomly selected from 20 secondary schools. Descriptive analyses and t-test were used to identify anger expressions among secondary school students. Findings showed that 780 respondents agreed that they are hot-tempered, while 2568 others did not. From the 780 hot-tempered respondents, 370 are males and 410 are females. A total of 3160 from the 3348 respondents did not meet their school counsellors for counselling sessions when they had anger problems. The findings also revealed a significant difference in four types of anger expressions between male and female students. They were in aggressive, verbal, intrinsic anger expression, and intrinsic anger control. The findings revealed that school counsellors need to equip students with specific, creative, and innovative interventions to cope with different anger expression

Perbandingan Cabaran Pelajar Politeknik di Malaysia Menggunakan Pendekatan Model Pengukuran Rasch

Kajian ini bertujuan membandingkan cabaran – cabaran pelajar di tujuh buah politeknik seluruh Malaysia. Seramai 252 orang pelajar politeknik dipilih sebagai sampel. Instrumen yang dipilih adalah Senarai Semak Masalah Mooney (SSMM) yang mengandungi 327 item berdasarkan 11 dimensi permasalahan seperti kesihatan, kewangan, rekreasi, persahabatan, sosial, peribadi, keagamaan, keluarga, kerjaya, pengajian dan pembelajaran. Data dianalisis berdasarkan kerangka Model Pengukuran Rasch menggunakan perisian WINSTEPS 3.71.0.1. Cabaran utama bagi tujuh pelajar politeknik di Malaysia adalah berbeza – beza mengikut dimensi cabaran oleh MPCL. Sebanyak tiga politeknik mempunyai cabaran utama pada dimensi pengajian dalam kalangan pelajarnya iaitu PMKL (Tidak memperuntukkan masa yang cukup untuk belajar = 1.10 logits), PSIS (Bimbang terhadap peperiksaan = 1.25 logits) dan PKB (bimbang terhadap peperiksaan = 1.64 logits). Dua politeknik mempunyai cabaran utama bagi dimensi pembelajaran iaitu di PIS (takut gagal dalam ujian = 0.91 logits) dan PSP (Takut gaga

Calibration of the science process skills among Malaysian elementary students: A Rasch model analysis

This study aimed to calibrate the test items of science process skills used as a test at primary school students to provide information on the difficulty of each item. Data were collected from 128 standard five students in a primary school in Penang. The test was given in multiple-choice as many as 40 items consisting of 33 items partial credit test was developed to gather information from the students. The analysis included an assessment of the model’s assumptions and calibrations according to the individual items. Information on the Rasch calibration according to the topic were provided. Results revealed that the measurement made fulfilled both model-data fit and unidimensionality assumptions. Further analysis showed that observing and communicating were endorsed as the easiest to master while inferring and classifying were the most challenging. The study discussed the implication, particularly towards the teaching and learning of science process skills in the classroom. Teachers should seriously consider the science process skills when designing their teaching and learning strategies in the classroom

Assessing Factors Influencing Students’ Choice of Malaysian Public University : A Rasch Model Analysis

The purpose of this study is to calibrate factors that influence students in their choice of public university. The factors are university’s image, course offered, facility provided and university’s environment. The participants for this study are 1584 prospective students from pre-university institutions. The study employed a 32-items self-developed questionnaire measuring the mentioned factors. The Rasch Model analyses were used because it provides the researcher with richer interpretations of the data collected. Results showed that the participants endorsed university’s image as the most influential factors followed by university’s environment, facility provided and course offered by the university. Nevertheless, the difference between calibration measures between the factors were small. Thus, the present study suggest that all factors are considered equally important and should be considered as one unitarian factors rather than a few different factors

The Psychometric Properties of Adversity Quotient (AQ) Items for TVET Education using Rasch Model

Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) require technical students as knowledge workers who have specific intelligence to face the challenges namely Adversity Quotient (AQ). AQ is a measure of how the individual respond and deal with everything, from everyday difficulties to the huge adversities. The linkages of AQ items assessment towards technical students are inadequate in order to prepare them for the real industry job environment. Previous research stated that it has very limited universal instrument to measure AQ for technical students. This paper investigated the psychometric items quality in measuring AQ and to see the pattern of AQ among technical students in polytechnic focusing on mechanical engineering students using Rasch model. The research used survey with quantitative approach and involved 369 respondents using proportionate stratified multistage of cluster sampling. AQ was measured using four constructs of Control, Ownership, Reach and Endurance. The results revealed that 36 from 66 items are fulfilling the reliability and validity with considerations of item fit, unidimensionality, local independence, polarity item, Gender Differential Item Functioning and Wright Map. The pattern of AQ level showed 10.03% of the respondents are at the very high, 15.18% at a high level, 28.18% at the moderate high, 24.39% at the moderate low, 13.28% at the low level and 8.94 % at the very low level. The pattern of AQ was at the moderate level. The study may influence the implementation of AQ for technical students as a future TVET graduates in order to identify them in handling adversities. This pattern will provide new ideas in helping stake holders to strategize the programme implementations of AQ. The novelty is that the item produced was proven empirically be applicable in the context of polytechnic which is notable for mechanical engineering students

The development and construct validation of the mathematics proficiency test for 14-year-old students

Mathematics education of yesterday, where the emphasis of procedural rote learning took centre stage, is no longer viable. Today, students must understand the Mathematics that they are learning; that is, Mathematics involves various components or strands that are interdependent and interwoven. The purpose of this study was to assess three of the strands, namely, conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and strategic competence among 14-year-old students. This study also sought empirical evidence for how the Mathematics proficiency construct contributed to each strand. Results from Rasch Model calibration showed that students were most proficient in conceptual understanding followed by strategic competence and procedural fluency. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that Mathematics proficiency was a significant determinant for each strand. Lastly, this study reported several implications calling for future research

The Development And Construct Validation Of The Mathematics Proficiency Test For 14-Year-Old Students

Mathematics education of yesterday, where the emphasis of procedural rote learning took centre stage, is no longer viable. Today, students must understand the Mathematics that they are learning; that is, Mathematics involves various components or strands that are interdependent and interwoven. The purpose of this study was to assess three of the strands, namely, conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and strategic competence among 14-year-old students. This study also sought empirical evidence for how the Mathematics profciency construct contributed to each strand. Results from Rasch Model calibration showed that students were most profcient in conceptual understanding followed by strategic competence and procedural fluency. Confrmatory factor analysis confrmed that Mathematics profciency was a signifcant determinant for each strand. Lastly, this study reported several implications calling for future researc