CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TOWARDS DIFFICULTIES IN GENERATING IDEAS AMONG TECHNICAL STUDENTS

Idea is a thought or collection of thoughts that are important to decision making and problem solving.  The purpose of this research was to analysis the factors contributing to difficulty in generating ideas among technical students.  A total of 375 technical students from four technical universities in Malaysia were randomly selected as samples.  A set of questionnaires was developed and used as research instrument.  The findings indicated that a total of 319 (85.1%) technical students faced difficulties in solving individual assignments.  Most of the problem faced by technical students is the difficulty of generating ideas for solving individual assignments.  The most difficult individual assignment is critical review or summary of articles.  Deadlock of ideas is the most important factor in the difficulty to generate ideas among technical students.  A total of 261 students (69.6%) also believed that the difficulty of generating ideas is a key factor affecting the achievement of the students’ assignments.  As a result, difficulties in generating ideas lead to students having problems in completing their assignment.  Therefore, students need to learn higher order thinking skills which are essential skills enabling students to generate ideas and consequently complete assignment

Malaysia and China students’ feedback on the implementation of critical thinking pedagogy: a case study

Having a knowledgeable and highly skilled human capital is an important factor for Malaysia to transform its economy towards achieving a developed nation and high-income status by the year 2020. Hence, the Malaysian government strives to improve the enrolment of local and international post-graduate students by providing an effective learning process to ensure their quality. This research aimed at describing the impact of critical thinking pedagogy using case-based learning in curriculum studies course among postgraduate students. It was a case study with qualitative approach. Interview technique was used in this study whereby five students who enrolled in curriculum studies course were selected as the respondents. The study sample underwent learning through critical thinking pedagogy using SCSCBL interactive application. Overall, the findings showed that the teaching approach of using the case-based learning can promote critical thinking skills among pre-service and in-service teachers. This study has provided positive implications on the postgraduates’ soft skill development as preparation for their future career

TRIZ: an alternate way to solve problem for student

Inventive problem solving is an alternative way of solving problem for student. 60 years ago, in 1956, Altshuller published a new, constructive and methodical approach ideas on problem solving to offer to the world. Even though TRIZ originally meant for fields of industry domains, it has solved problems in other field using some common principles. Thus, this methodology has spread to over 35 countries across the world. It is now being taught in several universities and it has been applied by a number of global organizations who have found it particularly useful to solve their problem. In 2017, KSSM curriculum has been revised to cope up this 21st century demand. This paper is a potentially useful for TRIZ beginner, as an alternative to solve problem comparable to common problem solving method. This paper also discussed the limitation of other common problem method which leads the advantages of using TRIZ

Relationship Between Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences Among Bachelor Of Technology And Education In Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Learning styles and multiple intelligences play an important role in higher education learning. They represent different individual preferences and strengths in learning and can be a stimulus for developing new ways of learning. This research is focused on the relationship between learning styles and multiple intelligences among the second year Bachelor of Technology and Education STP (A/E/J) direct intake students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The whole population of 97 students were selected as sample. The Kolb Learning Styles Model (1976) and Gardner Multiple Intelligences Theory (1983) were used in this research. This is a quantitative approach research. Data were collected using questionnaire that were translated from Kolb Learning Styles Inventory and Gardner Multiple Intelligences Inventory. The gathered data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPPS) software and presented as frequencies, percentages, correlation and diagram. The results showed that majority of the students tend to possess Diverger learning styles with emphasis on Intrapersonal Intelligence for the excellent level and Verbal-Linguistic for the low level. The Chi Square test for the .1 level of significance indicates that a significant correlation exist between Kolb learning style with Musical Intelligence. (Authors' abstract

Conceptions of learning through learning styles and cognitive dimension in vocational education

Individual learning preferences and learning styles have been defined in several different ways according to theoretical models. In the context of vocational education, students have different characteristics compared to their counterparts in other fields of education, since learning orientation is more on job focused. However, the cognitive dimension is still need to be measured especially for learners at school level. This article addresses the relationship between learning styles and cognitive dimension in vocational education at secondary school level. Based on the Felder-Silverman Learning Styles and Cognitive Dimension Model, the authors highlighted students’ dimension of learning styles, students’ preferences on learning preference, and the conceptual of knowledge, skills and problem solving construct according to taxonomy. It is concluded that the vocational students are more incline to be visual learner. This learning preference and learning styles will contribute to their engagement on the concept of learning in vocational education

CONCEPTIONS OF LEARNING THROUGH LEARNING STYLES AND COGNITIVE DIMENSION IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Individual learning preferences and learning styles have been defined in several different ways according to theoretical models. In the context of vocational education, students have different characteristics compared to their counterparts in other fields of education, since learning orientation is more on job focused. However, the cognitive dimension is still need to be measured especially for learners at school level. This article addresses the relationship between learning styles and cognitive dimension in vocational education at secondary school level. Based on the Felder-Silverman Learning Styles and Cognitive Dimension Model, the authors highlighted students’ dimension of learning styles, students’ preferences on learning preference, and the conceptual of knowledge, skills and problem solving construct according to taxonomy. It is concluded that the vocational students are more incline to be visual learner. This learning preference and learning styles will contribute to their engagement on the concept of learning in vocational education. &nbsp

IDENTIFYING RELATIONSHIP INVOLVING LEARNING STYLES AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS AMONG VOCATIONAL STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between students’ learning styles and problem solving skills among students in Building Construction Course at Vocational School. This study also investigated the differences between the students’ type of learning styles and their ability to solve the problem using their creative thinking. A survey was carried out on 68 vocational students in Building Construction Course from two Vocational Schools. Felder-Soloman’s Index of Learning Styles (ILS) and elements of creative thinking in problem solving for Vocational Education were the tools used in this study. Creative thinking in problem solving elements was categorized from the subject specification used in Building Construction curriculum. In brief, the ILS have five dimension; Processing, Perception, Input, Understanding and Perception. The results show that the Input style dominates the learning styles of Building Construction’s students in Vocational School and manipulating idea is the dominant creative thinking elements to solve the problem which students preferred. In conclusion, type of students’ learning styles will influence how they can cater their learning to improve their academic achievement and how they can use their creativity to solve the problem in actual situation in Building Construction work. However, learning styles are not main indicator to predict how students excellent are

VOCATIONAL PEDAGOGY A DIMENSION OF VOCATIONAL LEARNING WITH WORKPLACE REQUIREMENT

Rapid changes are taking place in industry, the labor market, work to work organization. The changes of taking places in industry have an important implication for Vocational Education and Training (VET). These widespread changes have significant implications for the learning requirement of workers and for the pedagogical methods to facilitate that learning. This paper focuses in the learning of instructor, learners in the perspective of their readiness with teaching and learning challenge in VET. Some theoretical consideration in behavioral and cognitive psychology will be discussed derived from the concept of learning content vocational institutions; pedagogical strategies such as demonstration, practice and feedback implemented by the instructors for learning occur. The learners’ preferences based on their characteristics to cater their ability to learn in VET. Learners’ learning styles were investigated to identify their preferences in learning and match with the curriculum and practices in teaching VET. The shift in pedagogical orientation will focus in potential of individual, engage learners in development of their own vocational knowledge and skills. VET instructors and trainers must be able to recognize and adapt their teaching and learning practice in order to response to these needs

Exploring the innovative methods for evaluating educational efficiency

The aim of this study is to provide information about educational efficiency by synthesizing existing literature, with an emphasis on techniques used to assess educational efficiency for the Decision-Making Unit (DMU). A thorough search of the existing literature was done using the terms ‘Education Efficiency,' ‘School Performance,' and ‘Efficiency Measurements' in the related systematic databases of ‘Web of Science' ‘Scopus,' and ‘Google Scholar'. The search yielded 1500 articles published between the years 2010 and 2021. The results indicate that nonparametric approaches Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and parametric approaches Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) are the primary methodologies utilized in the literature to drive the most significant metrics of education efficiency, based on pre-determined inclusion measures and a theme evaluation. The results of this study are expected to provide important insights and advantages to education's key stakeholders. Aside from adding to the existing literature on educational efficiency, this study has the potential to inform ongoing educational changes taking place significantly and promptly throughout the world

The Evaluation of Thinking Skills based on Taxonomy of Anderson and Krathwohl

Learning activities should involve explicit thinking skills. It is more convenient to categorize thinking skills based on the existing frameworks. The framework that is still considered very useful and popular among educators is Taxonomy Bloom (1956). Bloom's Taxonomy of cognitive domain is categorized into six type of thinking skills (Meyer, 1988; Som and Mohd Dahalan, 1998; Widad and Kandar, 2006). According to Tee et al. (2009), lower order thinking skills are the level of knowledge, understanding and application, while the level of higher order thinking skills are analysis, synthesis and evaluation. However, a revised on Taxonomy Bloom had been done by Bloom’s students, Anderson and Krathwohl in the year of 2001. There are some significant changes based on the revised taxonomy. This article will discuss about the Piaget’s cognitive theory and the differences between cognitive and meta-cognitive. In addition, Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) and Taxonomy of Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) will also be discussed. Besides that, this article will also address the action verbs widely used in each level of thinking skills and thinking skills evaluation tools such as objective tests, essay tests, and rubric. (Abstract by authors