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Government agencies adopt lean management to improve efficiencies and deliver quality services to their customers. However, many public service organizations were unable to fully implement and sustain lean. Resistance to change is one of the challenges during lean implementation in service. Thus, change management is needed by addressing the resistance, provide support, and develop the required knowledge to implement change. This paper reviews lean implementation in public service and the importance of change management in transition to lean. Hopefully, this study could provide a better understanding on lean service and guidance on applying the change management in lean transition.

The six goals of one of the premier banks in Malaysia, namely asset accumulation, liability reduction, equity wealth, earning, profitability and optimum management items in the financial statement were examined. The data are collected from the bank's annual report and bankscope from 2010 until 2014. The goal programming model is developed to find an optimal solution for six goals by using the LINGO Software version 11. The result shows that all six goals are fully achieved. The proposed model can be used as a guideline for financial institutions in making decisions and develop strategies to deal with various economic scenarios.

Students’ perception of their learning environment is a crucial factor in improving quality of learning. Several researches revealed that students’ perception of the learning environment has a significant impact on the students’ academic performance and attitude. This study investigated relationships between students’ perception of automobile technology learning environments and their attitude towards automobile technology in north-eastern tertiary institutions of Nigeria. The research design of the study was a correlational survey design and the sample comprised 474 students offering automobile technology as a course in the institutions. The data were collected using ATLEI and ATAQ and these were analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple correlation, and multiple correlation analysis. The findings revealed that the automobile technology learning environments remain traditional and students anxiety-dominated the learning environment in the north-eastern tertiary institutions of Nigeria. It was recommended that lecturers in the institutions of learning should be sensitized on the importance of students’ perception of learning environment and enhanced student-student and student-lecturer relationships in their institutions.

Developing creative thought and innovative action among graduates is pertinent in this competitive age. However, to what extend graduates were allowed to develop creativity in classroom? This study was intended to examine barriers to creativity and innovation in a local university. This study utilized a survey method using cross sectional research design. 202 graduate students participated in this study.The findings showed moderate barriers related to self-confidence and risk taking, need for conformity, use of systematic analysis, use of abstract, task achievement and physical environment. The practical implications of these findings were discussed in this paper.

Many students who enroll in distance learning programs claimed that they feel very stressful when completing their assignments, poor performance and difficulties to cope with studies and work. This study compared the part-time distance learning students and the full-time students’ emotional intelligence, psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This study employed a survey method involving 67 students. The finding revealed that there was a significant difference in emotional intelligence between the part-time and the full time students. However, there were no significant differences in psychological well-being and life satisfaction between the two groups of students. Implications and recommendations are discussed accordingly.

This paper discusses the Qur’anic term of Ahsan al-Qawlas a basic linguistic concept of language role in interreligious communication in order to identify the meanings of (inter)religious communication based on the Qur’an and to construct the appropriate model in analysing interreligious discourse. The connection of the term with language use and language practice in interreligious communication will be discussed. The findings show that the principles of interreligious communication are mostly based on the God-man relation, and also the man-man-nature relation. These relations clearly distinguish the meanings of religious communication in the Islamic perspective from the Western perspective.

Shariahis an Islamic law derived from the divine revelation and practice of the prophet; namely, al- Quranand al-Hadith. Shariahprohibits elements such as usury (riba), gambling (maysir) and uncertainty (gharar). These elements are present in many conventional financial activities. For a Muslim, this means getting involved indirectly in prohibited practices, which is considered as grave sin. To tackle this problem, Shariahscholars have set some acceptable boundaries for companies to do their business activities and outline steps to purify the sinful earnings. However, it is not an easy task to do. This paper will discuss the criteria, processes as well as the tediousness involved in the screening for Shariahcompliant and proposed the possible solution to be undertaken to assist in the Shariahscreening process.

This descriptive study is aimed to look at the consistency of the trainee teachers personality with the teaching career environment using the Three-Point Holland Code (1985). Research samples consisted of 284 trainee teachers; 149 were from the Semester 7 Undergraduate Education Program (UEP) and 135 were from the Preparatory Undergraduate Education Program (PUEP), who were randomly picked. The research instrument used for data collection was the Self-Directed Search Inventory which was translated and adapted by Amla Salleh (2007). Data was analysed descriptively (frequency and percentage) using the microsoft excel 2010. Results showed that the trainee teachers personality profile for both programs are S, A, I, C, R, E (Social, Artistic, Investigative, Conventional, Realistic and Enterprising). Vocational interest patterns of the UEP trainee teachers showed 9.39% have a pattern most consistent with the teaching career personality code (SAE and SEA), 58.38% have a consistent pattern, 20.81% have a partial consistency, 6.71% have a less consistent pattern and 4.67% have inconsistent interest. For the PUEP teacher trainees, 3.70% showed a pattern most consistent, 40% have a consistent pattern, 38.52% have a partial consistent, 9.63% have a less consistent pattern, and 8.15% have a less consistent pattern and 8.15% have inconsistent interest with the teacher personality code based on the Three-Point Holland Code. Overall, the results showed that there is consistency between the pattern of personality with the career interest environment among the teacher trainees surveyed. Implications for teacher training and teacher trainees leadership towards increased profesionalism was also discussed.

The increasing rate of unemployed graduates is one of the issues that triggers world's concerns lately. Consequently, this research aims to investigate factors that lead to the unemployment problem among Malaysian graduates from three aspects, which are graduates’ attributes, lecturers’ competency and quality of education. This qualitative research adopted an interview method, which was conducted to seven respondents who have the experience in teaching and working in the industry. The majority of the respondents agreed that the graduates’ attributes, lecturers’ competency and the quality of education, which is referred to the curriculum of a study field, are among the factors that contribute to the unemployment problem among the Malaysian graduates nowadays. Therefore, it is reasonable for the parties who are involved in the construction and the enhancement of the curriculum of the related to the field of study to conduct an in-depth study. This should be done in order to identify the problems that occur throughout the implementation of the study area. It is important to evaluate the suitability of the implementation of a curriculum of the study area in order to ensure the implemented curriculum can produce human resources, which are qualified, skilful and can fulfil the need of the industries and the current market.

Communication climate is of paramount importance in an organization as it contributes to the effectiveness and success of an organization. The communication climate of an organization may influence the atmosphere in the organization which either encourages or hinders horizontal, upward or downward communication among the employees. In organizations with defensive climates, employees have the tendency to abstain from communicating their needs, as they become very cautious in making statements, and may have low level of motivation. On the other hand, organizations with supportive environments encourage active participation, healthy exchange of information and constructive conflict resolution. Instilling collaborative communication climate in an organization however requires effective management of conflicts. This paper reports a study conducted in a high risk work environment of an oil and gas company, in which the personnel have to work with volatile chemicals and heavy machines. The communicative behaviors in such hazardous environments are not to be taken lightly as communication errors could lead to fatal incidences. The study thus investigates the impact of communication conflict strategies used by the personnel on the overall organizational communication climate in a high-risk workplace environment. A set of questionnaires were administered to employees at all levels in the organization working at the administrative office and at the gas plant. One hundred and twenty five employees responded to the questionnaire, which attributed to more than fifty percent of the total population. The findings discuss the impact of various communicative strategies used in conflict management on the organizational communication climate. The overall findings suggest that conflicts management is related to the roles the personnel play in the organization. In assuming the leadership role, the top management's approach to conflicts include confrontational and compromise, instead of non-confrontation and control, which have a degree of impact on the communication supportive climate. The executives, technical staff, non-technical staff have different approaches in conflict management strategies.

There are a number of players in the domain of agriculture playing different roles as key stakeholders with different level of involvement and influence. Government agencies, agri-entrepreneurs and individual farmers are amongst those who play significant roles in ensuring sufficient food supply for the nation. The agriculture sector contributes significantly to the economic growth in Malaysia and in ensuring food security in the country. The recent occurrence of staple food crisis affecting many countries became severe when India, Vietnam and China had limited the exporting of rice to other countries. The overall development of paddy sector under the agricultural framework initiatives are carefully planned and implemented in the recent Economic Transformation Program (ETP). The aim of the initiatives is not only to ensure national food security but also to tap into the global market as the world population continues to grow driving for an increase in the demand. One of the quick win initiatives by the government in overcoming the crisis is to increase the soil fertility for paddy planting which requires promotion of new technology and rigorous research. The paper critically discusses innovation diffusion in the agricultural context with specific reference on the analysis of how innovation is diffused, its communication channels, and the dissemination movement. Preliminary findings of farmers’ experience on innovation diffusion process shall be discussed in this paper. Farmers at the granary area in Perak, under Integrated Agriculture Development Agency (IADA), had taken part in the study. The results indicate the level of farmers’ knowledge and information about fertilizer in general, management of the innovation dissemination process, and the extent of readiness in realizing innovations.

In recent years, researchers reported that effective ICT integration requires teachers to acquire knowledge of technology, content, pedagogy and the intersection of these, known as TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Archambault, & Crippen, 2009). This study specifically sought to answer: 1) What are pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their TPACK mastery level before and after field experience; and, 2) Is there a significant difference of TPACK after field experience in schools? The TPACK survey instrument was adapted from Schmidt et al. (2009) and Archambault and Crippen (2009)and administered before and after their field experience to 107 pre-service teachers in a research intensive university programme in New Zealand. In addition, three student teachers were interviewed before and after field experience. These pre-service teachers scored highest in Content Knowledge (CK) and lowest in Technology Knowledge (TK) domains within TPACK at both before and after field experience. Paired-sample t-tests showed significant increases in most TPACK domains, namely, TK, PK, PCK, TCK and TPACK. Interviews and observations of three students clarified complex changes in knowledge of TPACK that linked to their experience in schools. The study continues to support the need for field experience while also adding caution to the interpretation of TPACK survey evidence given the strength of the student teachers’ perceived knowledge before field experience. Further research is underway with a comparative survey in a programme that prepares teachers for secondary schools in Malaysia.

Undergraduate student industrial training programs in the engineering industry are mutually beneficial relationships that helps nurture student growth, enhance university-industry relationships, and challenge the faculty to include up-to-date information in the teaching curriculums. The engineering discipline in particular requires graduates to be well-prepared with real world experience so they can anticipate the working challenges. The industrial training program is a mandatory graduation requirement for undergraduates of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM. Students have to undergo a ten to twelve-week period of industrial training following their sixth semester of university study. Before the training period, students have to prepare a short resume and then determine their companies of choice. During the internship, students kept a daily log documenting the activities and will be monitored by a visiting faculty academic. Upon returning to the faculty, they have to complete a technical report and deliver a seminar presentation summarising their experience. This paper highlights the program description, defines the industrial training objectives and describes the implementation process and challenges.

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the research efficacy of the undergraduate students. Respondents are limited to final year students both from the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) and Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FEBE) UKM. Results indicate student's level of confidence in conducting research from both faculties are significantly similar at mean score 3.71 based on Likert scale. It is revealed that the respondent has the highest level of confidence in terms of conducting research using ICT tools. However the respondent's exhibits moderate level of confidence when conducting basic research skill such as designing research method and defending research results.

Besides the renowned biologist, Richard Dawkins, Dennett is amongst the first to be cognizance of the importance of memes, making it central in the formulation of a Dennettian theory of consciousness. The importance of memes in Dennett's theory of consciousness lies second only to his heterophenomenological theory. This paper argues that Dennett's conception of meme and consciousness is flawed. It raises difficult and thorny issues that could not be easily resolved and hence discrediting Dennett's theorizing of consciousness generally.

Despite over two decades of research, the construct of emotional intelligence (EI) remains elusive as recent researchers debate whether it can be considered a new form of „intelligence‟ that fulfils the standard of an intelligence construct. The main objective of this study is to assess the place of emotional intelligence within the existing major factors of intelligence, particularly fluid intelligence (gf) and crystallized intelligence (gc). Second, it investigated the convergent validity of emotional intelligence when correlated with general cognitive intelligence (g). The Shipley-2 IQ test and the WEIS performance-based EI test were administered to 422 respondents. The results from the confirmatory factor analyses utilizing structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that emotional intelligence does not adequately fit the intelligence taxonomy. Meanwhile, the relatively small EI/g correlation revealed that the WEIS is not a pure ability measure. Therefore, more research and the development of new EI measures are required to determine whether EI has an intelligence component.

Transparency is an essential precondition for containing corruption. Construction is prone to corruption as it involves a large number of participants. Corruption is a deviant behaviour of an individual that should be looked into.The objective of this paper is to study the behavioural factors that lead to corrupt acts based on the Model of Corrupt Action. Questionnaire survey is utilised to derive to the solution. The results show that behavioural factors concerning the achievement of a certain goal do not predict corrupt action but the desire factors represent an important antecedent of intention by which a strong predictor of particular behaviour.

The objective of this study was to identify the learning styles and visualization skills practiced by engineering students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. A sample of 250 respondents was selected from six engineering faculties in the university. This comprised of year one to year four undergraduate engineering students in the faculties. The study used quantitative approach of data collection and has been analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis. The instrument for data collected included questionnaires, visualization skills tests and learning style inventory which were used to determine the relationship between learning styles and visualization skills of students. The results showed that there was no relationship between visualization skills and learning style engineering students in UTM. From this study, patterns of visualization skills and learning styles among engineering students were constructed based-on area/field of specialization, years of study and gender.

This paper focuses on the gap of proficiency for skilled workers and employer needs towards Non-technical Skills for electronics sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia. This research is a quantitative research that uses a survey as the medium. There are seven elements in Non-technical Skills which are; communication skills, creative thinking and problem solving skills, information management skills, leadership and organizational skills, teamwork skills, work attitudes, and personal traits and self-management skills. Mean for all Non-technical Skills proficiency on skilled workers and the Non-technical Skills needed by the employer for their workers is used in this study. Radar chart is used to present the data and T-test is used to analyze the data. Findings from the T-test show that there is a significant gap between all Non-technical Skills proficiency on skilled workers and the Non-technical Skills needed by employer for their workers for electronics sector in Klang Valley, Malaysia. So we can conclude that the skilled workers do not fulfil the needs from employers towards Non-technical Skills proficiency. From this research, we suggest that the company should provide trainings which focus on enhancing the Non-technical Skills for skilled workers in the industry by using the National Dual Training System (NDTS).

Teacher's organizational commitment is important for school effectiveness and indirectly is able to affect the students’ outcome. Previous studies demonstrated that empowered followers display better commitment to the organization. When employees are empowered, they show a better level of self-confidence and are able to influence work environment in a positive manner. However, due to internal and external pressure faced by the schools, to what extent psychological empowerment could enhance organizational commitment among school teachers? Therefore, this study intends to investigate the influence of teachers’ psychological empowerment on their commitment. 258 daily primary school teachers in the district of Klang participated in this study. The findings revealed that there was a positive and moderate linear relationship between psychological empowerment and organizational commitment. Based on the findings, this study also provides recommendations for practices and future research.

Teachers’ organizational commitment is a critical aspect in determining the success of education reform and school effectiveness because highly committed teachers are willing to contribute their extra effort to achieve school vision and goals. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that could enhance teachers’ organizational commitment. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of perceived transformational leadership behavior and organizational commitment. 186 secondary school teachers in the district of Klang were selected based on two-stage random sampling. Data were collected using the survey method and were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Based on the data collected, the findings showed that secondary school teachers in the Klang district have high level of organizational commitment and perceive their principals practicing strong transformational leadership behavior. The findings also revealed that there was a positive and strong linear relationship between transformational leadership behavior and organizational commitment. The findings of this study have implications to the role of principal in exercising transformational leadership behavior to ignite teachers’ organizational commitment.

The use of more than one code of language among the Malaysian English language instructors and ESL learners in the context of formal classroom settings is widely acknowledged (Then & Ting, 2009). Many factors contribute to the occurrence of code-switching or in other words, there must have been certain communication purposes associated which cause code switching to occur. This study aims to uncover the attitudes of ESL learners towards the functions of code-switching employed by English language instructors at tertiary level. It addresses two research questions: (1) What do ESL learners think about code switching in the English classroom? (2) When does code switching best function in the English classroom for the ESL learners? Forty-five diploma students were randomly selected as the respondents for this study. A survey questionnaire which focused on the students” attitudes, usage and opinion towards code switching in the classroom was utilised in the study. It was found that most of the ESL learners have positive attitudes towards code switching. The ESL learners were also reported to believe that code switching facilitates them in understanding the target language. The findings suggest that the use of code switching is necessary when the situation requires the use of first language in the classroom to enable the learners to become more confident in mastering English.

Students’ comprehension of a text relies much on the use of appropriate reading strategies during the activity. The use of such strategies would improve students’ comprehension of the text, which, in turn helps them in their academic achievement at large. This study aimed to investigate the reading strategies used by ESL learners at tertiary level. Specifically, it aimed to identify the reading strategies frequently used by the ESL high and low achievers. It also aimed to find out whether there was any significant different in the type of strategies used by each group of ESL achievers. Forty undergraduate students were randomly selected as the respondents for this study. A twenty-eight-item questionnaire, which focused on the frequency of use of pre, while, and post-reading strategies was utilised in the study. It was found that both of the ESL high and low achievers frequently used certain reading strategies to grasp the meaning of the text. The ESL high achievers were also reported to significantly use post-reading strategies more frequently as compared to the ESL low achievers who tended to use while- reading strategies more frequently. The findings suggest that the use of appropriate reading strategies should be exposed to students to help them enhance their comprehension of a reading text and make them become better readers.

Higher education is critical success of young adults. Higher education can provide a gateway for social mobility and play a critical role in countering social stratification in Malaysia, particularly for the Bumiputera students in Malaysia society. However, change hurts. The transition from school to university is a change that every school students have to face in their quest for higher education. The current scenario giving some signals that there is a challenging life transition in the development of young adults, and many students are inadequately prepared for the psychological, emotional, and academic realities of higher education. These new university students are confronted with the adaptational challenges of living apart from family and friends, adjusting to the academic regimen, assuming responsibility for the tasks of daily living, and developing a new array of social relationships with peers and faculty. Futhermore, not many research have been conducted on this issue except that focused had been made to the secondary and/or high school students only. Therefore, this paper takes the challenge of filling these gaps by analysing some crucial conceptual undertanding what factors exactly influence the student's life at the higher institution.

Universities around the globe in this 21st century are facing challenges of globalization, competition and information and communication developments. They are required to prepare their students with knowledge and necessary skills so as to face challenges in the real world scenario such as global economy and global society since qualities are highly valued in an increasing globalized world. These universities students need to cope with complex new roles and the urge to succeed in both academic and soft skills. However, on the other hand, to what extent, these students are happy and satisfied with their life, particularly in handling with new challenges and demands from the university and society. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the relationship between academic achievement and life satisfaction among the undergraduate students of UiTM, Shah Alam. A total of 137 undergraduate students participated in this study. Pearson‟s Product –Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between variables. The finding showed that there is no relationship between life satisfaction and academic performance among the undergraduates‟ students. Implications and recommendation were discussed in this paper.

The aim of this study was to examine adult learners’ preferences and satisfactions toward using i-class system provided by UiTM. A total of 440 adult students from different programs participated in this study. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results revealed that the majority of the respondents indicated a moderate level of satisfaction towards using i-class system. However, they were looking forward to use i-class system due to the availability of the computer. In addition, they prefer to access i-class so that they could able to communicate with their friends and also to search for materials. These adult learners also preferred to access i-class system at home and using their own laptop. They less preferred to access i-class at UiTM or local library or even at the cyber café.

Malaysian universities nowadays aspire to produce graduates who are knowledgeable, equipped with problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Hence, educators are constantly striving to find teaching strategies that inculcate meaningful learning among their students, so that they are ready to join the workforce and solve real-world problems. Nevertheless, most students often emphasise on memorising rather than understand what they are learning. Therefore, to what extend students’ learning approaches could enhance their academic performance? The main aim of this study was to examine the influence of three different learning approaches which are Deep Approach, Surface Approach and Strategic Approach on students’ academic achievement among the American Programme students of International Education College (INTEC), UiTM Shah Alam. The study also investigated the relationship between the variables involved and determined the predictors of academic achievement. The design of this research is descriptive in nature and questionnaires were used to obtain information on students’ preferred learning approaches and their level of academic achievement. A total of 233 students responded to the questionnaire. The findings show that students are more prone to use Deep Approach to studying. The findings also revealed that there is an inverse relationship between Surface Approach and academic achievement. Implications for teaching and learning were also discussed.

Producing a high quality of test items needs a substantial time and efforts in developing and examining each test item. Literature suggested this limitation can be remedied with a large collection of test items along with their measurement characteristics which termed as item bank. However, a well-developed item bank is formed by a set of high quality of test items using a rigorous development and validation procedures. In achieving this, this study attempts to describe the development of Malaysian secondary school Form two Mathematics item bank; and to examine the psychometric properties of the test items which developed based on Malaysian Mathematics Curriculum Specifications. The sample consisted of 1 316 Form two students selected from 12 secondary schools in the state of Penang and Perak. Data was analyzed using Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Model with WinSteps computer program. The results showed that 19 out of 160 items were excluded as not fitting Rasch measurement model. Thus, only 141 items were stored in the item bank and empirically fulfilled the quality as suggested by the Rasch measurement model. This study contributes to create Malaysian Mathematics item bank which deserves to be further created, tested and modified the computer adaptive testing (CAT) program.

Many concerns have been raised about the psychometric properties of instruments when used in different culture. Studies show that adaptation of instrument within a particular context sometimes has different meaning since a particular psychology construct is considered cultural specific. The purpose of the present study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) within the Malaysian educational context A total of 191 Malaysian in-service and 122 pre-service teachers participated in the study. A Rasch Measurement Model analysis is used to examine the psychometric properties of the scale, particularly the reliability and construct validity. Analyses showed somewhat similar variability with the in-service group demonstrated wider spread of item difficulty compared to the pre-service teachers. One important observation was that both group endorsed different set of items. Consistency of both item difficulty and teachers’ efficacy were high and threats to construct validity in terms of construct irrelevant-variance and construct under-representation were minimum. One worrying finding, however, was that the differential item function (DIF) analysis showed that 13 items (54.17%) behaved significantly different across groups of teachers.Even though several items shown to behave differently across both group of teachers, overall results are encouraging and seem to support the suitability of the TSES to assess teachers’ sense of efficacy within the Malaysian educational context.

This study intends to examine the state of psychological well-being among the young unwed pregnant women who are currently living in KEWAJA shelter home. Adolescence pregnancy is a social phenomenon and has impact on socio-economy of the community and environmental challenges. It could also contribute to the total burden of disability in the community. However, the result of the study showed the level of psychological well-being of the respondents was generally high. This finding has practical implications to extension agents and community development programs. Thus, a multi -pronged community driven programs are needed to reduce risk behavior among these young adults.

This paper intends to describe the nature of activities conducted, tutor factors, English language use, and benefits of the peer- tutoring program. Tutor's participant-observation and tutees’ responses to interviews were gathered and interpreted. The findings revealed that the peer-tutoring program was a conducive platform for students to practice the language. The study offers valuable insights into the improvement of tertiary English Second Language (ESL) classroom practice, syllabus design and materials development. The findings suggest that students learnt best when learning centers around them. The authors argue that the environment surrounding the teaching and learning process plays a big role in the acquisition process and increases meaningful language use. This paper concludes that peer-tutoring can be a powerful support program in promoting language use among university students.

This paper reports a case study on virtual mentoring and collaboration between the pre-service teachers and in-service teachers from three institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. The objective of the study is to identify the roles of the mentors in the collaborative virtual learning environment (CVLE). There were 48 pre-service teachers and 4 in-service teachers involved in the virtual collaboration via Internet Classroom Assistant (www.nicenet.org). They were placed in groups where the pre-service teachers acted as the e-mentees and the in-service teachers acted as the e-mentors. Each group was required to produce an online newsletter. The data obtained from the online postings and reflective journals of the e -mentors were analyzed using Ambrosetti and Dekkers's [1] table of the mentors’ roles. Findings showed that the e-mentors played the roles of supporters, collaborators, editors, friends, evaluators, teachers, leaders and role models. The study recommends that teachers should involve themselves in collaboration and mentoring via asynchronous mode of CMC regardless of distance and time in order to develop professionally.

This paper intends to present the results of a small scale study on the implementation of drama workshop among second language learners. The objectives of the study are i) to investigate whether drama activities are able to integrate all the four skills among second language learners and ii) to examine to what extent could drama activities motivate the students to u se the target language actively. The participants were 25 undergraduate engineering students and 16 TESL students cum facilitators. Based on observations and reflective writing from the facilitators, data were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed. Results of the study suggest that drama activities are able to integrate the four language skills among the students as well as motivate them to actively use the target language among themselves. The study concludes that as a teaching technique, drama activities could be useful and fun for second language learners in giving them the opportunity to practice the target language actively to enhance the four skills.

Managing work/family domain is imperative for organization in creating a supportive work environment among employees. Thus, this study aims to validate the hypothesized interrelationships among the constructs of self-esteem, work/family conflict and satisfaction outcomes. Data collected from 689 married nurses were tested using a full structural equation modeling. The results showed; there is a positive strong relationship between self-esteem and satisfaction outcome; a negative weak relationship between work/family conflict and satisfaction outcomes and a negative relationship between self-esteem and work/family conflict. In brief, engaging strategies to enhance self- esteem is practically important in assisting employee to juggle work/family roles and achieve satisfaction.

This research was conducted to develop and evaluate a prototype of Web-based Basic French courseware (EASIFRENCH) for Basic French subject at diploma level. It also engaged of web applications that offer various facilities in providing interactive, effective and innovative learning environment. This research also evaluates some features of Basic French courseware such as pedagogical approach, learning strategies, theories in education and effectiveness usage test in term of achievement towards the application of Basic French courseware in teaching and learning compared to conventional way. The research methodology applied waspra and post quasi-experimental for balanced groups. The samples for the study were 4 Subject Experts, 56 students and 3 lecturers from UniKL Malaysia France Institute (UniKL MFI). The students were divided into two groups where 28 students use the Web - based Basic French courseware (treatment group) and 28 students learn Basic French in conventional way (controlled group). In this study, 7 instruments were used to interpret the research problems, needs analysis, courseware evaluation through formative and summative assessments. The findings were analyzed by using SPSS version 11.5 and descriptive and inferential statistics were applied. Findingsoftheresearchfoundthattheexperimentgroup (R) thatunderwenttheteachingandlearningprocessusingthe Basic French Software (EASIFRENCH) had a higherachievementlevelascomparedtothecontrolledgroup(K)thatfollowedtheconventionaalapproachtoteachinganglear ning. This researchcontributestoaspects such as: (i) design ofthedevelopmentmethodologyofthe Basic French courseware EASIFRENCH; (ii) design oftheinstructional design (ID Model) for EASIFRENCH; (iii) developmentof prototype ofthe Basic French Courseware EASIFRENCH; (iv) developmentofmodules such as: Tutorials Module, Exercises Module, Communication Module, Activities Module, Links Module andLearn More Module; and (v) findingsoftheusabilitytestconducted on the Basic French Courseware, EASIFRENCH.

In an effort to produce skilled and competent engineers, a program, which involves participation and cooperation from the industry, has been introduced. The Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Engineering (EESE) of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB), has proposed the implementation of industrial talk and visit, which focuses on the three program outcomes (POs) components as follow: (i) ethic and responsibility, (ii) knowledge of current technical issues and.(iii) life-long learning. A preliminary study has been performed to the students who have participated in the industry talk. The implementation effectiveness is further investigated in order to verify whether the proposed program has met the targeted POs. The analysis is done quantitatively with a total of 46 students participated in the survey. Preliminary results showed that 96% of students agreed that the proposed industrial talk give a positive impact, based on the analysis from the program outcomes.

Industrial training program is a prerequisite course for all undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment (FKAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). By having this training program, students are exposed to the responsibility of an engineer and engineering profession. This study was carried out to compare the students’ perception on the benefit of the Industrial Training program for the year 2010. A 5-point-Likert scale questionnaire based on students’ perception before and after industrial training were given to 318 trainee students in the faculty. All raw data were analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test measurement. The results show that there was a statistical different (p<0.05) between students’ perception before and after the industrial training. These results also proved that the industrial training program is merely beneficial to the students in terms of engineering education improvement and engineering profession.

Employees’ commitment, in particular, the academics are crucial to the universities; as their commitment may be directed towards a number of entities, such as the work of teaching and research, to students’ success, to specific programs or the universities as the organization. A low level of commitment tends to demonstrate negative work behaviours. This study examine whether the constructs of leadership behaviour and emotional intelligence could enhance organizational commitment among the academic staff in a higher learning institution. A total of 169 academic staff selected based on stage and cluster sampling participated in this study. The result shows that there is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership behaviour on organizational commitment.

In gauging Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, observation is often used by researchers in evaluating CPTED elements in residential areas. However, the evaluation on attitude, reaction, belief, responsibility and perception of the residents on CPTED elements are also important to be considered. Therefore, a survey on the perception of residents on CPTED elements was conducted in non-gated and gated residential areas located at Putrajaya and Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. The results found that the Territoriality and Maintenance dimension achieved a good fit index where the values for GFI, TLI and CFI exceeded 0.90 and the RMSEA value was less than 0.05.

Minimum internal dwelling space of low-cost walk-up flats forces life to spill outdoor involving daily mundane activities affecting neighborhood social vitality. In design, this affordance of such ‘marginal’ outdoor spaces has been neglected. Using data derived from systematic observations in various low cost walk up flats, this paper explores the use of these outdoor near home spaces and found that they support various domestic, social and retreat activities generating liveliness in the otherwise barren low cost environment. Potentials for social encounters and casual surveillance were significantly affected by the flats layouts.

Transparency initiatives (TI) are essential elements to corruption and corrupt behavior. Corruption is a fiduciary crime that is believed to penetrate slowly into the construction sectors. Diverse characteristics of human behavior affect the attitude towards corrupt activities. The objectives are: (1) to investigate sources of corruption and (2) to identify strategies to reduce corruption in construction. A workshop was conducted to derive to the solutions. Weaknesses in the system and economic pressure are two technical sources of corruption, while, human behaviour to corrupt is affected by culture, society and personality. The person attitudes and self-value are two strategies in curbing corruption.

Every student in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is required toundergo an industrial training. This survey was conducted after the students have completed their five months industrial training in 2009. The survey aims to get students perceptions on the industrial training course and the benefits of self changes. This survey involved 285 respondents from four departments in the faculty. The criterion is based on the 5-score Likert scale. There are three parameters used to study the self changes i.e. the ‘knowledge’, ‘skills’ and ‘attitude’. Overall, the students from the faculty achieved an average performance before the industrial training of 41% of the ‘knowledge’, 49% of the ‘skills’ and 65% for ‘attitude’. After completing the industrial training, these three parameters were increased to 89% of the ‘knowledge’, 88% of the ‘skills’ and 95% for ‘attitude’. On the benefits of industrial training, 91% of respondents agreed it was useful in providing added value to the career opportunities, while 88% agreed it was beneficial in improving their qualifications after graduation and 92% agreed it was useful in providing guidance for future careers.

The main objective of this paper is to examine the extent of clinical work undertaken by the final year students enrolled in the Sarjanamuda Undang-undang (Bachelor of Laws) at the Faculty of Law at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). An understanding of clinical legal education (‘CLE’) as commonly practised in the United States is first briefly discussed in order to provide a clear picture of the extent and how ‘CLE’ is practised in Malaysia and at UKM. This discussion is then followed by the rise of a need to review CLE practices in UKM and in Malaysia. However, the scope of this initial review is limited to professional practise modules and activities bearing clinical elements for these are the subject of concerns in light of the legal profession requirement in Malaysia. Working on the belief that law students learning experience could be further enhanced, The results of this initial review will be employed as an initial report for a comprehensive review exercise to be undertaken by the Faculty of Law of UKM in 2011 to enhance quality in curriculum delivery and in support of widening students’ clinical experience to meet the needs of the legal fraternity and industry.

The prime aim of this study is to examine the level of teaching efficacy among Mathematics student teachers of Universiti Sains Malaysia. In addition, two variables, namely, gender differences and Mathematics performance are also studied in relation with teaching efficacy. The sample consisted of 110 student teachers who just completed their teaching practice. Using the Rasch Model analysis, the findings indicate that classroom management (mean=1.15, sd=1.12) was the most difficult aspect to perform followed by instructional strategies (mean=1.04, sd=3.4) and student engagement (mean=0.94, sd=1.74). With regards to individual items, the most difficult task for the sampled student teachers is to motivate students who show low interest in school work (measure=2.81, se=0.21). The least difficult task is to get students to believe they can do well in school work (mean=1.76, se=0.25). As expected, a positive and significant relationship was reported between CGPA and teaching practice grades. However, contrary to popular beliefs, the study revealed a weak by significant correlation between teaching efficacy and teaching practice grades. The implications of the findings towards the theory and practice of teaching efficacy were also discussed.

This paper reports the study on the students’ acceptance of the m-Learning approach in the teaching and learning process. A total of 100 students from the undergraduate programmes responded to a self-report questionnaire. From the data analysis, the study reported that the students agreed that mobile phones can be used for teaching and learning. The study also revealed that with this age group (35 – 45 years old), SMS is the most popular method of communication and mobile phones are mainly used for talking and messaging. Furthermore, the m-Learn activities are great ways to motivate students and foster interaction among them.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for mobile learning applications that provides systematic support for mobile lifelong learning experience design. It concerns four perspectives: generic mobile environment issues, learning contexts, learning experiences and learning objectives. The paper also explores crucial factors and design requirements for the mobile learning environment. It also suggests how mobile learning applications can be designed with an understanding of these factors and requirements and further applied to lifelong learning. The proposed framework provides forward engineering support for the successful design of the future mobile lifelong learning systems.