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The globalisation of science, industry and commerce has resulted in the internationalisation of education. In this context, ‘ a global citizen’, representing the Humboldtian educational model, has to have universal cognitive skills and cultural competences formed by an international/global education. However, Malaysia’s unique situation, as seen in the case of Penang Island, shows a multicultural education that effectively adapted to the global market. Most of the schools were transformed to national schools after Malaya’s independence from the United Kingdom, yet some retained their international nature. This article shows how national schools in Penang Island preserved their culture after independence, resulting in cultural pluralism (multiculturalism) in the educational system and, at the same time, maintained their global value for Economy 4.0. This multicultural and industry-oriented approach contrasts with the Humboldtian universalistic model, and yet contributes to the growth of science and a global economy. In this regard, it is argued that for the sustainable development of science, technology and society in Penang, the ‘epistemological pluralism’ with cross-disciplinary thinking in diverse cultural contexts should be promoted in educational and global policies.

Purpose: Technical communication (TC) is an emerging topic which has received attention in both the field of language studies and among the technical profession in the last few decades. In this article, a scientometric review of academic publications to explore the intellectual landscape and evolutionary characteristics of TC research worldwide between 2001 and 2020 is conducted. Methods: Visualization software was employed to analyze co-citation and co-word networks from 2,183 articles published in Web of Science and Scopus databases from 2001 to 2020. Results: The findings indicate that TC research has increased in recent years and has been done in the English language departments and technology departments in recent years. Then, five clusters form the intellectual structure of TC research: translation training, methodologies in TC, composition studies, rhetorical action, and the industry's needs. Finally, the findings indicated there were paradigm shifts in the field of TC. Further, the evolution analysis has shown that the current trends of TC research is now focused on TC pedagogy, a global TC, human-computer interaction, and language learning and training. Conclusion: This review provides reliable information for academics and practitioners to identify the knowledge base, the evolutionary process, and the emerging trends in the TC field from visualized maps. This review can serve as a prelude for future TC research and can provide a guide for the TC skills required among professionals in the future.

Introduction. In realizing the vision “education for all”, the educational development of the Orang Asli children remains a great challenge. Although various initiatives have been implemented by the government of Malaysia, there are still high attrition rates among Orang Asli children in school. Instructional programmes and educational initiatives in schools have been designed for mainstream education and tend to disregard the traditional assimilation of the Orang Asli culture. This may be the reason for the rejection of the mainstream school system among the Orang Asli communities. This study purpose is to determine future allocation of resources compare with presently available to develop home based education program as an alternative education system for Orang Asli to meet their basic needs. Methodology. A survey study has conducted among the Orang Asli community named Semai settled in Cameron highland, Pahang state of Peninsular of Malaysia. The questionnaire was distributed among 30 participants who are the parents and teachers from the Orang Asli community as well as teachers of the Orang Asli children from a district in Cameron Highlands; Pahang. Likert scale 5 has adopted to determine suitability of mainstream schooling; Forms of Alternative Education and Readiness of Orang Asli children comparing presently available resource with future needs to design the home based education program according to their needs. Results and Findings. Respondents comprised of Orang Asli parents (50%) and teachers (50%) of Orang Asli children, majority respondents are the Orang Asli (56.7%) followed by Malay (33.3%). Suitability of mainstream schooling in the presently available resource shows (Mean=2.51, SD=0.70) shows not up to the standard or do not meet with the Orang Asli children schooling needs however, respondents has shown keen interest to improve for the future development where (Mean=4.27, SD=0.57). Alternative education in the present context showing (Mean=2.26, SD=0.74) where proposed for future showing (Mean=4.72, SD=0.92). Lastly, readiness of Orang Asli children in presently education shows (Mean=1.37, SD=0.83) while in the future propose model and readiness showing strongly agree (Mean=4.40, SD=0.68). Conclusion. The findings indicate that there is a need for an alternative model of education. A home-based educational programme model is seen as a means to fulfil parents' aspirations and ensure that the values, traditions, beliefs and cultural practices continue to be upheld and are eroded by mainstream education system.

Background and Purpose: Students in higher education need intellectual skills for critical thinking, problem-solving and creating new knowledge. Social interactions during collaborative learning (CL) encourage these cognitive processes. However, instructors lack the skill to develop intellectual skills using appropriate pedagogy and CL tools. Hence, this study seeks to develop a framework for developing intellectual skills. Methodology: The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was employed to identify and determine consensus on elements to teach intellectual skills among 16 panel of experts in educational technology and continuous professional development. In the first round, semi-structured interviews were conducted among four experts and the themes emerging from the interviews were used to develop the FDM questionnaire. The questionnaire was used in the second round of the FDM to determine consensus among the experts based on calculations of the defuzzification value. Findings: The consensus among the experts is that resources for teaching intellectual skills are videos, interactive slides, animation/graphics and quizzes while the corresponding assessments are student-generated contents (i.e videos, infographic posters, interactive slides and designed products). Contribution: The framework with the instructional strategies, resources and assessment provides a guideline for instructors to plan instruction for developing intellectual skills and generating new knowledge. Keywords: intellectual skills, collaborative learning, collaborative learning tools, Fuzzy Delphi, Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction Cite as: Vasodavan, V., DeWitt, D., & Alias, N. (2021). Framework for developing intellectual skills using collaborative learning tools: The experts’ consensus. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 284-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp284-308

The words Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) may bring to mind Confucianism. The words may also point to those of Chinese origin. Yes, although CHC evolved from Confucianism, yet it does not mean that it is the original Confucianism. CHC has evolved. Past literature has CHC related studies done mainly in the West and documents the achievements of CHC students (particularly Asian students). They have persistently performed well in international comparative studies of mathematics and science achievement. Nevertheless, these studies cannot be generalised, because globalisation and rapid social change has influenced and shaped the Chinese community in CHC countries, one of which is Malaysia. The present paper presents a literature review of CHC based on a larger study in search of a CHC identity among Malaysian Chinese pre-university students. The literature helped to uncover the underlying characteristics, namely respect, education and perseverance which were then incorporated within appropriate items in a survey instrument in the larger study to investigate CHC among a selected group of students. These underlying characteristics points towards a CHC identity inherent in these students. This paper will not discuss the instrument or the findings of the larger study.

An empirical research was done to examine and analyze the crucial domains in the organizational culture of world-ranked or premier universities in Malaysia, particularly in terms of their core values, direction, management effectiveness, innovation, customer focus, and institutional policies. The research employed a survey instrument on organizational culture and involved 1440 university students who were randomly selected from different faculties at four premier universities in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur region in Malaysia. As highlights of this paper, the research found that the crucial cultural domains of premier universities were institutional policies, empowerment issue, team orientation behavior, and capability development of students. It was also found that students in premier public universities were more satisfied with their campus culture than students in premier private universities. Besides that, the important institutional policies were equality, academic integrity, and multiculturalism. Consequently, in terms of significance, new colleges and universities in Malaysia or other countries, whether public or private, may use the results and findings of this research for upgrading their organizational culture in order to achieve global ranking in the future.

Business finance, traditionally taught in a lecturer-centered approach, underestimates the postgraduate students’ rich tacit knowledge and results in suboptimal knowledge management processes. One ...

Discussion forums have the potential for enabling knowledge construction during online interactions, especially when facilitated by a skilled e-moderator. Unfortunately, most e-moderators are not provided training for facilitating discussions, and hence may only summarise information and deliver factual knowledge without encouraging elaboration or reflection among the learners. Hence, this study focused on developing e-moderation skills in discussion forums by investigating the patterns of interactions among 24 students in an undergraduate course. This study employed one group pre-test and post-test experimental group design to measure student's interaction patterns after undergoing training for e-moderation. After moderating online discussion forums, a content analysis of the transcripts of the discourse in their forum was conducted to understand the nature of the interaction patterns and the quality of the discussions. The results revealed that training had contributed to a significant increase in domains of social interaction, sharing information, egocentric elaboration, allocentric elaboration, application and transfer, coordination, and reflection. The skillset in this study can be applied by e-moderators to effectively facilitate online learning for knowledge development. It is recommended that instructors in higher education institutions be equipped with skills to scaffold students in constructing knowledge. © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Poor mastery of technical communication skills has affected the employability of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates. This has arisen from the lack of communication between TVET institutions and the industry when designing a curriculum for technical communication skills development. In Malaysia, little emphasis is given to developing this skill. Therefore, the current study seeks to develop a technical communication pedagogical model (TCPM) by identifying the pertinent objective, content of learning, method of delivery and assessment method of TCPM, and the effect of the perceived importance of English language proficiency on the relationships of the pertinent curriculum components of TCPM. A survey questionnaire was developed and validated for content validation by seven experts from local industry and TVET institutions. A total of 205 English language instructors in Malaysian vocational colleges (MVC) were selected using a stratified random sampling method and responded to the questionnaire. Their responses were analyzed using the partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Analysis of reliability, discriminant and convergent validity, significance of relationship, predictive accuracy (R2), predictive relevance (Q2), effect size (f2), and mediation analysis was conducted to test the model. The overall findings indicated that all constructs have a positive and significant effect on perceived importance of TCPM (Objective: p = 0.012, t = 2.249, content of learning: p = 0.032, t = 1.852, assessment method: p = 0.000, t = 4.196), except for method of delivery (p = 0.301, t = 0.522). The coefficient of determination level is moderate (R2 = 0.526). Analysis of effect size (f2) indicates a small effect size for all constructs (objective: f2 = 0.032, content of learning: f2 = 0.027, assessment method: f2 = 0.116), except for method of delivery with an effect size of 0.002. In addition, this model achieved acceptable predictive relevance (Q2 = 0.316). On the other hand, the mediation analysis indicates that the perceived importance of English language proficiency only functions as a complementary partial mediator for content of learning and assessment method construct. In short, the TCPM model includes having the relevant objectives, content of learning, method of delivery and assessment method for implementing technical communication in MVC, components which are less emphasized in the current curriculum. It is hoped that, with its implementation in the MVC, graduate employability can be enhanced.

The current study examines the public's perception on the mitigation of COVID-19 risk and knowledge of disease symptoms among older adults in nursing homes, with the intention to address gaps in knowledge using mobile technologies. An online survey questionnaire was completed by 611 adults residing in Malaysia. The four domains, derived from factor analysis, affirmed the supportive perception among the public (score range = 4.42 to 4.64/5.0). However, among the gaps identified were the perception toward hand sanitizing and susceptibility of older adults to COVID-19. Public knowledge on symptoms of COVID-19 was limited (e.g., 41.4% to 53.4% incorrect responses to anosmia, diarrhea, confusion). Multivariate analysis of variance found that males and participants with less education had significantly lower supportive perceptions ( p < 0.05). With >86% of participants having access to internet communication technology, mobile interventions tailored to gender and educational level are recommended to promote long-term pandemic preparedness among stakeholders and the public. [ Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47 (3), 23–28.]

It is important for science students to develop higher order thinking (HOT) so that they can reason like scientists in the field. In this study, a HOT instructional model for secondary school science was developed with experts. The model would focus on reflective thinking (RT) and science process skills (SPS) among Grade 7 students. The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was employed to determine consensus among a panel of 20 experts. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted among the experts to generate the elements required for the model. Then, a questionnaire was developed using a seven-point linguistic scale based on these elements. The defuzzification value was calculated for each item, and a threshold value (d) of 0.75 was used to determine consensus for the items in the questionnaire. The alpha-cut value of >0.5 was used to select the phases and sub-phases in the model. The elements in the model were ranked to identify the sub-phases which had to be emphasised for implementation in instructi...

A quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in the development of early reading skills among struggling young English as a second language (ESL) readers in a rural school. The pretest and posttest, adapted from the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) for Preschool Students and Grades 1 to 3 tests, assessed children’s early reading skills. A semi-structured interview was used to gather information. The findings indicated that the performance of students in the experimental group in decoding was significantly higher in the posttest, where t(39) = 31.441, p < .00005. Likewise, in comprehension, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in the posttest, where t(39) = 15.322, p < .00005. There was a significant difference in the achievement between the two groups, where t(78) = 31.010, p < .00005. This indicates that synthetic phonics could be effective in developing early reading skills for struggling readers.

Problem-solving is the highest level of learning in the cognitive domain. However, studies have shown that Malaysian students seem to lack problem-solving skills. This may be due to the lack of understanding of thinking skills and problem solving among teachers and the inability to apply appropriate teaching strategies for teaching problem solving. In this study, science teachers in Selangor, one of the most highly populated states in Malaysia, were sampled. The aim of the study was to investigate the problem-solving strategies teachers used for instruction. The findings indicated that teachers preferred giving factual explanations and asking students to listen to these explanations. As for problem-solving modes, argumentation was the dominant mode, followed by analogizing and reasoning causally. Participants were less inclined to use modeling for students to develop and test their own mental models. Hence, there is a need for instructional models for problem solving which would assist teachers in developing instructional strategies to inculcate problem solving and higher order thinking skills among students.

Problem solving is the highest level of cognitive skill. However, this skill seems to be lacking among secondary school students. Teachers’ beliefs influence the instructional strategies used for students’ learning. Hence, it is important to understand teachers’ beliefs so as to improve the processes for teaching problem solving. The purpose of this study is to investigate beliefs of secondary school teachers in rural schools on problem solving in teaching. The sample were teachers selected from secondary schools in two rural districts in Malaysia. A survey of 75 secondary school teachers was done using the Learning Skills Questionnaire formulated for this purpose. The findings indicate that rural school teachers are aware of the usefulness of problem solving but still emphasize memorization of facts and concepts for learning. These might be because they are unaware of how to teach problem solving. Hence, further research is required in developing instructional strategies for teaching problem solving skills among rural school teachers. Further research could be done to determine whether there was a difference in beliefs among urban school teachers.

Collaborative problem-solving in science instruction allows learners to build their knowledge and understanding through interaction, using the language of science. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools facilitate collaboration and may provide the opportunity for interaction when using the language of science in learning. There seems to be little interaction among students in the science classrooms as teachers only seem to be concerned with teaching the facts of science. An exploratory implementation study for a collaborative mobile learning (CmL) prototype design using CMC tools provides the opportunity for interactions using the language of science. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the CmL prototype can be used for interaction and learning in secondary school science. The prototype, designed based on Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction, was evaluated by five experts before implementation among 14 students. Data collected from interviews with the experts and from students who used the prototype, as well as from online communications, was analyzed. The findings show that interactions when the CmL prototype was used enabled the language of science to be modeled for knowledge-building. This study is explorative in nature and the preliminary results seem to indicate that the CmL prototype has the potential to increase interactions in learning. However, further investigation is required to determine whether the CmL prototype could be used for collaborative problem-solving in science as well as in other subjects, especially in the current educational environment in Malaysia.

This study explored the preference for learning styles of ICT students in university of Malaya. Two separate questionnaires were used in the study in order to list down the students’ learning styles preferences and their technology preferences to explore the technology preferences for different learning style categories. Through a analysis of the data, students preferred integrated technology were highlighted. The study emphasizes the importance of students being actively involved in the teaching-learning process by highlighting their preferred mood of technology involved in teaching. This may enhance teacher's ability to integrate technology with their teaching based on their class majority.

Youtube, as a Web 2.0 tool, can be utilized for knowledge generation through observation and social interactions. However studies related to the use of Youtube in education have focused mainly on academic achievement, with very few studies are conducted in the instruction of the performing arts. In addition, there are very few studies done in the performing arts related to future studies. The objective of this study was to get consensus on the benefits of the use of Youtube as a tool for teaching and learning in the performing arts, and for maintaining students’ interest and achievement in learning, as well as to determine the suitability of using Youtube as a tool for teaching the performing arts in future. In this study, the Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to get consensus among 20 experts who were instructors and lecturers in seven areas of specialization: music, creative writing, theater, television film, dance, animation and fine arts from the Academy of Arts, Culture and National Heritage (ASWARA). The findings show that Youtube the potential to be used as an instructional tool in the performing arts in line with current trends of collaboration and social networking in education

The study was aimed at designing and developing a web-based teaching courseware, Webquest, for secondary school Physics module by employing the Isman Instructional Design Model and to test the effectiveness of the module. The paper draws attention to the design principles of the Isman Instructional Design Model. The prototype module was tested among a teacher and 4 students. The findings from interviews with the teacher and students show a positive response in attracting the students’ interests toward the topic. The module was then implemented with 30 participants. In the evaluation phase, students’ achievement score instrument was used to collect data for this study. The pre-posttest design conducted suggested that the module is effective.The findings from this study suggest that the Isman Instructional Design Model which pays attention to instruction from the learner's perspective than from content perspective is suitable in designing and developing Webquest for Physics module in the secondary educational setting in Malaysia. The findings of this study are expected to provide insights into promoting teaching and learning of Physics based on Webquest.

Malaysia has embarked Malaysia has embarked on several ICT programmes since 1996. These programmes have contributed to developing the ICT skills of the digital natives in the institutions of higher learning. This study was aimed at determining the technology applications which digital natives in the first year undergraduate studies in a Malaysian public university had utilized. A survey of 50 undergraduates in their first semester in the Faculty of Education showed that social media in the form of microblogs like Facebook, was used by all the undergraduates. Popular applications are repositories for video, mainly Youtube; website development, namely blogs; discussion tools, as well as maps and location applications. File sharing, online games and digital materials were used by some of the undergraduates but were less popular. The findings show that microblogs, discussion forums, content repositories and blogs were used by digital natives. The significance of this study is that these undergraduates were more likely to use these applications for learning, and in their careers when they graduate.

Basic Life Support (BLS) can increase a victim’s chances of survival when administered promptly and correctly. Cardiac and respiratory arrests occur more frequently when the victim is at home far from clinical support. Hence, prompt action by family members trained in BLS can save the victim’s life. In this study, the requirements for the design of a module for teaching BLS as an important life skill to homeschooled children is investigated using Taba’s model of curriculum design. The Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to obtain consensus among 10 experts for the design, content, strategies, activities and assessment for the instructional module. The experts agreed that BLS should be taught to children above 15 years, with content focusing on the techniques of proper chest compression, rescue breath and rescue of drowning victims. The findings indicate that the preferred strategies were observation of demonstrations and hands-on return demonstrations with activities using manikins to simulate emergency scenarios. The preferred methods of assessment were practical demonstrations, multiple choice questions and online assessment. The findings provide insights for the design of a BLS module which could be developed for homeschooled children.

To date, past studies on projection of future education in Malaysia show that patriotism of the local secondary school students (in short, students) is yet to be conducted but currently studies are conducted on technology applications on both local curriculum content and teaching and learning, future curriculum of the local secondary school, future agro-science subject, and future moral of the Malaysian students. Benefiting from Delphi technique of Abraham Kaplan, this study attempts to see what the experts’ projections are on students’ spirit of patriotism in Malaysia, the impacts of spirit of patriotism on students’ culture developments and curriculum implementation in the nation.

In Malaysian schools the learning of science does not reflect the nature of science. An instructional module which could address the need for teaching science through a process of scientific discovery and collaboration is required. A developmental research approach with three phases was used to design a collaborative m-Learning module for a topic in s c i e n c e . I n t h e f i r s t p h a s e o f a n a l y s i s , a s u r v e y o f 1 5 8 s t u d e n t s ’ u s e o f t e c h n o l o g y a n d t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e u s e o f computers and mobile phones was completed. Data from the analysis phase indicated the students’ readiness in using online tools such as discussion forums and text messaging with mobiles for learning. Computers were perceived to be useful for learning, but mobile phones were not. The findings from the first phase were used to determine the learning tools to utilize in the design of the module in the second phase. The online learning tools used are wikis and discussion forums. In addition, text messaging using the mobile phone was also employed for individualized quizzes. The collaborative m-Learning module designed, was evaluated by experts for further improvements. The findings indicate that the experts agree that a collaborative Learning module with a variety of learning tools such as wikis, discussion forum and text messaging, could be used for teaching science. In addition, this module could also be used for teaching other subjects.

Developing human capital through education is very important for Malaysia. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is one of education lines that is aimed to produce skilled workers for our country. This education platform is hoped not only to develop students’ academic and technical knowledge, but also to help students acquire high employability skills. Thus, the purpose of this article is to discuss the sustainability for Malaysian TVET as one of its aspirations is to produce more skilled workers for our country, in near future.