Promoting pro-environmental attitudes and reported behaviors of Malaysian pre-service teachers using green chemistry experiments

Environmental degradation is a general problem but it is often more serious in developing nations where levels of awareness are lower than in industrialized countries. There is, therefore, a need particularly in developing countries to increase pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. In this paper, we report the results of a quasi-experimental study designed to change environmental attitudes and environmental behaviors among 263 science pre-service teachers. The treatment consisted in the form of a green chemistry curriculum. We found statistically reliable changes in environmental attitudes, as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm, and in eight self-reported environmental behaviors. The Bayesian t-test suggests that the evidence for the changes to have been the result of the green chemistry curriculum is decisive. We conclude that the green chemistry curriculum constitutes a suitable context: (a) for supporting pre-service teachers in their development of pro-environmental attitudes and (b) for changing the levels of self-reported pro-environmental actions.     

Tide–surge interaction model including air bubble effects for the coast of Bangladesh

An estimate of water levels due to the interaction of tide and surge associated with a storm including air bubble effects is made along the coastal region of Bangladesh. For this purpose, a vertically integrated shallow water model in Cartesian coordinate system is developed introducing air bubbles and is solved using nested finite difference schemes. A fine grid model covering the region between 21°15′N to 23°N and 89°E to 92° E has been nested into a coarse grid model covering the region between 15°N to 23°N and 85°E to 95°E in the Bay of Bengal to incorporate all the major islands and coastal bending accurately. By applying tidal forcing through the southern open boundary of the coarse grid model appropriate tidal conditions are generated in the problem domain. Numerical experiments are performed with the help of the model to simulate water levels due to tide and surge interaction including air bubble effects associated with the tropical storm of April 1991. The model results are found to be reasonable and the model can be found to simulate higher water levels in the presence of air bubbles.     

Neural information retrieval: at the end of the early years

A recent “third wave” of neural network (NN) approaches now delivers state-of-the-art performance in many machine learning tasks, spanning speech recognition, computer vision, and natural language processing. Because these modern NNs often comprise multiple interconnected layers, work in this area is often referred to as deep learning. Recent years have witnessed an explosive growth of research into NN-based approaches to information retrieval (IR). A significant body of work has now been created. In this paper, we survey the current landscape of Neural IR research, paying special attention to the use of learned distributed representations of textual units. We highlight the successes of neural IR thus far, catalog obstacles to its wider adoption, and suggest potentially promising directions for future research.     

Programme Quality Assessment by the Implication of Variable Entry Qualifications on Students' Performance

Since its inception 30 years ago, the then Department of Engineering Science, Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) was given the responsibility of preparing all the students in the first year engineering programmes by giving enough knowledge in basic science and mathematics. The nation's vision to become a fully‐industrialised economy by the year 2020 required all institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia to increase their intake of students in the science and technology courses, especially in engineering. However, at the upper secondary education level, students have the freedom to choose between the science‐based or non‐science combination of subjects. This has led to a dearth of science‐based students enrolling in IHLs. Because ITM believes that it is possible to educate individuals from various backgrounds, the engineering courses are open to students with a variety of academic qualifications. Special bridging courses were designed and created for such students since late 1996. The success or failure of the new courses can be assessed after the students have gone through the proper first year engineering courses which consist of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. This paper reports on a pilot study on the pioneer groups of students with variable entry qualifications to assess the effectiveness of the courses. The study involved the analysis of the students’ examination results as a performance indicator, and it was found that the bridging programme for non‐science students needed to be redesigned. It is also proposed that to improve the quality of the programme, and hence students’ performance, a regular review be conducted, student support activities be continued and to expand the use of self‐study materials.     

Goals, components, and factors considered in university development

It is generally known that the general goals of universities are to produce high-quality graduates for the job market, to continuously advance the frontier of knowledge in all the disciplines, and ultimately to advance human civilization. There can, however, be numerous specific goals which differ from one university to the other. Whatever it is, in order to achieve the desired goals, universities need to design a realistic strategic development plan, which must include, among others, the important logistical components and factors of university development. In Malaysia, little is known about university development planning process as a subject area. Annual reports and calendars published by universities do not provide sufficient information about the elements and aspects of high priorities in their strategic development plan. As such, we decided to conduct a study on eleven (11) foremost public universities in Malaysia—a country with a centralized education system—in order to examine the goals, components, and factors considered by university top-management in planning university development. We administered a checklist to 296 respondents, comprising deputy vice-chancellors or deputy rectors, registrars, deans, and directors. The checklist required the respondents to rate the consideration level on a scale of 1 (least considered) to 5 (highly considered) for each of the items on goals, components, and factors. This article reports the main findings of our study. Among other things, the most obvious result revealed by the study was that universities were very concerned with the relevancy of academic programs offered and their performance in research. It was rather surprising, however, that the top-management of public universities in Malaysia placed the goal of providing quality infrastructure and facilities at the lowest ranking. Also, this study revealed that the government, as a factor, exerted its prominence only in terms of university budget and research grants and the execution of some policies of national interest, but university expansion and development was largely driven by the university organization itself, i.e., on where, what, and how it wants to expand and grow. In this regard, public universities in Malaysia still enjoy a large degree of academic autonomy and a strong support by the government.     

Impact of an engineering design-based curriculum compared to an inquiry-based curriculum on fifth graders’ content learning of simple machines

Background: Elementary Science Education is struggling with multiple challenges. National and State test results confirm the need for deeper understanding in elementary science education. Moreover, national policy statements and researchers call for increased exposure to engineering and technology in elementary science education. The basic motivation of this study is to suggest a solution to both improving elementary science education and increasing exposure to engineering and technology in it.

Purpose/Hypothesis: This mixed-method study examined the impact of an engineering design-based curriculum compared to an inquiry-based curriculum on fifth graders’ content learning of simple machines. We hypothesize that the LEGO-engineering design unit is as successful as the inquiry-based unit in terms of students’ science content learning of simple machines.

Design/Method: We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate our research questions; we compared the control and the experimental groups’ scores from the tests and interviews by using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and compared each group’s pre- and post-scores by using paired t-tests.

Results: Our findings from the paired t-tests show that both the experimental and comparison groups significantly improved their scores from the pre-test to post-test on the multiple-choice, open-ended, and interview items. Moreover, ANCOVA results show that students in the experimental group, who learned simple machines with the design-based unit, performed significantly better on the interview questions.

Conclusions: Our analyses revealed that the design-based Design a people mover: Simple machines unit was, if not better, as successful as the inquiry-based FOSS Levers and pulleys unit in terms of students’ science content learning.     

Pedagogy,empowerment and discipline: comparative perspectives of novice teachers in England and Turkey reflecting on ‘the other’

This article discusses the views of Turkish and British novice teachers on pedagogy and pedagogical relationships with school students when confronted with the pedagogical practices of the ‘Other’ in particular policy contexts. Experiences of those practices were gained by novice teachers during an exchange visit for British and Turkish university students in the period 2008–2009. Data was collected through questionnaires and focus group interviews. Findings suggest that Turkish and British novice teachers initially constructed the ‘Other’ as very different from themselves. The views of members of both groups were heavily influenced by the cultural contexts in which they trained and worked. British novice teachers tended to take as axiomatic constructivist and inclusive approaches to pedagogy and the relevance to successful pedagogy of listening to students’ voices. Turkish novice teachers questioned both, many seeing control and dissemination of knowledge as central to pedagogy and student teacher relationships.     

Getting Personal: Reaching Out to Adult Learners through a Course Management System

Adult learners are returning to college in increasing numbers. The Marywood University Library has seen an influx, particularly in the university's Master of Social Work program, where many adult learners are reentering school after years of absence. Reaching out to this user group, the library initiated a personal librarian service through a Course Management System, a familiar online environment for these students. A survey was conducted to determine whether library help delivered in this way is favored among adult learners.     

ASSESSING CHEMISTRY-LEARNING COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS IN ISOLATED RURAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS BY USING THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION: A CASE STUDY OF SIMEULUE ISLAND,INDONESIA

This study explored learning competency based on the Indonesian National Examination focusing especially on chemistry performance and the circumstances of senior high school students and teachers in rural areas of Simeulue Island, Indonesia. The National Examination total score and chemistry score for students in rural areas were consistently lower than students in urban areas during 2008–2010. The majority of rural students were failing to master key chemistry concepts. Their low performance on laboratory-based questions appeared to indicate that the associated practical work was not done as part of the chemistry courses. Some chemistry topics were not taught due to insufficient time, student weaknesses, insufficient textbooks, and other reasons. The issues of low competency of teachers, poverty for the majority of students, low enrollment in schools, and low competition among students in these rural senior high schools appeared to be common problems across rural settings. The local government has recommended providing a consolidated rural high school with qualified chemistry teachers, laboratories, and transportation to address factors negatively influencing student achievement. Furthermore, local rural school officials need to recruit and retain qualified teachers in these isolated areas, provide effective textbooks and instructional resources, and facilitate the professional development of chemistry teachers.