Common European framework of reference for languages (CEFR): insights into global policy borrowing in Malaysian higher education

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has emerged as a global policy in language education which has been ‘borrowed’ by nations across the world. This paper presents a critical analysis of Malaysia’s borrowing of the CEFR as part of English language curriculum reform with particular reference to policy motivation and implementation processes as outlined in the English Language Education Roadmap for Malaysia (2015–2025). The analysis draws on Phillips and Ochs’s (2003, “Processes of Policy Borrowing in Education: Some Explanatory and Analytical Devices.” Comparative Education 39 (4): 451–461.) framework for examining educational policy borrowing to highlight challenges as well as prospects of the implementation of the global policy in higher education in Malaysia.     

Perceptions of inequalities in access and usage of ICT in Islamic faith schools

Although the educational experiences of South Asian Muslim women have been studied, little is known regarding the role of technology and its effects on education in this population. This study explores the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in British Muslim girls’ schools and its effect on learning. It uses primary data from semi-structured interviews with 14–19-year-olds in three Islamic faith schools. Template analysis was used to identify emerging themes. Participants had access to a wide range of technologies and applications; however, access was often limited to classroom settings. Participants also used subject-specific resources available from learning platforms, although this was not consistent across schools and subjects. The participants felt that the range of resources was limited because of their gender and religion, and wanted greater access to ICT, and more online collaboration and social communication. A didactic approach to instruction was prevalent and for many, exacerbated a ‘digital disconnect’. Our findings suggest that Islamic faith schools reinforce lack of home ICT use. The current didactic approach highlights differences with the student-centred pedagogical techniques of early Qur’anic schools. This study encourages a discussion of the challenges of open access to information, religious freedoms and ensuring equality of learning.     

Construction of some hypergroups from combinatorial structures

Jajcay's studies(1993; 1994) on the automorphism groups of Cayley maps yielded a new product of groups, which he called, rotary product. Using this product, we define a hyperoperation ⊙ on the groupSym _e(G), the stabilizer of the identitye∈G in the groupSym(G). We prove that (Sym _e (G), ⊙) is a hypergroup and characterize the subhypergroups of this hypergroup. Finally, we show that the set of all subhypergroups ofSym _e (G) constitute a lattice under ordinary join and meet and that the minimal elements of order two of this lattice is a subgroup ofAut (G).     

如何应对网上短时学习需求高峰——学习成本节约策略研究

对多数开放大学来说,事实上,在许多大学中,总是会出现这样的情况,所有学生要在同一段时间内集中完成一些网上学习活动。这些活动通常造成学生在一定时间内蜂拥上网。由于学生较好的上网时间选择有限,网上学习拥挤高峰情况就会变得很糟。在通常情况下,只有那些最早上网的学生才能获得最佳在线学习机会。在马来西亚开放大学,当学生确认开设科目和占用网络槽口选择会面时间表的时候,往往就会出现网上使用高峰。大多数学生都会尽早赶去上网以确保能在时间安排表中获得网上会面的机会。那些可以利用的信息技术资源与功能,诸如互联网带宽和服务器等无法应付这些短时网络需求高峰。除非这些需求高峰得到满足,否则网络服务的速度将会迅速变慢,最终导致网络使用者排长队等候网络服务。假如可以提供超额的网络容量,要是可能的话,以确保这些短时需求高峰得到满足,那就不可能有成本效应。因为在大多数时间里,这些网络资源都没有得到充分利用。本论文着重探讨一些具有成本效应的方法以应对和满足短时网络高峰的需求。     

Examining antecedents of knowledge-sharing factors on research supervision: An empirical study

The use of an effective supervision mechanism is crucial between a student and supervisor. The essential knowledge shared and transferred between these two parties must be observed and understood very well in order to ensure that students are produced at good level of quality for future professional knowledge workers. The aim of this study was to conduct an assessment of the impact of individual, organisational and technical factors on knowledge sharing in a research supervision domain. In order to achieve this aim, a specific research model was developed. This model was based on systematically analysing and extracting all the knowledge-sharing impact factors and then choosing the more iterative and adaptable ones, according to research supervision models. These factors categorized to individual, organizational and technological factors. To effectively evaluate the research model, a quantitative research method was adopted. Data was collected by a survey of 150 students from the Faculty of Computing at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The Smart PLS tool was used for data analysis. In sum, the results of this research show that the individual factor in the research supervision domain – namely, the ability of students to share knowledge – in addition to technological factors – specifically, IT systems – have the greatest impact on knowledge sharing in the supervision process. In addition, it was shown that organisational factors including the culture of the university, social networks, and supervisor support have a positive impact on knowledge sharing in research supervision. However, when compared with individual and technical factors, the effect of organisational factors on knowledge sharing in research supervision was not particularly strong in the case of this study. A positive relationship did not exist between the learning strategy and knowledge sharing in research supervision. This study is among the first of its kind to empirically examine the antecedent factors of knowledge sharing in the context of research supervision.     

Construction of some hypergroups from combinatorial structures

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A systematic literature review of student engagement in software visualization: a theoretical perspective

ABSTRACT

Background and Context: In spite of the decades spent developing software visualization (SV), doubts still remain regarding their effectiveness. Furthermore, student engagement plays an important role in improving SV effectiveness as it is correlated with many positive academic outcomes. It has been shown that the existing SV has failed to engage students effectively.

Objective: Therefore, there is a need to understand the theories behind SV design from the engagement perspective to produce a roadmap for future tool construction. The aim of this study was to identify the theories have been used in literature to explain or construct student engage- ment with SV in computer science courses for novices.

Method: We performed a systematic literature review that identified a total of 58 articles published between 2011 and 2017, which were then selected for the study. However, among them, only 18 articles had discussed their theoretical framework.

Findings: The results of this study show a richness in the theoretical framework obtained from different disciplines, however, constructivism is still dominant in the computing education research (CER) domain. It is evidently clear from the findings that the theories generated from the CER domain are needed to enhance the effectiveness of SV.

Implications: As a result of this review, we suggest several design principles and engagement attributes to be considered while creating an engaging SV.     

VALIDITY OF PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESPONSES IN EVALUATING THEIR INSTRUCTORS

The validity of Palestinian university students’ responses was examined to determine if sex, academic status, perception, or expected grade in the course was influential in biasing their judgement regarding the performance of their instructors. The results of the study revealed that not only Palestinian university students’ responses showed great consistency, but that their sex, academic status, and expected grade in the course did not play significant roles in the determination of their judgement. The results are discussed in terms of their importance to university personnel in the Arab World and other Third‐World countries, with a particular emphasis on the need to establish and follow standard procedures in student evaluations of their instructors.