bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
‘Becoming Experts’: Learning through Mediation
Authors: Abdul Rahim Fauziah , Hood Philip , Coyle Do 
Published: August 2020

Purpose – This study is largely founded on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Feuerstein’s theory of Mediated Learning Experience and Lave and Wenger’s ‘community of practice’, which concerned building a community of learners that places mediation as central in learning and teaching. While the overall study involved Malaysian Year One English and Mathematics classrooms, this article focuses only on the latter. Two research questions were posed: 1) How does the teacher/peers mediate learning? 2) How does mediation infl uence the individual’s identity? Method – This qualitative study was conducted within a period of three months. Data collection included intense classroom observations, interviews, classroom discourse and dialogic discussions with teachers and pupils. Microgenetic analyses of transcripts were made to show moment-to moment changes observed. Findings – Four types of mediation emerged from the data: Environmental mediation, cognitive mediation, affective mediation and metacognitive mediation (i.e., an ECAM model for mediation). Findings suggest that mediation enabled the Mathematics teacher to change, to take ownership and to sustain her new pedagogical approaches within the classroom. This re-focusing benefi ted her pupils, and dramatically changed a particular less able pupil from one who was initially ‘lost in his world,’ into one who was able to engage in the learning process, take ownership of his own learning, as well as mediate other pupils’ learning. Value – Hence it is argued that the ECAM model for mediation provided opportunities for this teacher and her pupil to expand their capacity to learn and develop their identities as individuals capable of learning and becoming ‘experts’.
Gender Differences in Mathematics and Integrated Science Achievement Among Junior Secondary School Students
Authors: Ayodele Mathew Olagoke 
Published: August 2020

Purpose – This study examined gender differences in Mathematics and Integrated Science achievement among the Junior Secondary School students with particular interest on the interaction effect of gender and school type on students’ achievement. Method – The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and generated data from an inventory from the statistics unit, Ministry of Education, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria Public Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). The inventory requested among other things, data on the Junior Secondary School Certifi cate Examinations (JSSCE) in Mathematics and Integrated Science over a two year period. Findings – The study revealed that, signifi cant difference was detected in students’ Science achievement; no signifi cant difference between male and female students in private and public schools; a strong interaction effect were detected between gender of the students, the type of school attended and achievement of students in Mathematics and Integrated Science; the average achievement gap of male and female students irrespective of the school type is statistically signifi cant in both Mathematics and Integrated Science, also, the strength of relationship between the gender of the students and the type of school attended is slightly stronger in Integrated Science than Mathematics. Value – The possible implications for the study is discussed and addressed to the government and other stakeholders in education.
Modelling the Relationships between Personality Factors, Perceptions of the School as a Learning Organisation and Workplace Learning of School Teachers
Authors: Tengku Ariffin Tengku Faekah , Awang Hashim Rosna , Yahya Khulida Kirana 
Published: August 2020

Purpose – In this study, a structural model based on Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory was proposed to explain how the interrelationships between a person (i.e. personality factors) and his or her environment (i.e. how one perceives the school as a learning organisation) can influence the person’s behaviour. The outcome behaviour of interest in this study is the teacher’s engagement in workplace learning activities. Method – This is a a causal-comparative study which utilizes a survey method for data collection. The sample involved a total of 400 school teachers who were selected through a multistage cluster analysis sampling procedure. The data analysis involved an adoption of the two-step procedure. The first step was the analysis of the overall measurement model, followed by the analysis of the proposed structural model through structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – Results indicated that three of five personality factors (conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience) and how the teacher perceived the school as a learning organisation, are significant influences of teacher’s engagement in workplace learning activities. Based on the holistic approach in model evaluation, both the overall measurement model and the structural model were found to be adequately fit. Value – The study proposed a model which highlights the importance of personality factors and perceptions of the school as a learning organisation, and as significant contributors of workplace learning. Practical implications such as the improvement of personality items in the current teacher selection tool and the application of learning organisation in the school context are elaborated in this paper.
Mobile Game-Based Learning (mGBL): Application Development and Heuristics Evaluation Strategy
Authors: Zaibon Syamsul Bahrin , Shiratuddin Norshuhada 
Published: August 2020

Purpose – This article presents an approach to developing a mobile game-based learning (mGBL) application by adapting unified characteristics of learning theories and approaches. In addition, the study also identified the strategy to evaluate mGBL. Method – The study utilized the design research approach in information systems. The research methodology can be divided into five phases; (i) awareness of problem (ii) suggestion (iii) development (iv) evaluation and (v) conclusion. Findings – Unified characteristics of mGBL were identified. In adapting the characteristics, the mGBL application was developed based on the concept of values in 1Malaysia. To evaluate the mGBL, a heuristics evaluation strategy is proposed. The strategy consists of four components: Game Usability, Mobility, Game Play, and Learning Content. Each of the components represents the issues to be considered and evaluated for a mGBL. Value – The study provides intensive review of mGBL characteristics that can be useful and may be of interest to game developers. In addition the heuristics evaluation strategy is developed for evaluating the effectiveness of mGBL application.
Computer Attitudes and Use Among Novice Teachers: The Moderating Effects of School Environment
Authors: Teck Wong Kung , Choo Goh Swee , Hanafi Hafizul Fahri , Osman Rosma 
Published: August 2020

Purpose − This survey research investigated important issues concerning computer use among novice graduate teachers from teacher training colleges in Sabah. The first issue was concerned with the levels of computer attitudes (CA) and computer use. The second was concerned with the effects of CA on computer use (CU). The third was concerned with moderating effects of the school environment (SE) on relationship between CA and computer use. Method − A set of questionnaires was used as the research instrument and stratified systematic sampling was used to determine the research samples. The sample consisted of 192 primary and secondary school teachers. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (factor analysis and regression analysis). Research hypotheses were tested at significance level of a = 0.05. Findings − The findings showed that novice teachers have moderate CA and CU. CA had significant effects on computer use. SE has moderating impacts on the relationships between CA towards CU. Value − The study provided wider implications for theory development, practices and policymaking that can be associated with the computer use among teachers. As a whole, most of the theoretical rationales used in explaining those relationships have been supported.
Penilaian Kemahiran Guru Sejarah dan Geografi dalam Pelaksanaan Kerja Kursus di Peringkat Sekolah Menengah Rendah
Authors: Fook Chan Yuen , Sidhu Gurnam Kaur , Mohd Radzi Fatin Aliana , Singh Parmjit , Md. Yunus Md. Rizal 
Published: August 2020

Tujuan – Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk menyelidik kemahiran guru dalam membimbing murid melaksanakan kerja kursus Sejarah (KKS) dan Geografi (KKG) di peringkat sekolah menengah rendah. Metodologi – Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah penyelidikan deskriptif. Instrumen utama yang digunakan merupakan soal selidik yang ditadbirkan kepada seramai 186 orang guru yang mengajar di sembilan buah negeri di Malaysia yang telah dipilih scara rawak. Responden ini terdiri daripada guru yang mengajar Sejarah dan Geografi Tingkatan Satu hingga Tiga. Statistik deskriptif yang melibatkan min dan sisihan piawai serta statistik inferensi seperti ujian-t telah digunakan untuk menjalankan analisis data. Dapatan – Dapatan menunjukkan bahawa dari segi pencapaian objektif dan elemen bagi kedua-dua KKS dan KKG, guru hanya mempunyai kemahiran bimbingan pada tahap sederhana tinggi. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan dalam kemahiran membimbing dalam kalangan guru-guru Geografi terlatih dan tidak terlatih. Namun demikian, tiada perbezaan yang signifikan dikesan di kalangan guru-guru Sejarah terlatih dan tidak terlatih. Kepentingan – Dapatan Kajian menunjukkan keperluan untuk meningkatkan kemahiran guru dalam membimbing murid melaksanakan kerja kursus Sejarah dan Geografi. Kelemahan yang dikesan dapat membantu jabatan-jabatan tertentu di Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia untuk membekalkan latihan yang sesuai dalam membimbing guru-guru yang terlibat melaksanakan pentaksiran berasaskan sekolah dengan lebih baik di dalam bilik darjah.
An Empirical Study of R&D Investment Patterns, Effects, and Critical Factors in High-Tech Industries in Taiwan : The Case of the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park
Authors: Chu Po-Young , Chang Pao Long , Ting Ming Yung 
Published: August 2020

This research is an empirical analysis of high-tech firms at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) in Taiwan. In this study, three main areas were systematically evaluated: the patterns of R&D intensity along the company's attributes of capital source, industrial category, and age; the relationships between firms' R&D investment and performance; and the critical factors of successful R&D management.
Critical Analysis on the Essence of Muḍārabah and Mushārakah and Its Relation to Ḍamān
Authors: Mohamed Naim Asmadi 
Published: August 2020

The study aims to explore the permissibility of guarantee for muḍārabah and mushārakah based contracts and to discuss in detail the essence of muḍārabah and mushārakah, which both contracts contain the concepts of trust and profit sharing. The study conducted the qualitative research approaches which consist of documents analysis, interviews and observations in few phases. The study found that there are few matters that can be listed as genuine essence of muḍārabah and mushārakah. It also found that the majority of scholars were of the view of prohibiting capital guarantee by partners. It also proved that few statements such as Ibn Taymiyah’s statement were quoted out of context and definitely not appropriate to attribute the stance of those who allowed capital guarantee to him by using his statements, as those statements showed something else. However, a third party may undertake to bear the loss of capital due to misconduct or negligence on the part of the manager for both contracts. The rabb al-māl (capital provider) may also take collateral from the muḍārib, provided that the collateral can only be liquidated in the event of negligence or misconduct or violation of contractual terms by the muḍārib.
Impact of Information Technology on Human Resource Management Procurement Functions: A Case of A Nigerian University
Authors: Babaita Isiaka Sulu , Rafiu Amosa Jimoh , Aremu Suleiman Ahmed 
Published: August 2020

Information Technology’s (IT) role in Human Resource Management (HRM) has attracted minimal interest and attention in the academia industry. The few empirical studies available did not examine the effect of IT on HRM on a comparative basis. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the nexus between IT and HRM procurement process in Nigerian Universities (education sector) with reference to the University of Ilorin. Other objectives are to:(i) examine the extent to which IT influences the HR procurement functions (ii) determine the nature of relationship that exist between/among IT tools and HR procurement functions. Questionnaire was served to the entire 50 members of the staff of the University HR department being census approach. Two hypotheses stated were tested using regression and correlation analysis. The findings revealed that IT has a significant effect on HR procurement functions and that IT tools and HR procurement functions are correlated. The study concludes that IT impacts strongly on HR Procurement activities. This study recommends that the management of Nigerian higher Institutions, inclusive of University of Ilorin, should consistently upgrade their HRIT software to cover a significant number of HR activities in line with the best HR practice as its long-term benefits exceed the pains of its initial cost.
Practitioners' Perception Toward AIS Course Content Offered by Malaysian Universities
Authors: Ismail Noor Azizi , Abdullah Akilah , Kamardin Hasnafi 
Published: August 2020

The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of importance of each topic included in the Accounting Information Systems (A IS) course from the practitioners' point of views. This study was motivated by the increasing progress in information technology which proposed to re-examine the AIS course in order to meet the expectations and requirements of the profession. Three hundred and forty (340) questionnaires were sent to three different groups of companies namely public accounting firms, industry and commerce, and banking and finance. The response rate received is 22.35%. Respondents' opinions on the importance of AIS topics were measured using a five-point Liken scale. Results from the mean analysis showed that practitioners in Malaysia perceived all AIS topics listed as important. However, results from ANOVA analysis indicated that .five ( 5) topics were perceived significantly different among the three groups of practitioners. The five topics are general concept of accounting information systems, procurement cycle, application software, entity-relationship diagram and programming languages. Further analysis using Scheffe test indicated that procurement cycle and entity-relationship diagram topics differ significantly between Industry and Commerce and Banking and Finance. Public Accounting Finns and Industry and Commerce differ significantly in the application software topics. There were significant differences between all the three groups in programming languages.
On the Predictive Power of the Malaysian T Bills Term Spread in Predicting Real Economic Activity
Authors: Ghazali Noor Azlan , Low Soo Wah 
Published: August 2020

The ability of financial market interest rates to predict real economic activity has gained considerable attention of economics and financial researchers. In this regard, the term spread, i.e. the difference between long term and short term yield is argued to be an effective indicator to predict economic cycle. We investigate this proposition for the Malaysian economy using the T bills discount rates. Our results of both, single and multi-equation system of vector autoregression (VAR), support the case for Malaysia. Current T bills spread is shown to be a significant indicator for annual output growth for up to six months ahead. We also show that information conveyed by the term spread is unique and not of those implied by the monetary policy. Our results also indicate that, the power of term spread is limited for the near term prediction and over the long run money dominates spread in predicting output.
The Level of Efficiency in Handling Container Traffic at Penang Port: A Simulation Study
Authors: Saleh Abdul Razak , Mat Tahar Razman 
Published: August 2020

The six-month period (January 1995 - June 1995) data was extracted from "Pelabuhan Kontena" (PELKON) system and tested using SIMAN simulation process. Among the data available from the PELKON system are: arrival time of a ship, departure time of a ship, operation time for loading and unloading, total number of equipment used, number of containers unloaded, number of containers loaded, size of a ship, country of registration, last port of call, and next port of call. The arrival pattern of large ships (having a capacity to carry 507 or more containers) and small ships (having a capacity to carry less than 507 containers) follows Weibull distribution and Log-normal distribution, respectively. As a whole, there is no significant differences between the number of ships recorded by the PELKON data and the simulation process. A number of experimental studies such as acquiring less Port Crane, improve­ment of management service and integrated Prime Mover operation have been carried out to determine the effect on the container handling operations. The findings show that when one of the four port cranes did not work, the number of export containers decreased by 14.2% and 11.5% for import containers, If the services had been upgraded by 25%, the average time for unloading export containers could be shortened by 27.1% and the average time for loading import containers could be reduced by 7.9%. If the movement of prime movers had been integrated, the handling of export containers could be upgraded by 8.0% and 4.3% for import containers.
The Perception, Incidence and Management of Sexual Harassment at Workplace: A Malaysian Case
Authors: Marican Sabitha Bagam 
Published: August 2020

This paper focuses on perception and management of sexual harassment (SH) at the workplace. The study was carried out in Northern Malaysia among 586 public sector administrators. Results showed that 43% of the total male respondents and 47% of the female respondents have faced some kind of sexual harassment. Findings showed that the internal whistleblowing mechanism is also inadequate, though the respondents are quite confi­dent with the management in reporting SH cases. Finally, the article outline strategies that could ameliorate the occurrence of SH at the workplace as it is important to the organization and the priceless workers in the organization.
Importance-Performance Analysis on Tourism Destination: The Case of Kedah
Authors: Kasim Azilah 
Published: August 2020

This paper is focusing on the use of Importance-Performance (IP) Analysis to measure the destination's perfor­mance in offering tourism products. IP method is often used in research due to its simplicity, ease of use and usefulness in aiding decision-making processes. IP is also promising since it examines both expectations i.e. the importance of each attribute, and the performance of the attributes in fulfilling the expectation. Thus it aids tourism providers in determining what attributes are most important to tourists so that the attractiveness of the attributes can be improved. Using the data from the researcher's study on positioning in Kedah, a further analysis was carried out to determine Kedah's attractiveness in the eyes of its international market. Results of the IP analysis showed distinct difference in perception among clusters. For practical use of information gener­ated by the analysis, it was suggested that information on the two biggest clusters i.e. Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 be used to improve Kedah's tourism. The information revealed that according to Cluster 2, Kedah has to improve on attributes such as comfort at place of accommodation, friendliness of local people, services in. restaurants at place of accommodation, clean beaches, services in restaurants outside places of accommodation, standard of catering at restaurants outside places of accommodation, tourist information centre/booth, shopping facilities, local traffic, standard of catering at places of accommodation, isolated beaches, entertainment facilities, acces­sibility/transport and night life. For Cluster 3, we need to concentrate on improving attributes including beau­tiful scenery, comfort at place of accommodation, clean beaches, value for money, climate and weather; lack of crowdedness, services in restaurants at places of accommodation, standard of catering outside places of ac­commodation, services in restaurants outside places of accommodation, shopping facilities, tourists informa­tion centre, accessibility/transport and local traffic. The research recommended the need for Kedah's tourism planners and providers to pay attention to these attributes in planning and providing tourism offerings.
The Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: The Case of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry
Authors: Bawa Muhammad Aminu , Jantan Muhamad , Ali Juhary 
Published: August 2020

A substantial body of evidence in management theory and business practice has accumulated to show that Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is associated with improved organizational performance. In spite of this evidence, empirical studies have shown that some organizations are slow in implementing those practices. One of the fundamental reasons behind this is the fact that as a body of practical knowledge, SHRM has seemingly lacked any theoretical research framework to underpin it. Thus, this paper is an attempt to address this problem by (1) contributing to theory building in strategic HRM, and (2) empirically testing the hypothesis that SHRM practices affect productivity. This study used a sample of 129 managers of oil palm estates from a national survey of estate managers reflecting the 1998 financial year Using linear regression techniques, the results suggest that (1) estates implement less strategic HI? practices than anticipated, and (2) some strategic HR practices were related to productivity. Managerial implications of the study were discussed.
Ageing and Job Performance: Methodological Issues and Empirical Evidence
Authors: Ali Hassan 
Published: August 2020

This article reviews the methodological difficulties involved in research on age and job performance, It also examines the empirical evidence of the relationship between age and job performance. Research in this area has been conducted in both laboratory as well as occupational settings. Research in occupational settings has generally utilized either output measures or performance evaluations to measure job performance. Evidence from the literature has generally found no conclusive relationship between age and job performance. Studies have also found experience rather than age predicts job performance to a greater extent than age.