13474 research outputs found
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Use of CORE-OM as a benchmarking tool for patient outcomes at Counselling Psychology Units in Malaysian government hospitals / Norainee Kamaruddin
No full textThe study aimed to use an alternative method of assessing client outcomes, and service
performance by using the outcome measure—Clinical Outcomes in Routine
Evaluation (CORE-OM). Presently, the counselling psychology unit assesses the
clients' outcomes by subjective observations and clients' self-reports. As for service
performance, the counselling psychology units are assessed internally by each
hospital's management system. In advanced countries, these methods have been
replaced or augmented by standardised routine outcome measures. This study used
CORE-OM to measure client outcomes, and it was also the benchmarking tool to set
service performance standards. It adopted a mixed-method research design using
survey and interview as data collection methods. The survey participants were clients
from 13 counselling psychology units in selected government hospitals around the
country, and the interview participants were the psychology officers (counselling).
The data collection methodology had two phases. The first phase entailed the
collection of pre- and post-CORE-OM questionnaires from 103 clients and the second
phase, involved a semi-structured interview with three psychology officers
(counselling). The findings showed that 9% of clients recovered, 66% of clients
improved, 16% of clients showed no-change, and 10% of clients had deteriorated. The
benchmarking tool—CORE-OM—had determined the service standards of each
outcome category. Based on the benchmarking values, one unit achieved the standard
for all outcome categories, while the rest showed average performances. The
interviews revealed themes on unit evaluation, workforce needs, outcomes concept
misunderstood, inappropriate tools, challenging counselling process and low mental
health campaigns. These themes had impacted the quantitative findings, and they shed
light on the interactions between the variables, which led to the counselling psychology units' average performance. The study has implications for theory,
practice, training, and future research. The study hoped that the Ministry of Health
would consider implementing CORE-OM for assessing client outcomes and as a
benchmarking tool for assessing service performance
Effects of integrated sound word method in teaching early reading to ESL preschoolers / Tham Kwee Eng
No full textThis research study serves to examine effects of Integrated Sound Word Method in teaching early reading to ESL preschoolers. Its purpose is to fill the gaps of the English language deficiency among Malaysian students where strong influence of mother tongue language, students’ social and emotional state as well as lack of conducive learning environment affect the Second Language acquisition. A quasi-experimental research was conducted in two preschools in the district of Kuala Lumpur. A purposive sampling method is chosen for this study to identify 60 government preschoolers who are weak in the English language proficiency. The preschoolers are equally divided into a control group and an intervention group. The findings have shown the Integrated Sound Word Method elicited significant effects in reducing the numbers of early reading errors, improving the early English reading proficiency and retaining the early reading knowledge among ESL preschoolers. This study able to provide an alternative for teaching early reading to ESL in preschools, however it is hoped that future researchers could further explore the Integrated Sound Word Method in teaching the English language in other fields. Acknowledging the importance of the English language in the 21st century, educators should well equip with effective teaching instructions to prepare students face challenges in the world without boundaries
The representation of masculinity in a Malaysian televised show / Uma Rani A Rethina Velu
No full textThis study examines the representation of masculinity in a Malaysian televised show, Oh My English! using a multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis from four perspectives. Firstly, this study analyses the verbal processes significant in the reflection of the Other among five main male social actors and with other character roles. Secondly, the non-verbal processes are simultaneously analysed via visual interpretation. Thirdly, these two processes overlap with the analysis of social actions in the performance of masculinity. Finally, how ideological assumptions reflect on masculinity are analysed via the two processes and social actions among the five main social actors along with the other character roles. The overall analysis involves different frameworks in order to inter-discursively examine the reflection of the Other, crucial from a critical perspective that relies on concepts and studies of both global and local domains. A single component framework of three of van Leeuwen’s networks (2008) contributes firstly as a tool for analysis entering into a critical and socio-semantic approach. Whereas, Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) multi-semiotic approach contributes in examining various hierarchical classification of masculinities via the two processes embedded with social actions. Connell’s (1995, 2005) concept of hegemonic masculinity in relation to language and gender and relevant notions such as representation, ideology and hegemony play an important role. These concepts contribute to the realisation of action and reaction processes through depiction of masculinity in accordance to events within context of Oh My English! The realisation of rhetorical and stereotypical strategies via individual and collective performances together with dynamics of various forms of authorisation as well as non-human instruments play a significant role either directly or indirectly in the reflection of the negative Other. Dominance of one group of men over another male peer within the same group along with power relations contribute to different discourses from a hegemonic viewpoint among the social actors. Apart from the highest positioning in hierarchy of masculinity that is hegemonic, complicit and subordinate forms established via backgrounding leading to marginalisation. Crucially, hegemonic discourses co-present with effeminacy in relation to heterosexual cultural norms, beliefs and values contribute to problematic discourses on masculinity. Common sense via agency invested through traditional, personal and role model authorisation via institutional setting further allows assimilation and inclusion of one group of young men in comparison to another with negative evaluation. Prevalence of various authorisations contributes to another dimension of problematic contradictions leading to legitimisation and de-legitimisation of discourses. Within the scene events, the two processes give way to three main schemas as composites towards an inter-discursive analysis of re-contextualised discourses. The three composites are in the reflection of the Other via social actions of male fantasy and gaze, machismo with competition, and male preserve football. These three composites as topics contribute further to the analysis and findings towards the reflection of ideological assumptions on masculinity not only within the context of the show, but also from a Malaysian gendered perspective
Saudi mathematics teachers’ beliefs and attitude towards teaching mathematics / Ghaythah Hamdan Theyab Alhallafi
No full textMathematics is one of the major educational subjects in schools because of its overwhelming relevance and application to human life and progress. Mathematics is central to human development and mastery of the planet earth and beyond particularly in this age of computer and information technology. Teaching Mathematics is an endeavor that dated back three (3) millennia. For centuries, teaching and Mathematics teachers have been subjected to various forms of scholarly investigations. This study examines teachers’ beliefs and attitudes and their impacts on the way they teach the subject of mathematics in their respective schools across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The general objective of this study is to study mathematics teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, particularly at the intermediate school level in Saudi Arabia. To achieve this objective, the study completely relies on quantitative data obtained through survey questionnaires. The study distributed 146 questionnaires (100 female 68.5%, and 46 male 31.5%) to intermediate schools’ mathematics teachers based in the City of Riyadh and its surroundings, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study found that majority of the intermediate schools’ mathematic teachers participating in this study expressed high agreement and high level of beliefs towards teaching mathematics. In addition, it is also discovered that majority of the mathematic teachers participating in this study expressed high agreement that their attitudes towards teaching mathematics is very high. This means that there is a statistically significant relationship between mathematics teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards teaching mathematics and the relationship is a strong and positive one. Furthermore, the study also employs t-test to examine any statistical significance between male and female intermediate schools’ mathematics teachers. The results of the independent sample t-test show no statistically significant difference among both males and female’s mathematics teachers in the intermediate level of Saudi schools. Even though male mathematics teachers have higher beliefs regarding teaching mathematics than their female counterparts, the difference in the mean score of mathematics teachers’ beliefs is not large enough so that the results are not statistically significant. This was also found to be the case in relation to difference of mathematics teachers’ attitudes based on gender and experience. The study recommended further studies in other parts of Saudi Arabia to help in generalizing the findings of this research
Electronic profiling of synthetic DNA using Schottky junctions / Souhad M.A Daraghma
No full textDeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has attracted a lot of attention lately owing to the discovery of its semiconducting property and is considered as an interesting material that could find applications in nanotechnology and electronic devices. In-depth understanding of its charge transfer mechanism is however required for effective development of DNA-based technology. This unfortunately remains still a non-trivial task despite the numerous theoretical and experimental studies that have been conducted to date. The complexity of the previously employed methods, and their lack of accuracy has made it difficult to grasp the clear understanding of the electronic behaviors of the DNA molecules under varying conditions. Previously, introduced by our very own research group, Schottky junction based-DNA (metal-semiconductor) was fabricated and proved to be a simple, rapid and cost-effective method for characterizing the electronic properties of DNA. In our current work, attempt has been made to uncover the charge transfer mechanism by fabricating Schottky junctions incorporating synthetic DNA strands so that accurate electrical conductivity of various DNA structures and sequences could be quantitatively investigated and differentiated. Initially, the current-voltage (I-V) profiles and related solid-state parameters such as turn-on voltage, series and shunt resistance, ideality factor and saturation current were obtained for DNA thin film prepared using Langmuir Blodgett (LB) technique. Tris base, boric acid (TBE) buffer was employed for the first time instead of deionized water as the subphase in this study since DNA tends to dissolve in water due to its hydrophilicity. Pure DNA thin film deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate was integrated with copper (Cu) tape electrodes to fabricate the Schottky junction. The electronic parameters of the fabricated contact (Cu/DNA-film/ITO) were observed to demonstrate excellent electrical conductivity and low resistance. However, due to lengthy and time-consuming film preparation process of the LB technique, a droplet-based DNA method was further utilized to enable a simpler and practical method for rapid electrical characterization of the different DNA samples. This was achieved by means of a printed circuit board (PCB) integrating gold (Au) electrodes with applied DNA droplets to form the Au/DNA/Au Schottky junctions. Synthetic single-stranded (ss) and double-stranded (ds)DNA samples having different bases and base pair sequences were measured in positive and negative voltage regions and its characteristic DNA electronics studied. Interestingly, dsDNA demonstrated greater conductance than ssDNA and DNA with G-C base pair sequence has higher conductance than A-T sequence while the nitrogenous base G has the best conductivity amongst the four DNA bases. It is therefore anticipated that the novel electronic technique introduced in this thesis may well contribute immensely towards further understanding the elusive charge transfer mechanism through DNA, and potentially other biomolecules in general
Penilaian guru terhadap penggunaan modul murid asas 1 numerasi program LINUS 2.0 di kelas pemulihan khas / Norliza Ismail
No full textKajian ini bertujuan untuk melihat penilaian guru terhadap penggunaan Modul Murid
Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 di kelas pemulihan. Isu dan permasalahan
kajian ini berkaitan dengan masalah murid tidak menguasai numerasi setelah tiga
tahun pembelajaran di sekolah rendah. Jadi, kajian tinjauan tentang penggunaan
Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 telah dilaksanakan. Kajian ini
melibatkan 110 orang guru pemulihan khas sekolah rendah di Melaka. Dapatan
kajian ini dikumpulkan melalui borang soal selidik yang diedarkan kepada guru
pemulihan khas. Data dikumpulkan secara deskriptif menggunakan perisian SPSS.
Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa guru mempunyai pandangan bahawa kandungan
Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 adalah sangat memberi impak
kepada pencapaian murid LINUS2.0. Melalui ujian ANOVA, terdapat hubungan
yang signifikan antara penggunaan Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program
LINUS2.0 dengan kandungan Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0.
Walau bagaimanapun, tidak terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara Modul Murid
Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0, penguasaan konstruk saringan LINUS2.0,
penguasaan kandungan Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 dan
semakan Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 dengan jantina guru
LINUS2.0. Tidak terdapat perbezaan signifikan antara penggunaan Modul Murid
Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0, penguasaan konstruk saringan LINUS2.0 dan
penguasaan kandungan Modul Murid Asas 1 Numerasi Program LINUS2.0 dengan
jawatan guru LINUS2.0. Implikasi kajian ini ialah guru-guru perlu diperlengkapkan
dengan ilmu pengetahuan, kemahiran dan sikap positif yang tinggi bagi memastikan
program LINUS2.0 berjalan dengan lancar dan mencapai objektif untuk
meningkatkan kadar numerasi di sekolah rendah
Effects of Crazytalk software on year three LINUS learners’ vocabulary development / Vatsala Sivan
No full textVocabulary is a core component of language proficiency as it provides the basis for
how well learners speak, listen, read and write. Without extensive strategies to develop
vocabulary, ESL learners are often discouraged from making use of the target
language. The advancement in computer technology has prompted many teachers to
use CAVI (Computer Assisted Vocabulary Instruction) as a tool in teaching English
language. This quasi experimental study examines the effects of the CrazyTalk
software as a CAVI tool on Year Three LINUS learners’ (n=50) vocabulary
development. This study follows the one group design as it uses the same subjects with
every condition of the research. The instrumentation was based on pretest, posttest and
questionnaire. The obtained data were analysed using SPSS version 24. The results of
pretest and posttest were interpreted by using Paired Sample t-test and the results of
the questionnaire was interpreted using Spearman Rho correlation test. The results of
the t-test indicated that there was a significant effect, p=0.000, on year 3 Linus
learners’ vocabulary development using CrazyTalk software. The findings of the
questionnaire also showed there was a significant correlation in learners’ attitude
towards CrazyTalk software, with r value = 0.658, p= 0.000. Therefore, this study
concludes that CrazyTalk software does facilitate Year Three LINUS learners’
vocabulary development
Effects of using picture books on reading self perception among year two National- Type Chinese School Pupils / Chin Jia Min
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the effect of picture books in enhancing the reading self-perception among the Year Two National Type Chinese Primary School Pupils in Hulu Selangor. This study employed a quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test design which involving 75 year two pupils. The control group did not receive any intervention whereas the experimental group received the implemented of picture books in classroom in order to enhance their reading self-efficacy. Data was collected using Reader Self-Perception Scales (RSPS) and were analysed using SPSS. Descriptive data revealed a significant increase in the mean and standard deviation scores of reading self-perception levels in the experimental group as compared to the control group. The statistical data indicated that there was a significant difference in reading self-perception levels after the intervention in the experimental group as compared to the control group. However, there is no significant between males and females in reading self-perception in both groups after the intervention but the females’ subjects’ scores higher reading self-perception compared to males subjects in both groups. As a conclusion, picture books approach gained a significant effects and positive effects on reading self-perception among the pupils
Positivity and intention to stay among pilots in the Royal Malaysian Air Force / Norazrin Shamsudin
No full textThe present study looks into the issue of intention to stay among pilots in the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). Intention to stay is an inverse concept of turnover intention. The psychological effect that requires pilot to serve the organisation over a period of time willingly or by compulsion is the precursor of this study. Taking insight from the positivity approach, the researcher examined the relationship between psychological capital and intention to stay, through work engagement and work happiness as mediators. The data was obtained from 364 pilots working in various RMAF units for a cross sectional approach. The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results underscore the role of work engagement and work happiness as mediator between psychological capital and intention to stay. The results also highlight work happiness is a better intervening mechanism for psychological capital of pilots in explaining their intention to stay. Finally, limitations of the study, theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed
The use of songs to develop indigenous form three students’ motivation to learn English language / Saraswathy Muniandy
No full textLow motivation to learn English is common among second language learners who have limited exposure to the language. Hence, this study explored the intentional use of popular English songs in a rural secondary school of the indigenous people in Peninsula Malaysia and its influence on the Form 3 students’ learning motivation. The focus was on 34 indigenous Form 3 students who have been identified as students with limited English proficiency. These students were selected using a homogenous sampling and convenience sampling methods. Data were collected using multiple methods of classroom observation and semi-structured interview with the students. The teaching and learning sessions were carried out for a period of four weeks with four 60-minutes lessons every week to explore the use of songs to develop the students’ learning motivation for English. The findings showed that songs can help in the development of motivation among these Form 3 students to learn English. However, the success in using songs in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms is not without challenges as the types of songs selected must be appealing to the students. It is hoped that this study would contribute in discovering new insights on the effectiveness and challenges of using songs in the English classroom. Such information can be used to formulate the best approach for supporting the indigenous students to improve their motivation to learn English language