Ahmad Nurulazam Md Zain

Changing higher education practice in Malaysia: the conundrum of incentives

International university rankings are a widely used measure of higher education excellence. Since publication rates are an important element in most ranking systems, pushing faculty to increase their publication in top-tier international journals is viewed by many government and university officials as an important strategy for improving ratings and thus gaining international recognition. This study examined the manner in which public universities in Malaysia have created and aligned incentives in an effort to encourage faculty members to increase their publication rate in top-tier international journals. The study is grounded in principal–agent theory and utilized data from 47 interviews conducted with faculty members from across four public universities in Malaysia. Findings suggest that while university administrators’ aspirations for higher international rankings are high, administrators are limited in the incentives they can utilize in effecting the change they seek. Their levers of influence over faculty work are limited in the Malaysian context.

Academic Promotion in Malaysian Public Universities: A Critical Look at Issues and Challenges.

Abstract The expansion and transformation of Malaysian universities have generated major changes in the nature of academic employment and the structure of academic promotion in higher education institutions. These changes have considerable implications, in particular for the policy and practice of academic promotion in the public universities. We argue that despite sharing one common grade and salary system, distinct and significant differences exist in the academic promotion systems of the public universities. Drawing on one recent study on the academic promotion process in Malaysian public universities to contextualise our discussion, this paper highlights the complexity in the promotion process in these institutions. It also discusses and articulates the attendant issues and challenging aspects of the academic promotion process. We argue that the interrelated issues and challenges, and certain academic practices and habits stemming from the pressure to gain a promotion are pervasive, and that they affect the academic value system and work culture. We conclude by asserting the importance of applying a consistent standard for promotion within a single salary system and that the academic promotion system in the public universities should ultimately affirm and communicate core academic values, and also aim at obtaining evidence of excellent accomplishments.

Publication Trends in Physics Education: A Bibliometric study

A publication trend in Physics Education by employing bibliometric analysis leads the researchers to describe current scientific movement. This paper tries to answer “What do Physics education scientists concentrate in their publications?” by analyzing the productivity and development of publications on the subject category of Physics Education in the period 1980–2013. The Web of Science databases in the research areas of “EDUCATION - EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH” was used to extract the publication trends. The study involves 1360 publications, including 840 articles, 503 proceedings paper, 22 reviews, 7 editorial material, 6 Book review, and one Biographical item. Number of publications with “Physical Education” in topic increased from 0.14 % (n = 2) in 1980 to 16.54 % (n = 225) in 2011. Total number of receiving citations is 8071, with approximately citations per papers of 5.93. The results show the publication and citations in Physic Education has increased dramatically while the Malaysian share is well ranked.

Understanding of Basic Particle Nature of Matter Concepts by Secondary School Students Following an Intervention Programme

Grades 10 and 11 students’ (N=172) understanding of particle theory concepts was assessed using the Particle Theory Diagnostic Instrument (PTDI), consisting of 11 two-tier multiple-choice items in a pretest–posttest design after implementing an intervention instructional programme. The intervention programme involving eight lessons of about 45-min duration each included teacher demonstrations and student practical activities followed by class discussions to explain students’ observations. The 11 items assessed understanding in three key conceptual categories: (1) intermolecular spacing in matter (CC1), (2) the influence of intermolecular forces on changes of state (CC2), and (3) diffusion in liquids and gases (CC3), using a quantitative methodology. There was a statistically significant improvement in overall mean scores among students from the pretest (M=4.08, SD=1.79) to the posttest [M=6.04, SD=2.49, t (171)=10.10, p<0.001]. However, the students did not display a good understanding about the concepts in the three conceptual categories: only 30.8% of students correctly answered all four items in CC1, 7.0% correctly answered all three items in CC2, and 16.3% correctly answered all four items in CC3.

Review on OSH in engineering education

Most occupational accidents victims among young workers do not receive safety education or training before or the standard safety training education is not effective. Therefore, the purpose of this prospective research is to highlight the importance of integration safety curricula into hands on laboratories learning for young adults during their tertiary education particularly involve in technical and vocational education. This research is proposed to ensure young adults particularly Generation Y are equipped with the basic safety knowledge and safety precaution to avoid any occupational accident and also work related diseases before exposing themselves to the real situation.

Introduction: Misconceptions in Science Education: An Overview

Learning begins informally when a child starts to construct knowledge about a phenomenon while experiencing that particular phenomenon in real life (Driver et al. 1994a, b).

Integrating Research into Teaching in the APEX University in Malaysia

In undergraduate curriculum research and teaching are two inseparable domains. Following this, attempt has been made to identify six faculty members’ views of integrating research into teaching of undergraduate curriculum in the APEX (Universiti Sains Malaysia) status awarded research university using qualitative interviews. The findings obtained indicate that all the faculty members viewed that integration is imperative. However, extent of integration and challenges faced were viewed differently. The outcome of the study reflects on the university’s transformation plan to achieve the world-class status.