Dayana Farzeeha Ali

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNATIONAL TEACHING PRACTICE PROGRAM: PERCEPTIONS FROM MALAYSIAN AND INDONESIAN TRAINEE TEACHERS

The aim of this research is to evaluate the trainee teachers’ perception on the effectiveness of the international teaching practice program implemented by various international public higher institutions. The research questions cover the aspect of generic skills inclusive of communication skills, teamwork skills, and problem solving skills, together with the aspect of lesson plans, attitudes, and knowledge. 70 fourth year students from UTM, UNY, UPGRI Semarang, and UNIMUSH Makassar were randomly selected as the sample of this research. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and T-test at 0.05 level of significance. Overall findings show that both Malaysian and Indonesian trainee teachers’ perceptions retained at high level during the international teaching practice program. They also recorded positive perceptions on generic skills (mean = 4.14 (Malaysian); mean = 4.09 (Indonesian)), trainee teachers’ lesson plan (mean = 4.12 (Malaysian); mean = 4.14 (Indonesian)), trainee teachers’ attitude (mean = 4.12 (Malaysian); mean = 4.16 (Indonesian)), and trainee teachers’ knowledge (mean = 4.19 (Malaysian); mean = 4.15 (Indonesian)). Future recommendations are also included to improve the program in the near future.

PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING MICROECONOMICS COURSE

Teaching and Learning (T&L) methods in the present days need to be creative and diverse in order to produce quality graduates. Memorization method will produce students who are unable think critically since they are regimented to memorize facts only. It may cause students easier to forget the contents when there is a disturbance during the memorization process. One of the courses that need attention to encounter this problem is Microeconomics. Based on a preliminary study, it was found that students had problem to master Microeconomics. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify problems faced by students who enrolled in a Microeconomics course at a local Malaysian university. Results of the study found that the course was challenging for students to master since they had low visualization skill. Therefore, it was difficult for the students to visualize complex graphs and interpret data in the graphs.

EFFECTIVENESS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PJBL) IN IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE RETENTION AMONG TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL STUDENTS

TVET in Malaysia is becoming more popular as government started a new transformation on technical and vocational education. The establishment of Vocational College (KV) changes the requirements needed for new teachers as KV only seek new teachers with high level of skills and knowledge. Nevertheless, most of the teacher trainees voiced out their concerns as they unable to retain knowledge that they have learned during their study in university. Thus, this study is conducted in order to seek the effectiveness of PjBL in improving knowledge retention among technical and vocational students, who also teachers-to-be for KV. This study was conducted qualitatively by using experimental research design, which using two groups of students. The students from both groups are interviewed in order to seek the effectiveness of PjBL. The findings show that PjBL is able to improve the students’ knowledge retention as they able to apply and practice their knowledge throughout the semester. It is imperative for educators to provide best teaching practice for students in order to improve their knowledge retention.