Samsilah Roslan

Contributions of phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid automated naming, toward decoding ability in students with mild intellectual disability.

Reading decoding ability is a fundamental skill to acquire word-specific orthographic information necessary for skilled reading. Decoding ability and its underlying phonological processing skills have been heavily investigated typically among developing students. However, the issue has rarely been noticed among students with intellectual disability who commonly suffer from reading decoding problems. This study is aimed at determining the contributions of phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid automated naming, as three well known phonological processing skills, to decoding ability among 60 participants with mild intellectual disability of unspecified origin ranging from 15 to 23 years old. The results of the correlation analysis revealed that all three aspects of phonological processing are significantly correlated with decoding ability. Furthermore, a series of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that after controlling the effect of IQ, phonological awareness, and rapid automated naming are two distinct sources of decoding ability, but phonological short-term memory significantly contributes to decoding ability under the realm of phonological awareness.

Dropout Prevention Initiatives for Malaysian Indigenous Orang Asli Children.

This paper discusses dropout prevention initiatives by the Malaysian government for the disadvantaged indigenous Orang Asli people in the rural villages of Peninsular Malaysia. The roles of the Ministry of Education (MOE) as well as the Institutes of Teacher Education (ITEs) are highlighted pertaining to efforts at improving the quality of education for elementary school Orang Asli children. The out-reach programs and in-service courses for teachers in Orang Asli Schools are highlighted. Challenges faced in the implementation of these initiatives are also discussed.

The Influence of Emotional Intelligence of Secondary School Teachers on Classroom Discipline Strategies

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the level of social intelligence among teachers employed in government secondary schools based on a selected demographic variable. The sample of the study comprised 203 teachers. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant difference among the teachers from (Malaysia, India and China) and their social intelligence. The study also revealed that there were significant differences between teachers with high and moderate level of social intelligence in five strategies of classroom discipline used, that is, teachers with high level of social intelligence scored higher in the classroom discipline strategies of discussion, recognition, involvement, and hinting, whereas teachers with moderate level of social intelligence scored higher in the use of aggression. However, no significant difference was found concerning one strategy of classroom discipline (punishment).

Assessing students approaches to learning using a matrix framework in a Malaysian public university

This study aims to evaluate the learning characteristics of students using a matrix framework of learning approaches (MFLA) in a Malaysian public university. A survey form based on Biggs’s study process questionnaire (SPQ) was distributed to a total of 350 students. This study employed a descriptive correlation research design to address the research objectives. The findings revealed that Malaysian students are prone to applying the achieving approach in their studies. The achieving approach is the most preferable learning characteristic. The results also indicated that four of the nine hypothetical learning approaches exist, two of which are positive in nature. As a result, a proposed teaching method based on the MFLA was introduced to suit the needs of these major learning characteristics among students.

Narcissism as Predictor of Facebook Usage Among Students in a Malaysian Public University

The emergence of social networking site such as Facebook (FB) has earned notable popularity among university students. As such, this study is made important and vital as there is a staggering population among undergraduate students in Malaysia who participate in FB activities. Based on the Hyperpersonal Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Model, this study aims to investigate the relationship between narcissism and FB usage among students enrolled in a Malaysian public university. The level and gender differences in FB usage were also examined. In this study, 302 students from the Faculty of Educational Study in one of the public universities were selected as participants in the study. Employing a correlational research design, two sets of research instruments comprising of Facebook Intensity Scale (FBI) and Narcissism Personality Inventory-16 (NPI-16) were utilized to address the research objectives. Findings from this study showed significant and positive correlation between narcissism and FB usage in terms of number of FB friends, time spent on FB, and emotional connectedness to FB, while no significant differences were found between male and female students in relation to FB usage. In conclusion, narcissism possessed by undergraduates is found to contribute to their participation in FB activities regardless of their gender differences.

Parental Involvement and Achievement Motivation: Association with Studentsâ Achievement in Vocational Colleges, Malaysia

This study to identify the relationships between parental involvement and achievement motivation with an objective measure of the students’ achievement through students’ perception in vocational colleges, Malaysia. The study also examined the mediating effects of achievement motivation with students’ achievement and moderating role of gender for the link between parental involvement, achievement motivation and students’ achievement. Three hundred and sixty students (106 girls and 264 boys) were selected at thirteen vocational colleges students’ all around Malaysia. Our results showed that parental involvement were positively related with achievement motivation and students’ achievement which in turns achievement motivation also related to students’ achievement. There is full mediation effects between achievement motivation and parental involvement with students’ achievement. While gender were moderately correlated between achievement motivation and students’ achievement. The findings contribute to understanding commonly reported the relationships between parental involvement and achievement motivation elements with students’ achievement among the students in vocational colleges.

Do family environment, parental care and adolescent externalizing problem mediate the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent school performance among commuter families?

ABSTRACT The lifestyle of commuter families has become a concern in Malaysian society. Commuting and separation from nuclear families may result in negative impacts on the commuters and their families. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among family environment, parental care, parental readiness, and adolescent externalizing problems and adolescent school performance among commuter families by proposing a mediation model. A total of 434 respondents (dyadic-relation) from commuter families in Peninsular Malaysia completed a set of questionnaires. Model comparison showed that the mediation model was established with an acceptable fit index. Findings reported that parental care and family environment were significantly partial mediated the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent academic performance. However, adolescent externalizing problem was not statistically significant. The findings accounted 38% of the variability in adolescent academic performance explained by the model with total effect 0.69. Results suggests the importance of families’ roles and functions in adolescent school performance. It supports the theoretical backgroud of the research which explains the effect of family functions and parental roles in adolescent development and school performance. Parental roles need to be addressed to ensure commuting families play a parenting responsibilities in adolescent development and create a work-family balance situation.

Emotional Intelligence and At-Risk Students

This study examined the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and the delinquent behavior (DB) of the students. The level of DB reported by the students is categorized under the headings of crime, drugs, vandalism, pornography and sexual behavior, other misbehavior, and dishonesty. Meanwhile, EI is investigated by looking at the level of EI domains, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy, social skills, maturity, and spiritual awareness. Data were gathered from a sample of 300 secondary school students aged 15 to 18 years in Selangor. The schools they attended were selected from the so-called “hardcore schools,” which were identified by Schools Division in the State of Selangor. Two instruments, namely, surveys on the “Behavior of Students” and “Malaysian Emotional Quotient Inventory (R)–Adolescence (MEQI),” were utilized to collect the research data and were analyzed using SPSS 19.0. The data showed that the highest delinquency among the adolescents was misbehavior in school, followed by crime, vandalism, pornography, dishonesty, and drugs. Results also revealed a negative linear relationship between EI (r = −.208, n = 300, p = .001) and DB, implying that adolescents with better EI had lower levels of delinquency. Multiple regression analysis revealed that EI is a significant predictor of DB and self-awareness is the main factor of DB. This study contributes to the knowledge of the importance of EI in understanding DB. EI can be used to identify and discriminate emotional skills among those adolescents who exhibit DB. Addressing the role of EI as a predictor would probably prove to be effective in reducing DB.

Relationship between personality, misbehavior and academic achievement among freshmen in a university

The national educational philosophy stated that the aim of education is to produce individuals not only knowledgeable but also possessing healthy personality. It is therefore the aim of this paper to determine the relationship between personality, misbehavior and academic achievement among freshmen at a local higher educational institution. The methodology employed in this study is descriptive correlation. The sample size is 372 first year students (180 boys and 192 girls) from 12 residential colleges of the university. The Eysenck Junior Personality Inventory was utilized to measure the personality aspect. By using the pearson correlation analysis, the results showed that there were a significant negative correlation (r=-0.191, p<0.01) between the extrovert scores and academic achievement and a significant positive correlations between neurotic scores and academic achievement. Findings also show that there was no relationship between misbehavior and academic achievement. In conclusion, the findings showed that individuals with good academic performance do not necessarily have good personality.