Zulkifli Ab Ghani Hilmi

Students perception on the usage of PowerPoint in learning calculus

Mathematics is a core subject in most of the science and technology courses and in some social sciences programs. However, the low achievement of students in the subject especially in topics such as Differentiation and Integration is always an issue. Many factors contribute to the low performance such as motivation, environment, method of learning, academic background and others. The purpose of this paper is to determine the perception of learning mathematics using PowerPoint on Integration concepts at the undergraduate level with respect to mathematics anxiety, learning enjoyment, mobility and learning satisfaction. The main content of the PowerPoint presentation focused on the integration method with historical elements as an added value. The study was conducted on 48 students randomly selected from students in computer and applied sciences program as experimental group. Questionnaires were distributed to students to explore their learning experiences. Another 51 students who were taught using the tradi...

Malaysian Life Expectancy by Gender and Ethnic Group: A Comparative Study

The purpose of this study is to describe the Malaysian life expectancy at birth from year 1991 to 2015 by different sex and ethnic groups. Malaysia’s population shows that the life expectancy for male increased from 69.2 to 72.5 years and female also increased from 73.4 to 77.4 years within the time duration. In addition, the study found that the female life expectancy is longer than male by almost 5 years in 2015. The trend of the life expectancy for three major ethnic group in Malaysia, Malay, Chinese and Indian shows that the Chinese ethnic have longer life expectancy compared to the other two ethnics whereby Chinese females were estimated to have longer life expectancy. This comparative study may help other researcher to find out the factors that influenced Chinese females to have longer life expectancy.

Malaysia’s Ageing Population Trends

Population ageing has been on the policy agenda for over a decade, and it will become a more important policy issue in the future. Malaysia has completed its demographic transition in less than four decades. Declining in fertility and mortality rates has led to an improvement in the life expectancy of the population which has resulted an ageing population in Malaysia. The age distribution of Malaysia’s population had changed dramatically from 1970 to 2010 where the percentage of the population aged less than 20 years old had decreased by 18.3 % from 55.6 % in 1970 to 37.3 % in 2010. On the other hand, the share of elderly population (age 60 years or over) had increased from 5.5 to 7.9 % for the same period. The proportion of elderly is projected to reach 16.3 % of the total population by the year 2040. Furthermore, the old age index of Malaysia’s population has grew from 11.7 in 1970 to 28.7 in 2010. Malaysia is expected to become an ageing nation by the year 2030 where the elderly population comprises 15 % of the total population. This paper analyses ageing population trends and its changes in Malaysia. In addition, the implication of ageing population to societies and nation is also being discussed.

Mathematics Outreach Program for Primary Schools

In Malaysia, children of age 7–12 years old are registered in primary schools where they learnt several core subjects that play an essential role in their learning development as preparation for secondary education. Mathematics is one of them and it is important to cultivate students’ interest at this age as to lay a good foundation in mathematics. As the country is to become a developed country by 2020, it needs 60 % of students at the tertiary level to be enrolled in science and technology programs where mathematics is a requirement. Nevertheless, the decrease of enrolment in science and technology programs at the tertiary level is of major concern. As an early intervention to inculcate positive perception toward mathematics, the Department of Mathematics, initiated a Mathematics Outreach Program for 96 students from 22 primary schools. This paper reviews the effectiveness of the program in achieving its stated objectives as measured by a pre- and post-test instrument. Experiencing and appreciating mathematics through hands-on experience and in a relax environment contribute positively on students attitude and outlook toward mathematics. This study shows that early intervention is important and effective in helping students reduce their maths anxiety and increase their appreciation of mathematics.

Quality of Life of Dual-Career Commuter Couples: Emotional and Financial Stress of UiTM Pahang Staff and Their Spouse

Dual-career couples who live apart or commuter couples are becoming a phenomenon in Malaysia. Nowadays, there are more opportunities for women to pursue their own career. There are situations where the husband and wife have to live apart in order to manage each one’s career. There are many studies have been conducted by previous researchers to investigate the quality of life among dual-career commuter couples, but no known research has been conducted using quantitative approaches. This study is aimed to investigate the quality of life of dual-career commuter couples measured based on emotional and financial stress using a self-administered questionnaire with five-point Likert Scale range as ‘Strongly Disagree’ through ‘Strongly Agree’. Data were collected from 100 respondents, either the wife or husband or both chosen at random among a list of Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang’s staffs and their spouse who are categorized as dual-career commuter couples. Research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) with Analysis of Moment Structures software (AMOS 21). The findings indicated that emotional and financial stress has a significant and direct effect on quality of life where 58 % of the variations in these variables explain the changes in quality of life. Commuter family has a positive impact but in long term, it will affect the quality of life of the couples, including the children.

Measuring Customer Needs and Want: Exploring SERVQUAL Dimensions in Cooperatives

Customer satisfaction is a relatively recent phenomenon throughout the world and is a philosophy that many service-based organizations have yet to adopt and carry out successfully. Cooperatives, being service-based organizations, usually promise their customers good service quality when dealing with them. Thus, it is important for them to ensure that customers are satisfied with the services provided. The main objective of this research is to determine the level of customer satisfaction using SERVQUAL dimensions at cooperative of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA), Kuantan, and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Pahang. Furthermore, the relationship between the SERVQUAL dimensions and customer satisfaction was investigated. The respondents were students and staffs selected randomly from both institutions. The findings showed that customers were fairly satisfied with the service quality provided by the cooperatives. There is a significant positive correlation between reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness with customer satisfaction. These five dimensions, taken together, significantly contribute 71 % to the prediction of customer satisfaction.

Weight measurements in the Malay Minangkabau culture

This paper discussed the findings of a preliminary survey on ethnomathematics measurements in the Malay Minangkabau culture. Measurements involve in the study are weight/mass for ordinary items (general weight), weight for valuable metals and volumes to measure rice that represent weight. This study revealed from the literatures that have been looked into five general unit measurements on weight, eleven on weight for valuable metals and seven on weight as measured by volume of rice. Most of the measurements have been quantified since some of them are similar with the terms used in the common Malay culture. By comparing the quantity among the measurements, a system for weight measurements is constructed. The objective of this study is to retain the Malay Minangkabau culture as a historical knowledge and heritage while uplifting the Malay language in the field of mathematical sciences in this country. Nevertheless, there is still room for further studies since the list of measurements is perhaps not comprehensive and emphasis should be placed on the origins of the words being used in the measurement (etymology).