A proper and effective implementation of formative assessment techniques in the classroom will help to improve students_ learning. Oral questioning, exercises, seatwork, quizzes, discussions, projects, assignments and homework are among the common formative assessment techniques applied by teachers during the T&L process. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study undertaken to identify the formative assessment techniques used by geography teachers during the teaching and learning process. A case study design was used, and the study was conducted in one secondary school in Perak, Malaysia. Two Geography teachers participated in the study. Data were obtained through observations, interviews and document analysis. Discussion on the finding was based on the use of formative assessment techniques in the teaching and learning process. The study showed both teachers adopted a variety of assessment techniques to improve the students_ learning and help them achieve the learning obj.....

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This paper reports on a study in which an inventory was developed to measure the extent to which the academic staff of a university upheld the shared values of the university. It describes the developmental process of the inventory and the procedure for verification of the validity and reliability of the instrument. The survey was chosen as the research method. The inventory consisted of two main constructs which were the practice and perception of the shared values, referred to as the Bitara values at the university. Each main construct consisted of six sub-constructs, namely, integrity, professionalism, teamwork, customer orientation, concern for the welfare of others, and creativity and innovation. The research questions inquired about the validity and reliability of the newly constructed inventory and how far the academic staff in UPSI had understood, assimilated and practiced the Bitara values after having attended the Bitara Values Course. The newly developed inventory underwent .....

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So far, little research about writing has been said to have occurred in an EFL environment compared to an ESL environment. This study anchors on an EFL environment found in China. In connection with the EFL environment is the question of writing attrition. The main thrust of the study is to investigate if writing attrition occurred after a long period of nonuse by tertiary students. In addition, attempts are made to link writing attrition to levels of motivation and social activities experienced by the learners. To obtain data, we resorted to standardized writing tests used by the tertiary institution and also developed a questionnaire to investigate the levels of motivation and social activities. To give credibility to the writing instrument used to gauge attrition, test validation is also carried out to lay the fundamentals for the discussion of attrition in writing. We find that overall writing skills attrite coupled with attrition in coherence, clarity and pertinence, but not in gr.....

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This study aimed to measure the validity and reliability of the Inventory of Basic Religious Knowledge (IBRK) or in Malay, _Inventori Pengetahuan Asas Agama_. The IBRK questionnaire aimed to measure an individual_s fundamental knowledge of Islam based on four subscales, namely the purification of minor impurities, purification of major impurities, Adhan and Iqamah, and five-time prayer. The IBRK contains 50 items in which every subscale contains 10 items, and each of them consists of 5 positive items and 5 negative items; except for the five-times prayer subscale which contains 20 items, with 10 positive items and 10 negative items. The theoretical framework used for this study is a combination of the basics of Fardhu Ain and Fardhu Kifayah, which describes the specific knowledge and practices that are very important for every Muslim to practise in order to become an ideal Muslim. Six experts in the fields of religion, counselling and languages were selected to answer a specially desig.....

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The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service secondary mathematics teachers_ van Hiele levels of geometric thinking using the Van Hiele Geometry Test. The 25-item, multiple-choice, paper-and-pencil test was developed by the Cognitive Development and Achievement in Secondary School Geometry Project based on the van Hiele Theory of Geometric Thinking. The participants comprised 147 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers who attended a mathematics teaching methods course in a Malaysian public university. The data were analysed based on the _4 of 5 criterion_ to minimise the chance of a student being at a level by guessing. The results showed that 16 (10.9%) of the participants were at Level 0, 52 (35.4%) were at Level 1, 62 (42.2%) were at Level 2, 9 (6.1%) were at Level 3, 1 (0.7%) were at Level 4, none (0.0%) was at Level 5, and 7 (4.8%) could not be assigned a van Hiele level because their responses did not fit the _4 of 5 criterion._ Most of the participants were at or belo.....

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The study investigated the schools_ experiences on SUHAKAM_s (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia) best practices in Human Rights ATHAM (Amalan Terbaik Hak Asasi Manusia) programme. The aim of the best practices on Human Rights in schools is to create and practice a culture of human rights in schools. With the cooperation of the Ministry of Education, five schools were selected as the pilot project. The study focused on the evaluation into the aspects of challenges, ways to overcome challenges, benefits and the future plans for the programme. The study employed a mixed-method design in soliciting qualitative and quantitative data. This paper focuses on the evaluation using the qualitative method. The findings show that the challenges faced by the schools in practicing the Human Rights program are lack of knowledge; inadequate skills; and lack of community support. The results also inform that the ways to overcoming the challenges are establishing a common practice for all; integrati.....

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Students should be well equipped with efficient note-taking techniques to enable them to learn and achieve better results in academia. A self-instructional Buzan Mind Mapping module was developed with as a guide for teachers to facilitate their students in learning note-taking techniques. Thus, the purpose of this research was to evaluate the qualities of the self-developed Buzan Mind Mapping module. The development of the Buzan Mind Mapping module was based on the Meyer Model and eight experts evaluated the qualities of the module. Fleiss_ Kappa for the inter-rater reliability score for the instrument rating scale for the evaluation of the qualities of a module was _ = .7167, which can be taken to represent constant agreement among raters. Analysis on the quality evaluation revealed that eight raters (content and design experts) showed an agreement on satisfactory level and above for all 34 items. Based on the positive feedback on the qualities of the module, we recommend that the mod.....

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This research synthesis examines the relative magnitudes of the variance components found in 44 generalizability (G) theory studies in L2 testing. I begin by explaining what G theory is and how it works. In the process, I explain the diffrences between relative and absolute decisions, between crossed and nested facets, and between random and fixed facets, as well as what variance components (VCs) are and how VCs are calculated. Next, I provide an overview of G-theory studies in L2 testing and discuss the purposes of this research synthesis. In the methods section, I describe the materials used in this research synthesis in terms of the samples of students, the tests, and the G-study designs used. I also present the analyses in terms of how the data were compiled and analyzed. The results are sorted and displayed to reveal patterns in the relative contributions to test variance of various individual facets as well as interactions between and among facets for different types of tests. I .....

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A well-constructed language test will yield useful information for admission, student placement, course evaluation and other concerns in language teaching, depending on the test objectives. This paper describes the development of a viable test instrument which can be used to determine the English language proficiency level of students enrolled in a Malaysian private university. Students_ responses to the multiple-choice cloze tests are examined to ascertain the impact of gender, nationality and English language qualifications on the test scores. The findings suggest that the tailored cloze tests are quite reliable, showing a fairly strong relationship between the students_ EPT scores and their English language qualifications; and for some of them, their achievement test scores. Although this study is a preliminary exploration into a subject that needs further probing, the test construction procedures may serve as a useful alternative to institutions which need a language proficiency te.....

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The _Multi-Dimensional Core Component Dynamic Model_ of evaluation was devised in a quest for an approach which could maximize the outcomes of an evaluation of an English language programme. This approach was employed in an evaluation of an adult English language programme in a training establishment in Malaysia. This evaluation was based on a mixed method design which focused on the three core programme components: the teachers, the students and the teaching material, and looked at the teaching and learning as the central process to which the evaluation contributed to. This was done by the use of multiple instruments which included interviews with teachers and students, students_ questionnaires, classroom observations, use of pretest and post-test results and a teaching material evaluation checklist. The use of these instruments facilitated the combination the summative-formative, product-process and quantitative-qualitative dimensions of this evaluation. This type of approach was dev.....

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