This study was conducted to characterise the Biology teaching practices in a teacher education institution so as to inform us the existing practices which could then be compared with the aspired practices, uncovering the pedagogical hiatuses. This study employed a form of implementation study using classroom observation. A total of three lessons drawn from a Biology course within the Bachelor of Education (Biology Major) by a lecturer in one Teacher Education Institution were observed over a one-semester period. A psychometrically-supported Observation Checklist comprising 50 items or indicators that spread across six principles was utilised in the observation whereby observers checked in terms of presence or absence of each indicator during the classroom observations. In terms of coverage of aspired teaching practices which met the quartile rule (i.e., practices which were observed more than one-fourth or 25% in the overall observations), the findings indicated that lecturers fully en.....

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This paper presents the application of zinc/aluminium-layered double hydroxide-quinclorac (Zn/Al-LDH-QC) as a modifier of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) paste electrode for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA). The Zn/Al-LDH-QC/MWCNT morphology was examined by a transmission electron microscope and a scanning electron microscope. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was utilized to investigate the electrode interfacial properties. The electrochemical responses of the modified electrode towards BPA were thoroughly evaluated by using square-wave voltammetry technique. The electrode demonstrated three linear plots of BPA concentrations from 3.0 × 10−8–7.0 × 10−7 M (R2 = 0.9876), 1.0 × 10−6–1.0 × 10−5 M (R2 = 0.9836) and 3.0 × 10−5–3.0 × 10−4 M (R2 = 0.9827) with a limit of detection of 4.4 × 10−9 M. The electrode also demonstrated good reproducibility and stability up to one month. The presence of several metal ions and organic did not affect the elect.....

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Carbohydrate-protein (CP) drinks have been shown to exert better effect in promoting faster muscle recovery and rehydration in exercising individuals. However, not all active people, particularly Asians can consume milk-based CP drinks that would trigger symptoms of lactose intolerance and discomfort. Thus, this study aimed to assess the feasibility of sweet corn (Zea mays) beverage as an alternative recovery drink for active people due to its high content of carbohydrate and protein as well as lactosefree. The first phase of the study was the formulation of sweet corn juice that match the specific criteria for an effective recovery drink. Next, the study on the acceptance assessment of the new formulated sweet corn juice was conducted. The results show that the product contains high carbohydrate and protein contents which met the criteria for recovery beverage for active people. Besides, the results of sensory and hedonic evaluation demonstrate that the product was well-liked and acce.....

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Study Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between hydration status, knowledge of hydration and the amount of fluid intake consumption during training among the soccer players. Material and Methods: Pre-training hydration status was measured by urine colour chart and Urine Specific Gravity (USG). A questionnaire on hydration knowledge was answered by the participants on the last day of training session. Pearson Correlation test was used to analyse the correlation between hydration status, knowledge of hydration and total amount of fluid intake among the participants. Results: The results showed that the participants were dehydrated during the three days of training. Sixty four percent of the participants had a satisfactory knowledge of hydration. However, the results indicated that the sweat loss was higher than fluid intake during the training. Pearson test revealed there were positive correlation between USG and urine colour (r=0.809, p..

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In this study, we visualized the superposition principle of sound waves in a both-closed-end (BCE) resonance tube. The resonance tube is constructed using an acrylic tube with 2.64 cm internal diameter and 150 cm length, polystyrene beads to illustrate the positions of displacement nodes and antinodes and two identical detachable speakers as source of sound waves at both ends of the tube. The superposition principle of sound waves in a BCE tube is performed for two conditions: speakers at both ends are in-phase and 180° out-of-phase with each other. The findings indicate that the superposition principle of sound waves in a BCE tube changes the modes of harmonic series in the tube depending on the phase of speakers. The harmonic series in BCE tubes occur at the even mode (n  =  2, 4, 6...) for in-phase speakers and the odd mode (n  =  1, 3, 5...) for out-of-phase speakers. The experimental values of harmonic frequencies differ by less than 6.09% compared to the theo.....

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This study aimed at determining the quality of the English Paper 1 (EP1) items of UPSR trial examination for six graders in terms of its reliability, validity and items characteristics. It also sought to determine the difficulty levels of 40 multiple-choice items consisting five constructs of vocabulary, language and social expression, grammar, cloze-comprehension and reading comprehension. A number of 525 primary schools students were randomly selected from 3876 students in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. Using the Rasch measurement model, the validity evidences were shown through the results of Principle Component Analysis (PCA), fit statistics and item distractor analysis. The results from PCA analysis showed the absence of second dimension in the test, which met the assumption of modern testing theory. Fit statistics analyses have identified seven misfit items that are beyond the acceptable range (0.7 - 1.3 logit). Item distractor analysis has identified five problematic items whereby th.....

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The leaves and stem bark extracts of B. penangiana were screened to evaluate their antioxidant, antimicrobial,tyrosinase, lipoxygenase, and acetylcholinesterase activities. Evaluation of antioxidant activities were tested against DPPH, ABTS, and total phenolic content (TPC) assays. The antimicrobial activity were investigated by microdilution method for determination of MIC, MBC, and MFC. Tyrosinase and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities were analysed using mushroom tyrosinase and lipoxygenase enzymes, respectively. In addition, the acetylcholinesterase activity was tested using cholinesterase enzyme. The methanol extract of stem bark showed the highest phenolic content (176.8 mg GAE/g), DPPH free radical scavenging (IC50 95.5 μg/mL), ABTS (IC50 124.8 μg/mL), and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity (I: 46.3%). All extracts showed from moderate to weak activity with MIC/MBC/MFC values in the ranged of 62.5-1000 µg/mL. The ethyl acetate stem bark extract revealed the highest percentage i.....

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Objective – The removal of fuel subsidies by the Malaysian government in 2014 has been implement with the managed float system for fuel prices. Methodology/Technique – This study investigates the impact of the managed floating system of crude oil prices on the Malaysian economy using ARDL approach by looking at macroeconomic variables such as inflation, economic growth and unemployment rates. Findings – The results show that all of the variables have short lived relationship with oil prices whereby inflation and economic growth are positively related to oil prices. However, unemployment rate has a negative relationship with the changes of WTI crude oil prices. Novelty – The major input in the economy of Malaysia contributes to a positive relationship between inflation and oil prices, whilst the contribution of Malaysia being an oil-producing country results in the positive relationship of economic growth and oil price. Likewise, as oil prices are high, the increase in demand.....

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Arabic language is an important tool in learning and teaching Islamic Legal Sciences. Its importance that it is the language of the Holy Qur'an, which is the main source of Islamic texts and provisions. Therefore, to understand these texts, the learners must understand Arabic language. The aim of this study is to investigate the function of Arabic language as a tool used in teaching Islamic Legal Sciences in the International Islamic University of Malaysia. The researchers designed a questionnaire and was distributed among the students of Arabic Language to investigate the efforts of International Islamic University of Malaysia in teaching Arabic language especially within issues that are related to understanding the Quran.  ..

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The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate Multi-frames Video Recorded Experiments (MFVREs) as self-learning materials for Electricity topic of the Malaysian Form Five Physics curriculum. The development of MFVREs consisted of eight steps; selecting topic, selecting related experiments, preparing apparatus and materials for experiments, testing experiments, setting up recording apparatus, recording experiments, editing MFVREs and testing MFVREs. The MFVREs comprised of four subtopics; electric field and charge flow, relationship between current and potential difference, series and parallel circuits and electromotive force and internal resistance. The compatibilities of MFVREs as selflearning materials were evaluated from their effectiveness’s towards students’ achievement and students’ perceptions towards MFVREs. The samples of this study consisted of 40 Form Five students of a secondary school in Slim River and they were equally and randomly divided into the experiment.....

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