School In Johor Research Articles

Health Risk Assessment of Ambient Air Benzene Among Primary School Children in Urban and Rural Areas in Johor, Malaysia

Introduction: It is a fact that children are vulnerable, and are at risk from benzene, a volatile, carcinogenic organic compound. The aim of our study is to determine the levels of ambient air benzene and examine the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks involved Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two urban and two rural primary schools in Johor, Malaysia. Benzene concentrations were measured using BUCK Libra L-4 pumps and analyzed in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Data were collected from 334 10-12 year old children, to calculate the exposure levels based on their body weights and heights. The hazard quotient (HQ) served to evaluate the non-carcinogenic risks, whereas the lifetime cancer risk (LCR) was determined with the aid of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Results and Discussion: Benzene concentrations were higher in rural than urban areas, surpassing the European Union (EU) standard of 5 μg/m³. It was also established that the highest average levels recorded were 6.89 ± 6.68 μg/m³. The HQ values, nonetheless, had indicated no immediate non-carcinogenic risk, while LCR estimates were found to be within a tolerable range across all sites. Findings showed that although the immediate risk from benzene exposure is low, long-term exposure still poses a significant cancer risk to children; even low levels of chronic exposure can heighten the likelihood of children to develop cancers. Conclusion: This study has produced a revelation that there are elevated benzene levels in rural areas in Johor. Despite the low, immediate non-carcinogenic risks, further investigation on the potential for long-term cancer risks is warranted. These risks can be addressed by conducting stricter air quality monitoring, enhancing vehicle emission standards, and introducing educational programs that can raise awareness about benzene exposure.

Artful Instruction: Refining TVET Pedagogy on Food Safety Requirements

Food safety is a critical issue in the culinary industry, and culinary students as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) practitioners must understand the importance ofadhering to food safety requirements. However, there are several challenges in ensuring students' perceptions of conformity to food safety requirements are accurate and effective. These issues include the complexity of food safety regulations, the varyinglevels of understanding among students, and the limited resources available to culinary programs to provide comprehensive training. This study explores vocational culinary students' perceptions of conformity to food safety requirements. The research employs quantitative design research, using surveys to collect data from 120 students enrolled in culinary programs at vocational schools in Johor, Malaysia. The study aims to understand how students view their adherence to food safety protocols and how their training and education shape their perceptions. This study is structured as a survey employing a distribution of questionnaires to find culinary students in Johor, Malaysia views compliance with food safety requirements in terms of food safety training, food safety rules, food safety standards, and license compliance with food safety standards. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0 was used to compute the survey responses' mean value, standard deviation, and frequency. All of the responses to the research questions got a high mean score. The results reveal that most students understand food safety practices well, but there needs to be more knowledge and implementation of some critical protocols. Furthermore, the study revealed that vocational students' general perceptions of food safety laws regarding food safety rules had the highest mean value, indicating that this is the most influential factor in persuading how culinary students in Johor, Malaysia perceive compliance with food safety standards. These findings have implications for culinary education programs and the food service industry, suggesting that more attention should be paid to providing students with comprehensive training in food safety practices to ensure safe and healthy food preparation.

Principals’ Distributed Leadership Toward Middle Leaders’ Organizational Commitment in Primary Schools in Johor

Principals’ Distributed Leadership Toward Middle Leaders’ Organizational Commitment in Primary Schools in Johor

EXPLORING MALAYSIAN STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL THINKING SKILLS

Mathematical thinking is a fundamental aspect of mathematics education and encompasses a range of cognitive processes. It is a crucial part of mathematics for students who desire to continue higher level mathematics. This research aims to investigate the students’ mathematical thinking based on the four elements of mathematical thinking, namely specializing, generalising, conjecturing and convincing. In addition, this study also aims to determine which element of mathematical thinking is the most difficult among students. This study employed a nonexperimental descriptive research design, and fifty (50) Form Four students from a public school in Johor, Malaysia, have been chosen as the sample of this study. A Mathematical Thinking Test (MTT) was used as an instrument in this study to collect the data. The test results showed that students are lacking in mathematical thinking skills, especially the conjecturing element, which was the most difficult element among the students. Therefore, teachers and other relevant authorities should pay closer attention to this issue. This study suggests that it is necessary to find solutions to overcome student difficulties in learning mathematics. Besides, this study established the instrument's validity and reliability in assessing mathematical thinking. Hence, it can be replicable and practical to be used to measure secondary school students' mathematical thinking.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF PRIVATE TAHFIZ SCHOOLS’ GOVERNANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURES

Self- funded Private Tahfiz schools in Malaysia have been given attention as an alternative education stream for children to concentrate on memorizing Al Quran. A Tahfiz student who has successfully memorized the whole Al-Quran is called a Huffaz. Besides the ability in memorizing Al Quran, a Huffaz has the potential to excel in professional fields and expected to contribute to the enhancement of human capital. In meeting its noble objective and high stakeholder’s expectation, the Private Tahfiz School governance is accountable to provide sufficient school infrastructures in support for conducive learning experience to its students. This study attempts to assess and to compare the governance structure and the infrastructure of Private Tahfiz schools in Selangor and Johor. Using a quantitative research method, a self-assessment questionnaire survey was distributed to Private Tahfiz education providers. Descriptive analysis and t test were applied in analysing the data. The assessment marks were translated into star ratings (90%-100%: 4 stars-Excellent, 70%-89%: 3 stars-Good, 50%-69%%: 2 stars- Satisfactory, and 49% and below:1 star- Not Satisfactory). It was found that on average, Private Tahfiz schools in Johor and Selangor had 3 stars infrastructure. The results also showed that there were differences in school governance and the availability of infrastructures in Private Tahfiz schools in both states. Infrastructures for teachers’ welfare, reading room to enhance reading habit among Private Tahfiz School community and information technology infrastructure were among the low rating infrastructures. These findings will help interested stakeholders strategizing their contributions for the improvement and development of infrastructures in Private Tahfiz schools towards providing an inclusive education to the students. Future research may apply auditing technique to assess the Private Tahfiz School’s infrastructure and its relationship to students’ performance in order to enrich the literature on Private Tahfiz School and infrastructure.

The Effectiveness of a Technology-Based Isometrical Transformation Flipped Classroom Learning Strategy in Improving Students’ Higher Order Thinking Skills

Isometric Transformation is one of the essential topics in the Malaysian Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum. In general, Malaysia’s achievements in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were found to be less encouraging, especially in the field of Geometry. This fact clearly implies that the mastery of Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) of Malaysian students is still low, especially in the topic of Isometric Transformation. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop Flipped Classroom Learning Strategy (FCLS) activities and evaluate their effectiveness in increasing Malaysian secondary school students’ HOTS in Isometric Transformation. This study was conducted in two stages whereby the first stage involved the development of FCLS activities, while the second stage was run to evaluate the effectiveness of FCLS activities in enhancing students’ HOTS for the topic of Isometric Transformation. The development of activities involved three phases. The first phase was the needs analysis phase which involved a preliminary survey towards students’ learning difficulties at each level of HOTS in the topic of Isometric Transformation. The second phase was the design and development stage of FCLS activities, involving the learning activities inside and outside the classroom in line with the topic of Isometric Transformation. The last phase was the evaluation phase which involved the content validation and evaluation on the suitability of FCLS activities by 11 experts. Next, the second stage was a quasi-experimental design which involved 131 Form 2 students from two secondary schools in Johor. The study sample was divided into two groups which were the treatment group and the control group. The study was conducted over eight weeks. Mann-Whitney test results showed a significant difference (p =.000 <.05) in the overall level and also for all of the four levels of HOTS for both control and treatment groups. The results of this study showed that the teaching and learning process that used FCLS activities successfully created an effective learning situation in improving students’ HOTS in the topic of Isometric Transformation. In conclusion, these FCLS activities should be used as guidelines for educators to increase HOTS in mathematics education.

The Effectiveness of the GeoGebra-Assisted Inquiry-Discovery Learning Strategy on Students’ Mastery and Interest in Algebraic Expressions

This study aimed to determine the effect of the GeoGebra-assisted inquiry-discovery learning strategy on students’ mastery and interest in algebraic expressions. The Malaysian Ministry of Education recommends investigation or experimentation activities and the use of dynamic software technologies in mathematics lessons because these activities can improve students’ mastery and interest. Therefore, this study was conducted to overcome the problem of low concept mastery and lack of students’ interest in Basic Arithmetic Operations involving Algebraic Expressions. This quantitative study was carried out with quasi-experimental design. A total of 60 form students from a secondary school in Johor, divided into two groups: experimental group of GeoGebra-assisted inquiry-discovery learning strategy consisting 30 students, and a control group of standard textbook-based learning consisting of 30 students. The study sample was selected by a simple random sampling technique. The instruments used in this study were a modified pre-mastery and post-mastery test and questionnaires. The quantitative data in this research was analyzed based on descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) software Version 28.0. The Wilcoxon test results showed that there are significant differences between experimental group (M = 50.20, SD = 18.63) and control group (M = 41.97, SD = 17.81) on students’ mastery and interest after using GeoGebra-assisted inquiry-discovery learning strategy. The findings also show that there was a fairly strong positive relationship between students’ mastery and interest, which was statistically significant using Spearman’s rho correlation analysis (p = 0.001). In conclusion, GeoGebra-assisted inquiry-discovery learning strategy can improve students’ mastery and interest in Algebraic Expression.

Exploring the School Climate in The Formation of Student-Athlete Morals At A Sports School in Johor

Moral depravity is prevalent among adolescents nowadays, and student-athletes are not exempt from being exposed to bullying, electronic cigarette addiction, and other misconducts involving other adolescents. The school's climate is one of the social learning aspects that might contribute to students' well-being. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the school climate as a determinant of social learning by focusing on the daily routines of students at the Johor State Sports School. Case study qualitative research approaches were utilized for this study and involved ten informants, including student-athletes, teachers, and principals. Data was gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, supplemented by participant observations, document analysis, and field notes. According to the study's findings, several aspects of empowering everyday activities, such as spiritual practises, physical health, academic balance, sports, morals, and student self-management, are present in the school environment. The findings of this study are expected to provide guidance and encouragement to the school, administrators, teachers, and the Malaysian Ministry of Education, particularly in maintaining a conducive and suitable school environment.

Technology Application among Teachers from Rural Schools in Johor

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the world’s education system, including Malaysia. This disruption has affected approximately 1.6 billion students in more than 200 countries. The closure of educational institutions has caused various changes in people’s lives. This research examines the associations between institutional support, perceptions of usefulness, personal innovation, perceived social pressure, and age with the application of technology among teachers from rural schools in Johor. One hundred ten teachers were involved in this study. The results showed that perceived usefulness, personal innovativeness, and perceived social pressure had influenced technology adoption among the teachers from rural schools. Keywords: Technology application, e-learning, teaching and learning process eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.3303

Issues and solutions on inventive problems-solving skills (IPSS) in invention course

Problem solving skills are the ability to solve problems in an effective way without any impediments. The purpose of this study is to identify the importance and issues on root cause identification for the problem among students and teachers of Invention’s course. This research applied mixed-method comprising quantitative and qualitative approaches. A total of 133 students and 30 teachers of Invention were involved in the survey at the secondary school in Johor. A survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were applied in this research. The results of t-test revealed that there was no significant difference on the importance [t (133) = -2.915; p = .194, (p .05)] and issues [t (133) = .142; p = .09, (p .05)] for gender. Next, two-way ANOVA test showed that the level of importance (F (30) = 2.874, p = .061) and issues (F (30) = 6.846, p = .112) of the skills did not depends on the gender of the teacher and teaching experiences. Majority teachers support the application of the Theory of Inventive Problem-Solving Skills using Function Analysis for root cause identification (TRIZ). Thus, the development of self-learning module is proposed as teaching material to facilitate the application of the skills for the Invention course.

Enhancing grammar competence of vocational school students through the Omygram learning chart

Various methods and approaches have been used to support English learning. However, there is still a lack of information on how the grammar competence of vocational students can be improved in the Malaysian context. This study aims to build the Omygram learning chart and identify its effects on the achievement level of the students in Program Vokasional Menengah Atas (PVMA), or the upper-secondary vocational programme, on their English grammar competence. The study involved two secondary schools in Johor, Malaysia, employing a quasi-experimental design. A descriptive analysis from SPSS showed the increment in the mean score for the post-test of the treatment group of 5.58, higher than the control group (0.33) after the intervention was applied. The results of t-test showed no significant difference in achievement between pre-test and post-test for the control group [p = 0.504, (p 0.05)]. On the other hand, the result of the t-test for the treatment group showed a significant difference in achievement between the pre-test and post-test [p = 0.000, (p0.05)]. Students’ motivation after using the Omygram learning chart was also high. In conclusion, the development of the Omygram learning chart is proven to effectively increase students’ achievement in English. This confirms that developing learning aids improves students’ grammar competence and motivates them to learn the language better. As a result, the goal of producing a skilled workforce in TVET (Technical Education and Vocational Training) and possessing soft skills will be more achievable.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AMONG PRINCIPALS OF PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN JOHOR

Transformational leadership is a leadership style in which charismatic, knowledgeable, skilled leaders express their vision through effective communication and ensure the organization’s vision is achieved. They are always visionary, adapt to change and always motivate and inspire their subordinates. Apart from having extensive experience, appointed private school principals have attended various trainings and courses related to school leadership and management. Even with what they have been through, there are various issues related to the competence of private high school principals in Malaysia. This study aims to examine the transformational leadership practices of principal, analyze the challenges and implementation of strategies for the transformational leadership practices of private secondary school principals in Johor. The Follow-up Explanatory Combination Study Method uses a sequential explanatory study design. There are three instruments used which are questionnaires, interviews and observations. This study involved 255 people as respondents in the quantitative study, while for the qualitative study, 4 principals were involved as participants, while all administrators, teachers and students from four schools were involved in the observation process. The quantitative data analysis using IBM SPSS Statistic 23 and N-Vivo 12 for qualitative data. The findings of the study show that principals of private secondary schools in Johor have charisma, proactive and inspirational motivation. They practice the four dimensions of transformational leadership which are determining the direction, developing people, structuring the organization and managing the instructional program.

An Observation on Implementation of Classroom Assessment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Subject Area

Classroom assessment is continuously assessment throughout the teaching and learning process and used in totally in every subjects. Assessment is designed to provide the understanding and help school administrators and teachers in performing assessment process in order to obtain the feedback on students learning development and pedagogical effectiveness. However, there been an issue of assessment that faced by teachers which is the lack of training and skills in techniques that effect the level of confidence in implementation of school based assessment. Therefore, this study aims to identify the problems faced by teachers in implementing classroom assessment for one of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) subject area which is Design and Technology. Respondents comprised of 26 teachers were randomly selected from 15 secondary schools in Johor. Descriptive studies of qualitative research were selected toget an idea on experiences and the data would be segmented according to the coding scheme using thematic analysis methods. The results showed that the major problem in management of classroom assessment processes faced by teachers were on insufficient resources. Besides, the analysis results also shows that other main difficultiesin conducting the classroom evaluation processis on student performance and in the process of classroom assessmentwere on time management. Whereas, the resources used by teachers to help students in the classroom assessment processemphasizing on the use of digital resources. Thus, it can be concluded that the classroom assessment process implemented by the teacher has not yet achieved the goals set by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and teachers need more resources to implement classroom assessment process in order to achieve the outcome of the learning.

School Innovativeness as Predictors of School Performance in Malaysian Primary Schools

This study is an attempt to explore the level of school innovativeness and its prediction towards school performance as perceived by teachers. The data was collected using survey questionnaire from the sample of 324 teachers from primary schools in Johor, Perak, Pahang and Selangor. Subsequently, the collected data was analysed using descriptive analysis, One-way ANOVA and multiple regression. The result showed that Malaysian schools practiced moderate level of innovativeness as overall. However, National Type Tamil schools practiced higher level of innovativeness in comparison with National schools and National Type Chinese schools based on teacher’s perception. Apart from that, the result also showed that teachers perceived school innovativeness significantly predict the school performance. With the result obtained, this study proposed some recommendations to the ministry, policy makers as well as researchers to improve school performance in Malaysian primary schools.

Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Air Pollutant Concentrations in Relation to Land Use and School Environment

Excessive exposure schoolchildren to air pollution can lead to long-lasting health problems, allergies and respiratory disease. It is well known that the major factors contributing to increase of air pollution are motor vehicles and industries. Thus, it is important to analyze the spatial temporal air pollutant concentrations and its relation with school location as the location of schools and its surrounding can increase their exposure. In this study, six schools in Johor were selected and the land use surrounding the schools were updated using ArcGIS. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was used to identify which schools’ area in Johor has a higher range of air pollutant concentration. There are four air pollution parameters obtained from the Department of Environment (DOE) which are PM2.5, CO, O3 and SO2. Hourly air pollutant concentration reading was obtained from the DOE in order to analyze air pollutant concentration during school period. The results obtained from the IDW technique showed that Sekolah Menengah Pasir Gudang (2) located in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia has reached a very unhealthy and hazardous level as compared to other schools in Johor. On the other hand, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Pengelih, Pengerang, Malaysia showed good to unhealthy range as compared to other schools in Johor. The spatial autocorrelation tool was used to analyze the relationship between the air pollution concentration and the school’s location in Johor. The results showed that the Moran’s Indices is positive showing a strong relationship that is clustering. It can be stated that there is a relationship between air pollutant concentrations with the school locations.

Teaching Strategies for Mathematical Problem-Solving through the Lens of Secondary School Teachers

Many studies have been conducted on problem-solving but only a small number of studies emphasized the strategies of teaching problem-solving. This paper explores the teaching strategies for mathematical problem-solving in a secondary school in Johor, Malaysia. It involves a qualitative study in which a semi-structured interview was conducted with mathematics teachers. Data were analyzed using a sixstep thematic analysis. The results can be viewed from three contexts of findings, namely the teaching strategies, the problems faced by teachers, and the solutions to overcome the problems. The findings revealed that there are teachers who have implemented personal teaching strategies, namely the Easy-Maths Model and the Cut-Stop-Solve Model to effectively teach mathematical problem-solving. The findings also explained some problems in teaching mathematical problem-solving, whereby students’ weaknesses in basic mathematics emerged as the main drawback. This study provides useful information to teachers on the different strategies for teaching mathematical problem-solving.

Teachers Competency Elements of Special Education Integrated Program for National Type Schools in Johor, Malaysia on Implementation of Individual Education Plan

Teachers Competency Elements of Special Education Integrated Program for National Type Schools in Johor, Malaysia on Implementation of Individual Education Plan

Exploring the Motivation of Pupils towards the Implementation of QR Codes in Pronunciation Learning

The implementation of Quick Response (QR) codes in education has become increasingly popular. Previous studies proved that it can increase the motivation of pupils in learning. Hence, this research investigates the difference of pupils’ motivation levels in learning pronunciation after the implementation of QR codes. We examine the motivation of pupils in terms of four aspects: interest, competence, perceived choice and sense of belonging. Accordingly, we propose a QR code model, which is linked to Google Forms that contain audio recordings for pronunciation practice. With the proposed QR code activity, the pupils can record their versions of audio recordings of pronunciation and submit to their teacher for feedback. The participants are 90 year 4 pupils from a sub-urban Chinese primary school in Johor. We employ a pre-experimental research design in this research. We collect our data by using 2 research instruments: survey questionnaires and observation checklist. We administer the survey questionnaires before and after the implementation of QR codes to find out the changes in the motivation of pupils. We also utilise an observation checklist to examine the attitude of the participants during the implementation of QR codes in pronunciation learning. The findings of this research reveal a significant change in the pupils’ motivation towards the implementation of QR codes in pronunciation learning. Specifically, we find an increment of motivation in learning pronunciation as the pupils show interests in learning.&#x0D; &#x0D; Received: 6 October 2020 / Accepted: 12 December 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021

Enhancing Students’ Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Through an Inductive Reasoning Strategy Using Geogebra

The concept of Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) is one of the highlighted aspects in producing human capital of high quality. However, the level of HOTS among students in Malaysia is still at a lower stage. Among the causes of this problem is the learning strategy used in classroom, which is less effective in creating and enhancing HOTS optimally. Therefore, the main focus in this study was to investigate the potential role of an inductive reasoning strategy using Geogebra in increasing the students’ level of HOTS. Besides, it also aimed to identify the relationship between HOTS and students’ inductive reasoning for the topic of Graphs of Functions II. The design of study was quasi-experimental which involved 94 form-four students from a secondary school in Johor. The sample of this study was divided into three groups: (1) Treatment Group 1 (inductive reasoning strategy using Geogebra); Treatment Group 2 (inductive reasoning strategy); and (3) a control group (conventional). The instrument of the study comprised a set of HOTS questions and a worksheet based on an inductive reasoning strategy using Geogebra. Using the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), it was found that the overall HOTS level of the students, which included applying, analysing, evaluating and creating skills, could be enhanced through this strategy. The findings also show that there was a positive relationship between HOTS and inductive reasoning. In conclusion, an inductive reasoning strategy can provide positive impacts on students’ HOTS in the topic of Graphs of Functions II

Correlation of Islamic Spirituality in Reducing Student’s Delinquency Problems

This study aimed to identify the relationship between Islamic spirituality and the level of delinquent behavior. Islamic spirituality among students is studied in terms of belief and faith, extrinsic and intrinsic aspects. This study used the survey method. The sample of this study was selected using random sampling. Data was collected from a pilot sample of 120 Malay students studying in ordinary secondary schools in Johor using questionnaires. The research questionnaire used Islamic Spiritual Disposition Questionaire (ISDQ) developed by Mohd Zailani (2009) and Delinquency Behaviour Disposition questionnaires developed by Carl Jung’s (1997). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. The analysis of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between the dimensions of Islamic spirituality and the level of delinquent behavior among students. The findings of the study showed that the domains involved in Islamic spirituality may reduce the tendency of delinquent behavior among students.