Universiti Brunei Darussalam Research Articles

The dynamic avifaunal assemblage of a fragmented urbanised habitat at Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Urbanisation reshapes ecosystems and fundamentally influences species assemblages. Urban habitats are also highly dynamic with changes taking place on both spatial and temporal scales. The campus of Universiti Brunei Darussalam is an example of an urban habitat consisting of a mosaic of green spaces, fragments of kerangas forest, planted native and ornamental plants as well as building infrastructure, roads and pathways. The aim of this study is to provide an insight into the bird assemblages found within the university campus. Two survey periods were conducted in 2006/2007 and in 2019/2020 using the line transect method. A total of 49 bird species belonging to 23 families and 10 orders were recorded in this study. No evidence of differences in species richness was observed between the two surveys after exclusion of migrants. Insectivores were the most species-rich followed by omnivores, granivores, carnivores and frugivores. As predicted, there was a higher number of non-forest dependent bird species than forest-dependent species. Vegetation cover was lower in 2007 than in 2019, but species composition was similar between the surveys, and the co-occurrence of bird species was random. Even though the bird diversity was considered depauperated, it was comprised of a wide range of species classified as residents, migrants and waterbirds, indicating their ability to tolerate urbanisation. More studies are required to confirm that bird species are surviving and reproducing in this urban habitat.

A Review of Fintech and Waqf Intersections in Academic Debates

<p><em>In 2022, Indonesia was ranked 3rd in the utilization of Islamic fintech on a global scale. Despite this accomplishment, waqf institutions continue to face challenges in embracing fintech. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the extent of fintech-related research on waqf and its implications for the institutions in effectively harnessing fintech in their activities. It adopted a qualitative research approach, relying on Scopus-indexed documents as the primary source of data. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using the Publish or Perish (PoP) tool, following the Systematic Literature Review with PRISMA procedure, and supplemented with content analysis. The results showed noteworthy insights, where Ascarya, A emerged as the most influential author, while Hudaefi, F.A. claimed the highest number of citations. The publication with the greatest influence was the International Publication of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, while the most influential affiliations were Universitas Airlangga and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Indonesia was the most influential country in generating fintech on the waqf subject of the document. Among the 19 relevant papers examined, only 5 (26.32%) focused on the discussion of fintech's impact on waqf. This statistic highlighted the potential for further development of fintech by waqf institutions. Several opportunities for such development emerge, including the creation of waqf applications, the adoption of crowdfunding fintech, the exploration of waqf blockchain, the implementation of WaqfCoin, and the establishment of online platforms for public reporting of waqf fund activities.<strong></strong></em></p>

Evaluating Effectiveness of Student Final Year Project Allocation: a Case Study at Universiti Brunei Darussalam

The allocation of final year projects is a critical task for universities to ensure that students receive the best possible academic experience. The allocation problem is often complex, and universities face several challenges, including balancing staff workload, taking into consideration students’ preferences as well as allocating resources optimally. This paper presents a Linear Programming approach for optimising student final year project allocation to address the mentioned challenges. By considering students’ preferences, staff workload, and project quality, the proposed model provides an optimal and fair project allocation scheme. The model’s effectiveness was demonstrated through a case study in Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science, UBD, using real data. The results obtained from the LP model are both feasible and optimal, indicating that the approach provides an unbiased allocation of supervisors to project students satisfying all constraints. The model allows for flexibility in fine-tuning the allocation scheme, as it can accommodate different levels of quality preferences and student priorities. It is believed that the proposed LP model can provide necessary support for the project coordinator to make informed decisions regarding final year project allocation. The model can also save time and resources by providing solution quickly and efficiently.

New Types of Evidence in Online Learning Spaces: A Corpus-Based Study

Following Hyland's model of metadiscourse, evidential is defined as an expression that references information from other texts. Evidence in traditional academic writing may include peer-reviewed articles, published books and personal communication with field experts. With a sharp increase in the use of online teaching and learning environments by education providers, such as Google Classroom and Canvas, and a vast range of sources of evidence available in non-traditional forms, are types of evidence in students’ academic writing changing and, if yes, how? In this study, we analysed the use of evidentials in course discussion forums by students at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, revealing the types of evidence included in the writing. Our findings show that students’ academic writing in online teaching environments expands what is traditionally considered academic evidence to some extent, but more targeted teaching intervention may be needed to broaden the range and quality of evidentials used by students.

Higher-Institution-Based Film Festivals as a Vehicle to Improve Student Production Quality and Form University–Industry Connections

This paper will be focusing on discussions on how to use small-scale, higher-institution-based film festivals (including film competitions) as a vehicle to motivate students who are majoring in media and screen production to improve their production quality for both module assignments and competition-targeted special projects. Moreover, this paper will argue that, by inviting industry representatives to be involved in judging and commenting on student works, such small-scale film festivals organised by higher education institutions over time may grow into a platform that not only recognises and supports budding directors, screenwriters, actors, and actresses in Brunei but also acts as a playing field in which novice filmmakers can connect with experts, exchange ideas, acquire valuable skills, and enable further collaboration in the future. Based on first-hand data collection, an analysis, and semi-structured interviews of the multiple parties involved, our discussions cover how to launch the production process for screen-practice-based education, how to organise module assignments to fit the themes of specific film festivals/competitions, and how to overcome the challenges facing students working in a multicultural production team, etc. Two higher-institution-based film festivals, i.e., PRISM UBD Short Film Festival organised by Universiti Brunei Darussalam and the Dracula Digital competition, a mobile-phone filmmaking competition run by Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, are used as analytical case studies.

Preface

Riau Annual Meeting on Law and Social Sciences (RAMLAS) is an annual event held by Faculty of Law Universitas Riau, Pekanbaru, Indonesia. This conference aims to exchange knowledge and research finding among academicians, researchers, professionals, policy makers and postgraduate students. The theme of the conference is “The Role of Law, Environmental Science and Policy for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).In 2022, Riau Annual Meeting on Law and Social Sciences (RAMLAS) was chosen to be implemented virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic that is still spreading. The conference was conducted on October 26th, 2022 and attended 200 participants. We received 82 submissions of abstract for presentation in RAMLAS. The conference committee invited 4 speakers from 4 countries, namely Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam.The committee is herewith extending thankfulness to all the involved persons who are actively contributing to implementation of the conference. We would like to thank to the scientific committess, reviewers, all participants. We are grateful to the attendance of the keynote speakers, Prof. Yuzuru Shimada, Ph.D. from Nagoya University Japan, Dr. AKM Ahsan Ullah from Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Dr. Lee Kuok Tiung from Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Special thanks were presented to Prof. Dr. Hj. Sri Indarti, S.E., M.Si. (The Rector of Universitas Riau), Prof. Dr. Ir. Aras Mulyadi, DEA (Former Rector of Universitas Riau), Prof. Dr. Mubarak, M.Si. (The Chairman of The Institute for Research and Community Service Universitas Riau), Prof. Dr. Almasdi Syahza, S.E., M.P. (Former Chairman of The Institute for Research and Community Service Universitas Riau), Dr. Maria Maya Lestari, S.H., M.Sc., M.H. (The Dean of Faculty of Law Universitas Riau) and also Dr. Mexsasai Indra, S.H., M.H. (Former Dean of Faculty of Law Universitas Riau) for the support provided during the conference. Last but not the least, we are thankful to IOP EES Conference Series for producing the proceeding. See you at the next RAMLAS.Best Regards,Dr. Erdianto, S.H., M.Hum.Conference ChairmanList of Conference Committees, Conference Photographs are available in this pdf.

Peer Review Statement

All papers published in this volume have been reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.• Type of peer review: Single Anonymous• Conference submission management system: Morressier• Number of submissions received: 24• Number of submissions sent for review: 24• Number of submissions accepted: 21• Acceptance Rate (Submissions Accepted / Submissions Received × 100): 87.5• Average number of reviews per paper: 2• Total number of reviewers involved: 14• Contact person for queries: Name: Dr. Abdul Hanif Mahadi Email: hanif.mahadi@ubd.edu.bn Affiliation: Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Protocol for a three-phase prospective study to develop educational resource of antimicrobial resistance and stewardship for medical programme

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the critical medical issues of the 21st century. Medical professionals are the primary prescribers of antimicrobials; their undergraduate education of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is...

Academic experiences, physical and mental health impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students and lecturers in health care education

BackgroundIn keeping with nation-wide efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) transformed fully its pedagogical delivery to online mode, where we investigated teaching and learning experiences, physical and mental health of undergraduate students and lecturers during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study on undergraduate students and lecturers in a health science faculty using a self-developed pretested questionnaire through anonymous online data collection method.ResultsFifty-six lecturers (100% response rate) and 279 students (93.3% response rate) participated. The positive experiences reported by students include becoming independent (72.8%) and adapting to online learning (67.4%), while lecturers learned new teaching techniques (50.0%) and became more innovative (50.0%) by learning new tools (48.2%). However, studying at home caused students to feel more distracted (72.0%) with a feeling of uncertainty towards examinations (66.7%), while lecturers felt that students’ laboratory skills were compromised (44.6%). Even though online delivery of assessments enabled lecturers to explore all options (50.0%), they found it difficult to maintain appropriate questions (41.1%) and fair assessments (37.5%). Majority of students missed eating out (68.8%) and felt a lack of participation in extracurricular activities (64.9%), while lecturers reported more time for exercise (51.8%), despite having more screen time (50.0%) and computer-related physical stress (44.6%). In terms of mental health, increased stress in students was reported (64.9%), though they had more time for self-reflection (54.8%). Although lecturers reported a closer relationship with family (44.6%), they also felt more stressed due to deadlines, unexpected disruptions and higher workloads (44.6%) as well as concerns related to work, family and self (39.3%).ConclusionIn this abrupt shift to online teaching, students and lecturers in our study identified both positive and negative experiences including the impact on their physical and mental health. Our findings are important to provide the evidence for online pedagogical benefits and can serve to promote the enhancement and adaptation of digital technology in education. Our findings also aim to promote the importance of addressing physical and mental health issues of the university community’s well-being through provision of emotional and mental health support and appropriate programs.

Allelopathic effects of Mangifera indica leaves on the growth performance of Brassica rapa ‘Chinensis’ (Pak choi)

Mangoes are a popular home garden crop in Brunei Darussalam, and their leaf litter is often used as compost, which is an environmentally friendly approach to manage organic waste. This study was conducted in 2018 at Universiti Brunei Darussalam to investigate the allelopathic effects of mango leaves on the growth of a leafy vegetable, Pak choi. Powdered and aqueous extract of mango leaves at various mango leaf concentrations (0–30%) were prepared and mixed with potted soils. Seedling survival, number of leaves and relative growth rates (based on stem diameter and shoot height) of Pak choi was not significantly affected by mango leaf treatment types and concentrations. Irrespective of mango leaf treatment types (powder vs. aqueous extract), biomass allocations to leaves (LMR) and roots (RMR), but not stems (SMR), were significantly inhibited at 10% and 20% mango leaf concentrations, respectively. However, stimulation in LMR and RMR of Pak choi was significantly observed in the opposite mango leaf concentrations. The aqueous mango leaf extract significantly stimulated specific leaf area (SLA) of Pak choi, suggesting that it probably contain less potent allelochemicals compared to the leaf powder, which inhibited SLA by almost 100%. Number of leaves and relative growth rates of Pak choi were not significantly affected by mango leaves. The findings suggest that aqueous mango leaf extracts at 20% could possibly be used in a sustainable organic leafy vegetable farming due to its growth stimulation in LMR and SLA. However, further research on other leafy vegetables and in field conditions are necessary due to the inhibitory allelopathic potentials of mango leaves.

Willingness of university nursing students to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei Darussalam.

Volunteering among nursing students has become a valuable resource during an outbreak to help alleviate the strain in nursing staff shortages. However, evidence of willingness to volunteer is scarce, particularly in Asian countries. To study Bruneian university nursing students' willingness to volunteer during a pandemic in Brunei. An online cross-sectional study was conducted at Universiti Brunei Darussalam from January to February 2021. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure willingness factors, including motivational factors, barriers, enablers, and level of agreement to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sub-group inferential analysis was applied. 72 participants were included in this study. 75.0% of whom were willing to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors that influenced the willingness of nursing students to volunteer were marital status (p <0.001), year of study (p <0.001), altruism (p <0.001), personal safety (p <0.001), and knowledge level (p <0.001). Nursing students are an invaluable resource, and they are highly willing to be part of disaster management. Training and planning should prepare the nursing students for disaster or pandemic readiness and integrated them into the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Align with this, safety aspects of nursing students during volunteering should also be considered, including the provision of childcare assistance, sufficient personal protective equipment, vaccination, and prophylaxis to the volunteers.

Benefits and Students’ Perception on Role-Play Teaching Technique: Progressive &amp; Fun Learning Experiences in Brunei

This paper presents a preliminary study on the teaching and learning of one of Brunei ethnic languages at The Language Centre, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (LCUBD henceforth). Dusun language is one of the ethnic languages still spoken in Brunei and is considered an endangered ethnic language. Research has shown that the usage of this language has been decreasing in recent decades due to factors such as migration and language choice. LCUBD has taken proactive measures by offering Dusun language as one of the elec-tive courses at the center. This study aimed to identify the benefits of using role-play in learning Dusun language and identify students’ perception of role-play activities in Dusun language class. Likert scale ques-tionnaires and open-ended questions were employed to collect data on 71 students who were enrolled in the LY-1433 Dusun I (basic) course. The result of the study suggested that role-play activity was suitable for the students, fun and entertaining, and could increase their confidence Apart from that a positive student-teacher relationship also played a big role during the learning process of ethnic language. Overall, role-play can be recommended as one of the teaching techniques to teach minority ethnic language.

Insights into Bruneian students’ transformative mobility experiences from their community outreach activities in Vietnam

This article is concerned with the internationalisation of higher education and student mobility for society and community engagement purposes. Drawing on the specific case study of Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s Community Outreach Programme overseas, it examines the programme’s operation in Vietnam as well as investigates Bruneian students’ experiences during their programme activities in this Asian country. The article also explores the impacts of such experiences on the students’ growth and transformations. The reported growth and transformations, on the one hand, demonstrate the importance of social engagement beyond campus and correspond to the internationalisation in higher education for society agenda recently advocated by international education scholars and practitioners. They also offer rich insights into (inter-Asian) student mobility for non-academic purposes, which remain largely under-researched. On the other hand, underlying the students’ transformative experiences are many issues associated with student safety and wellbeing that require ethical responses and appropriate adaptive pedagogies.

Preface

1ST Annual Conference on Health and Food Science Technology (ACHOST) 2020We are glad to introduce you the proceedings of the first Annual Conference on Health and Food Science Technology (ACHOST) 2020. The 1st ACHOST 2020 addresses challenges and innovations the field of Food Science and Health, Environmental Science and Issue, Earth Science and Technology. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, educators and practitioners to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of of applied science, technology, and engineering.As we may aware, the World Health Organization officially declared the novel coronavirus COVID-19 a pandemic. Governments around the world are now issuing restrictions on travel, gatherings, and meetings in an effort to limit and slow the spread of the virus. The health and safety of the author and reseacher community is our first priority and we are supporting these efforts. Therefore, the ACHOST conference was held virtually on 25 November 2020.The ACHOST conference is hosted by PT. Kresna Acitya Nusantara Mediatama and co-hosted by Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo, Relawan Jurnal Indonesia. This year, we held this flexible online conference to gather experts and scholars around the globe with the aim to continue disseminating the latest advanced research in the field of Food Science and Health, Environmental Science and Issue, Earth Science and Technology. The conference was held from Yogyakarta as the host of the event. The ACHOST 2020 event is virtually implemented with a model that all invited speakers are given time to present their material for about 30-45 minutes each. It then followed by a question and answer by the participants with a direct questioning system, through chat forums and Q&A forums provided by the zoom application. Overall, the conference took 6 hours.The number of participants who joined the zoom room was recorded around 341 participants. The authors or participants are came from 5 countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippine and India. Indonesian Participants are come from 19 Provinces of 33 Provinces.The committee of the conference are honored to have invited following renowned experts as our keynote speakers. Wahyu Caesarendra, PhD from Universiti Brunei Darussalam; Andri Pramesyanti, Ph.D from Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta.We are glad to share with you that around 155 pre-registered authors are submitted their work in the conferences. However, its about 97 papers are selected and accepted for the conferences. All the papers have been through rigorous review by a panel of reviewers who provide critical comments and corrections, and have contributed subtantially to the improvement of the quality of the papers to meet the requirements of International publication standard and IOP EES Scope.We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Chairman, the distinguished keynote speakers, as well as all the participants. We also want to thank the publisher for publishing the proceedings. May the readers could enjoy the gain some valuable knowledge from it. We are expecting more and more experts and scholars from all over the world to join this international event next year.Chair of the Organizing Committee, Editors, Host Organizer, Committee and this titles are available in this pdf.

Welcome Speech from Chair

Selamat pagi, salam sejahtera untuk kita semua.Alhamdulillah wa syukurilah wa la haula wala quwata ilabillah amma ba’du.Your excellency Rektor of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Prof. Dr. Ir. Moch. Ashari, MEng or who represents him. The honorable keynote speakers:1. Prof. Masaki Kameko : from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan2. Dr. Malcolm Ringland Anderson : from Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam3. Dr. Valeriana Lukitosari : from Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics, ITS4. Dr. Bernardi Pranggono : from Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom5. Dr. Siti Zanariah Satari : from Universiti Malaysia Pahang, MalaysiaThe honorable Head of Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics ITS Subchan, Ph.D and all the organizing committee of the sixth International Conference on Mathematics: Pure, Applied and Computation and of course all the lovely partcipants who were joining in this virtual conference.First of all, I should thank to all of you for participating and joining with us, either in the plenary session or in the paralel session. This conference is organized by the Department of Mathematics of ITS which has been started six years ago and now is the sixth edition. In this conference, we have at least 150 participants, 60 presenters, and five plenary speakers. They have come and join with us through an online conference, and they will share their current research, either in Pure, Applied or Computational Mathematics. I believe this conference gives a lot of benefits to all participants, not only to lecturers but also to students. I notice in the list of conference participants that some of them are teachers and practicioners. This conference aims to bring the current research results and to disseminate them to other researchers such that we aware that there are a lot of progresses in the research on Mathematics. We will welcome Prof. Masaki Kameko as the first keynote speaker, later on Dr. Malcolm Ringland Anderson, and other keynote speakers as well, and in the afternoon, we will have a paralel session. I believe that you have a lot of lessons learned and benefit from this conference for better and future research. I hope this conference is enjoyable for all of you and again I should thank to all of you and enjoy the conference.Wassalamu’alaykum Warahmatullohi Wabarakatuh.

Developing the Head, Heart and Hand Holistically Towards Achieving the Maqāṣid of the Sharī’ah: An Undergraduate Perspective

The head-heart-hand tripartite is often used to depict holistic education, not focusing only on academic merits of the ‘head’ and technical skills of the ‘hand’, but also character building, spiritual enlightenment, and emotional resilience of the ‘heart’. Unfortunately, the development of the spiritual heart is often neglected, especially in higher education where most of the learning assessments pertain to the critical heads and skilful hands. This paper argues for that the balanced development of the head, heart, and hand. In particular, the purification of the spiritual heart is emphasised to heighten moral and God-consciousness for better decision-making. Additionally, such holistic development is needed to ensure the achievement of the Maqāṣid of the Sharī’ah collectively, i.e., the preservation and promotion of Faith, Life, Intellect, Progeny, and Wealth. By setting the head-heart-hand tripartite with the Maqāṣid, a frame of reference is constructed as an evaluative tool to examine individual holistic development. This framework is then used to examine the reported developmental experiences of undergraduate students in the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, giving particular attention to the issues and challenges faced in light of the five Maqāṣid. The preliminary findings signalled challenges faced in preserving and promoting Life, Intellect, and Progeny.

The Existence of the State of Brunei Darussalam in Advancing Education, Economy and Social Governance “Learning Reflections at the Sultan Syarif Ali University UNISSA Brunei Darussalam”

As a prosperous and developed country, of course the State of Brunei Darussalam has implemented a very good education, economy and government system in accordance with the state ideology that is firmly held, namely Malay Islam Beraja (MIB). In the aspect of education, socio-economics and leadership in Brunei Darussalam embody Islam that is Rahmatan lil alamin according to the explanation we have conveyed. Education in Brunei Darussalam is characterized by the dominance of Islamic Religious Education which is specifically managed by Kesultanana in the Haji Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation (YSHHB) as well as at the tertiary level such as at UBD (Universiti Brunei Darussalam), KUPU (Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama) Seri Begawan and UNISSA (Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University).The Sultanate government as fully responsible for the education process also integrates Islamic religious education with science, where according to the teachings in the Qur'an and Hadith, all have a connection and are beneficial to humans. Likewise with progress in the economic sector, where the State of Brunei Darussalam is a producer of oil and gas in Southeast Asia and even globally, which supports the welfare of its people. A government system that continues to maintain security and stability by adhering to the MIB ideology, carrying out Islamic teachings very well, this can be seen from every policy and regulation delivered by the Sultanate.

Fern diversity and distribution in the UBD campus

Green areas and parks are important for maintaining local biodiversity in urbanised habitats. Recent studies have demonstrated that the biodiversity retained in these areas is also important for engaging citizen scientists in conservation projects. Most of the documentation on biodiversity is from temperate regions, whereas in the tropics this field is still in its infancy. This study documented the fern and fern allies richness and abundance within the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) campus, Brunei Darussalam. We found 39 species in total, belonging to 20 families and 28 genera. Although the total richness did not differ between forest and open plots, ordination showed that forested areas retained a different species composition. Although none of the identified species were IUCN listed, nearly half of the species were recorded once or twice, indicating small population sizes and the biological value of small forest fragments. Our study contributes to understanding the flora diversity of the UBD campus. These results can be used to minimise environmental degradation during infrastructure development on the UBD campus.

University Students' Antibiotic Use and Knowledge of Antimicrobial Resistance: What Are the Common Myths?

We aimed to assess antibiotic usage and knowledge regarding antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among undergraduate students of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), public university located in Brunei Darussalam. A cross-sectional study was performed using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Antibiotic resistance: Multi-country public awareness” survey distributed online. Students at the UBD were invited to participate in the online survey through internal email. The questionnaire consisted of five sections: demographic information, antibiotic usage, knowledge on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance (AMR), and use of antibiotics in agriculture. The data were analyzed descriptively and appropriate inferential statistics were used accordingly. A total of 130 students returned a completed questionnaire. The result of the study found that 51% (n = 66) of the students had good level of knowledge of antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance with a mean total knowledge score of nine out of 14. Of note, 76% (n = 99) of the respondents mistakenly believed that antibiotic resistance is the result of the body becoming resistant to antibiotics. Only 14% (n = 18) of the respondents were found to have poor knowledge on antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in the study. Misconceptions in regards to the use of antibiotics for conditions related to viral illnesses like cold and flu (41%, n = 53) were noticed among the respondents in our study. Thus, improving knowledge on antibiotics is crucial to address these beliefs.

A comparative study on motivation in foreign language learning in Brunei and Malaysian Universities

Universiti Brunei Darussalam has been fostering the study of foreign languages in Brunei to expand their undergraduates’ accessibility in the job market and overall give them equal opportunities to have a quality foreign language learning experience. This paper is a critical analysis of past studies by Ainol and Isarji’s (2009) on foreign language learners at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), and Farhana’s (2019) study on Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) foreign language learners’ motivation. A focused investigation at how different motivation types, namely intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental, and integrative, affect foreign language learners at the university level in Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. A pattern observed in Brunei and Malaysian universities is that intrinsic motivation is the foundation of foreign language learning. Bruneian undergraduates are learning out of interest, and their Malaysian counterparts are learning because they enjoy the experience. While the university's language policy determines the number of students learning a foreign language each semester, the outcome is still highly dependent on the student's motivation to learn the foreign language.