scholarly journals My Industry to Academia Research Journey And Energizing Innovations Among Malaysian Engineers

2022 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mooi-Choo Chuah

In this talk, the author would like to share her research journey from industry to academia, first in Malaysia and then in United States. She was fortunate to receive a strong science & mathematical education in Malaysia, trained as an engineer at University of Malaya, worked with a team of talented R&D engineers at Motorola Communication Sectors Sdn Bhd in Penang before she went to United States for graduate studies. In United States, again she was fortunate to have several mentors who helped to inspire her to conduct great research first in industry and then in academia. She will first share her research journal from Malaysia to United States. Next, based on her experience, she will share some main ingredients one needs to cultivate to conduct great research, e.g., curiosity, diligence, and perseverance. Subsequently, she will also share her thoughts on how industry leaders, academic leaders and Malaysian government can collaborate to energize innovations among Malaysian engineers as well as young generations aspiring to be our next generation engineers. Cultivating curiosity in STEM fields at young age, providing opportunities for high school students to appreciate science through solving real life problems with college students, and creating opportunities for faculty members in STEM fields to spend sabbatical semesters at top universities or industry R&D laboratories to horn their skills are necessary steps to energize innovations among Malaysian engineers.

1986 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. 602-603
Author(s):  
Eric F. Wood

One of the ironies of teaching mathematics is that real-life problems, although interesting, are often too difficult to consider in a secondary school classroom. Consequently the problems that are used in texts are often somewhat contrived. While working at the local weather office, I came upon several applications of trigonometry that are both interesting and instructive for high school students. The problems require that some background knowledge be presented to the students, but often they will have at least heard about the ideas from the nightly weather forecasts on television. These ideas make an interesting discussion for both teacher and student.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Siew Fang Chong ◽  
Masitah Shahrill ◽  
Hui-Chuan Li

A mathematics framework was developed to integrate problem-solving that incorporated simulation of real-life problems in the classrooms. The framework coined as the RECCE-MODEL emphasised understanding and thinking with a view on mathematics embedded in real-life. The RECCE which stands for Realistic, Educational, Contextual, Cognitive, and Evaluation encompass the underlying principles of teaching problem solving and guide teachers in planning, designing, developing, and facilitating real-life activity tasks in developing students’ problem-solving competencies in mathematics lessons. It also explores students’ cognitive competency in their application of abstract mathematical knowledge into real-life problems based on students’ developmental status of their thinking and reasoning skills correlating to Meanings, Organise, Develop, Execute and Link (MODEL). This study investigated the affective development of the students through activity tasks developed by the sampled teachers using the principles within the framework. In total, 94 students from two high schools in Brunei Darussalam responded to a students’ questionnaire constructed to address the MODEL aspect of the framework. In particular, the analyses involved the students’ affective competencies that corresponded to a 19-item instrument within the questionnaire.  The findings showed that Brunei high school students have stimulated beliefs and positive attitudes towards non-routine problem-solving in the learning of mathematics. Meanwhile, meaningful activities developed by the teachers encouraged the development of cognitive-metacognitive and affective competencies of the students. The RECCE-MODEL framework paved the way towards understanding the relationships between effective pedagogical approaches and students’ learning, and between attitudes and cognitive abilities, and also for teachers to make better-informed decisions in the delivery of the curriculum.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ruba Mohammad Miqdadi

The purpose ofthe study is to examine whether there are any significant differences in the mathematics anxiety levels between high school students in Jordan and their counterparts in the United States. Another purpose is to examine whether there are gender differences related to mathematics anxiety among high school students ofboth communities. A total of 1,386 high school students in the United States and Jordan participated in main study. This study showed that Jordanian high school students exhibited a significantly higher mathematics anxiety than United States high school students. Furthermore, the study revealed that female high schooLstudents in the United States acquired a significantly higher mathematics anxiety level than males. Another finding of this study was that males in Jordan had a significantly higher leveL of mathematics anxiety than males in the United States. The findings and educational implications ofthe study are discussed in light ofthe cultural difference between the two communities.


Author(s):  
Isaac Bengre Taley ◽  
Matilda Sarpong Adusei

Helping junior high school students to use calculators and computers for problem solving and investigating real-life situations is an objective of the junior high school mathematics curriculum in Ghana. Ironically, there is a technological drought in junior high school mathematics instruction in Ghana, with a suspicion that mathematics teachers’ competency in the use of calculators for teaching may be the source of this lack of use. This study sought to establish a correlation between junior high school mathematics teachers’ competence and the motivation supporting the use of calculators in teaching.  A descriptive survey comprising of a test and questionnaire was used to collect data from junior high school mathematics teachers in an educational district in Ghana. Teacher characteristics such as educational attainment, age, and gender in relation to teachers’ competency in the use of calculators were discussed in the study. The results showed that about 70% of the teachers exhibited a low level of calculator competence. Besides, novice teachers outperformed expert teachers in the calculator competency-based test. Additionally, mathematics teachers’ enthusiasm for using calculators in teaching was directly associated with the teachers’ level of competency. The findings may send a signal to stakeholders in their efforts to revising the Ghana JHS curriculum in order to actualize the curriculum desire for the integration of technology in the teaching and learning of JHS mathematics.


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