An Exploratory Study on the Reasons and Preferences of Six Malaysian Students on the Video Games Played

The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons why six Malaysian students from upper secondary school are playing video games, types of games and the features preferred. A qualitative method was being used in the study. Purposive sampling was conducted in selecting the students. The findings indicated that students played video games for a great range of reasons. Different students play for different reasons. Some shared common reasons and preferences. A few findings were very specific and never mentioned before in previous researches. However, more research needs to be undertaken in order to address the diversity of students with a bigger sample and different methodology

Form one students’ engagement with computer games and its effect on their academic achievement in a Malaysian secondary school

The main purpose of the study was to address the association between computer games and students’ academic achievement. The exceptional growth in numbers of children playing computer games, the uneasiness and incomplete understanding foundation when starting the discussion on computer games have stimulated this study to be conducted. From a survey conducted on 236 form one students in one of the Malaysian secondary school, 75.8 percent were gamers. Playing computer games seemed to be more stereotypically boy’s activity with 91.3 percent of the boys engaged in computer games compared to 54.1 percent among the girls. They spent an average of 8.47 hours per week playing computer games. Parents and teachers’ concern about computer games was not something that went unwarranted as an overall result was predicting computer games as having negative associations with students’ academic achievement. However, in-depth analyses by combinations of classes done step by step indicated that the initial results could be overruled by students from the last class, whom need extra attentions. As a conclusion, the findings in this study suggest some interesting yet ultimately weak associations between playing computer games and students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making any generalization as looking at the population as a whole will be different from its components. The generalizability of this study’s findings is limited by the nature of the sample. Even so, blaming computer games for the students’ bad academic performance in school is unjustified as there are many more other factors to look into before finding computer games as the scapegoat

Stability of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) for the use of Malaysian form one students in ICT literacy class.

The objective of the study is to determine the suitability of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) in assessing Malaysian form one students’ intrinsic motivation gained through the tasks engagement in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy class. 236 students completed the IMI in Bahasa Malaysia version. The reliability value of Cronbach Alpha for intrinsic motivation as a whole was .844. Cronbach Alpha values for the dimensions within IMI were in the range of .560 to .932. The two factors solution extracted from the factor analysis represented 66.85 percent of the total variance. All the dimensions in the initial IMI instrument were included in the two factors solution. Out of the 34 items, only item 13 was deemed to be unreliable as the factor loading generated was very low. The findings were further confirmed by using two incremental fit measurements, Tucker-Lewis Index and Normed Fit Index, generating values of .985 and .994 respectively. Although there were a few limitations in the study, researchers are cautiously optimistic that the findings will be both valuable and applicable for the assessment of intrinsic motivation gain through the ICT literacy class among Malaysian form one students

Computer games development class with appreciative learning approach: from the perspective of bloom’s taxonomy

Both computer games development and appreciative learning approach are still at the infancy stage of utilization at educational setting. The purpose of this study was to explore what lower secondary students learned from the application of appreciative learning approach in computer games development class. Triangulated data comprising of interviews, logbooks, visual captures, researchers’ observations, and games were produced. NVivo software was used to support data management. The compiled codes were clustered to create themes pertinent to Bloom’s taxonomy. As a result, computer games development within appreciative learning approach environment was found as positively related to students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor development. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making inferences as different students gained different learning experiences and outcomes, analogous to different players generated different outcomes in computer games

Appreciative learning approach in computer games development class

The rationale of the study was to understand more about the appreciative learning approach being applied in educational settings, specifically in the computer games development class. The study explored the perception of eight out of the 36 form one students who had gone through computer games development with the appreciative learning approach as a teaching practice for four weeks. Qualitative method was used in the study. The findings indicated that students perceived positively about the environment created within the appreciative learning approach. Nevertheless, there are gaps in the approach being applied as indicated by the students. A few modifications on the approach are suggested in this article for further research in order to accommodate the students' needs and preferences in learning computer games development. Caution is warranted as this article is just part of an action research being carried out

Radical Collaboration: Designing Libraries to Advance Open Scholarship

In 2016, after a year-long effort involving over two dozen faculty from multiple disciplines, MIT released the MIT Future of Libraries Report, which articulates a vision for libraries that advances “the promise of a truly open and interactive digital library of knowledge.” Implementing this vision requires a reevaluation of nearly all aspects of library work, from organizational design, systems, and even a new articulation of core professional values and identities. This talk will focus on the concept of radical collaboration, in the context of remaking libraries to advance an open knowledge future. ___ Greg Eow is the Associate Director for Collections at the MIT Libraries, where he provides leadership for an administrative portfolio that includes scholarly communications and collections strategy, digital preservation, acquisitions and metadata creation, and the Institute Archives and Special Collections. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the MIT Press, and a member of the Collections Committee of the MIT Museum. Before joining the MIT Libraries, Eow previously held appointments at the Harvard Library, Yale University Library, and Fondren Library, Rice University. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Rice University, an M.L.I.S. from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.A. from Hendrix College. Eow is a member of the American Historical Association, the Grolier Club, and the Society of American Archivists

Validation of Malay version short-form geriatric depression scale and study of prevalence of major depression and its associated psychcosocial factors among elderly inpatients at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital

Background: Depression is pre valent among the elckrly physically ill inpatients and has important clini cal implications. but ol'ten under recogni zed and under treated. There is no previous Malaysian data on the preva lence of major depression among the elderly inpatients. Ohjcctivrs: This study aimed to validate the Ma1ay version of the short form Geriat ric Depression Scale (GDS) in order to determine the prevalence of major depression and its assoc iated psychosoc ial risk factors among the elderly inpatients hospitalized lor general medical condition. Methods: The st ucly consisted of 2 stages. First, the validation of the Malay version(! f)S: foll mvecl by a cross sec ti onal preva lence study. parti ci pated hy 271 elderly inpat ient s. Data we re co llected using a self-admini stered questionn aire, the va lidatecl M:d;1y vc rsion-CIDS and Wl IOQOI .-13REF. Ma_ior depression was de lin ed as score above the optimum cut-oiTpninl on Mal;1y version-( iDS determined at the vallidation study. Results: The validation study showed the itcn1-9 from Malay vcrsion-GDS-15 had no discrin1inatory value in diJTen.~ntiating cases and non-cases and poorly correlated with the total corrected itcn1 score. By on1itting the iten1-. the newly fortned scale, M-GDS-14. has satisf~tctory reliability and validity as a screening scale for depression an1ong physic~lly i1J elderly inpatients. At the cut ofT point of 7/R, the M-GDS-14 had 1 00°/o sensitivity and 92.0'% sp~cilicity in detecting major depression. The overall prevalence f(w n1a.inr d~prcssion was l7.lo/o. 25.9°/o for n1ale and 45.R0/o for fcn1alc. Under 1ntlltivariahle analysis. the len1ale to n1alc odds ratio for n1ajor depression was 2.2 (p == 0.03 ). Those depended on working as the primary source of personal incon1e, were at significant higher risk than pension group for m~jor depression (OR = 7.8). The sci f-rating of relatively having enough rnoncy to n1eet needs, satisfactory personal "I· relationship. adequate accessibility to inforn1ation needed and opportunity for leisure activities were all significant protective factors against nu~jor depression. Conclusion: The prevalence yielded in this study was relatively high. Clinician should he aware of this highly con1orbid condition along with patients' physical illness. Good social resources play in1portant role in preventing 1najor depression in the elderly inpatients

Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide Using Activated Carbon, Activated Alumina and Modified Activated Alumina

The main objective of the project is to stndy the adsorption behaviour of carbon dioxide on different adsorbent varying in surface area, porosity and micropore characteristic. Beside, the study of modifying alumina with metal oxide is also conducted to observe any enhancement in adsorption. The last objective is to stndy the characteristic of the adsorbent used in terms of surface area, micropore volume and porosity. The adsorption process is conducted experimentally using an simple adsorption column while the sample characterization is done using AutoSorb and Quanta-Chrome software. For adsorption, 4 types of adsorbent is used; 2.5mm activated carbon, 1.5mm activated carbon, activated alumina and modified alumina (added calcium oxide). Four pressures were used for adsorption ranging from 25kPa to 55kPa. After the data had been obtained, it is tabulated and graph using Microsoft Excel. From the results, it is found that porosity, surface area and micropore volume have a big influence on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent. The highest intake of carbon dioxide is by 1.5mm activated carbon and the least is activated alumina. From the BET and DR results, 1.5mm activated carbon has the largest surface area while alumina has the least. Granular size also plays and important part in adsorption. This project provides a basic for a better understanding in the adsorption process as this process in very important in the current industries

Social media use, body image, and body weight status: comparison between university students with and without disordered eating in Universiti Putra Malaysia

Background: Disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, and social media use are increasingly common among university students. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare social media use, body image, and body weight status between disordered eating (DE) and non-disordered eating (NDE) university students. Materials and Methods: There were two phases of data collection. In Phase I, a total of 505 university students (22.6% males and 77.4% females) with a mean age of 21.26 ± 1.41 years from three randomly selected faculties in UPM were screened for disordered eating using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26). Sociodemographic background and anthropometric measurements including weight, height, waist circumference, and body fat percentage of respondents were measured. In Phase II, those respondents with DE were matched with those without DE by sex, age, and ethnicity. They answered an online survey on body image and social media use. Result: Out of 505 university students in Phase I, 21.8% were engaged in DE with no sex difference observed (χ2=0.738, p=0.390). In Phase II, 106 DE respondents were matched with 106 NDE respondents. No significant differences were found in body image, social media use (duration, volume, frequency, engagement, selfie sharing, photo investment, and photo manipulation) and body weight status between DE and NDE groups. However, DE respondents reported to have a significantly higher frequency of selfie-taking as compared to NDE respondents (t=-2.338, p=0.020). Conclusion: High prevalence of disordered eating was observed in this study. The contribution of social media use to disordered eating needs to be further studied