E-methods in literary production: integrating e-learning in creative writing

This paper discusses the integration of e-learning in creative writing. The online approach to the teaching of creative writing takes into account today’s Malaysian youth and their fascination with computer technology. It is this appeal of innovation in electronics and knowledge that leads an educator to design an on-line approach to a creative writing course. The theoretical construct used to support the discussion is Anderson’s theory that on-line learning is knowledge-, community-, assessment-, and learner-centered. The writer, who is also the course developer, analyses a poetry-writing activity, which students undertake, and the e-portfolio used in the course. To analyze the processes involved in this creative writing exercise Macherey’s (1978) Theory of Literary Production is adapted and utilized. This theory, which regards literary production as a process imitating that of a production line, provides the methodology and conceptual framework for analyzing the raw materials collected by the students and their transformation during the writing process. This paper thus addresses the benefits of e-learning in a creative writing context

A proof of concept on real-time air quality monitoring system

According to the Department of Environment Malaysia, Air Pollutant Index (API) is an indicator for the air quality status at any particular area. API is calculated based on average concentration of air pollutants such as Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), ground level Ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10), each over their respective period of averaging time. A sub-index for each pollutant is determined separately based on a predetermined standard and the highest sub- index is used as the API (Department of Environment Malaysia, 2000). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) (2010) defines PM10 as "Inhalable coarse particles," such as those found near roadways and dusty industries, are larger than 2.5 micrometers and smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Typically, the concentration PM10 is the highest among all pollutants in Malaysia and therefore it determines the API value (APIMS DOE Malaysia, 2015)

Technology implementation barriers in the Malaysian herbal industry: A case study

Technology is an essential component in all types of organisations and most organisations have reasons to implement new technology. The most fundamental justification for new technology implementation is that the technology must be able to contribute to strong competitive advantages and also increase or create long-term profit. In most small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are barriers or obstacles in implementing these technologies. This article report a study aimed in investigating barriers faced by the Malaysian herbal industry in implementing technologies in their factory. Most of the local herbal manufacturing firms are categorised as SMEs which are usually considered to be lagged behind larger companies in technology usage. As this was an exploratory research, a case study method was used as it gave in-depth explanation of the main barriers of technology implementation. The results suggested that the main constraint in implementing technologies are lack of technical specialists and financial, aid commitment from top management, low wage rate, and future demand uncertainties

Control of daylight and artefacts display and placement in historic museum galleries / Noraini Ahmad

Daylighting in historic museum galleries is not an easy criterion to manage as natural light fluctuates according to the sky conditions; hence the need for strategic daylight control programme becomes evident. Currently, there is limited information on daylight performance for conservation of artefacts in daylit historic museums in Malaysia. This thesis aims to evaluate daylight performance for artefact conservation through passive design and control strategies in historic museums under the tropical sky conditions. This research focuses on evaluating the existing illuminance levels, UV levels, daylight factor, light-fastness survey and visitors’ perception on the exhibits’ conditions and their visual responses on the daylighting conditions

Studies on the Relative Merits of Popular Commercial Orchid Hybrids and Their Clonal Derivatives

Two orchid hybrids, Aranda Chris tine and Aranda Kooi Choo with seven clone seach, were studied with respect to the variations of morphological characters of their flowers prays. The shelf life of cut flowers and production of flowers were also investi gated. Highly significant differences occurred between clones of Aranda Christine. The length of spray was positively correlated with the length of scape, length of rachis, flower internodes and the average horizontal measurements. Clone numbers 80 and 130 had long. sprays while clone number 05 had the shortest. Clone swith long scapes tended to have long rachis and long flower internodes. Thelong rachis normally had larger flowers resulting in a negative correlation with the shelf life. The highest producer was clone number I but analysis did not show superior result sin all the parameters observed. The clones of Aranda Kooi Choo showed highly significant differences between them. The long sprays tended to have long rachis and larger flowers. Thus the flowers prays of Aranda Kooi Choo were stiff and strong. Clones with large f lowers were clone" numbers 2, 4 and 5 with clone number 2 also having the widest diameter of scape. Clone number 3 had the smallest flowers. Length of flower inter node and shelf life were not correlated to any o f the parameters studied. Clone number I has the longest shelf life but the re were no significant difference among other clones. Clone numbers 3 and 7 were high producing with clone number 2 as the lowest producer

The Lived Experiences of Mentoring Nurses in Malaysia

Background: Being a nursing mentor is not an entirely new concept in nursing. However, it is a new phenomenon in the nursing profession in Malaysia. The nursing administration and the senior nurses in Malaysia have claimed that they have started a mentorship program by having senior nurses shadow new graduate nurses for the past two to three years ago. With no study found in Malaysia investigating the lived experiences of mentors mentoring new registered nurses, it led the researcher to develop this research that explores the real life experiences of these senior Malaysian nurses who mentor neophyte nurses.Objectives: This research explores and describes the lived experiences of nurses mentoring neophyte or new registered nurses at one of the major hospital in the Malaysia Borneo and how such experiences influence their daily routine as a nurse and also as a mentor. The research will also attaches meaning to these experiences and identifies both positive and negative experiences as a mentor to neophyte.Methods: The experiences of nurses mentoring the neophyte in the clinical area were captured using a qualitative approach to research and further viewed through methods informed by phenomenology, which used interpretive and descriptive semi-structured interviews. Hermeneutic interpretive phenomenology was used in the focus to analyze interview transcript into textual expression of the mentors. Three main themes emerge from this study are being unprepared and challenged, perceptions of mentees, mentor hope and desire

Network flow programming (NFP) model for syariah-compliant transfer of islamic inheritances / Noraini Noordin

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Teknik pengucapan awam yang membantu pembentangan pelajar

Pembentangan di institut pengajian tinggi merupakan satu kepeduan pada masa kini. Dalam proses ini, pelajar perlu mengaplikasikan teknik-teknik tertentu agar pembentangan mereka menjadi Iebih berkesan. Tujuan kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengenalpasti faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan pembentangan - seseorang pelajar tidak berkesan dan seterusnya untuk menghasilkan teknik v pembentangan yang baik. Proses kajian ini melalui dua peringkat iaitu peringkat keperluan kepada produk dan peringkat peniIaian produk. Bagi peringkat kajian keperluan kepada produk, sebanyak 54 orang atau 35.2% daripada pelajar SaIjana PTV KUiTTHO kemasukan Mei 2001 terlibat sebagai responden. Dapatan kajian ini menunjukkan kebanyakan responden tidak tahu mengendalikan pembentangan dengan baik. Didapati sebanyak 77.8% daripada responden memerlukan bimbingan bagi melaksanakan pembentangan. Peratusan yang tinggi ini menunjukkan CD "Teknik Pembentangan Bagi Pelajar" perlu dihasilkall- Peringkat kedua kajian ini adalah berkenaan dengan penilaian produk (CD) tersebut. Seramai 10 orang pensyarah dari JPTV KUiTTHO telah dipilih bagi menilai produk ini. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa CD "Teknik Pembentangan Bagi Pelajar" boleh membantu pelajar dalam mengendalikan pembentangan

Penentu kepimpinan berorientasikan pekerja dantugas terhadap kejayaan projek di kalangan kontraktor binaan di kuantan pahang

The construction industry is one of the most important sectors that contribute to the economy and a catalyst for other industries.However in recent years,there are several construction projects not being completed on time, scope and within budget due to several factors.Based on previous studies,this problem arises due to the weakness of human factors,especially from the aspect of ineffective leadership and weak leadership practiced by project managers and contractors in managing the project team. Many researchers have made a study and focuses on the importance of leadership as a key to the success of the project. Accordingly,this study is to identify the leadership characteristics that influence the success of the project. The objective of this study also to examine the influence and the relationship between employee-oriented and taskoriented leadership to the success of the project among contractors in the construction industry.The study also describes the leadership characteristics that influence the success of the project based on the contractor’s demographic background.The sample of this study were involved contractors class A, B, C, D, E and F,which involved in construction projects in the district of Kuantan Pahang. The sampling method using stratified random sampling.The sample size was about 278 contractors selected from the 993 contractors registered with the Contractors Service Centre (PKK) in Pahang.Data collection is of primary data obtained through questionnaire.This study answered the five main questions using factor analysis,one sample t-test,Pearson correlation analysis,one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis.The results of this study has shown that the overall level of the characteristics of employeeoriented and task-oriented leadership among contractors in Kuantan, Pahang is high in terms of providing services,develop employees, sharing power and decision making,visionary,leading and project team building.The results of Pearson correlation analysis proved that employee-oriented and task-oriented leadership was positively correlated with the success of a project in which the characteristics of visionary leadership has the highest correlation relationship to the success of the project, followed by project team building,leading,develop employees, providing services and finally is sharing power and decision making.Meanwhile,one-way analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences based on the four demographic factors of age,education level,experience and leadership training to the success of the project.These factors significantly influence the success of the project. Results of multiple regression analysis produced a model that can predict the success of the project based on the characteristics of employee-oriented and task-oriented leadership.The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the characteristics of visionary leadership is the most significant variable in determining the success of the project,followed by team building.In conclusion,this study developed a model framework results from this analysis indicates that project success is significantly influenced by the characteristics of the task-oriented leadership in terms of visionary and team building.Regression equation obtained for a model is a Successful Project = 2.160 + 0.360 (Visionary)+0.318(Project Team Building)