Creativity is not just a favourable trait to embrace but an essential in the development of every field. The articles in this book showcase creativity in developing education. To this end, three aspects of creativity make up the book: its use in pedagogy, its enablers and its measurement. The articles are written by a number of experts, bringing forth compelling topics such as the flipped classroom, Kahoot!, and using sports and Hollywood films to foster creative thinking. Case studies featured exhibit the practical ways in which the concepts introduced may be applied. This publication provides invaluable insight and guidance to readers in designing strategies that will help unleash maximum creativity at their learning institutions.
As the higher education landscape is ever evolving, sustainability continues to be an essential concern. This publication covers existing sustainability matters ranging from internationalisation and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to university social responsibility. The main contribution of this book is to reveal the efforts and issues of internationalisation of higher education for sustainable tomorrow from global perspectives. Since the institutions educate current and future decision makers, the play a key role in building more sustainable entities and creating new paradigms. The articles are written by a number of experts with various backgrounds in higher education that give global perspective on the issues of sustainability. Specific country studies give a timely review on the substantial growth of higher education institutions in certain parts of the world. This publication provides invaluable knowledge and skills to guide the reader in designing appropriate frameworks in critical problem solving of current higher education issues.
This book presents an exceptional collection of 11 articles on contemporary research studies that address current and critical issues of researches, theories and practices in the fields of mathematics education at various levels from primary to tertiary education. In addition, the book covers various innovative research studies from both local and abroad such as cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) and assessment for learning (AfL), teaching and learning of mathematics using the dynamic geometry software (DGS), action-process-object-schema (APOS) theory and relationship mapping and inverse (RMI) principle, as well as mathematics lesson structure (MLS) and collaborative lesson research (CLR). The contents of this book should be of interest to both national and international researchers and scholars, particularly mathematics educators, mathematics education researchers, teacher trainers, university students, teachers, curriculum planners, as well as policymakers.
Psychological assessments are used in the field of education to find answers for the questions raise concerning the student’s intellectual, academic, social and emotional functioning. The collection, integration, and interpretation of all information and data gathered from the assessment will enable better understanding of the student’s characteristics and capacities. More effective interventions, recommendations and referrals can then be implemented. This book offers researchers and practitioners insights on assessment concepts and practices that are in line with the demand of education in the 21st century. As the new horizon unfolded, there is a paradigm shift in assessment; moving from macro to micro level of learning, from accountability of school to supporting teaching and learning, from summative to formative and diagnostics, from assessing achievement of individuals to catering of learning needs of diverse learners. The new horizon of assessment serves as catalysis for more effective psychological assessment in educational research and practice.
The monograph ‘Sustaining APEX: Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Mission to Transform Higher Education’ seeks to expand on and elaborate themes found in the previous two monographs in our Intellectual Discourse Series. In this monograph, we also take a deeper look at the problems of values and national development as well as issues of legitimacy and the efficacy of change and transformation in conditions of complex globalization. This monograph seeks to engage the difficult issues around science and technology and values, the social legitimacy of reform, and addresses the issues of newness, reputation, ranking and the problems of leadership. In doing this, we hope to tease out more of the implications of USM’s reform agenda and locate discussions of it within a broader discourse of globalization and its vicissitudes. The essential argument made in this monograph is that USM’s transformation agenda is a direct challenge to contemporary neo-liberal project for higher education. USM’s agenda entails a fuller idea and engagement with the educational and ethical mission of the university. Ecological sustainability, scientific and technological advancement as well as the sustainability of Malaysian culture, values, and sense of social justice is central to the mission of USM. Seeking to advance these in the current conditions of globalization and ensuring continued legitimacy for this project within such an environment is the challenge ahead. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
Developments in Higher Education: National Strategies and Global Perspectivesbrings together a collection of meticulously researched articles, providing insights into the changing nature of higher education through internationalisation and its consequent impact on the futures of higher education. These articles are intended for academics, policymakers and researchers in higher education to enhance their understanding, leading ultimately to sustainable human capital development. The book seeks to present a comprehensive discussion on internationalisation as a variable in higher education, and hence, derive alternative futures of higher education systems. It also suggests a different perspective regarding the appraisal of higher learning institutions and the subsequent influence on policy recommendations. Many of these important aspects are gathered together under topics such as “Internationalising Higher Education: A Malaysian Perspective”, “Rankings and Policy Contradictions: Is It Time to Move Beyond Rankings?” and “Campuses 2060: Four Futures of Higher Education in Four Alternative Futures of Society”. This book is recommended to anyone seeking to further enhance their knowledge in higher education, especially in regards to policymaking.
In building sufficient, efficient human resources, massification of higher education is a common phenomenon. It is to this end that sustainability and inclusiveness have become such critical issues in higher education and its literature. This book looks into the major question of financial sustainability for the higher education institution, revealing the university’s struggles in the face of limited public funds. Coping strategies and feasible alternatives are extensively examined. The authors also tackle the area of higher education systems and collaboration in ensuring sustainability. Here, matters such as the public-private equilibrium, sustainable alumni networks, and research and publication competitiveness are deliberated. One distinguishing feature of this publication, however, is its discourse on higher education access, giving unique insight into the plight of certain underrepresented groups in higher education. The writers champion inclusiveness by analysing and recommending the best practices in bolstering these marginalised factions towards academic success. Readers will certainly gain a more profound understanding of sustainable and inclusive higher education. Keywords: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malayia, Penerbit USM
This book of essays is a sequel to the ‘International Conference on Decolonising Our Universities’ held in Penang, Malaysia from June 27 to 29, 2011. The Conference was jointly organised by the Universiti Sains Malaysia and Citizens International in cooperation with the Higher Education Leadership Academy of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education. At the Conference, speaker after speaker pointed out that education in Asia and Africa is too Westcentric. It blindly apes European universities, European curricula and European paradigms. The papers in this volume examine possible ways of overcoming this problem of intellectual enslavement in Asian and African citadels of learning. It must be pointed out at the very outset that this book is not meant to be a tirade against the West. Its aim is not to ask Asian and African universities to shut out Europe and North America or to be insular or to wear blinds. Its aim is positive – to make Asian and African tertiary education truly global and at the same time socially relevant. This cannot be done unless the intellectual monopoly of the West is broken and European knowledge is made to make way for the review, teaching and expansion of the vast knowledge of other societies and cultures. European knowledge may supplement, but never replace, other valid knowledge systems and traditions. The book is divided into eight parts. Part I creates the setting, provides an overview of the state of our universities, reflects on decolonisation of our intellectual heritage and explains how colonial education was used to assault our cultures. Part II contains a wish-list of the decolonised university. There are essays on the philosophical basis of an African university and about how the sacred and the secular can be integrated and how the community can be brought back into the university. Part III critically examines the promise and performance of UNESCO in decolonisation of Asian and African institutions of higher learning. Part IV discusses eurocentrism in social sciences, in mathematics and in science curricula. Part V highlights the state of social sciences and the law today and provides an alternative discourse in social theory, history, psychotherapy, psychology, law and language education. Part VI discusses regional decolonising initiatives in the Philippines, Taiwan, Turkey and Iran. Part VII provides insights into some experiments in transforming academic pedagogy. Finally, Part VIII contains some personal journeys in decolonisation of the self. This book of essays is meant to coincide with Malaysia’s Independence Day on August 31, 1957. The hope is that the timing will underline the point that the stains of cultural and intellectual imperialism do not end with the attainment of political freedom. Freedom is a state of the mind and, regrettably, throughout Asia and Africa, the enslavement of the mind has continued long after the coloniser has gone back home. This humiliating state of affairs must end, not only to give meaning to political independence but also to improve the quality of our education by giving to our students a better panorama of world knowledge and thereby to increase their choices. Decolonisation of our universities is not an exercise in flag-waving nationalism. Its aim is ameliorative. Diversity and pluralism of knowledge systems are vital for meeting many of the moral, social and economic challenges of the times and for avoiding the frightening economic, educational and cultural consequences of Europe’s near-total intellectual and educational monopoly over Asia, Africa and Latin America. For example, Western models of development have proved to be a nightmare and have not served Asia and Africa well. Economic theories from the West have brought the whole world to the brink of an environmental catastrophe. Asian universities should offer a critique of the ethnocentrism of Western scholarship by pointing out that a middle class Western lifestyle and what that entails in terms of the nuclear family, the consumer society, living in suburbia and extensive private space may neither be workable nor desirable on a fragile planet. The humiliating story of intellectual enslavement in each field and in each region is best told in the words of the authors. What must be noted is the ways in which this subservience manifests itself. Our university courses reflect the false belief that Western knowledge is the sum total of all human knowledge. The books prescribed and the icons and godfathers of knowledge are overwhelmingly from the North Atlantic countries. Titles written by scholars and thinkers from Asia and Africa are rarely included in the book list. This may indicate a pervasive inferiority complex or ignorance of the contribution of the East to world civilisation. Any evaluation of right and wrong, of justice and fairness, of poverty and development, and of what is wholesome and worthy of celebration tends to be based on Western perceptions. Eastern ideas and institutions are viewed through Western prisms and invariably regarded as primitive and in need of change. Despite decades of political independence, the framework assumptions of our law, politics, economics, education, history, science, art and culture remain dictated by our former colonial masters. Our concept of the good life and our views on human rights have very tenuous links to our indigenous traditions. Our cultural values, domestic relations, music, food and dressing – indeed our whole Weltanschauung is constructed on a Western edifice of knowledge. Our concept of beauty has been socially constructed by Hollywood media. In our professions, most of the icons we look up to are Western. In our universities, the syllabi we draft, the books we prescribe, the theories we blindly ape, the new abodes of the sacred we worship have very little connection with our own intellectual and moral heritage. It is fashionable in Asian universities to import expatriate lecturers, external examiners and guest speakers exclusively from North Atlantic countries. Asian scholars are generally not regarded as fit for such recognition. The underlying assumption is that Asians and Africans matter little and in all aspects of existence we need civilisational guidance from the overlords of humankind in Europe and America. How did we fall into such depths of enslavement and reverse racism? An essay in the volume points out that the colonisers conquered our mind by dismissing and deriding our cultures, alienating us from our roots and putting us in awe of the culture of the masters. They used the colonial education system for the production of a competent but submissive class. They replaced local languages with the English language extinguishing along with local languages, the cultural and moral nuances and perspectives that surround a language. The colonisers falsified and obliterated historical records of intellectual achievements by Asian and African scholars and inventors. They borrowed extensively from the East but shamelessly failed to acknowledge that debt. In many cases they Latinised Eastern names to make them sound European. The world does not know that during the European Dark Ages, scintillating educational developments were taking place in Asia and Africa. While Europe slept, China, India, Persia and Egypt practised science, invented algebra, furthered mathematics, metallurgy, law and logic. They conducted complex medical operations, invented rockets, wrote treatises in philosophy, sociology and astronomy. A more recent form of Western hegemony is the yearly university ranking lists. Western education, Western science and Western achievements are subjected to evaluation on criteria that are rigged in their favour. A host of Western consultants and experts unabashedly glorify American and European achievements and certify and celebrate the unique quality of their education system. A recent claim was made that American society symbolised ‘the end of history’ implying thereby that no further human progress was necessary anywhere else. The book’s ultimate aim is to discover what needs to be done to liberate our minds and our souls; to end this academic colonialism; to restore our dignity and independence. We must shed the slavish mentality of blindly aping Western paradigms. We must stop sucking up to the Western academic system. We need to send Columbus packing back home. Not only the Columbus outside but also the Columbus within. We need to rediscover the suppressed knowledge of our civilisations and to reconnect with our rich heritage. We must embark on a voyage of discovery of our ancestors’ intellectual wanderings and rediscover the wonders and heritage of China, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and other Eastern and African civilisations. We must combat the many fabrications and plagiarisms of Western ‘innovators’ and we must give credit where credit is due to those in Asia and Africa who pioneered the ideas. It must be clarified that it is not part of our agenda to ask European and American universities to include the treasures of the East in their syllabi. Whether their world-views should be enriched by the insights and reflections of the East, or whether they should remain insular and wear blinds, is their own problem. Further, it is not our aim to shut out the West but to end blind and exclusive reliance on it. We need to root our education in our own soil; to tap our own intellectual resources first and to make our education relevant to our societal conditions. No amount of imported academics or theories can do this, only us. We are aware that our endeavour will be mocked by many in the West. We will also be opposed by many elites in the East who believe that ‘West is best’ and whose capitulation to Europe perpetuates Western intellectual hegemony. Such opposition to the basic thesis of this book will only serve to confirm the phenomenon of ‘legitimation and false consciousness’ whereby the oppressed are so brainwashed that they cooperate with their oppressors. ‘It is the final triumph of a system of domination when the dominated start singing its virtues.’ In preparing this volume, we received invaluable help from many individuals and institutions. Universiti Sains Malaysia and Citizens International provided the funds for publication. Ayesha Bilimoria helped with the editing of the bulk of the pieces. Jenessey Dias performed brisk transcription of the presentations from the DVDs. Shafeeq, Sameera and Noor Aini Masri gave secretarial assistance. Professor Dato’ Dr. Md Salleh Yaapar and his team from the USM Press did everything else with great courtesy, speed and professionalism. Citizens International’s S.M. Mohamed Idris and Uma Ramaswamy assisted with the printing. To all of them we owe a debt of gratitude. We hope that this book will highlight what is on any measure a shameful condition and that it will inspire at least some Asian educators to think afresh, to chart new directions, to search for the best in their indigenous traditions, yet to keep the windows of their mind open to the world.
In order to sustain quality in education, students' and teachers' skills and competencies must be continuously enhanced. We cannot be complacent with the skills and competencies that we currently possess. Not only must we seek to enhance them, we must also learn to use them in new situations. We may even need new skills and competencies to keep up with new developments, technologies and challenges. This book is a compilation of selected papers presented at the National Conference of Skills and Competencies in Education 2008. Generally these papers may be divided into two groups: English language skills and competencies and instructional strategies in developing students' skills and competencies. The book features in-depth discourses by various academic members on issues, challenges and new trends pertaining to skills and competencies learnt, gained and taught in today's education. It is hoped that the publication of this book will boost interest and promote further studies among educators and researchers in the development of skills and competencies in education. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
This book of 136 short essays distills some of the most lucid writings of well-known, emeritus law professor, Shad Saleem Faruqi, who was from 2008–2012 attached to USM as a Visiting Professor. From mundane topics like “Tips for Interviewees” to such contentious and sensitive issues as ethnic relations, Islam and the Constitution, and electoral democracy, the book gives us a simple, warm and sympathetic commentary on some of the burning issues of our times. There are simple but searching essays on good governance, local government, law reform, universities and the law, and legal education. The reflections of the East and the perceptions of the West on human rights are discussed eloquently. The international law on war and peace is viewed in the context of our troubled world. Difficult issues are made simple and simple issues are made rich. All essays are guided by reason and driven by passion. The work is animated by a spirit of moderation, compassion and erudition.
