Cambridge UK- Practical Action Research- International Conference

Tenth Annual International Conference: Practical Action Research on Learning to be Reflective. SHBIE.UBD. May 2005.Brunai By Assoc.Prof. Dr.Hanipah Hussin. Deputy Dean Academic of CAS, KUTKM. Malaysia.

Among Engineering Lecturers

in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, (UTeM). By

Asst. Prof. Dr. Hanipah Hussin Deputy Dean Academic,

Center for Academic Services Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, (UTeM)

Jalan Hang Tuah Jaya. Ayer Keroh. 75450.Melaka

Abstract

This paper reflects a research done on a cohort of engineering lecturer (46) with the

aims of emergent the effectiveness of educational practice. Part one describes that university

challenge brings engineering lecturers and students together in a joint effort to promote the

integration of professional practice of their specialization (Electric Engineering, Electrical

Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Manufacture Engineering)

and to apply their knowledge to solve industrial related need.

Part two pealed the practical action research design methodology and the reflective

model used. It explored the notion of reflective practice and practical action research and it

impact to the innovative and creative teaching and strategies in respective engineering

faculty. Part tree discussed how the data was gathered and how content analysis procedure

used for data analysis. Research finding, is in part four; it explained the introductory and

advanced coaching during the cycle of practical action research. The challenges faced by the

practitioner of practical action research were discussed on depth.

All reflective journals of the 46 lecturers were analyzed and eight teaching knowledge

bases were identified through content analysis. Part five explained the most important

teaching knowledge base reflected by lecturers was self-knowledge as lecturer, knowledge of

learners and knowledge of context of industries.

The role of peers, university supervisors, and industries supervisors in creating

collaborative emergent the effectiveness of educational practice is discussed widely. Part six

concluded that this study affirmed that practical action research and reflective practice could

be embarking in every faculty at KUTKM as an appropriate means to enhance professional

development among lecturers.


Instructional Practices and Reflective Writing Among Engineering Lecturers

in Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia. By

Asst. Prof. Dr. Hanipah Hussin Deputy Dean Academic,

Center for Academic Services Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia

Taman Tasik Utama, .Ayer Keroh. 75460.Melaka. Malaysia

1.0 Introduction

Drawing on my experience as pedagogies practitioner since 1984, I argue that

reflective practice and action research emerged or spread as an aspect of the universities

lecturers based curriculum reforms in the integrated education system in Malaysia. In doing

so, I attempt to counter the contemporary approach that lecturers-as-researchers movement

was initiated by academics in the higher-education sector. This article show how the idea of

reflective practice and practical action research was explicitly brought by professor and their

cohort engineering lecturer in Kolej University Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM)

that was volunteer to create and improve from the conventional system of teaching and

learning to initiated curriculum reforms based on their subject matter. According to Foshay

(1998:110) and Hanipah , (2004:51) during the process of reflective practice and practical

action research, the professor and new lecturers learn together to establish a systematic,

orderly procedure for exploring problems and finding possible actions to eliminate problems

or at least to make them more manageable in nature of student and the university.

The effective development of reflective lecturer or tutor is largely dependent

on the behavior of professor in the faculty and for that reason professional development of

professor is very important. Thus, it is encouraging to note that in KUTKM, Centre for

Teaching and Learning (CTL) work and innovation of the Staff Development Programs in

five faculties, teamwork was very much appreciated. Therefore, other than team coaching

and team supervision that is presently in practice, there should be more prerequisite to enable

professor to work together in pairs or in small teams during supervisory. This arrangement is

not only to facilitate peer observations and to allow professor and new lecturer to practice

content pedagogical knowledge skills but also to accord them opportunities to discuss with

reference to content per-se and share their observations reflectively.


Statement of The Problem in Instructional Practices and Reflective Writing

Many engineering programs throughout the country are seeking ways to improve

undergraduate education. Moving toward output-based education and student-centered

learning, strengthening the focus on communications abilities, and examining innovative

ways to increase student commitment to engineering education are all significant components

of undergraduate engineering education reform. In keeping with our goal of increasing

opportunities for student-directed learning experiences, CTL with some experienced

Professors and senior lecturers piloted a spiral courses to embark Instructional Practices

among Faculties lecturers.

1. Sesi Penerangan Bersiri Mengenai Konsep Pendidikan Teknikal Berorientasikan

Aplikasi dan Amalan Dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran,

2. Kursus Asas Methodologi Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran untuk Pensyarah FKEKK

dan FKE,

3. Kursus Asas Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran untuk Pensyarah and

4. Bengkel Untuk Pensyarah Pembimbing KUTKM

Every course was developed to help new lecturer to:

1. Develop their abilities to conduct and present pedagogical content knowledge

and general pedagogy in engineering education, to

2. Identify and articulate problems, and to critically reflect on their own work

and that of others.

3. Write some feedback and self-assessment in a reflective way.

4. Pondering the problem-based learning technique during learning to be a

reflective lecturer

All of these skills are critical ones for engineering lecturers, and they make up the

essential core of skills that fall under the often vague heading of "communications." The 46

lecturers who registered for the course were able to learn how and why engineers

communicate in the context of a truly learner-centered class. Participants chose to reflect a

broad range of topics in engineering curriculum and how their instructional practices took

over.

The reflective writing activities took about 45 minutes and it was set up to provide

lecturers with specific reflective writing format, in order to help them understand writing as

an aid to pedagogical reasoning, not as an activity that takes place after the "real work" has


been completed. By including communications tasks such as identifying and articulating

problems, the format of reflective writing encouraged lecturers to develop the abilities to

understand the scope of a pedagogical problem and to write problem statements. Such skills

are critical to the success of lecturers, not only as they participate in teaching supervision

later in their engineering curriculums, but also as they learn to think about themselves as

problem solvers, and as they begin to understand that defining the full scope of any problem

require broad-mindedness and the ability to see the interconnectedness of many issues in

engineering.

Reflective practices and practical action research in the classroom is one of the tool that has

been chosen as an engine to move the educational approach in to practice in every faculty

through practical action research design. Lecturers have to learn new skills during teaching

that we know as reflective writing. To persuaded that ‘learning to be reflective’ has been in

line with application orientation during teaching CTL develop a serial design. The serial

design included two cycles in order to answer the process of practicing the reflective writing

and to take an action to innovate new teaching and learning techniques and professional

development among new lecturers. The introduction of learning to be reflective started with

contemporary issues and these issues are complimentary with Malaysian Conceptual Model

of Education.

The central points are Teaching Knowledge Base (Shulman:1987). In this matter, the

researcher uses reflective as the effective tool to create the awareness in beginner lecturers of

a lecturer’s role and their accountability toward organization and Allah/God. This is clearly

the main root towards building lecturers professionalism in Malaysian ways of philosophic.

ALLAH/GOD

SELF AS LECTURE SOCIETY

Knowledge Skills Attitudes


Why reflective practice and practical action research is needed in KUTKM?

i. To increase lecturers competence in pedagogical reasoning.

ii. To increase the awareness of giving a meaning to classroom experience.

iii. To produce lecturers that are able to think and take action without being ask to do so in

increasing their professionalism.

iv. To produce lecturers that are innovative and proactive in order to increase the skill of

assessing their strength and weakness as a lecturer.

v. To analyze the teaching and learning problems of lecturers through their writings in

the reflective journals.

vi. To identify the trust and values of lecturers towards their colleagues, supervisor and

professor that influences their pedagogical way of thinking.

The study focuses on the content of reflective writing in helping lecturers to develop their

pedagogical reasoning in classroom during field experiences. At last this study brings

forward these research questions clearly:

Research Questions

1. What is the pedagogical reasoning of lecturers toward their respective engineering field?

2. Does the reflective format facilitate lecturers to think reflectively in instructional

practice?

3. What do lecturers report about the influence of the university community (colleagues,

mentors and professor) in developing pedagogical reasoning.

3 Method and Procedure Research in Action

The research design that is used by the researcher is Practical Action Research Design as in

Table 1

Table 1: Practical Action Research Design

Type of Action Research

Aim Head Researcher/Professor

Roles

The Relationship between facilitator

and subjects Practical Action Research in classroom

Formatted the reflective writing to help lecturer reflect effectively. The effectiveness of reflective practice in developing professionalism

Co-researcher / Principles Researcher coaching and scaffolds and encouraging self reflection

Co-operation (Consultation) Coach Scaffold

Source: Zuber-Skerrit,Ortrun (2001:1) and Hanipah (2004:50)


Few Limitations

Although the study included some faculty but then, this research has a few limitations in

these areas:

1. It was a 46-acceptance journal, which was, involves one professor (researcher) and 46

lecturers that share the clinical supervision

2. Based on the small number of participant the research findings can only show the

processes of reflective practice are done in that faculty and their nature.

An interesting point that the researcher wants to highlight is the researcher has choose

content pedagogy and general pedagogy based on cohort study, that is those that are directly

under the researcher’s supervision. The good point about this is coaching and scaffolding can

be done directly to the participant during field experience in all spirals planed by the

researcher, Hanipah 2004:51.

‘Although Hanipah rightly pointed out that her finding of her study are not intended to be broad-spectrum, after reading her thesis, I suspect that there may be many commonalties in the difficulties experienced by lecturer and professor in the Malaysian context, and those experienced by many Australian lecturer and professor. These commonalties suggest that they may be considerable potential for cross-cultural differences between the two contexts. I found the study valuable in that it alerted me to this possibility. An additional strength of the study, in my view, is that it very clearly demonstrates the usefulness of practical action research in addressing the ongoing challenges in developing professional lecturers in university.

(Dr.Jennifer Sumsion, Lecturer in Faculty of Education, Macquarie University, Australia,)

3.2 Method and Practical Action Research Procedures

Qualitative approach used in this research. case study has been used. Practical Action

Research Model and Reflective Model has been used as a technique to gather data. Action

research model that is used has two cycles (reflex 2 phases) where every cycle has fives

smaller spiral (reflex 5 faculties). The reflective process that is used moves two cycles and

smaller spiral simultaneously. This technique is called second order action research where

the researcher or professor and supervisor subject matter co-operate in coaching and

scaffolding, exchange data, reflective and re-plan teaching and learning to improve the

current practice.

Diagram 1 : Reflective Practice on Practical Action Research

Advance Coaching

1

2

5

1 2

3


The triangulation process is repeated until the 5th spiral in the practical action research model,

(see Diagram 1 above)

3.3 Triangulation technique

Triangulation technique has been used to make sure the data is valid. There are 6 ways that

has been used by the researcher to gather data that is.

1. Lecturer’s weekly journal.

2. Transcript from audio tape of semi-structured interview

3. Researcher’s weekly reflective journal

4. Feedback forms of clinical supervision from supervisor/professor

The triangulation process that is done by the researcher can be illustrated as Diagram 2. As

summary of the techniques used by the researcher for data gathering is that 4 techniques has

been used. The console on the validity of the data using the triangulation technique shows the

maturity of the researcher. The continuous analyses of data is planned from one spiral to the

other thus the data is vital and generative. This means the data from one spiral stimulate data

in the next spiral.

Diagram 2 : Triangulation process by the researcher

14 weeks length

Reflective by trainees Reflective by researcher

Feedback from professor, peers and supervisor

Planning

Teaching

Reflective

Cycle 1 shown researcher’s spiral in introductory coaching.

Cycle 2 shown researcher’s spiral in advance coaching

Introductory coaching Action Research


3.4 Data Analysis Data analysis in this study followed the Strauss and Corbin (1990) procedures called

Reflection on Data Analysis in Practical Action Research. Researcher used the participants

data entry or data collection (for example interview, journal, observational forms) and

followed

4. Findings of the Research

The findings of this research, the thinking pattern of the trainees can be detected by reflective

practice in the classroom can be shown as below:

Table 3: Subject’s Thinking Pattern Based On Reflective Practice In The Classroom

Category Sub category Property

1. Self knowledge

as a lecturer

Look at the self aspect as a lecturer

Self trust and values

Aims and commitment

Balance between work requirement and personal needs

152

56

48

4

2. Knowledge of

students

Student’s behavior

Handling student’s behavior

Motivating student to study

The student’s intellectual level and study style

Likes / dislikes of the student

Interaction of the student

65

24

25

20

13

1

3. Knowledge of

education

School

School’s community

Personal matters of the lecturer

Lecturer

Community

49

32

10

6

2

4. Knowledge of

general pedagogy

Structuring activities

Techniques in teaching

Teaching aids

Time control of activities

Controlling classroom

Lesson plan

18

17

15

6

2

4

5. Knowledge of

pedagogy’s

content

Choosing of assignments

Examples of pictures / resources

16

4

6. Knowledge of

the curriculum

Evaluation

Objective

11

6

Feedback


School’s curriculum

National curriculum

3

1

7. Knowledge of

vision/ mission

of education

Aims of education

Malaysia Educational Philosophy

8

2

8. Knowledge of

content

Concept in subject 10

5 The Implication of the Study

5.1 Researcher Reflects on Their Experienced?

‘ I learned, as a pedagogies professor, theories can be explicitly practices, and that theorizing

consisted of articulating those ‘tacit theories’ and subjecting them to critique in free and

open professional discourse. I also learned that high-quality professional discourse depends

upon the willingness of everyone involved to tolerate a diversity of views and practices.’

(Hanipah:2005)

5.2 Peer Acknowledgement?

As a summary, the researcher as truly made the effort to produce a quality thesis that can

drive the reader and future researchers in Malaysia to do further research. This means the

basis of reflective practice and action research should be used as a method of educational

and human resources future research ’.

(Mr.Hamdan Abdul Kadir, Lecturer in Faculty of Human Resources Development, Universiti

Technologi Malaysia)

5.3 What Are the External Practitioner Report on The Study?

…‘This study makes a welcome contribution to the research literature about reflective

practice in lecturer education by moving beyond the Western focus of much of the existing

literature. As a Western reader, I found the Malaysian context of this study most interesting,

and in my opinion, this focus gives a number of strengths.

This document provides Western readers with insights into Islamic beliefs and their

relevance to the professional preparation of Malaysian lecturer. More specifically, it

highlights how religious beliefs can be instrumental in fostering a commitment to reflection.

The role of religion, and spiritual aspects of reflection in general, are rarely mentioned in

the contemporary Western literature about reflection, so the thesis makes a particularly

worthwhile contribution in this respect’…

…‘I also found the discussion of issues and implications arising from the study very

thorough and perceptive. In my view, this chapter demonstrated Hanipah’s ability to critique


socio-cultural and political influences impacting on the Malaysian lecturer education

context, and to engage, herself, in critical reflection’…

(Dr.Jennifer Sumsion, Lecturer in Faculty of Education, Macquarie University, New South

Wales, Australia,)

5.3.2 Senior Professor Perspective

…‘A very good report in which she has incorporate a long list of up to date relevant

references. In Malaysia, there has not been that many research projects on action research

and reflective teaching. Although reflective teaching is a familiar concept to most has been

done to promote it seriously. Similarly, clinical supervision became popular especially in

lecturer training colleges of Education Ministry in the 80’s. Hanipah’s study should be able

to revive the interest of Malaysian educators in those two areas, which if taken seriously,

may be able to contribute to effective teaching. All educational systems need more reflective

practicing lecturers. The report is well written and presented. Reseach questing were stated

clearly and all have been answered generally in quite a comprehensive, organized and well-

structured manner. The research methodology was also quite appropriately chosen for the

kind of study she had undertaken. She also took measures to control the reliability and

validity of instruments used in her study. The theoretical framework and model on which her

study is based is clearly explained and rationalized. The title of the study describes the work

done accurately’…

(Prof. Dr.Zaiton Sidin, Dekan Fakulti Pendidikan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)

6. Conclusion

The researcher has discuss this study in two main parts that is:

1. How the researcher does action research and the changes that is faced.

2. Discussion on ‘Knowing How’ and Application on Research Methodology in work place.

Some difficulty in every spiral had discussed analytically. Grounded Theory and inquiry

method had shown clearly. All data used by the researcher and participants to develop new

data in their new cycle of action research. The processes carried for four and the half-month.

A few obstacle has been identified like getting the co-operation from 2 out of 46 participants

to write reflectively and getting the co-operation from the university community to plan

reflective thinking is reported hard to supervise. Nevertheless the main matter that was

discussing in the thinking pattern is the self-knowledge of being a reflective lecturer where

by new lecturers does have more of this. They are also reported to emphasize values and self-

trust, aims and commitment in the subject matter. The researcher has made description about


the thinking pattern. The second matter that was discussed by the lecturers is their knowledge

about their students. The research has made detail comparison of each sub category. Thus,

the terms ‘reflective thinking’, ‘reflection’ and ‘reflective practice’ are used interchangeably

throughout this study to refer to the process lecturers employed as they reviewed,

reconstructed, and critically analyzed issues of concern that arose from their field experience.

The process is defined as active and critical. Careful consideration is given to knowledge,

beliefs, values, feelings and interesting events in light of the grounds, which support them,

and in light of their consequences. In summary, the problems that prompted this study

include the background of contemporary issues in the professional development of lecturers

in Malaysia and the need to explore of how reflection can be facilitated in early profession.

Bibliografi

Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for education change. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Foshay,A. (1998). Action research in the nineties. Journal of The Education Forum,

62,108-112.

Hanipah Hussin. (2004). Learning to be reflective: From theory to practices

Malaysia experiences. Penerbit Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. Tanjong Malim.

Kim, Paik Lah. (1994). Developing field inquiry models: A multidimensional approach.

An unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Sydney.

Kemmis, S, and Mc Taggart, R. (1981). The action research planner. Victoria: Deakin

University.

Shulman, L.(1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard

Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.

Strauss,A and Corbin, J (1990). Basic of qualitative research: Grounded theory.procedures

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Cambridge UK- Practical Action Research- International Conference

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