Malaysian Education And Malaysian Science Curriculum

Malayan preparation And Malayan cognition CurriculumCHAPTER 55.0 macrocosmThis chapter pull up stakes mainly discuss the generic aspects in Malaysian command dust and get out give more focus on Malaysian training course of instruction. In discussing Malaysian hit the hayledge plat spirt, I will be looking at the four main aspects of a curriculum which ar the objective, content, implementation and assessment. nonetheless, I would prefer to give more focus on the implementation and the assessment which be basic both in exclusivelyy the aspects that influence scholarly persons per appointance and the durability of a curriculum. I will lastlight the strengths and the weakness of this curriculum or establishment from the data gathered and the compendium of related documents.5.1 Brief memoir on Malaysian tuition SystemIn conducting this research, I do believe that ace needs to check the Malaysian training arrangement as a whole, in modulate to understand how this system develops and works. The variation had so m any(prenominal) influences from internal and external namely religion, colonialism, integration among races, perception and applied light, political view and others. However the establishment of Malaysian reading system became significantly enhanced after World War II as a publication of the rise in aw atomic upshot 18ness among the intellectuals in Malaya. Therefore, to cond matchless brief history of Malaysian statement, I would to discuss breeding in Malaysia, antecedently kn familiarity as Malaya, post World War II.5.1.1 Towards A subject breeding system SystemIn order to help the political relation to decide the best facts of life system, an Advisory Committee on Education was open up in 1949 by British governing in Malaya. The government think a system which could be implemented and on the alike beat could unite the races in Malaya. Due to that reasons, British believed that a exemplification type of bringing up could help British to foster the aims in Malaya. Hence, an education system was established which this system employ cardinal moderate of instruction. On the accompanying socio-economic elucidate 1950, Barnes tell proposed of the conversion of primary vernacular takes into discip course of instruction tames which victimisition Malay and English dustups. In unoriginal schools however, supposed to harbour the put on of English as medium of instruction (Rosnani, H., 2004).From the Barnes topic, there were subsequent reports breakd with attempts to view the education system in Malaya such as Fenn-Wu report in 1951 and Razak constitution in 1955. Razak report was the one which surely gave marvellous effect in Malaysian education. The committee was chaired by Dato Abdul Razak Hussein and was given up the task to review the education system of Malaya. found overcritical analysis and computing on 151 memorandums which received, Razak Committee recomm ended the following (Rosnani, H., 2004).Two types of primary school National schools and National-type schools with a common content syllabus.Use of Malay language as medium of instruction and English as compulsory subject.In 1960, the Rahman Talib committee was established to investigate the acceptance of Razak Report among the Malaysians. It to a fault aims to sustain the implementation of Razak Report and the use of Malay as the medium of instruction. Report by Rahman Talibs commitee later was served as the basis for the Education Act 1961 and the exploit was subsequently approved by the Parliament.5.1.2 Development of Malaysian information Education during Post-IndependenceIn Malaysia, information education started under the British colonialism period. At that time, education was received and by the elite groups and simply a miniature group of people in Malaya pursued their study in unoriginal train where formal erudition education was provided. During that era, stud ents were used imported text edition editions and sit down for the exami democracy that was set up by Cambridge Universities. The exami republic is exactly the corresponding as the ones sat by students in England.After independence, and the establishment of the freshly state of Malaysia in 1963, a more comprehensive system of education was developed. The system use Malay language as the main medium of instruction and a national curriculum together with psychometric test system (Wong Ee, 1975). Later in 1973, the National Curriculum Development kernel (CDC) was established to oversee matters pertaining to curriculum adaptation and adoption. According to Zainal (1988) curriculum reforms at secondhand direct were very much influenced by the British education system. In 1960s and 1970s, the reforms (Nielsen, 1985) emphasized the followingintegration and relevance of the intuition curriculum, and lore functioning skillsHowever, research found that the implementation of these reforms at crystallizeroom level was very minimal (Zainal, 1988). Even though the reform supposes to multifariousness the direction of instillers, studies conducted reported that teachers modified or ignored the inquiry strategies proposed by the ameliorate courses. There were cases where teachers keep exploitation the traditional pedagogy in doctrine. around of the reasons cited were (Lee, 1992)Lack of confidence and competence on the calve of teachers to try emerge new teaching techniques, probably receivable to their sorry grasp of the subject-matter and poor trainingPhysical constraints in terms of class size and facilities affectionate pressure to teach towards examinations andA cultural context where respect for liberty inhibits independent and critical opinion.Due to the factors listed, the reform process did not met its mindset which to provide a crack education for Malaysian citizens. Thus, in 1988, a further wave of reform was carried go forth. This time the reform was led by the establishment of the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School (ICSS), which serves to provide the better basis for collateral schooling perception programs. Alongside development of scientific knowledge and skills, ICSS Science also emphasizes the inculcation in students of social set and positive attitudes to acquaintance.5.1.3 Implementation of the National Education SystemThe National philosophy of Education was released in year 1989. The philosophy is as followsEducation in Malaysia is an on-going exertion towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and compound manner, so as to produce individuals who argon intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who be knowledge satisfactory and fitted, who possess steep m ad-lib standards, and who argon responsible and candid of achievi ng high level of personal puff up- beingness as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large.5.1.4 Education towards slew 2020To achieve the status as a fully developed country is the ultimate goal for Malaysia by the year 2020. The definition of Malaysia as a fully developed country isBy the year 2020, Malaysia can be a united nation, with a assured Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and ethical value, lifetime in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically comely and equitable, progressive and friendly, and in full possession of an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.In order to form as fully developed country, it is important for Malaysia to put sufficient effort to overcome nine challenges in Vision 2020. Following argon the challenges that be believed to be related to the role of education in Malaysia (Malaysia as a Fully Developed Country, 20 10 p.2)The third challenge we have endlessly go about is that of fostering and developing a mature democratic society, practicing a form of mature consensual, community-oriented Malaysian democracy that can be a form for many developing countries.The fifth challenge that we have always face is the challenge of establishing a matured, liberal and tolerant society in which Malaysians of all colors and creeds be free to practice and profess their customs, cultures and religious beliefs and soon enough feeling that they belong to one nation.The sixth is the challenge of establishing a scientific and progressive society, a society that is innovative and forward-looking, one that is not solitary(prenominal) a consumer of engineering but also a contributor to the scientific and technological civilization of the future. The ninth challenge is the challenge of establishing a prosperous society, with an economy that is fully competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient. In the history of Malaysia, it is evident that the education policy over the past years has been consistent and in line of work with Vision 2020. Vision 2020 emphasizes Malaysia as a fully developed country, one which is developed in every aspect economically, politically, socially, spiritually, psychologically and culturally. The challenges in Vision 2020 which related to education will nevertheless be overcome by ensuring that adequate supply of human resources in the ara of scientific discipline and engineering scientific discipline ar provided. This is done through increasing the intake of science students, encourage the use of technology in among the teachers and students.Critical reviews on the National Education system from time to time ensure that the present curriculum is in line with the progress and needs of our country. The needs involve restructuring the society, achieve racial unity and fulfill the aims of the Vision 2020.5.2 ObjectiveThe objective of Malaysian science curric ulum lies in its philosophy which is ex take to the woodsed and based on the National educational Philosophy (NPE)In consonance with the National Education Philosophy, science education in Malaysia nurtures a science and technology culture by focusing on the development of individuals who argon competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient and able to master scientific knowledge and technological competencyTherefore in general, aims of science education in Malaysia are to develop the potentials of individuals in an boilersuit and integrated manner. It also intended to produce Malaysian citizens, who are scientifically and technologically literate and competent in scientific skills. In line with the National Educational Philosophy, the individual produced is believes to practice good moral determine and has abilities to cope with the changes of scientific and technological advances. He or she also be able to manage nature with wisdom and responsible for the betterment of mankind.Educat ional Development Plan for Malaysia (2001 2010) stated that, the aims of the development in secondary coil education are to enhance students critical and creative thinking skills emphasize science and technology provide adequate and quality teaching and nurture facilities.By giving focus on science and technology, the prescribed curriculum by means will ensuring the workforces who are knowledgeable and skillful in sundry(a) fields especially in science, technology and ICT can be produced. From the aims that highlighted, one can see that the philosophy of Education in Malaysia works as a annexe or guide for the system in producing the intended products. This can be seen from the following linesThe aspiration of the nation to become an change society depends on science and technology. It is envisaged that success in providing quality science education to Malaysians from an early age will serve to spearhead the nation into becoming a knowledge society and a competitive player in the global arena. Towards this end, the Malaysian education system is giving greater emphasis to science and mathematics education.Dr.Sharipah Maimunah, Director of Curriculum Development Centre (CDC)The focus in the teaching- acquisition approach in the science curriculum in Malaysia at all levels is the restraint of scientific skills among the students. Since science subject adjudicate on inquiry and problem solving, therefore scientific and thinking skills are need to be use. Scientific skills are important in any scientific investigation such as conducting experiments and take to the woodsing out projects as it comprises process skills and manipulative skills. Process skills are mental processes that encourage critical, creative, analytical and regular thinking while manipulative skills are psychomotor skills used in scientific investigations such as proper handling of scientific equipment, substances, living and non-living things. Thinking skills comprise critical thinkin g and creative thinking, which when combined with abstract thought lead to higher order thinking skills such as abstractizing, purpose making and problem solving.In the science curriculum, it is recommended that the scientific and thinking skills are infused through science lessons in various stages. These stages range from introducing scientific and thinking skills explicitly, applying these skills with guidance from teachers and finally applying these skills to solve specific problems independently. The infusion of desirable determine and attitudes is also emphasized in the teaching approaches. Such set include showing interest and curiosity towards the surroundings, honesty and accuracy in put down and validating data, flexibility and open-mindedness, perseverance, being systematic and confident, cooperation, responsibility for ones own and friends safety, and towards the environment, mouthful of the contributions of science and technology, thankfulness to God, appreciati on and practice of a healthy and nibble life style and the realization that science is one of the ways to understand the universe.Hence, to achieve the branded objectives and aims of the stipulated education,, the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School (ICSS) or Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Menengah (KBSM) for all subjects including science is are supposed to subscribe lifelong learning among the students, give instruction moral values across the curriculum, and promote students intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development. spend a penny the interview that I carried out on an expert in science education, she views KBSM asI think the philosophy of the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah (KBSM) science is good. To ensure a scientist that is not only good in the field but also knows the condition of science in understanding the phenomena and knowing science to know God as well. Also the science curriculum is to educate science for all and not specifically to train st udents to be scientists. (personal chat)5.3 ContentScience education in Malaysia offers wide range of topics arranged in pact to its theme. The topics are arranged thematically to help students conceptualize and understand how concepts are related to one another. However, lack of effort or perhaps in round cases, failure, among teachers to relate previous chapter from the next caused students to perceive knowledge as detached instead of connected and complete.For example, when students are in form one, they will learn about matter which covers the details on solid, liquid and gas. When the students hunt down one form higher the following year, 2 of the chapters on irrigate and Solution and Air Pressure taught in form two are built on the previous topic on Matter. Later at the hurrying secondary level, the students will learn about matter in two separate subjects, namely chemistry and physics. The difference is that at upper secondary level, the topics are covered in more depth in comparison to what was leant at the lower secondary level. For chemistry, topic related to Matter focuses more forces that exist between break officles while in Physics, learning and discussions are geared towards energy and its influence on matter.In forms one to three, students do general science where certain aspects of biological, physical and chemical sciences are integrated into a subject. The general science subject that students learn, in other words, serves as foundation to prepare them for more advanced science specific subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics and additional science at upper secondary level.In the Malaysian science curriculum, each science subject has its own objectives and focus. The focus of science subjects at primary to secondary levels of schooling change as students ability changed in accordance to their increasing age. However, moving from one stage to another, the focus of the curriculum ease intended to achieve the aims and target o f the national curriculum. The curriculum in primary school is less critical and serves more as basic or foundation for the students. As students become from primary school to upper secondary school, the designed curriculum undergoes piecemeal transformation and changes on its level of difficulty whereby the curriculum in secondary schooling is more critical and wider. The science curriculum in secondary schooling is supposed to nurture and reinforces what was learnt at the primary level. At the secondary level, particular emphasis is given to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, and mastery of scientific and thinking skills. The emphasis was given throughout the syllabus designed and the teaching and learning process. At the end of the day, the curriculum that the students had went through, whether in primary or secondary will make them to be all-rounded, balanced, knowledgeable and possess high morality.Therefore, as means of ensuring the development of holistic and ethicall y upright citizens or possess high morality those who would develop yet manage and exert the environment the science (and other curriculum for that matter) curriculum has been infused with moral values as indicated by Director of Curriculum Development Center herselfThe Science curriculum has been designed not only to provide opportunities for students to acquire science knowledge and skills, develop thinking skills and thinking strategies, and to apply this knowledge and skills in everyday life, but also to inculcate in them noble values and the spirit of patriotism. It is hoped that the educational process en route to achieving these aims would produce balanced citizens capable of contributing to the harmony and prosperity of the nation and its people.Dr.Sharifah Maimunah Syed ZainEven though the content of Malaysian science curriculum seemed exceptional on paper, it has, nonetheless, been criticized by students and teachers alike. In fact, there were also experts in education who indicated that the content of Malaysian science curriculum is alike ambitious and burdening teachers and students. Some of the interview responses on the content and implementation of Malaysian science curriculum are as followsIt is burden in the sense that the content is still abstract and conceptual in nature, less relevance to the need of their daily life. The content is still subject based rather than societal based. ExpertHowever, sometimes the limit are too much. Not all the experiments or topic that teachers are able to do or show to the class. Teacher..the syllabus is kind of a lot and the teacher must finish it because it will be asked in examination Teacher.I reckoned Malaysian science syllabus as a mile wide, an inch deep. There is too much too cover, and yet all those topics are being covered at only at a superficial level. There are many repercussions due to that. Teacher..I observed teacher making otiose effort on teaching important topics in class using up ex tra period of time, and it ended up with no time left to teach the last topic. TeacherThe content of Malaysian science curriculum to some extend failed to address the importance for the students to learn the content and how the content relates to their life. With the have of Malaysian science curriculum which content-laden, this directly affect on how the curriculum is implemented in school by the teachers.ImplementationIn order to discuss on the implementation of Malaysian science curriculum effectively, I have divided this section into three subheadings, namely teaching strategy, standard and overall conclusion on the curriculum implementation.Teaching StrategyBased on the documents provided by Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) on Malaysian science curriculum, there are various effective orders suggested for science teacher in Malaysia to teach the subject. Among the recommended teaching practices in science classrooms are constructivist, mastery learning, science process ski lls, thinking skills and metacognition, student-centered learning and the integration of information and communication technology.However, it can be observed the about common method used by teacher is the traditional teaching or direct teaching which is basically known as fruitcake and talk method. When teaching science, teachers in Malaysia usually use schoolbook as their main source of references together with other materials provided by the Ministry of Education (MOE). This is patroniseed by interviews conducted on the students..most of them (teacher) using traditional method, chalk and blackboard and cd-rom provided by government and observational as stated in the text books, absolutely they are using 100% text book.to save time, teachers prefer to use chalk and talk only..teach something based on textbook. No other source.all(a) teachers are aware that they are responsible for covering all topics in the syllabus. However due to time constraint, it is commonly observed and r eported that science teachers in Malaysia tend to cover parts of the syllabus with high fortune of appearing in examination only. Since other methods like inquiry learning and constructivism usually consumes much time and energy to carry out, the easier way out is to use the didactic approach that captures the major(ip)itys attention. With that approach, more a lot than not, many students will ask questions, Hence teachers can pace lessons to quickly cover all topics within the syllabus.Effendi and Zanaton (2006) highlighted the two pedagogical limitations that have been identified as major shortcomings in traditional secondary education lecture-based and teacher centered instruction. These two types of pedagogical approach actually do not support most of the aims and the outcomes intended by the curriculum. The direct teaching method tends to encourage low-cognitive, come on level learning outcomes such as to define, to list and to state. This is in descent to the intention of the curriculum which expected students be taught to be creative, critical thinkers and proactive problem solvers who not only master the science process skills but also adapt scientific thinking and attitudes in their daily lives. The mate between intended curriculum and the way teaching is carried out in class have been reported by many, including in research conducted by Nor Aishah, et al.(2007) whom proposed inculcation of entrepreneurial skills in science as a method to make the curriculum moving away from being exam-oriented. A student whom I interviewed also claimedAccording to my experience, teacher tho tries to make science as something static, no expanding, so they actually promote science is scarcely like a history. Just memorizing the fact without knowing the truth rotter the scene.Amongst the recommended approaches in science teaching, I observed that many teachers are integrating technology in their lessons. However, the integration of technology into teaching only applies to schools which are equipped with the required facilities such as computer, LCD and transparence projector. Most teachers who are not familiar with technology prefer to use transparencies to teach since they are easier to use and can save time. For those teachers who are competent in technology, using power point is their best option. However, integrating technology in the teaching of science has its disadvantages. There were teachers who took advantage by compete the CD provided by MOE throughout the lesson instead of using the CD to support teaching and learning in class. There is also polished numerate of teachers who do not get students to carry out experiments instead they just demonstrate science experiments to students. On the other hand, there were also those who got students to carry out experiments following procedures stated in textbooks, and make conclusions for the students without much deliberation and discussions. Neither do the students given room to disc over science for themselves. These classroom realities are so against the whole notion of science which supposes to be an falsifiable subject that encourages students to explore and inquire in order to gain knowledge and make conclusions.The way science lessons are carried out in class has seriously affected the students interest in science and their ability to busy in scientific inquiry. Report of Public awareness of Science and engineering science Malaysia (2004) throughout the survey conducted revealed that about 43% of Malaysians think that science subjects are difficult and 32% of them think that the approaches that use to teach science and technology are too academic in sense of emphasis only be given on the delivery of the content. However, Kamisah and Lilia (n.d) discovered that Malaysians students have high attitudes in learning science and the attitudes are so much influenced by the students level of educational experiences. Therefore recommended by the Public Awareness Report of Science and Technology Malaysia (2004), Malaysian science teachers should also emphasize on fostering for science among the students. The recommendation also supported by Kamisah and Lilia (n.d) whereby they suggested that teachers should excogitate on their content knowledge so that teachers could bring changes in students attitudes in learning science.In relation to enhancing students attitude and interest in learning science, supposedly more practical works should be conducted by students in learning science. However, based on the interviews conducted, it is observed that practical work is often conducted in groups rather than individually or in pairs. Such practices limit active work to two to three students while the other members tend to be passive observers. In some cases, this occurs due to the large number of students in a class (especially in urban schools) and limited implement and equipments. These are the factors that prohibit practical work to be conducted in small group or as individual work. Worse than that, there are teachers who did not conduct experiments with their students at all and only learn the theories in science. The following opinions supported the situation described earlierteacher always refuses to conduct experiments, even when students ask for it Studentnot all the experiments or topic that teachers are able to do or show to the class Teacher5.4.2 TextbookTextbook for science subjects are provided to all students in Malaysia. As earlier highlighted, the specified textbook is the main source of reference for local science teaching. In past ten years, science textbook in Malaysia underwent many reformations in order to make it up-to-date with the real educational and situational needs. At present, the school textbooks are generally more interactive and comprehensive they are not as thick as the textbooks previously used, with more pictures and diagrams. There is also a CD accompanying the text as means of integratin g content with technology. The CD consists of exercises and short notes for students as well as internet links for students to look for extra sources and reading materials as well as to search for finishs of the topic learnt.Even though there were improvements made by the government on the textbook, the improvements somehow did not so much significant changed to Malaysian science classroom. This wide theater of operations of content covered by the syllabus make the science textbooks in Malaysia as a source of reference which covers superficial information. Although provided in the textbook internet link for additional information of the topics, it is not fully utilized neither by teachers nor students. This is happened mostly due to the problems such as time constraint, existence of digital gap between schools, the lack of facilities and other reasons.In term of applications of a topic in textbook, its often to be hardened at the end of each topic. Mostly only small part provided for application such it usually covers quarter of a page. Even worst, this part always neglect by teachers since it will not appear in examination.All in all, my analysis of the overall implementation of the Malaysian science curriculum revealed numerous issues that both teachers and students encounter, ranging from the teaching approach used in classroom, the need to cover the required syllabus, students perceptions and attitudes towards science, and related issues pertaining to textbook. What could probably be reason out here is that while the documented curriculum appear to be well planned, covering all topics deemed crucial to prepare students prior to ingress to ordinal institutions, the execution of lessons somehow do not take place as it should be as highlighted by Curriculum Development Centre, a local expert in science educationImplementation of the science curriculum is always a problem. The visions of the curriculum developers are not fully dual-lane by the teachers who are the implementers. The intended implementation is also restricted by the assessment that is employed currently.AssessmentAssessment of student learning in Malaysia has, for the past decades and perhaps will continue to be, exam-oriented. This is evident as the most important aspects/criteria people look for when applying for entry into boarding schools, for scholarships, and entry into universities are the number of As students obtained in examinations. In fact, the main method to assess what school students learn and know is via written and/or oral examination. Nonetheless, the problems with examination-dependent assessment have been pointed out by the following partiesit is just for examination, just forget it only excellent people will be produce but they are not able to survive in real world. Knowledge just for sake of exam and later will be forgotten.our curriculum in Malaysia is not too good because only stress on the examinationBut, the beauty of the curriculum did no t appear because the application or the integration of the curriculum is not effective. Since in Malaysia, the system of education is too exam oriented.revamp the current exam based oriented teaching in schools. Students should be taught how to think, especially when it involves science theories.In Malaysia, examination can be classified into two types which are the national level and internal examination (examination carried out by school). There are two main examinations carried out at secondary level. There are Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) which conducted for form three students and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) for form five students. Both examinations offer science subject. However in SPM, there are more science subjects being offered as compared to PMR which offer only one science subject. The major science subjects sat by students in their SPM are biology, physics and chemistry. Often students who scored excellent result in science subjects will have greater probability o f being offered critical courses in higher education such as medical exam and engineering courses.Internal examinations are examinations carried out in schools. It is compulsory for school administra