Category: Teaching

ELPPT 2022: Training

What kind of training that you can upload the information in the ELPPT?  That is the question that I ask myself and few others.  This is also a question that I got from others which I have no answer.  Personally, I received numerous version of the answers.  But, one of them said “Kalau latihan tu ada penilaian, kita boleh letak.  Kalau takat datang nganga, lepas tu lupa, dapat sijil kehadiran atau penghargaan tu, mengada la kan nak letak dalam ELPPT.  Yang latihan ada penilaian ni, bukan senang nak dapat sijil.  Selalunya ada markah.  Tak dapat markah tertentu, ada latihan yang langsung tak kasi sijil tau“.

So, with arm that knowledge, since I attended more than five trainings with evaluation at the end of the session, I tried to fill in and upload whatever relevant certificates in the ELPPT. Being me, I was unsure about it so, I asked more than one person about it.  I even attended a help desk session to ask the person in charge and she guided me.  But, it was rejected.  

In this case, always double check the information.  So, I asked few more people and triangulate the information.  But the best person would be someone who has done it before.  I asked a friend who had attended the same training before and she had filled in the ELPPT for that (year 2020).  She suggested the following:

  • Under “Komponen Perkhidmatan Profesional”, select “Penglibatan Aktiviti Akademik”
  • Under “Nama Projek/Persatuan”, type the name of organisation such as MyDigital Educator @ MOHE – Content Creator Expert (just use the information in the certificate).
  • Under “Peranan”, select “Pengembangan/ Penyebaran Ilmu”

In addition, other information that you need to add depends on the information that you can find in the certificate such as date, place and so forth.  

I do not know if it will be accepted or rejected after I made the amendment.  But, at least I tried.  

One stop center for Research Study Students

There is a new one stop center for research study students (Taught Course programme only). The link is HERE.

There are several functions related to RS1 and RS2, such as:

  1. Plagiarism check (Turnitin etc.)
  2. Workflow chart
  3. Template for project report
  4. Academic circular (due dates will be appeared here)
  5. Rules and regulations
  6. Colloquium (support programs for research students)
  7. Postgraduate Seminar in Education (POSE)
  8. Related videos
  9. For supervisors

Using comics in teaching?

My colleague (you know who you are) and I brainstormed our classroom instruction last year. It is an experiment. However, since the course that I teach is offered alternately (ONLY in semester 1), I did not get to collect data for two consecutive semesters, unlike my colleague. She teach an undergraduate course which is offered on every semester. So, the data collection for our mini research is incomplete due to the way my course is offered.

Alhamdulillah, we had a post mortem a few months ago about the instruction and what can be improved. This is one of the things that I will do in my class.

This is a comic that I created using Canva. I had created a comic before which I used for a final examination.

For the students who really want to learn about this course, please be prepared with the assignments. Unlike previous semester which I instructed students to find existing comics and they just analysed the issues etc., but this semester, the instruction is different.

Students need to identify issue(s) related to a specific stage of development. Then they have to describe the issue(s) by relating it to relevant theories (this involves their HOTs which are analysis and evaluating skills). Then they have to craft/create a comic using the issue(s) using Canva (or any other platform) (this involves their HOTs which is creating skills). There. The highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy. What we want is our graduates to be independent, creative, analytical etc. thinker, right? (tongue in cheek remark!)

How to add a picture/image of your course in the course view (UTM ELEARNING – new template)?

This is not a default setting. The default setting is like MPPE1333 (so dull, right?)

To differentiate between courses that we teach by having a label/picture/image in front of the course overview, here are the steps:

a) Go to the course (click the course title in this course overview)

b) Next, go to setting

c) Under description, there is a course summary and course image.

d) Upload your picture in the course image (make sure you are ready with the picture or image). The process of uploading is straight forward like you upload a file in the ELearning.

Note: After you have completed all the steps, you will see the appearance of your course like in the picture.

What is UTM REC?

UTM REC refers to UTM Research Ethics Committee. There are three categories of committee: 1) Clinical research committee (Headed by Assoc Prof Dr Ahmad Zahran Md Khuzairi), 2) Non-Clinical research committee (Headed by Dr Tan Joo Siang) and 3) Animal Research committee (Headed by Dr Fuziaton Baharudin).

There are two sessions of roadshow on 10 and 11 October 2022 (Monday and Tuesday) via WebEx to inform academicians and others about UTM REC.

It was established under the purview of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation), with three objectives. Prof Dayang Norhayati Abang Jawawi is the chair for UTM REC.

These are some of the points that I picked up while attending the 10 October 2022 session and 16 February 2023 session.

Why do you need ethical approval?

Some journals require consent and ethical approval that the respective researchers have acquired which indicates the research has been conducted with ethical standards.

Other than that, it is also needed for grant application (for some research grants).

When should we acquire ethical approval from UTM REC?

Before the research is conducted. For social science, it means that before a pilot study is conducted, ethical approval needs to be required. Any ongoing research (data collection) or completed research is considered as too late to apply for ethical approval, thus the application will not be processed.

For example: Once you have finished crafting your research instrument such as survey or interview protocol, you can apply for the ethical approval. Make sure you submit the research proposal with the instrument which explain about the process of data collection, research protocol (consent form, interview protocol etc.) and such. Non-clinical research must also acquires ethical approval even though it does not involve any pharmaceutical intervention, medical tools etc. Legal protocol which is used in law research also has to be approved by the research ethics committee.

“Applicants are advised to submit their ethics clearance application as EARLY as possible prior to their data collection.“

Do we have to pay for the ethical approval from UTM REC?

Yes. RM150 is the price for one ethical approval application (ONLINE submission or manual application by filling in PDF form).

Do I need to fill in any form to apply for ethical approval?

Yes. You need to fill in this PDF form according to the category related to your research. If your research involving human being, for example a health-related research on skin implant, you need to apply for the approval from clinical research committee.

There is also an online form that you can fill in your application.

How long do I have to wait for the ethical approval from UTM REC after I have submitted my application?

The duration can be up to 60 days depending on the research complexity.  This is because the meeting by UTM REC will be held once every two months and the approval emails will be sent to applicants via official email ethics@utm.my.

Where can you find out more information about UTM REC?

Go to UTM Research Ethics Committee website. You may find the link to the ethical approval application in the website too.

Should you resubmit to UTM REC if you make any changes DURING the data collection that indicate there are adverse effects or change in terms of research protocol to the respondents and thus changes need to be made and data collection will be resumed after the amendment?

YES. If there are any changes that due to adverse effects to the respondents or change of dosage/machine (for clinical research) or research protocol (for non clinical research) the principal researcher needs to inform UTM REC and resubmit for ethical approval due to the changes needed.

For example, for students from School of Education who use teaching intervention in class, it is suggested to apply UTM REC and if there is any changes during the intervention in terms of the protocol due to adverse effects, UTM REC needs to be informed about any immediate action taken to ensure the adverse effects is minimized but at the same time, research protocol needs to be resubmitted.

When does it not require for you to resubmit to UTM REC?

If there is any change of researcher (add or removal), you do not need to resubmit ethical approval but you just need to inform UTM REC.

Do you need a certification of Good Clinical Practice to conduct research?

ONLY clinical research requires the researchers to be certified with Good Clinical Practice board (you need to attend a course and take an examination).

What kind of research that does not require ethical approval?

If your research use documents, archival records like books, etc. which does not involve human or/and animal, you do not need ethical approval.

If you do educational intervention such as classroom teaching intervention, do you need to apply for ethical approval?

At this moment, it is highly suggested and recommended that you apply for ethical approval because your research involves human (the possibility for adverse effects is there even though it is aimed for the benefits and improvement on learning).

UTM Blended Learning Reporting System 2022 (Nullified)

Where can you get the blended learning certificate?

  1. Go to http://elearn1.utm.my/caps
  2. Log in by using your email and staff number
  3. You will see the list of courses and blended learning level. Only level 5 will have the + button (blue color) activated where you can download your certificate. (Click the + button to see the button where you can download your certificate)

Note: This is only valid for 2022 Blended Learning. For Blended Learning 2023, it has different URL link.

Note:  When I attended the workshop in September 2022, the link was different.  Do not use this link http://elearn1.utm.my/15163/CAPS/elearning/v5/

Elearning 1, 7, 3, 2

What is Elearning 1, 7, 3, 2?

The number 1, 7, 3, 2 refers to the aspects/elements that you need to complete in complying to the blended learning format.

1 refers to the course information that you have to upload in your Elearning.

7 refers to seven units of teaching and learning materials that you upload in the Elearning. It could be your class notes, any article that you want your students to refer to, videos that you want the students to watch before your class starts etc.

3 refers to three online learning activities that you have to set and make sure the students engage in the activities that you have assigned. It could be forum (for students to discuss about specific topic) or feedback etc. We have to make sure online discussion could be conducted through synchronous or asynchronous ways. For asynchronous discussion, we have to make sure we show “lecture presence” during the discussion. There are several ways to do this.

For example, we can give students few questions to discuss (asynchronous) but in a synchronous mode later, we could discuss their response or answer. In this case, our presence can be felt even though we give students time to give their response at their own time.

Another way is, we can give questions to students to discuss and we can chip in during the discussion even though we do it virtually.

2 refers to two assessments that you give students in a form of a quiz (it could be graded or non-graded assessment), or assignment (where students upload their assignment)

Last but not least, you have to make sure the average access of students to log in is at least twice per week so that the active index would be 28% per semester (active index).

How to add questions in bulk on Elearning?

There are several ways to add questions in bulk. But the one that I have tried is using notepad (text). It is quite straight forward. From the questions that have been vetted (which normally is saved in Words Doc), we just copy-paste the questions from Words Doc file to Notepad.

Step 1

Just make sure your question might appear like the following example. There is no numbering for each question as it will be automatic. Make sure you have the options for answers (A, B, C, D (multiple choice question) or A and B (if it is true/false). Do not forget to write your answer scheme (caps lock)

Example of question:

B F Skinner was one of the pioneers in behaviorism.

A. True
B. False
ANSWER: A

Step 2

Go to your Elearning

a) Click Setting

b) Choose Question bank

c) Click Import

d) Choose file format -> Click Aiken format

e) Import questions from file -> Drag and drop files here to add them.

Step 3

Double check your questions in Preview.

Step 4

After you have uploaded the questions in bulk, you can create a quiz/final examination and select the questions that you have added in your question bank in the quiz/final examination.

For example: If you have 60 questions in your question bank but for your final examination, you only need 40 questions, just select 40 questions to be added in your final examination.

UTM Open Day