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Centre Name:  

Centre for Learning and Teaching

Chairperson:

Ms Er Pek Hoon, Winnie

Description of Centre:

 

The Centre for Learning and Teaching aims to cultivate and promote research and scholarship in the area of Learning and Teaching. Its objectives are:

  • To act as a national and international centre of excellence in learning and teaching

  • To conduct research and scholarly activities related to learning and teaching.

  • To bridge research collaborations and consultancy services related to learning and teaching both nationally and internationally.

  • To foster excellence and innovation in education both nationally and internationally.

The mission of CLT is the provision of a platform for research and scholarly activities and producing excellent researchers in the fields of learning and teaching across disciplines.

Research area:

 

    • E-Learning and Teaching

    • Online Teaching and Learning

    • Blended Learning approach

    • Socio-ethical Education

    • Employability of Malaysian Public Relations graduate

    • Media Convergence and Empowerment of Audiences

    • Personalized Multimedia Learning Assistance Software

    • CDIO approach to engineering education

    • Project-based Learning in Student Engagement in Advertising Course

    • Integrating online collaboration in ESL writing classroom
       

       

      Activities in 2013

       

      Summary of activities

      List of all events organized from January till December 2013 (in chronological order).

       

      No.

      Date

      Event

      1

      15 August 2013,

      9.00am to 12.00pm

      “Tomorrow’s Reading Workshop” - by Prof Chan Tak Wai, Chair Professor, Graduate Management Institute, National Central University, Taiwan.

      Venue: PD009, PD Block, Petaling Jaya Campus, UTAR

       

      2

      16 August 2013,

      9.00 am to 12.00pm

      “Tomorrow’s Reading Workshop” - by Prof Chan Tak Wai, Chair Professor, Graduate Management Institute, National Central University, Taiwan

      Venue: LDK4, L Block, Perak Campus, UTAR.

       

      3

      9-11 October 2013

      CLT participation in the UNESCO-USM Regional Seminar of UNESCO Resource Distribution and Training Centres

       

      Highlights of activities

      (a) “Tomorrow’s Reading Workshop” - by Prof Chan Tak Wai, Chair Professor, Graduate Management Institute, National Central University, Taiwan.

      Reading is the key to obtaining knowledge. Children of school-going age are often encouraged to read a lot. Yet, it can be quite a challenge for parents and teachers to encourage or cajole children to read more. With a view to enable participants to know more about how to cultivate good reading interest and habits among students/children, the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) organised two (2) workshops on “Tomorrow’s Reading”. The workshops were conducted by a team of academics from the Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology, Taiwan National Central University (NCU) and also a group of teachers from Da-Lun Elementary School, Taiwan.

      This workshop was for the NCU academics to share tomorrow’s reading concepts and practical experience. The NCU academics were led by Professor Chan Tak-Wai, who shared with the participants about reading using the MSSR (Modelled Sustained Silent Reading) Method. Among the interesting topics of the workshop were on why reading is important, how to create a conducive reading environment and the strategies to cultivate reading interest and habit among children. Participants also gained further insights from sharing sessions by teachers from Da-Lun Elementary School, Taiwan, on their efforts to cultivate reading interest among the primary school students.

       There were two similar workshops held in:

      (1)   UTAR Petaling Jaya campus on Thursday 15 August 2013, 9am-12pm

      (2)   UTAR Perak campus on Friday 16 August 2013, 9am-12pm





      (b) CLT participation in the UNESCO-USM Regional Seminar of UNESCO Resource Distribution and Training Centres.

       

      The Centre for Learning and Teaching (UTAR CLT) was invited to participate in the UNESCO-USM Regional Seminar on ICT Integration in Teaching and Learning and the Regional Seminar of UNESCO Resource Distribution and Training Centres. Both Regional Seminars were held back-to-back in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia from 9-11 October 2013.  The seminars were organised by UNESCO Bangkok ICT in Education, with USM being the co-organiser and host.

       The consolidated objectives for the Regional Seminars were as per the following:

      · To launch the RDTCs Network whereby institutionalizing training service provision of RDTCs to internal and external stakeholders;

      · To cross-fertilize and share cases of ICT integration at institutional and national levels;

      · To create effective platforms for discussing and sharing common issues, challenges and best practices among RDTCs and extend case-based learning from the experiences of Malaysian institutions;

      · To collectively develop, for 2013, a progressive capacity-building plan for RDTCs and thematic issues, e.g., 21st Century Learning Design (21 CLD).

      The key expected outcomes are the launching and revitalization of the RDTCs network with the setting of a clear Terms of Reference and short-to-medium term strategic roadmap for UNESCO-RDTCs networking and collaboration. Based on these, the following are expected to be achieved:

      · maximizing the opportunities within the well-established and closely-knit network of  RDTCs;

      · embodying the guided and collaborative approach to mentoring and coaching    in-service teachers in order to further extend the benefits of TEI-school partnerships.

      · increasing the capacity of Teacher Educator Institutions (TEIs) through RDTCs on thematic issues in ICT integration and strengthening innovative pedagogical approaches in teacher education, professional development, monitoring and assessment.

       The Regional Seminars were officiated by Prof Dato’ Dr Abdul Rashid Mohamed, Dean, USM School of Educational Studies, Dr Termit Kaur Ranjit Singh, Organising Chairperson, USM School of Educational Studies, Ms Jonghwi Park, Programme Specialist in ICT in Education, Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok) and Mr Hartfried Schmid, Information Officer of UNESCO Bangkok ICT in Education Programme.

      CLT was represented by two of its academic staff members, Ms Winnie Er Pek Hoon (CLT Chairperson) and Mr Chong Chee Keong (CLT Secretary).  The Regional Seminar was well-attended by participants from Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, People’s Republic of China, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.  Apart from CLT’s academics, the other Malaysian participants were from Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang College and Institut Pendidikan Guru (Tun Hussein Onn Campus). 

      Three speakers delivered key talks during the Opening Ceremony on the first day. Prof Abdul Karim Alias, the Director of Centre for Development of Academic Excellence, USM, presented on “The new Culture of Learning”. Ms Felicia Brown, Asia Pacific Education Programs Manager of Microsoft Asia Pacific, Singapore, next presented on “Building Capacity through Innovative Teaching”. Prof Cynthia Grace L.Diaz, the Secretary from the College of Education, University of the East College, Philippines, gave a talk on “The Teacher as Architect”.  On the third day, Dr Baldev Singh, the Director of Education Strategy, Imagine Education Ltd (UK), conducted a half-day workshop on 21st Century Learning Design by Microsoft. 

      At the Regional Seminar of UNESCO RDTCs, UNESCO Bangkok inaugurated its official Teacher Educator Institutions (TEI) network, i.e., the UNESCO Resource Distribution and Training Centres (RDTCs). The RDTCs that join the network shall serve as national or local focal points to promote the pedagogical integration of ICTs in Education.  The RDTCs are expected to become full-fledged partners of UNESCO Bangkok in cascading UNESCO-designed capacity-building programmes locally and in utilizing the innovative pedagogical approaches plus the various CD resources developed by UNESCO Bangkok. 

      During the seminar, the existing and aspiring RDTCs also had the opportunity to cross-fertilize and share relevant cases on ICT integration in education at institutional and national levels. Most RDTCs submitted their respective Country-cum-institutional Reports in order to share the following: a general overview of ICT in Education, Teacher Training practices to promote ICT integration, the challenges encountered and the lessons learnt. 

      For the inaugural year, the RDTCs shall be trained on developing pedagogies for enhancing student’s 21st century skills, by incorporating the 21st Century Learning Design (21 CLD). 21CLD is a global professional development programme developed by Microsoft Partners in Learning.

       

       
       

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