Bulletin

Pusat Kecemerlangan Akademik & Penasihatan dan Pembangunan Pelajar
THE
Centre for Academic Excellence & Student Advisory and Development
Nurturing and Empowering Future Talents
A New Year, A New Look
for the CDAE
Bulletin
JUNE 2013
We are proud to announce that on the 1st of January 2013, the
Centre for Development of Academic Excellence (CDAE), Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM) merged with the Student Advisory &
Development Unit to form the Centre for Academic Excellence and Student
Advisory & Development, or Pusat Kecemerlangan Akademik dan Penasihatan &
Pembangunan Pelajar. We have moved to the H24 Building of Kompleks Cahaya,
USM. Upon the merger, the CDAE took on the responsibility of broadening our
services regarding advancement of the teaching and learning (T&L) environment
at USM to include students. With the increased number of staff members and
responsibilities, we are very excited about the New Year, and we look forward to
providing valuable services to the USM community. For 2013, we have planned
a vast array of activities, including workshops, training sessions, seminars, and
publications, with the goal of increasing the quality and excellence of T&L. We
hope that all of the activities planned for this year will be successfully executed
and contribute to the attainment of academic excellence.•
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The Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative was
officially launched by Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman,
the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),
in conjunction with the Vice Chancellor’s 2013 Annual Speech
(Bersama-sama Untuk Kecemerlangan Universiti, BUKU) on
the 10th of January 2013. OER is an emerging concept in
academic platforms throughout the world, and the Centre for
Development of Academic Excellence (CDAE) has pioneered
the promotion of this concept at USM. During the event, which
was held at the Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra, USM, Professor Abd
Karim Alias, Director of the CDAE, presented a video about the
OER concept and how this concept will benefit the university.
He focused on ways in which OER brings new light to the
notion of education for all and provides universal access to
learning resources free of charge. In addition to describing
the challenges of embarking on this concept, the 3 ½ minute
video also highlighted the various OER activities conducted by
the CDAE. This promotional video urges members of the USM
academic environment to participate in the OER project and
be agents of change. The official launch of OER@USM boosts
the efforts undertaken by the CDAE to promote this concept at
USM and thereby support free knowledge for all.•
Launch of Open
Educational Resources
(OER@USM)
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The Student-Centered Learning
(SCL) Workshop Series
On the 10 th and 11 th of April, the CDAE organized a series of
workshops pertaining to the concept of Student-Centered
Learning (SCL). The workshops titled “Introduction
and Philosophy of SCL” and “The Learning Taxonomies and
Constructivism” were facilitated by Associate Professor Dr. Rozinah
Jamaludin and were based on Modules 1–4 of the Training Module
Series: Approaches to Student-Centered Learning (SCL), published
by the CDAE.
During the workshop “Introduction and Philosophy of SCL,”
participants were introduced to this new approach in teaching. SCL
is in line with the vision and mission of the National Higher Education
Strategic Plan 2 (NHESP 2), the theme of which is “Malaysia’s Global
Reach: A New Dimension Using the Soft Power Approach.” The workshop
also provided an overview of SCL and introduced the underlying
philosophies that support the student-centered approach to teaching.
The key benefits of SCL for students and lecturers were highlighted,
as were some general misconceptions that should be discarded. In
this workshop, student-centered pedagogy (i.e., characteristics of the
learners and the nature of the learning environment in the studentcentered
setting) was also discussed briefly.
“The Learning Taxonomies and Constructivism” workshop was held
the following day and introduced participants to the various learning
taxonomies used in teaching and learning that are based on Anderson
and Krathwohl’s (2001) revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy and
Buckwalter’s Taxonomy for the Health and Medical Sciences (1981).
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a foundational element within the education
community. This workshop continued with an introduction to the
constructivism theory. Specifically, constructivism describes how
learners construct knowledge out of their own experiences. Its
approaches are therefore well suited for SCL. This workshop provided
participants with building blocks that will help them in their journey to
become constructivist lecturers.
The CDAE has planned more workshops throughout the year as a
continuation of these SCL workshops [e.g.,“Approaches to SCL 1: Problem
Based Learning (PBL)” and “Approaches to SCL 2: The Learning Portfolio”]
We encourage all academic staff members of USM to participate in
these workshops, as they definitely will have a positive impact on the
T&L environment at USM. •
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Recording Sessions
for OER@USM
The Centre for Development of
Academic Excellence (CDAE)
has taken a few major steps
towards the promotion of the Open
Educational Resources (OER) concept
at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
One of the initiatives is to record
lectures given by lecturers on various
topics pertaining to the curriculum.
During Semester I (2012/2013), 262
hours of lectures from 19 courses by
12 lecturers were recorded. The topics
chosen for the video recording, such
as Spectrometric Methods, Social
Policy and Social Services, German
Language 1, Finance & Accounting
for Management, Physical Properties
of Food, and Microprocessors &
Embedded Systems, are diverse in
terms of subjects and fields. These
sessions were recorded in lecture
halls as live recording or at studios.
After being recorded, the videos
were edited, the recordings were
transcribed, and lecture slides and
subtitles were incorporated. These
recordings will be embedded in
the OER@USM website, where they
will be readily available for anyone
who wishes to use this material for
teaching and learning (T&L) purposes
without any copyright infringement.
More video recording sessions are
being conducted this semester. In
total, production of 798 hours of
video recordings has been planned
by the CDAE. These videos will be vital
in endorsing the concept of sharing
educational resources. •
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Open Educational Resources (OER)
Briefing Sessions
knowledge not only within USM but also with
the world. He stated that the goals of OER
development at USM include supporting the
National Higher Educational Strategic Plan
(NHESP) and USM APEX transformation plan
and paving the way for USM to become the
world’s leading sustainability-led university
by providing access to education to all.•
In the spirit of promoting the OER concept to all academic staff members of
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), the Centre for Development of Academic
Excellence (CDAE) held briefing sessions on the 6 th of February 2013 at
the Main Campus and the Engineering Campus. The primary aims of the briefing
sessions were to introduce the OER concept, elucidate the focus of OER at USM,
explain the process and workflow of OER development, and provide an overview
of the copyright issues and honorarium payment for lecturers who wish to be part
of the OER programme. The briefing sessions, which were headed by the Director
of the CDAE, Professor Abd Karim Alias, also urged lecturers to share their skills and
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Training Module Series:
Student-Centred
Learning (SCL)
Approaches for
Innovative Teaching
In the spirit of providing professional
training for academicians in the area of SCL,
the Centre for Development of Academic
Excellence (CDAE) has published a series of six
modules for all academic staff members of University
Sains Malaysia (USM). The modules were authored
by experienced lecturers, who have detailed the
various concepts of SCL that are deemed vital for
the practice of excellent teaching and learning
(T&L).
Module 1: Introduction – serves as a foreword to
the concept of SCL while
Module 2: Philosophy of SCL – provides an
overview of SCL and introduces the underlying
philosophies that support the student-centred
approach to teaching.
Module 3: Learning Taxonomies – revolves around the learning taxonomies used in T&L
(i.e., Anderson and Krathwohl’s Taxonomy (2001), Bloom’s Taxonomy and Buckwalter’s
Taxonomy for the Health and Medical Sciences (1981)).
Module 4: The Constructivist Lecturer – provides a detailed description of the application
of constructivist approaches in T&L.
Module 5: Approaches to SCL – describes the various approaches in SCL, such as Problem-
Based Learning (PBL) and Learning Portfolios, which are deemed valuable for T&L.
Module 6: Assessment in SCL – a compilation of six individual units that includes a
detailed description of assessment for the SCL approach, which consists of definition,
methodology, and principles.
The distribution of these modules will be followed by the SCL Workshop Series for all
lecturers at USM, organized by the CDAE. These workshops will be conducted based
on the modules and will serve as a platform for lecturers to gain more insight into the
spectrum of approaches outlined in the modules. •
PAGE 6

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Week Exhibition
The Centre for Knowledge, Communication & Technology
(PPKT), the National Poison Centre (PRN), and the Centre
for Development of Academic Excellence (CDAE) jointly
organized the ICT Week@PPKT 2012, which was held from the
2nd to the 5th of October 2012 at the Eureka Complex, Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM). Activities included booth exhibitions by
Responsibility Centres at USM and ICT vendors, a series of talks/
seminars given by USM and corporate experts, and free ICT courses
for USM students and children of USM staff members (aged 10–15
years). The CDAE also set up a booth during the exhibition. Various
infographics representing different facets of ICT in teaching and
learning (T&L) were exhibited, including “The Digital Classroom,”
“From Pencil Pads to iPads,” and “Apps & Education.” Professor
Abd Karim Alias, the Director of the CDAE, also gave a talk
titled “Technology Trends in Higher Education,” which focused
on the spectrum of popular trends in the usage of technology
for the T&L process at higher education institutions. We also
conducted a short survey regarding e-Learn@USM to obtain
information about the attendees’ awareness of e-learning
activities provided by the CDAE. On the whole, ICT Week was
a success and managed to increase participants’ awareness of
the usage of ICT in the academic environment. •
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Comments and feedback will be gratefully appreciated
We warmly welcome constructive suggestions, comments and inquiries on any issues,
infrastructure, facilities, programmes and activities regarding Teaching & Learning (T&L).
Please send your feedback and inquiries to:
Centre for Academic Excellence & Student Advisory and Development (CDAE)
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Building H24, Kompleks Cahaya, 11800, USM Pulau Pinang
Tel: 04-6535981 Fax: 04-6534471 Email: cdae@usm.my
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