This study aimed to explore the use of reflective thinking practices incorporated into classroom teaching by pre-service teachers (PSTs). Firstly, this study investigated the reflective thinking practices used by PSTs to analyse their teaching strategies and approaches in the classroom. Secondly, this study explored the ways PSTs use reflective thinking to analyse their teaching practice. The qualitative method employing semi-structured interviews was used in this study. A sample of 11 female final year PSTs enrolled in Bachelor of Education programmes in a Malaysian university, who had just completed their 16-week teaching practicum that was selected as the participants of this study. The data were analysed using the interpretive approach in order to allow the PSTs to voice their reflective thinking experiences. Analysis of the data yielded seven categories: Opportunities to reflect, Expression of feelings, Teaching awareness, Lifelong learning, Self-confidence, Self-assessment, and Self-belief. Overall, the findings of this study indicated positive perceptions by the PSTs about using reflective practices to help them teach. However, the findings also showed that the reflection carried out by the PSTs favoured the technical and practical levels rather than being able to critically analyse their own teaching process. The results also indicated that the PSTs were not open to negative feedback given by students, as they were looking more towards the popularity factor and acceptance from students than learning from the experience as a whole. A major implication of the present study was that Malaysian PSTs may not know how to effectively use reflective thinking to help them improve their teaching skills at the same time cultivate critical thinking. They seemed to focus more on being evaluated well by their mentors than the learning that occurred during their lessons.

Purpose – The reason many Asian students fi nd student-centred learning challenging may be due to cultural factors present in every human interaction between individuals. This study attempts to determine the infl uence of these cultural factors on students’ awareness of how and why they learn.   Method – A sample of 12 students enrolled in a two year diploma course in a Malaysian university was interviewed, using a semistructured interview protocol, on the students’ perceptions and experiences when learning. The results were analysed qualitatively using the interpretive approach.   Findings – The results show that students rely on their teachers for information, implying a high power distance as well as low individualism, and are not inclined to explore on their own. These students readily approach their friends rather than teachers for help with their assignments. They also hold their parents’ opinions in high regard.   Significance – The results of this study are important for teachers when implementing student-centred learning. It will be challenging for Malaysian students to respond well to this form of learning strategy as it requires a certain amount of independent learning as well as risk-taking behaviour which these students seem to lack.

Green initiatives have become a phenomenon globally now. This has taken seriously all parties regarding the process of environmental sustainability. Sustainable Development Goals had been used as a guideline towards this agenda. The Malaysian government issued the Green Technology Policy in July 2009 to accelerate the national economy and promote sustainable development. Meanwhile, green technology has been applied to universities in Malaysia to achieve green campus status under the UI Green Metric. Numerous universities in Malaysia have begun to take this issue seriously, including UiTM Perak. Three research objectives had been developed; (1) to determine strategies in promoting green campus in UiTM Perak, (2) to identify challenges in implementing green campus in UiTM Perak and (3) to recommend solutions to overcome the challenges in implementing green campus in UiTM Perak. A qualitative method approach by using a semi-structured interview with the Green Campus Committee had been adopted. The data is analysed using content analysis. The research revealed that despite several green initiatives implemented by UiTM Perak, there are also challenges occurring. Among them are financial, awareness and knowledge. To overcome these challenges, the management of UiTM Perak had outlined several actions to be taken. In conclusion, the green campus initiative can give many benefits towards a sustainable environment in UiTM Perak. Indeed, this agenda needs support by all parties.

Article HistoryListening, in general, is a challenging language skill for many learners in which they usually face frustration (Arnold, 2000;Goh, 2000). The emphasis of this study is to identify the experiences of ESL learners when learning the listening skill for IELTS while applying metacognitive strategies in learning. The research instrument used in the present study is the semi-structured interviews with the aim of gaining foundational understanding from the selected respondents regarding their use of metacognitive strategies in learning the listening skills for the IELTS examination. The qualitative results of this study were based on interviews conducted among 10 participants who are undergraduate students, underwent an intervention programme which was designed for them to acquire the listening skills using the metacognitive strategies. The semistructured interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis by using the coding method. Findings of this study suggest that metacognitive strategies presents a viable solution for acquiring appropriate skills in the listening component because although most individuals of normal intelligence engage in metacognitive regulation when confronted with an effortful cognitive task, some are more metacognitive than others. Those with greater metacognitive abilities tend to be more successful in their cognitive endeavours. Additionally, it was also found to have positively impacted learning behaviours with the learners being receptive to the changes and gaining more confidence with independently learning. There is a vast potential that can still be evaluated for the application of metacognitive strategies with other level of learners for acquiring appropriate listening skills in the English language.

This paper examines students' perceptions of the use of group discussion as a collaborative learning tool among English-as-a-Second-language (ESL) learners when learning writing skills in university. Studies on collaborative learning have shown that group discussions enhance students' learning experiences and knowledge. Collaborative learning in the form of group discussions has encourages students to produce work that is creative as well as stimulate critical thinking. This form of learning further develops interpersonal skills and social relationships among students. Twenty-four university students divided into six groups were the respondents in this study. The data was collected using voice recorded transcriptions of a semi-structured interview session with each group after completing the collaborative learning activity. The transcriptions were then analysed qualitatively using the interpretative approach. The transcripts were read and reread until common ideas emerged that were then categorised and discussed under various themes. The results showed that students perceived that collaborative learning tended to help them reflect on the content and context of the tasks they had to carry out. This form of learning was perceived to increase their confidence and motivation to communicate with their peers in a second language, and there were higher rates of task completion.