As a move towards educational transformation, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has established a policy on the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and its practices are being emphasized throughout Malaysian education system. However, due to a lack of meta-analysis, the types of pedagogical practices used by teachers in enhancing students' HOTS in the local context is unclear. This study used a meta-analytical approach to fill in the gap in literature on the pedagogical practices of HOTS in Malaysian classrooms. A total of 32 empirical studies were included in the analyses. Therefore, this paper aims at synthesising the pedagogical practices of teaching HOTS among Malaysian teachers. The findings offered a synthesis of HOTS pedagogical practices employed by teachers in Malaysian schools, which could be categorised as practices that promote and practices that inhibit the teaching of HOTS. The synthesis revealed that some practices that promoted the teaching of HOTS were brainstorming, constructivist learning, inquiry teaching, thinking map, and problem-based learning whereas some practices that inhibited the teaching of HOTS were teacher-centered learning and teaching lower-order thinking skills.

Purpose – The study explored the barriers and enablers faced by language teachers in teaching 21st century skills at Chinese vernacular schools. It aimed to determine the effects of teachers’ attitudes, barriers, and enablers in teaching the skills during language lessons. Method – A mixed-method design was used to achieve the two objectives of this study. Quantitative data were collected from 400 language teachers from Chinese vernacular schools, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine of the teachers. Barriers and enablers faced by teachers were identified through literature review, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys. Triangulation was carried out for analysis purposes. The effects among the variables were analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling via Smart PLS 3.0. Findings – The major barriers and enablers faced by language teachers in teaching 21st century skills at Chinese vernacular schools were uncovered. Direct effects of teachers’ attitudes, barriers, and enablers on the teaching of 21st century skills were found. However, there were no significant moderating effects of barriers and enablers on their teaching. Both of these variables had stronger effects on teachers’ attitudes. Significance – With the identifications of barriers and enablers faced by language teachers at Chinese vernacular schools, more effective support and interventions can be provided to these teachers. Teacher training and professional development programmes on 21st century language teaching can also be improved by incorporating the influencing factors identified in this study.

The implementation of 21st century education is a key factor for successful education reform. Due to a lack of empirical research, practices to develop students’ 21st century skills at the primary school level are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify teachers’ contemporary practices and the influences of environmental factors as well as teachers’ attitudes on these practices. A quantitative research design was used to achieve the objectives of the study. A total of 400 primary school teachers from the state of Penang, Malaysia was sampled. Three instruments were used to collect the required data; the Teachers’ Practices in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (37 items), Environmental Factors in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (12 items) and the Teacher’ Attitudes in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (35 items). The data were analysed with descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results showed that primary school teachers adopted five contemporary practices in teaching 21st century skills. The inquiry-based instructional approach was the most preferred practice, followed by the communicative language teaching approach, constructivist learning approach and problem-centred instructional approach. The technology-based instructional approach, however, was the least preferred practice. Results of the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach showed that supporting environmental factors had positive influence on both teachers’ practices and attitudes. Additional results indicated positive mediation role of teachers’ attitudes on their practices of teaching 21st century skills. Implications for the research findings were discussed in this study. As supported by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Theory, this study found that environmental factors could drive teachers’ adoption of contemporary practices. In addition, teachers’ attitudes have positive effect on their applications of these instructional practices as emphasised by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed in this paper.

Postgraduate students have to play active roles in self-determined learning, as major agent in their own learning and research activities. There is a lack of validated research instruments to measure self-determined learning among postgraduate students. The Postgraduate Self-Determined Learning Questionnaire (PSLQ) was specifically developed to fill in the gaps. This study aims to examine the validity and reliability of the PSLQ through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The original version of PSLQ has 59 items and it was administered to a sample of 201 postgraduate students from a research-intensive university in Malaysia. The results of EFA revealed that PSLQ measures four distinct factors; learner-centered learning, interactive non-linear learning, double-loop reflection, and capacity development, which accounted for 54.22% of the variance in self-determined learning. The total number of items in PSLQ has been reduced to 42, after 17 items were removed. The instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha value of a=.959. The findings suggest that PSLQ is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to measure self-determined learning among postgraduate students. Implications of the research findings are discussed in this paper.   Keywords: Heutagogy, Postgraduates, Reliability, Self-determined learning, Validity