Competence is as an essential attribute of employees which describes their work ability, attitude, knowledge and skills. This study aims to explore whether work engagement as a mediator can influence the link between compensation and employee competence and also establish the nexus between the two variables within the context of Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education System Administration (UBESA). Studies that explore the impact of compensation on employee competence and the mechanism through which it influences employee competence appears to be scarce. The study used a quantitative approach to collect data from 341 randomly selected respondents. The instruments include the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Compensation Scale and Competency Scale and were adapted from prior studies to suit the current study. SPSS Amos 24 was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that compensation has a significant influence on employee competence and that work engagement mediates the connection between compensation and employee competence. This study contributes theoretically by proposing a new model that examines the mediating effect of work engagement on compensation and employee competence. The findings provide a better insight for the management of Nigeria’s UBESA on how to increase employee competence. Finally, the study offers suggestions for future research.

The current global food challenge necessitates the need to increase agricultural production. Farmers' innovative mindset is unavoidable for successful and sustainable agriculture. Precision agriculture, through novel technology like big data, is an effective solution that can exponentially increase agricultural productivity and quality. Innovativeness among food growers is a significant determinant for adopting new technologies. For this reason, the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) technique was used in this research to construct a reliable and valid instrument that measures innovativeness. Data was collected from small-scale farmers in Terengganu, Malaysia. The questionnaire was developed on a scale of one to ten. With the help of IBM SPSS Statistics version 25.0, the EFA was carried out using the principal component extraction method with Varimax Rotation. The study assessed Bartlett's Test of Sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) to determine the adequacy of the sample. Bartlett's test revealed a significant result (0.000), and the KMO value was excellent (0.726). The findings of the EFA revealed two components and eight items with Cronbach's Alpha values of more than 0.7, all of which were found to be significant. As a result, the results demonstrated the instrument's accuracy and dependability. This research contributes to developing items that assess innovativeness in the context of small farming in Malaysia.

The 21st-century learning paradigm emphasises the need for students to develop thinking skills, particularly higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). In this regard, teachers play a crucial role in facilitating the application of HOTS in the classroom. Thus, this paper aims to develop a measuring instrument to assess teachers' practice of HOTS in secondary schools. The questionnaire consists of 30 items and three dimensions: facilitating HOTS, Socratic questioning, and applying the i-THINK map. Three experts validated the instrument for face and content validity. Data was collected in Terengganu from a total of 126 respondents and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The analyses included exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Bartlett's sphericity test, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sampling adequacy test, and Cronbach's alpha reliability test. The findings revealed a three-dimensional model with 28 items. In addition, Bartlett's sphericity tests for all dimensions were significant (P<0.05), the sampling adequacy revealed a favourable result (KMO>0.6), and the values of Cronbach's alpha exceeded the threshold value of 0.7. Overall, the results indicate that the instrument has high validity and reliability in measuring HOTS teaching practice. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of teachers' roles as facilitators, effective questioning techniques, and thinking aids in holistic teaching.

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