Subarna Sivapalan

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS | UTP · Department of Management and Humanities

Mother tongue rhetoric transfer is unavoidable in ESL writings, especially for Iranian ESL learners, since Persian and English language is quite different. The paper discusses the negative transfer of mother tongue rhetoric in Iranian undergraduate ESL learners’ writings from the perspectives of choosing rhetorical structure in English and Persian...

Purpose The integration of circular economy (CE) into higher education programmes is a crucial step to facilitate a smooth transition towards circularity. Although existing studies highlight the lack of CE awareness as a primary barrier to achieving circularity, there is still limited research investigating the enhancement of CE understanding after...

The built environment is a major consumer of raw materials compared to other industries. In the context of finite natural resources and climate change, transitioning to a circular economy (CE) in this sector is imperative to preserve natural resources and to strive in achieving zero waste and pollution reduction. This study aims to explore the conc...

Purpose – Higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world are engaged in internationalisation efforts. Yet internationalisation per se is associated with significant pressures on the environment and environmental resources, which need to be addressed. Therefore, this study assessed the opportunities, benefits, and challenges associated with t...

The influence of humanity on the environment and the use of natural resources may be affected by spirituality, through awareness for developing a greater conscience about the implications of human actions and needs to adjust these in achieving sustainable development. However, the literature indicates a lack of consensus about op-erationalizing spi...

Background This paper presents a review of the literature and trends related to social values and sustainable development and describes a set of case studies from a variety of community-based projects which illustrate the advantages that social values bring about as part of efforts to promote sustainability. Three approaches were used to develop th...

Citizen-led mitigation and adaptation are key to climate policy advancement and acceleration, particularly within an urban development context. The top-down approach requires the development of clear action plans for the involvement and engagement of citizens to accelerate bottom-up climate mitigation and adaptation efforts within the urban context...

The urgent need for climate change mitigation and disaster recovery plans has resulted in the formation of resilient communities combating climate change and its impact, aided by organizations and partnerships working towards achieving Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this chapter, we discuss the extent to which communities, organiz...

Purpose - It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD. Design/methodology/...

Although blended learning (BL) has been utilized in English language teaching globally for the past few decades, it is a new phenomenon in the Vietnamese context. Little research has been done to simultaneously investigate how students and lecturers perceive blended learning implementation for English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learni...

Purpose In Malaysia, research indicates that there is an interest amongst the stakeholders, namely, administrators and academicians to be engaged in education for sustainable development (SD), but it is rarely implemented as a part of the higher education curriculum due to various barriers. This paper aims to develop a framework for integrating SD...

Governance issues, here interpreted as the provisions of adequate policy frameworks characterised by reliability and accountability, coupled with resources to support their implementation, are known to be the basis for the implementation of sustainable development measures. This paper discusses the influence of governance in the ways sustainability...

Apart from the health aspects and the high death toll, the COVID-19 pandemic has, since its official recognition in March 2020 caused may social and economic problems. It has also led to many environmental ones. For instance, the lockdowns have led to higher levels of consumption of packaged products, and of take-away food. This paper reports on an...

The scope of STEM based academic programs such as engineering and technology education should be widened to include Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STREAM) to enable future STEM graduates to be able to respond to the rapid changes of IR 4.0 and be ready for STEM based professions of the 21st century. A STREAM based...

The enculturation of sustainable development concept through education system, especially via STEM subjects, is vital in developing citizens who are able to adopt sustainability as a life principle. Although STEM agenda has been emphasized in the national education blueprint, attention is needed on the role of STEM education especially chemistry su...

The extraversion personality trait has a positive correlation with social interaction. In neuroimaging studies, investigations on extraversion in face-to-face verbal interactions are still scarce. This study presents an electroencephalography (EEG)-based investigation of the extraversion personality trait in relation to eye contact during face-to-f...

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the knowledge levels, attitudes and behaviours regarding the concept of sustainable development among pre-university programme educators, as well as the potential barriers and opportunities they face in adopting the concept of sustainable development in the teaching of the pre-university level chemistry module at...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds, composed of two or more fused benzene rings and abundantly found in mixed-use areas. Mixed-use areas consist of dense population, urbanization, industrial and agricultural activities. River pollution are common in mixed-use areas and 98% of Malaysia's fresh water supply originates...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic compounds, composed of benzene rings. The objective of this research was to identify the optimum condition for the degradation of PAHs contaminated water using photo-Fenton oxidation process via response surface methodology (RSM). Aqueous solution was prepared and potable water samples were c...

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of foundation chemistry learners concerning the sustainable development concept. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted. Atlas.ti software was used to analyse the chemistry curriculum based on selected themes and sub-themes. A su...

Allium cepa assay was carried out in this study to evaluate genotoxic effects of raw and treated water samples from Perak River in Perak state, Malaysia. Samples were collected from three surface water treatment plants along the river, namely WTPP, WTPS, and WTPK. Initially, triplicates of equal size Allium cepa (onions) bulbs, 25-30 mm in diameter...

According to psychological studies, the most fundamental personality is the extraversion personality. Most studies looking at differences between extroverts and introverts are pen and paper based studies. However, in a few studies, electrophysiological signals were involved. In this paper, we reviewed studies examining extraversion personality usin...

The rapid development of technology in the past two decades has had many points of contact and impact upon the global higher education sector. Technology and globalisation have unlocked entirely new directions for higher education and has provided a conducive circumference for the growth and utilization of novel pedagogical approaches and tools for...

Engineering graduates from Malaysian IHLs have an obligation to practice the knowledge and skills they have gained in a responsible manner to create sustainable living conditions for the society. Ironically though, research indicates that not only are local engineering graduates lacking the competences to do so, local IHLs are also failing to devel...

This paper explores the experiences of three academic members of the University of Nottingham Open Online Course (NOOC) and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) team, comprising an engineer (tutor), an engineering education specialist (facilitator) and a specialist in higher education pedagogy (convenor). The paper explores notions of what makes for e...

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the outcomes of a study conducted to explore the perceptions and expectations of undergraduate engineering learners on the potential of incorporating sustainability within the Professional Communication Skills (PCS) module, via blended learning. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods case study approach wa...

In this era, mobile devices are very popular and highly used among children for education and entertainment purposes. Environmental studies among children are still limited, especially in context of Malaysia. The usage of mobile devices among the children are high, and the exposure to mobile phone occurs at young age with the parental guidance. The...

Problem solving is one of the higher-order thinking skills that have been studied by many researchers using Electroencephalography (EEG) brain signals. This paper concentrates on specific neural oscillations that can be observed in EEG signals which are delta (1.0–4.0 Hz) and beta (12.0–25.0 Hz) during problem solving task. Our aim is to investigat...

The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) stresses the importance for Malaysian engineering graduates to be sustainability literate. This is apparent in the 2012 Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC 2012) manual which outlines 12 graduate outcomes that Malaysian public and private universities are encouraged to integrate as undergraduate engineering...

Group based learning or also known as collaborative learning has been in practice until now as one of the methods of learning as it can help learners gain better learning achievements especially in problem solving tasks. However, to date, many learning institutions from elementary level all the way to tertiary level are mostly practicing teaching a...

About 70% of all cancer deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries. Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue to rise over 13.1 million by 2030. Research indicates that estuaries such as rivers and lakes contain various carcinogenic compounds. The carcinogens are transported from the release points to the intake points. To avoid t...

Sustainable development (SD) competences feature prominently in the 2012 Malaysian Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) manual. The manual outlines 12 outcomes that undergraduate engineering students of Malaysian universities are expected to develop upon completion of their studies. These 12 outcomes, specifically those in relation to SD compete...

The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) stress the need for Malaysian engineering graduates to be able to integrate sustainable development knowledge, skills and values in their professional practice. The 2012 Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) manual outlines 12 outcomes that students of Malaysian...

Producing university graduates who are well-rounded has been and will continue to be Malaysia's education forte. Recently, in addition to technical competence and soft skills, graduates’ business acumen has also been identified as crucial to their well- roundedness. In realizing this initiative, Malaysian institutions of higher learning are now wor...

Communication climate is of paramount importance in an organization as it contributes to the effectiveness and success of an organization. The communication climate of an organization may influence the atmosphere in the organization which either encourages or hinders horizontal, upward or downward communication among the employees. In organizations...

Literature Online via E-learning (L.O.V.E.) is a web portal with the objective to provide Foundation students of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (U.T.P.) with an adequate and informative literature learning material in an interactive approach. Before this, the learning process of English literature is only being done inside the classroom with large n...

PC or video games are an electronic game that has been made famous among teens way back in the 80's era. It has been a source of entertainment and stress relief as an after school or holidays activity. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) were made possible with the growth of broadband Internet access in many developed countries...

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) has been offering engineering and technology related undergraduate courses since the year 1995. In its quest to develop well-rounded students, the university places much importance on its students' ability to be competent in their technical knowledge, critical thinking ability, communication skills and practical...

Since the year 2000, literature in English has been an indispensable component of the English syllabus of Malaysian secondary schools, through which learners are exposed to different genres of literature. Research nevertheless indicates that more could be done to make literature more enjoyable and interactive for learners. Multimedia is one such al...

Management skills are amongst the skills sought after by many employers. Producing graduates who possess skills/attributes beyond their course-related skills is critical in contributing towards the employability of graduates. Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) has a mission to develop well-rounded engineering and technology graduates who not only...

This paper discusses reactions of adolescent learners of a Malaysian institution of higher learning (IHL) on the infusion of Adolescent Literature in their language classroom towards augmenting their understanding of real world issues. Findings from the research obtained qualitatively via in depth interviews suggest that adolescent literature has t...

Nowadays, with the expansion of learning styles using technological instruments, there is a need for methodologies to design a proper structure of learning materials or course content. Problems have been identified in previous work at analysis stage where students were found to have difficulty in learning Literature in English because of several fa...

The high demand to improve the quality of the presentation in the knowledge sharing field is to compete with rapidly growing technology. The needs for development of technology based learning and training lead to an idea to develop an Oil and Gas Plant Virtual Environment (OGPVE) for the benefit of our future. Panoramic Virtual Reality learning bas...

Web interventions are gaining popularity in trying to change a person’s behavior. However, poorly designed intervention websites will affect the learning process of a person, what more to remember the content that they have learnt. The objective of this paper is to discuss the design of a web intervention using Gagne’s Condition of Learning Theory...

Most engineering and technology educators realize the important role of industries and the value of effective and meaningful university-industry partnerships. Through cooperative education and close collaboration with industry leaders, the industry inputs can greatly enhance the university's curriculum, evaluation process, faculty professional deve...

Literature has been an essential and popular component of language courses in the Malaysian English Second Language (ESL) context. Even so, the journey towards the inclusion of literature in language courses has been an evolving one, ensuing in many stages of change. As a result, the teaching and learning of literature was drawn back to a state of...