The Teacher In-Service Program in Malaysia

1. The Teacher In-Service Program in Malaysia 10 September 2006 Putrajaya, Malaysia Moshe Kam Educational Activities

2. A Few Words about IEEE • IEEE is the largest professional engineering association in the world • 367,000 members in 150 countries • A 501(c)3 organization in incorporated in New York • Originally concentrating on power engineering and communications IEEE at present spans technical interests across the spectrum of technology • From nanotechnology to oceanic engineering • In many respects IEEE has become “the steward of Engineering”

3. In 1884 the Franklin Institute organized the International Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia The Operator, 15 April 1884 “The…exhibition would be attended by foreign electrical savants, engineers, and manufacturers...it would be a lasting disgrace to American electricians if no American electrical national society was in existence to receive them with the honors due them from their co-laborers in the United States." Thomas Edison, Elihu Thomson, Edwin Houston, and Edward Weston AIEE’s First Technical Meeting 7-8 October 1884, the Franklin Institute It all starts in Philadelphia… AIEE

4. Early Presidents Alexander G. Bell Elihu Thomson Charles Steinmetz Frank Sprague

5. A few more recent Presidents Leah Jamieson Joseph Bordogna Michael Lightner Wallace Read

6. Established 1884 An American Organization Representing the establishment Rooted in Power Engineering First computers working group Now the Computer Society Established 1908 An international Organization Open to students, young professionals Quick to adopt advances in radar, radio, TV, electronics, computers Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers (January 1913) AIEE IRE 1963: Merger of AIEE and IRE to create IEEE

7. What is IEEE? • A membership organization • A major creator and guardian of technical IP • A mechanism to bring people of common technical interests together • both geographically and disciplinarily • Volunteerism as a core value of IEEE • A guardian of the future of Engineering • An implementer of technology-related public Imperatives

8. What does IEEE do? • Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing • Organizes conferences • Develops standards • Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together • Organizes professional activities among engineering students • Educates the public about Engineering

9. What does IEEE do? • Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing • Organizes conferences • Develops standards • Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together • Organizes professional activities among engineering students • Educates the public about Engineering

10. Why is IEEE interested in pre-university engineering education • Because it is in our stated and un-stated mission • Because in many IEEE Sections there is marked decline in the interest of young people in Engineering • This is bad for the future of these communities and would have a negative impact on their standard of living • Because we do not believe the problem is going to be tackled effectively without us • Industry does not appear to be able to address the problem directly • Governments do not appear sufficiently concerned (yet) • Other engineering associations look up to us

11. What is the Problem? • Flat or declining engineering enrollments in most developed nations • Coupled with disappointing performance of youth in Mathematics • E.g., “free fall” in Scandinavia • Insufficient number of engineers and engineering educational programs in most developing countries • Asia is far behind Europe and the US in number of engineers per capita

12. What is the Problem? • Women & minority students conspicuously under-represented • Public perception of engineers/ engineering/ technology is largely misinformed • Resulting in early decisions that block the path of children to Engineering

13. Percentage of Science Degrees Awarded Science degrees include life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, computer sciences, engineering, manufacturing, and building Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development

14. BS Degrees Awarded (US) Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

15. Higher Education in Malaysia as seen by IEEE-EAB Observations Action items Main sources: StudyMalaysia.com Malaysian Educational Statistics 2005, MOE Government of Malaysia: Education and Social Characteristics of the Population, Population and Housing Census 2000 Moshe Kam

16. The Malaysian Engineering Education System at a Glance 13 years of formal schooling • 6 years of primary school • 5 years of secondary school (SPM – equivalent to GCE ‘O’ level) • 2 years of pre-university (STPM – equivalent to GCE ‘A’ level) 4 Years Tertiary Education leading to BEng (Hons) degree Source: presentation by Dr. H T Chuah, EAB workshop Bangkok, 2004

17. The Malaysian Engineering Education System at a Glance University PRE- UNIVERSITY 4 years 2 years SECONDARY 5 years PRIMARY 6 years AGE (YEARS) 17 0 7 12 19 23 Source: presentation by Dr. H T Chuah, EAB workshop Bangkok, 2004

18. Basic Numbers • 17 public universities • Including 6 with “Technology” or “Engineering” in the title • 11 private universities • 11 private university colleges • 5 foreign university branches • 20 polytechnic institutions (technician level) • More than 500 of colleges • Many do not offer degrees but transfer coursework to degree granting universities (overseas) • Models of Twinning, Articulation, and Credit Transfer with foreign universities Source: Malaysian Educational Statistics 2005, MOE

19. Basic Numbers • University-level students: • Government and government-assisted university-level institutions: 312,165 • Private universities: 89,664 • Development of engineering programs is relatively recent: • Started in the 1970s • Universities that offer degrees in engineering • 1994 – six (6) • 1999 – ten (10) • 2006 – approximately 20 Source: Malaysian Educational Statistics 2005, MOE

20. Footprint in IEEE Xplore: ECE/CS Research

21. Footprint in IEEE Xplore: Engineering Education

22. Footprint in IEEE Xplore: Engineering Education

23. Basic observations • A growing but still small higher education system • Compared to population size • A growing but still small infrastructure for engineering and technology education • A growing but still small fraction of the 20+ population benefits from higher education (post-secondary, college, university) • 8.9% in 1991; 16% in 2000 • The role of foreign universities in educating Malaysian engineers and technologists is more important than in many other developing countries

24. What do Malaysians study?(in the higher education system) • First: social science, business and law (35.4%) • Second: engineering, construction and skill training (22.6%) • Third: education (15.4%)

25. Comment on In Service Training for pre-university teachers • Malaysia has a formal in-service training program for teachers run by the Ministry of Education • A 14-week program • Open to education service officers meeting minimum qualifications • By application • Will it be possible to integrate the IEEE TISP program in this official program? Source: Ministry of Education Malaysia http://apps2.emoe.gov.my/tayang.php?laman=latihan_dalam_perkhidmatan&bhs=en

26. References • A.A. Abang Abdullah et al.: Engineering education in rapidly industrialising Malaysia, Engineering Science and Education Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6,  pp. 291-296 (Dec. 1994) • James D. Stevens: Malaysian Models for Engineering Education in the United States, J. Profl. Issues in Engrg. Educ. and Pract., Volume 125, Issue 1, pp. 25-28 (January 1999) • Education Guide Malaysia, 10th edition (Petaling Jaya: Challenger Concept) • H.T. Chuah” Engineering Programme Accreditation System of Malaysia, IEEE EAB Accreditation Workshop, Bangkok, Thailand (2004): on-line: http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/apc/cgaa/presentations/Malaysia-Chuah.ppt • http://www.studymalaysia.com • http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com/malaysia/ • http://www.SchoolMalaysia.com • http://www.mohe.gov.my (Malay only) • http://www.moe.gov.my/ (English version)

27. Pre-university activities in IEEE

28. Who inside IEEE is active in this area? • The IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) • The IEEE Regional Activities Board (RAB) • IEEE-USA

29. IEEE’s Pre-University Initiative • 2005-2006 New Initiative • “Launching Our Children’s Path to Engineering” • Objectives • Increase the propensity of young people worldwide to select Engineering as a career path • Build a sustained public awareness program, led by IEEE, with broad support of corporations and professional associations

30. Objective 1: Engineering in the Pre-University Classroom • Institutionalization of IEEE Teacher In-Service Program • IEEE Section engineers develop and present technology-oriented projects to local pre-university educators • Emphasis on volunteer-teacher interaction as opposed to volunteer-student interaction • Ideally: a sustained program involving several thousand teachers every year

31. Objective 2: Engineering Associations, Unite! • Center for Pre-University Engineering Education • Ideally, the resource of choice for pre-university education cooperation with Engineering Associations • Ideally, a multi-association organization • With partners such as ASCE, ASME, IEE, SEE • It is about ENGINEERING, not Electrical Engineering

32. Objective 3: Strong On-line Presence • New on-line portals for students, teachers, school counselors, and parents • Educational and entertaining • Focused on the audience • From lesson plans for teachers to games for students • Ideally, the premier on-line resource on engineering for pre-university students, school counselors, teachers and parents

33. On Line Portal TryEngineering.org “Strong On-line presence”

34. The Web provides us with high potential for reachability • A successful portal can become a major resource for students, parents, school counselors, and teachers • But success is difficult in an ever-crowded medium • Effort needs to be coupled with more modern tools • Instant messaging, podcasts

35. What information is needed on line? • We met with school counselors and Engineering Associations • Need on line tools for identifying formal and informal engineering education opportunities • Engineering associations that participated in our discussions • ACM, AIChE, AIAA, ASME, ASCE, IEE, JETS, SAE, SEE, Sloan Career Cornerstone Center

36. What information is available on line? • We conducted a comprehensive review of engineering education resources • By EAB and consultants • Conclusions: • Many “Engineering Resources” are actually focusing on Science and Mathematics • Resources for teachers are largely inadequate • Wrong message is sent about the nature of engineering and the life of engineers

37. From Collegeboard.com: Law

38. From Collegeboard.com: Broadcast Journalism

39. From Collegeboard.com: Civil Engineering

40. From Collegeboard.com: Civil Engineering

41. From Collegeboard.com: Civil Engineering

42. From Collegeboard.com: Mechanical Engineering

43. From Collegeboard.com: Electrical Engineering

45. Good existing model • Tryscience.org • “Your gateway to experience the excitement of contemporary science and technology through on and offline interactivity with science and technology centers worldwide.” • Science is exciting, and it's for everyone! • Partnership between • IBM • the New York Hall of Science • the Association of Science-Technology Centers • Science centers worldwide

46. Next step – TryEngineering.org • Companion site to tryscience.org • Comprehensive • Ultimate Audience: young people ages 8-18 • Designed to convey excitement about engineering and design • Can-do attitude • Hands-on experience • Positive image of the engineering process and engineering • “Discover the creative engineer in you”

47. TryEngineering.org A portal for students, parents, school counselors and teachers

50. Current status • TryEngineering.org is on line • Please visit and provide us with feedback • We are having a “quiet launch” between June and early September • Some statistics (as of 23 August 2006) • 6248= average # of visitors per month • 40 minutes= average time a visitor spends on the site • 41,404= average # of page hits per month • 1761= average number of university searches per month • 120= questions submitted to Ask an Expert • 131= number of visitors from Malaysia (.64%) • Advertising campaign in mid-September