This qualitative study aimed at using a democratic classroom approach to empower students’ thoughts. The study also explored the democratic classroom characteristics that can be established in Malaysian undergraduate classrooms. Case study method was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the real context. For this purpose, EDC 4365 course (Methods in Teaching Moral Education I) was selected to be the context of this study. The selection of participants in this study was done through purposive sampling. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out on six voluntary students who had experienced a democratic classroom approach. Besides the interviews, twenty-two other students who shared similar experience also voluntarily offered their reflective journals that contain their feelings and perceptions towards the democratic classroom approach, particularly in terms of empowering their own thoughts. The data of the interviews were then transcribed and analysed and later, the emerging themes were categorised. As for the journals, the essays were coded accordingly. The findings of this study revealed five major themes. The first theme contains five characteristics of democratic classroom, which are respectful towards each other, meaningful learning, equality, freedom, and power sharing. The second theme is empowerment of thoughts, which emphasises on stimulating, improving critical thinking skills and enhanced creative thinking skills. The third theme is democratic environment which consists of classroom seating arrangement, student centred and democratic surrounding. The fourth theme is self-improvement where students feel enhanced confidence level, enhanced communication skills and improving manner. The final theme is challenges in implementing democratic classroom in terms of lecturers’ skills and their ability to handle dominant students. The findings of this study are also in line with Freire’s ideology on liberating education, which considers dialogue as the fundamental element in the classroom, as well as Dewey’s ideology on democratic education which encourages active learning. Therefore, this study possesses a crucial implication on the policy-makers who have the authority to change the teaching methods, particularly at the higher level of education. It enriches lecturers’ role at universities in adjusting their teaching methodologies to enhance students’ empowerment.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have given an impact on the present and future of online learning. MOOCs can be accessible to many more learners as compared to conventional teaching. There should not be constraints of geographical, demographic and economic when studying with MOOCs. MOOCs are also aimed at having large scale interactive participants who are given the opportunity to take part in learning activities, interacting with other learners and connecting with course instructors from anywhere around the world. At present, MOOCs are valuable because of the problem of coronavirus (COVID-19) that is spreading around the world at the time of the thesis being written, which has led to schools and higher institutions resorting to online learning. MOOCs are a valuable alternative to acquire knowledge as students are unable to study face-to-face at the university. Hence, with the problem of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic now, people are turning their attention to studying using MOOCs. Students are now searching for MOOCs as a great alternative of gaining knowledge and skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though MOOCs are considered as an innovation in education; they still suffer from low completion rates. Many students have not completed the MOOCs that they took even though MOOCs have attracted many students every year. Hence, the purpose of the study was to explore factors contributing to voluntary MOOC completion among postgraduate students. The subjects of the study were six post graduate students; two were studying Masters, and the other four students were studying PhD. The subjects were selected using purposeful sampling. A qualitative approach is applied to this study. The data was gathered qualitatively through semi-structured interviews that were carried out with the postgraduate students who had successfully completed a MOOC on their own. In addition, the researcher also conducted a document analysis to look at the learning analytics of the students on MOOC and an interview with an expert for triangulation purpose. The data was transcribed and a thematic analysis was conducted to analyse what contribute towards postgraduate students’ MOOC completion. The main findings revealed that there are four factors contributing towards postgraduate students’ completion of a MOOC which are MOOC Design, MOOC Instructor, Supports and Self-regulated learning. In addition, the experiences of postgraduate students in completing a MOOC are also discussed. The students’ experiences are divided into four sections which are challenges faced by students in completing a MOOC, how the students retain their interest when faced with challenges while completing a MOOC, supports the students need in completing a MOOC and recommendation to other post-graduate students to use a MOOC. The findings obtained from the research contribute to the existing body of knowledge in terms of the research proposes a model of the factors contributing to MOOC completion among post-graduate students. This valuable knowledge is hoped to help in improving MOOC development in the future so that students would want to complete a MOOC that they have started.

The reflexive practice is used in initial and pre-service teacher education to enhance teachers’ capacity towards self-observation, self-analysis, and self-evaluation. In this study, the notion of reflexivity is developed from a critical reflection which results in the transformation of knowledge. It is described as an active analysis of past situations, events, and products with inherent goals for critique and revisions aimed to achieve an understanding that can lead to change in thought or behavior (emancipation). Its purpose is to find strategies to question our own attitudes and determine how we make decisions, values, assumptions, prejudices, and habitual actions in an attempt to understand our complex roles in relation to others (teacher empowerment). This action research makes use critical action research to explore the reflexive practice of Muslim preservice teachers in Southern Thailand. The study was conducted in two cycles focusing on five pre-service teachers who were tasked to record, criticise, and question their reflexive practice during their teaching practicum. A further aim is to determine how reflexivity contributes to the improvement of the Murabbi who also possesses the elements of teacher empowerment as well as the emancipation of education. The qualitative data from this study were analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA) which is a linguistic approach to convey social issues and the power of social relation. The findings from this study have answered the research questions on the meaning of reflexive practice by questioning and criticizing, self-examination or introspection, mutual and cooperative force, and change and transformation. The participants were also able to process the reflexive practice in their teaching process evidently showed in examining their journal entries, classroom observation, and interview output. The results show that all of the three types of reflexivity, namely, epistemic, systematic, and hyper reflexivity, have played an important role in supporting the construction of critical pedagogical elements among preservice teachers which include enlightenment, empowerment, and emancipation, as well as accessing the criteria of a Murabbi. In the end, the study suggests the potential to enrich the development of teacher professionalism as well as the improvement of teacher training programs at the university level. Keywords: reflexive practice, preservice teacher, teacher empowerment, emancipation.

Somalia is one of the most fiercely divided countries in the world. The people of Somalia face an identity crisis, as they have more than one identity (clan, national, and religion). In addition, the development of good Somali citizens is impeded by the absence of a nation to belong to, as there are clan-based states, a lack of clarity as to whether the country serves the needs of individuals or clans, and an absence of a feeling of obligation towards the nation. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate as to how education as a whole and the curriculum specifically, can build good citizens equipped with a national identity and a participative attitude. To do so, the study employed a quantitative methodology of positivism paradigm with a cross-sectional sample survey design. A total of 400 Somali students in their final year of secondary education participated in this study. The civic outcomes for this study were measured using good citizenship, national identity, and civic participation. The study found that there is no gender difference among participants in the selected civic outcomes. Similarly, the study demonstrated that parental education does not impact students’ civic outcomes. Moreover, it was found that participants’ educational aspirations influence the civic results; the lower the level of education, the lower the civic outcomes. Contrary to the literature, the study concluded that most of the participants had no interest in their nation's social and political issues. The study results also showed that the curriculum exposed to the students contributes towards the civic development of the students and equips them with good citizenship and national identity, and therefore paves the ways for proper civic participation in the future. These results have theoretical and practical implications for anybody working in education, particularly on curriculum specialists. Thus, the study recommends further research on the impact of the school and the teachers on students’ civic outcomes in levels other than the study’s target level. It also suggested an in-depth content analysis of the curriculum include any important civic topics that are currently missing in it and single-subject curriculum delivery and training civic teachers on contemporary civic issues for proper preparation of the future generation.

The main objective of this research is to study students’ level of thinking in posing questions for design thinking process. The other objective is to explore students’ level of creativity in developing a draft prototype. In addition, this study also explores students’ perceptions in design thinking programme. This research used purposive sampling. Twenty students aged thirteen and fourteen from Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi Gombak were chosen to conduct this research. The data collected through three aspects which are interview, observation and reflection. The interview data are then synthesized to understand better. The overall analysis indicates that students in SBPI Gombak were still not fully understand the design thinking process. From observation, teachers are more concern on teaching subject rather than allowing students to develop their creative thinking. Students’ level of creativity can be reinforced if the group size is limited to six or fewer. Creativity of students is not achievable in design thinking process because students do not know which step to be used or in what situation should be used. It is also found that students got demotivated to integrate design thinking in their learning because of heavy school work load and syllabus

This research aims at examining the effect of the practice of strategic planning among public-school principals and their assistants, in the Sultanate of Oman, on school performance, with crisis management methods as a mediating variable. The researcher used a descriptive-analytical approach. The research population consisted of all principals and their assistants in primary schools in the Sultanate of Oman for the academic year 2021/2020. The population was distributed over eleven educational governorates and consisted of 1798 personnel, 791 principals, and 1007 assistant principals. Of this population, the researcher selected a stratified random sample consisting of 317 principals and assistant principals. The data were collected using a sixty items questionnaire. SPSS was used to conduct the descriptive analysis. SmartPLS was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), to assess the validity and reliability of the data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to study the structural relationships between the research variables. The results revealed two direct and indirect positive effects of strategic planning, and a direct positive impact of crisis management methods on school performance. There was a mediating effect of crisis management methods on the relationship between strategic planning and school performance. The researcher highlighted the importance of developing school performance by improving the level of awareness about strategic planning and the vital role of crisis management methods in school performance, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the researcher also recommended establishing a unit for strategic planning and crisis management and a database that can be referred to when needed in each educational directorate. This is besides increasing the number of training programs concerned with strategic planning and crisis management.