Femtocells are home access points installed by end consumers inside their houses which are an important and a promising technology in future wireless networks. It was proposed as a solution to the indoor propagation problems and to increase the indoor bandwidth. However, many challenges need to be addressed before deployment of femtocells. One of the most important challenges are assessing and mitigating the interference. In order to calculate the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), an accurate path loss model is required. Most of the studies in the open literature considered a two dimensional scenarios where the femtocell has specific location and uniformly distributed in the network. On the contrary, this research will consider more practical scenarios where the femtocell is randomly distributed in a three Dimensional (3-D) environment to accommodate interference from cells spaced horizontally on a terrestrial access or stacked vertically as in the case for office or residential towers. The vertical interference is still not considered in the open literature yet. The most important parameter that should be considered once calculating the interference is the path loss. Since femtocell is installed in an indoor environment, this thesis addresses only the indoor propagation channel. Most of the available propagation models are for long range communication networks like macro and micro cellular networks. Models for femtocell networks, where the effects of walls and floors are considered, appeared to be necessary. In this research six different models of indoor propagation were studied and compared with measured data. Comprehensive measurements were conducted in a four storey building using most popular frequencies for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks of 1.8 and 2.6 GHz. Three different scenarios with different numbers of penetrated walls and floors were considered. The results were analyzed statistically using linear and non-linear regression methods. Further, a three dimensional path loss model based on two distance concept is proposed for indoor femtocells. In this model, the path loss intercept is made equal to the free space losses. Two path loss exponents were proposed. The first one is the vertical exponent that equals 7.62, and was inferred based on the vertical propagation measurements. The second path loss exponent is the horizontal one (variable) and it is found to be a function of transmitter and receiver heights. This model is found to be suitable for applications in LTE wireless networks and maybe applied in both LTE and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system level simulators. In addition, path loss has been evaluated in terms of various antenna aspects such as polarization and directivity. Finally a three dimensional system level simulator is developed and integrated into the famous Vienna LTE simulator in order to help the researcher in LTE femtocell field to analyze and investigate more real scenarios of femtocell deployment. The developed simulator allows the researcher to locate a multi-storey building in the region of interest, choose the number of floors, determine the ceiling height, and allocate the position of the femtocell inside the house. The proposed three dimensional indoor propagation model is implemented in the simulator and is used to assess and model interference. Different parameters such as Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), and throughput, were studied especially for vertically stacked femtocells. Results indicate the validity of the proposed 3-D model and confirm that it is a more realistic tool for assessment and model of femtocell interference.

3D maps in mobile devices for navigation aid have been created to overcome the weaknesses of conventional 2D maps which require users to interpret its various symbols and legends. Now it has become possible to render large and detailed 3D map of cities in mobile devices at interactive rates over 5fps (frame rate per second) to 30fps. Mobile devices with low computing resources may also use manipulated photos in order to give the illusion of 3D presentation. Owing to this recent development, the concept of 3D representation in mobile devices for multi-users interactive navigation aid is proposed. It is aimed at helping people to navigate in unfamiliar locations. In today’s world, mobility and communication have become essential. People may frequently find themselves asking: ‘Where am I right now?’, ‘How do I get from X to Y?’, and ‘How can I tell Z?” The proposed system of 3D maps in mobile devices for navigation aid allows several mobile device users to view their own and the other users’ locations at the same time, while being stationary or on-the-move. Voronoi diagram/Delaunay triangulation and A-star pathfinding are the algorithms for establishing user locations and their distances, apart from finding the shortest part from Location X to Y. A prototype of this system was developed to demonstrate the pros and cons of the practical application of this new concept. This research uses an observational research, field experiment, qualitative interview and quantitative survey to investigate navigation practices with 3D representation in mobile devices as a navigation aid. The research findings include discussion of the features of navigation practices with the aid of 3D representation in mobile devices and a critical assessment of the factors influencing its usage.

In this research, we consider the λ-model with and without competing interaction on Cayley tree of order two. Description of ground states becomes one of the main elements to study as phase diagram of Gibbs measure for a Hamiltonian is close to the phase diagram of isolated ground states of the Hamiltonian. For the λ-model on infinite Cayley tree, we describe the set of periodic and weakly periodic ground states corresponding normal subgroup of the Cayley tree group representation. We construct 81 different combination of configurations and classify the configurations under 10 different regions so that the configurations will achieve ground states. We describe periodic and weakly periodic ground states for the considered model by using periodic and weakly periodic configurations. For the second result of the research, we consider λ-model with competing Potts interaction on Cayley tree of order two. As explained in previous section, we describe the periodic ground states for the considered model. Note that for this model, we have 12 different regions for the configurations to achieve ground states. For some domain of interactions strength, the configuration of periodic ground states cannot be achieved. By using Kolmogorov criteria, Gibbs measures for this model was described by deriving infinite volume distribution using given finite-dimensional distributions and find the probability measures with given conditional probability. By considering translation invariant Gibbs measure, we analyse the system of equations derived and study the phase transition phenomenon by proving the existence of multiple translation-invariant solutions for the system of equations. Phase transitions occurs if there exist two or more solutions.

Abandoned housing projects are pathetic phenomena occurring in the housing industry in Peninsular Malaysia. Even though, the housing industry has developed and permeated throughout the nation since Independence day, a negative phenomenon that keeps recurring is abandoned housing projects. Though land, planning, building and housing laws as ,vell as their regulations have been passed by Parliament with the purpose of control ling and regulating the housing development industry in Peninsular Malaysia, it is regretted that, this catastrophe--abandoned housing projects are still common and persisting until today. Thus, certain review and study is required to reevaluate and re-examine the existing legal provisions and remedies, in particular the Housing Development Act 1966 (Act 118) and its Regulations, the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133), the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172), the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (ON .5178/84 ), the National Land Code 1965 (Act No. 56 of 1965) and other relevant legislations in order to find and investigate clear and potential legal weaknesses which have caused and could cause the abandonment and its consequences. This research, will be based on qualitative case study and will use legal research methods. It intends to explore the facts and the legal phenomena in two (2) abandoned housing projects viz, at Phase II, Taman Harmoni, Lot 82, Mukim of Cheras, District of Hulu Langat, Selangor and Phase I A, Taman Lingkaran Nur, KM 21, Jalan Cheras-Kajang, P.T No. 6443, H.S.(D) No. 16848, Mukim of Cheras, District of Hulu Langat, Selangor. From the research, it is hoped that certain findings in regard to their legal causes, the legal problems plaguing the said projects and legal approaches toward their rehabilitations can be established for future guidelines and suggestions to overcome the same. These will hopefully, assist the authorities concerned to adopt legal policies and take certain legal measures to avoid similar problems from recurring in the future. In case rehabilitation for abandoned housing projects are to be carried out, the findings and suggestions in this research can be applied for facilitating the rehabilitation until full completion.

Over the years, the number of issues on environmental degradation and the severity of each keep climbing at alarming rates causing great adversities onto humanity and biodiversity. All of the efforts made by nations individually and collectively to abate and control the environmental crises have thus far yet to be sufficient. This situation has attracted scores of responses from the world religions on developing frameworks and action plans to resolve this matter successfully. To date, academic writings in this particular area by Muslim scholars of tafsÊr are not many and the works are scattered in different places. There is a need to produce scholarly writings that thoroughly discuss environmental issues in the light of tafsÊr approach.This thesis attempts to address the problems of environmental degradation such as pollution, global warming and loss of biodiversity in the light of Qur’Énic instructions. In addition it analyses the Qur’Én?s perception on natural environment, harmony of man with nature, and the Qur’Énic principles on abatement and control of environmental degradation namely trusteeship, justice, and public interest. It also discusses issue of Sustainable Management of Wetlands, Sustainable Consumption and Production, and Sustainable Waste Management. This study is a library based research employing descriptive, historical, and critical analysis methods. This research finds that the classical and contemporary works of Qur’Énic commentaries are of immense values for Islamic literature in environmental ethics.

The crisis of freshwater has been occurring in the world including Indonesia. Up to now, almost two-thirds of Jakarta’s inhabitants and other big cities of Indonesia still rely on the shallow groundwater individually as source of freshwater. The problem is that they always suffer from drought regularly due to the decreasing water table levels in their surroundings. Precisely, the problem relates with the absence of well-planned urban ecosystem. The condition of shallow groundwater is affected by related factors of population density, land use, and green space elements mainly the urban parks. Through the interpretation of the Qur’ānic verse (an-Naml: 60) and utilisation of the Zalewski’s ‘eco-hydrology’ concept that stresses the relationship between vegetation and hydrology, this study explores water conservation through urban park. The research method covers observation of the urban parks condition in Jakarta and measurement of the soil water status on roots zone beneath the vertical class of vegetation in Ragunan and Pondok Kopi Parks (2004-2005). The study concludes that urban park has ability and suitability to conserve water. The bigger the urban park is the better for water conservation purposes. Regarding with water status as well as roots zone volume of selected species, tree is more valuable for water conservation than shrub, grass, and bare land. Besides, the study introduces the interlinking parks model that connects to green space elements for improving urban ecosystem including groundwater properly. Hence, this study is useful to add the roles of urban landscape planning, water conservation, urban development policy and urban ecosystem. It is also academically worthy of support since it could help disseminate ideas on Islamisation of knowledge. Keywords: urban ecosystem, water conservation, ecohydrology, urban park, and roots zone.

The problem of soul is among the most important issues discussed in Islamic philosophy. Many important works on soul have been written by Muslim philosophers and most of them did contribute something in the development of the philosophical psychology in Islam. Abu al-Barakat al-Baghdadi’s Book on Soul (Kitab al-Nafs) is one of those important literatures which reflect the later development of the psychological discussion in Islamic philosophy. His reputation as a critic of the Peripatetic philosophy in Islam has placed his works and philosophy in a spot which attracts the supporters as well as the opponents to read and study them. This study entitled Abu al-Barakat’s Psychology: Critical Edition of the Section on Soul (alNafs) from al-Muc tabar fi al-Hikmah with Analysis and Translation of Selected Texts, as it is motivated by the above motivation, is also an attempt to place and make available one of his important and certainly among the most valuable works on soul in Islamic philosophy. It comprises of three major parts namely the analysis, the translation of the selected texts of the Book and the critical edition of its Arabic text. The analysis part focuses on the selected problems concerning the very nature of human soul such as its definition and existence, its immateriality and substantiality, its soul-body relationship, and its faculties and unity. This is followed by the translation part which comprises a complete translation of the selected five chapters on the nature of soul and its perception. The most important part is the critical edition of a complete Arabic text of Kitab al-Nafs which would be the first critical edition ever. It is undeniable that there are many unexpected and important views raised by Abu alBarakat in this work which, in some instances, may give a critical impact on the Peripatetic reputation especially of Ibn Sina.

The abuse of polygamy in Malaysia is a reality that can no longer be ignored. This research is based on the theoretical assumption that the abuse has nothing to do with the Sharrah provision on polygamy, but with the human agency which has failed to apply it according to its Sharf ah general intents (maqii$id al-Sharf`ah) as enshrined in the Qur`an and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). This is mainly a qualitative research that involves an analytical study of relevant Qur`anic verses and Prophetic traditions (a/:ziidith) of the Prophet (PBUH) related to polygamy, and their interpretations by both classical and modern commentators. This textual analysis is aimed at determining the general intents of Sharr ah legislation on polygamy, and to identify basic qualifications that qualify Muslims to practice it. The same analytical method is applied to study a total of 220 selected polygamy application files from 2007 to 2009 available at Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Shariah Judiciary Courts. Its main objective is to determine the educational background and financial capability of the polygamy applicants, and to ascertain as to whether the "reasons for polygamy" stated in their applications are explicitly consistent with the basic qualifications and the general intents of Sharr ah legislation on polygamy. Critical analysis on IFLA (Islamic Family Law Acts) has shown that its legal provisions on polygamy and penalties on those who break the law on polygamy are inadequate to curb the abuse of polygamy. The study has also found that the majority of polygamy applicants were not equipped with the basic qualifications required by the Sharrah, and the reasons they produced in the application forms were not consistint with the general intents of Sharr ah legislation on polygamy as reflected in the Qur`an and Prophetic traditions. Based on the findings, the study demonstrates; first, the absence of basic qualifications on behalf of the applicants is one of the main causes of the abuse of polygamy; and second, many of the reasons produced by the applicants were simply concocted, uncorroborated with evidences and unjustified, and thus may lead to the abuse of polygamy. Finally, in order to address this problem, this research proposes a comprehensive reform of the administration of Islamic Family Law in Malaysia and Sharrah judicial system and the introduction of parenting course in schools and higher institutes of learning.

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The main purpose of the study is to investigate if organizational capabilities and personal characteristics of HEI leaders predict successful internationalization of higher education institutions in Bangladesh. Secondly, it is to examine if the government bureaucracy and quality initiative are the mediators for this study. As the research design of this study was quantitative research approach, survey technique was employed. One thousand and one hundred (1,100) academic leaders were sampled based on two stage multi-stage cluster sampling method. Among the 1,100 respondents 358 survey questionnaires were returned which were analyzed by SEM statistical tools. Constructs of all exogenous and endogenous variables were observed by CFA whose results showed that organizational capabilities have four distinct factors, personal characteristics have also four factors, and successful internationalization has three factors. In contrast, government bureaucracy and quality initiatives are unidimensional ones. Finally, the proposed model of successful internationalization of higher education institutions (SIHEIs) has been tested by SEM and determinants of SIHEIs are established. Its results conclude that strategic leadership practices (i.e. OC and PC) do not have a direct causal effect on successful internationalization. Neither, government bureaucracy and quality initiatives had a direct causal effect on successful internationalization. While government bureaucracy and quality initiatives have indirect significant effect (the mediators) between strategic leadership and successful internationalization as perceived by the academic leaders of higher education institutions. It could be understood that successful internationalization can be implemented through improving the personal characteristics of the strategic leaders. Moreover, quality initiatives should be taken; while government bureaucracy should be reduced because both QI and GB play a mediating role in the internationalization of the higher education institutions. With this evidence, University Grant Commission should offer leadership training for the academic leaders of higher education intuitions so that leaders become aware of leadership acts and practices, challenges and so on. Bureaucratic practices should be lessened and UGC can introduce suitable leadership in HEIs. Quality Initiatives should be highlighted and outcomes of each initiative should be monitored by experts. Specific focus on Internationalization of HEIs should be given in all activities of university. Message of internationalization should be incorporated in the website of both public and private universities. Finally, a thorough study should be conducted on the understanding of leadership practices for internationalization.

The main purpose of the present study is to develop and validate the model of predictors of academic self-handicapping (POASH) on the data derived from undergraduate students in an ongoing co-curriculum compulsory course. The study adapted and extended the original theory of reciprocal interaction of emotion, cognition and behavior by adding self-handicapping behavior component. Consequently, this study assessed the direct and indirect effects of emotion, cognition and behavior via student engagement on self-handicapping behaviour (SHB). The data was collected from two self-reported questionnaires administered to 790 undergraduates of the International Islamic University in Malaysia. A confirmatory three-step approach theory testing and development using Maximum Likelihood method was applied by using AMOS version 16. Results proved that, the three factor measurement model is empirically fit and reliable. This enhanced the formulation of the partial disaggregation model of “Predictors of Academic Self-Handicapping” (POASH) which consists of one latent variable and three manifest variables. The results of structured equation modeling supported the adequacy of POASH model and the causal structure of POASH model proved to be applicable to both genders and nationality statuses. Among other findings the research produced empirical evidence that scores of student engagement were negatively predicting (20%) of academic self-handicapping behavior; with male student predicting SHB with higher scores (25%) than female students (21%). And with a significant prediction of national students scores (25%) of SHB while international students revealed insignificant prediction score (12%) of SHB, Moreover, the results of gender invariance revealed that behavioral engagement is relatively more influential (70%) than both emotional and cognitive engagement in influencing SHB, while emotional engagement influences SHB more (55%) than the cognitive engagement (31%) does. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that emotional engagement, behavioral engagement and cognitive engagement are significant negative predictors of academic self-handicapping with significantly higher prediction of behavioral engagement, followed by emotional engagement and lastly by cognitive engagement on academic self-handicapping. Thus, improving the depth of students? academic engagement skills in order to counteract academic self-handicapping behavior and to improve student achievement becomes inevitable. More studies on self-handicapping and student engagement are therefore recommended.

The study examined the role of academic staff creativity in promoting student excellence at Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. The creativity styles questionnaire revised by Kumar and Holman (1997) and the communication satisfaction questionnaire by Seven (2012) were adapted. The Amabile’s componential theory of creativity guided the study through a mixed-method convergent research design. Three proposed factors of creativity were examined, namely organisational communication, creative process and task motivation. Data were generated from a survey of 378 academics, drawn from a quota sampling process, and a series of semi-structured interviews with three participants. The data were analysed using Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) to test the hypothesised model. The quantitative research results revealed that all proposed factors are statistically significant predictors of academic staff creativity accounting for 92% variance explained by the proposed model. In addition, it was also found that the level of academic staff creativity was below the moderate level of 2.06, a finding established via an analysis of all means. Findings from the qualitative analysis depicted that academic staff needed to be motivated into reflecting on student excellence. The study concluded that task motivation is the strongest factor in explaining staff creativity. Future studies applying the proposed model are therefore recommended to be conducted at the institutions of higher learning across Nigeria in order to verify these findings and to enrich the current literature on academic staff creativity at tertiary institutions in the country.

This study examined the concept of quality in higher education from the perspective of the academics at the IIUM, and the extent to which the academics’ perceptions of quality were congruent with the quality practices stipulated by the ISO 9000 standards. The study also sought to highlight the underlying factors that formed the basis of the academics’ perceptions of quality. The researcher felt that these issues had to be explored in order to understand the academics’ response to the university’s efforts to use the ISO 9000 certification processes as a visible means to state its commitment to providing quality educational services. The study utilized both the qualitative as well as the quantitative methods of data collection. Qualitative data were collected by carrying out in-depth interviews with academics from the various kulliyyahs. The academics who participated in the interview sessions were carefully selected in order to ensure that the sessions would yield thick, descriptive, and indepth data. To add to the depth and scope of this study, the researcher resorted to a self-developed questionnaire which was administered to the academics of the kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences (KENMS), the first kulliyyah to be certified to the ISO 9000 standards. The questionnaire also included six open-ended items which provided the academics with the opportunity to state their views and feelings in their own words.The outcome of the study revealed the fact that the academics in this study had their own notions about what constitutes quality in higher education, based on their own philosophical inclinations and experiences. The results of the study also indicated that the academics did not view the ISO 9000 standards as an appropriate mechanism to enhance the quality of educational services provided by the university. More importantly, the academics did not appreciate the fact that they have been forced to adhere to the requirements of the ISO 9000 certification processes which they feel is irrelevant to academic work.

This study seeks to contribute to the development of knowledge about factors that influence accountability at subunit levels in the local government of Malaysia. Further, this study examines the possibility of significant contingency model paths relationships to provide insights about the ‘fits’ between sets of contingency, control systems and accountability outcomes variables in LAs in Malaysia. This study looks into the public sector control systems that allow managers to manage while holding them accountable for results. There are relatively few research studies that analyze the contingency approach to MCS design in public sector, particularly, the local government, and the mediating effect of levers of MCS on the relationship between the contextual variables and the rendering of the respective dimensions of accountability. The same can be observed about discussions on the relationship between psychological empowerment, task difficulty, situational constraint and levers of control and accountability. Based on the contingency theory modelling, this study proposes a framework that explicates the link between the relevant contextual variables; psychological empowerment, task difficulty, situational constraint, levers of MCS and the dimensions of accountability.This study was conducted on all three types of local authorities in Peninsula Malaysia, namely the city council, municipal council and district council. Primary data was collected through questionnaire survey on a sample of 665 head of departments and supervisory subordinates of local authorities departments comprising mainly those providing direct services to the public. The results of the tests on the hypotheses can be summarized as follows: Firstly, using cluster analysis, results identified three dimensions of accountability to exist in the Malaysian local authorities. Managerial/public, fiduciary and political accountability classify the disposition of Malaysian LA departmental managers’ discharge of accountability; Secondly, the path analysis results indicated that (1) psychological empowerment has significant direct effects on the respective dimensions of accountability; (2) task difficulty has significant inverse direct effect on the respective dimensions of accountability. On the contrary, there is no significant inverse direct relationships between situational constraint and accountability; (3) levers of MCS has significant direct influence on the respective dimensions of accountability; (4) the levers of MCS have full mediating function on the relationship between psychological empowerment and task difficulty and dimensions of accountability. In conclusion psychological empowerment and the extent of task difficulty faced by departmental heads and subordinates influence the rendering of respective types of accountability by those departments but not situational constraint. The four levers of control enhanced the multifarious types of accountability. Furthermore, the levers of MCS mediate the relationships between psychological empowerment and task difficulty and accountability of departmental managers in local authorities in Peninsula Malaysia. Finally, the study suggests directions for future research.

This study aims to address the issue of accountability in a waqf institution. Specifically, the focus of this study is to shed more light on how the Mutawalli (waqf trustee) perceives and discharges accountability in managing waqf. In so doing, an interpretive case study in one Indonesian waqf institution, that is, Dompet Dhuafa, is undertaken. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Other sources of data collection techniques employed along with the interviews include observations and document reviews. Furthermore, this study uses the non-profit and non-governmental organisation’s accountability framework as the main conceptual lens. The framework consists of the mechanisms of accountability and holistic accountability. In addition to the accountability framework, the stakeholder salience theory is also used to understand how the Mutawalli shows accountability to multiple stakeholders. The findings of this study reveal that the Mutawalli’s understanding of accountability in waqf is influenced by its organisational values. It appears that the belief in dual accountability – to Allah and human beings – has strengthened the Mutawalli’s perception concerning the importance of accountability. Despite the fact that the Mutawalli realises the presence of asymmetries in stakeholder salience, the Mutawalli still manages to show accountability to all stakeholders. The Mutawalli believes that showing accountability to different groups of stakeholder requires different mechanisms of accountability. As such, this study concludes that the holistic accountability practised by Dompet Dhuafa is an integrative process. It not only encompasses fulfilling upward and downward accountabilities, but also involves the commitment to preserve its organisational values.

Globally, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is a widely used mode of providing public infrastructure. This study seeks to understand the accountability practices and implications of the concession agreement (CA) on accounting and accountability in PPP arrangements. Using an interpretive approach, data were collected through 25 semi-structured interviews with participants from private sector providers, public sector clients (MOHE, IIUM and UiTM) and PPP monitoring agency (UKAS), and reviews of relevant documents. The concept of public accountability is used to conceptualise the relationships and collaboration among multiple experts as actants from the government and the private sector. The PPP performance relies on the contribution made by experts. This study also revealed that communication and adherence to the CA are critical for good collaboration. The findings show the ways in which accountability is being practised in PPP implementation as evidenced by the vital roles of experts, the collaboration of actants within the SPV and between the SPV and the public sector. Drawing on the ANT perspective, this study notes differences in accountability translation during the three phases of PPP projects. During the pre-construction stage, where various negotiation takes place, the translation process centres on the problematisation moment, although interessement, enrolment and mobilisation moments are also present. In the construction stage, when the facilities are constructed, the four translation moments involve greater emphasis on problematisation and interessement moments. In the final stage (maintenance period), which is the longest phase, the translation process focusses on the interessement and enrolment moments. This study also reveals that accountability practices are fostered by collaboration among experts, especially technical and financial experts, in ensuring the on-time completion of a PPP project. Contrary to the notion that a contract is always inadequate to manage PPP projects, this study reveals that the CA is the leading reference that shapes the execution of PPP projects. KPIs are vital components of the CA and align the interests of experts in the PPP project. In light of the above findings, this study contributes to the limited literature on the role of experts and CA on accountability in PPP. It illuminates the importance of collaborative arrangements in PPP that influence the ways in which accountability is discharged to the public.

The purpose of this study was to investigate problem solving in the field of calculus. The study investigated the metacognitive thinking strategies employed by lecturers that were considered as subject matter specialist. The study developed and operationalized a metacognitive thinking strategies model. This model was then tested for its reliability and its predictive nature towards problem solving skills in nonroutine calculus problems. A questionnaire was then administered among 480 first year undergraduate students who were selected randomly. The rate of return was about 90%. Using principal component analysis (PCA) the study successfully identified seven underlying dimensions of metacognitive thinking strategies. They are Self-efficacy, Define, Explore, Accommodate, Strategize, Execute and Verify. Finally, the researcher applied multiple regression analysis to evaluate the predictive ability of the identified predictor and the performance on routine and non-routine calculus problems. The study found that problem solving skills is acquired through practice and utilization of thinking strategies which is the corner stone on which advance mathematical ideas and particularly calculus are build on. This study revealed that there are six meaningfully predictive factors of calculus problem solving performance. It found that “strategize” is the major predictive of calculus problem solving performance, followed by “accommodate, self-efficacy, define, explore and then execute”. Further analysis revealed that Strategies, Accommodate and Self- Efficacy were considered most significant with substantial practical importance. With these findings, educators will be able to clinically evaluate a person's ability to regulate, monitor and control his or her own cognitive processes. Instructional strategies can then be developed for those individuals having difficulty functioning in the learning environment.

The researcher has explored the impact of project-based learning (PjBL) on the acquisition of 21st century skills by the science students of two selected Malaysian higher educational institutions. The researcher has investigated the types of skills students have acquired during the project implementation, and endeavored to understands what aspects of PjBL have impacted the acquisition of skills and the challenges for acquiring 21st century skills. To conduct the research the researcher has obtained qualitative case study methods. In total eight in-depth semi-structured interviews had been conducted from purposefully selected participants from two purposefully selected public universities of Malaysia. The research also analyzed one combined video that consists of presentation videos prepared by eight different groups participated in the project. Next, the interviewing segment is central to generating data to be used for in-depth analyses of the PjBL process. Lastly, the results from interview and video data analysis had been used to identify challenges faced by students during the skill-acquisition process. The result indicates that students have partially succeeded in acquiring a subset of overall skills in the array of 21st century skills. All the skill acquisition poses challenges associated with them. Students lack creativity skills and unfavorable pedagogical environment is one of the reasons responsible for their lack of creativity. Students believe that dependency on traditional assessment system hampers their skill acquisition specially creativity skill. Moreover, according to students’ perspective, the more autonomy they receive in choosing the project topic gets them more opportunity to be creative. Surprisingly, the students did not prefer total autonomy in their project work. In their perspective, time to time increased monitoring from the teacher would increase their skill acquisition in general. The students were given non-complex, simple problem which hampered their opportunity to exercise problem solving and critical thinking skills. Because of lack of appropriate diverse environment, students’ social and cross-cultural skill acquisition was impacted. It is hoped that a better understanding of the determinants of these challenges will lead to formulating solutions to the hindrances in PjBL practice in Malaysia. This research has implication for the policy makers and educational practitioners alike. Policy makers will be able to improve policy principles based on the findings of the research. By exploring the experiences of the students, the researchers will understand the skill acquisition process better which consequently will help future researchers to develop more rigorous and comprehensive assessment model.

A vehicle suspension system is the main component in a ground vehicle that functions to achieve good ride comfort by isolating vibration of the road from the passenger. Active suspension system has the capability to continuously adjust itself, hence has a better design trade-offs compared to a conventional suspension system. Active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is a relatively new control method and has not been thoroughly investigated in the area of ride comfort and advanced automotive suspension. In this thesis, ADRC with and without input decoupling transformation (IDT) is proposed to improve the ride quality performance of a vehicle with active suspension system according to several performance criteria: minimizing vehicle body accelerations, suspension working space, and road holding. Three vehicle models: quarter-car, half-car, and full-car model were used in this thesis. The models used in the analysis were limited to discrete models which break down the vehicle model into lumped systems. Through experimental simulation studies, the ability of the proposed controllers to cope with varying process is investigated. The optimized controllers are then compared to an ideal skyhook control to benchmark the performance. Results show that ADRC-IDT was able to produce comparable performance to a typical ADRC control structure, but with less number of control parameters. Both controllers were able to significantly reduce vehicle body acceleration while maintaining other responses. Furthermore, On the whole, it is shown that the performance of the optimized ADRC and ADRC-IDT is close to the performance of an ideal skyhook control especially for the sprung mass vertical acceleration which is the main indicator of vehicle ride comfort.

In the automotive industry some components and subassemblies which were initially made of steel are now being replaced with alloys and composites which have a higher strength to weight ratio. Therefore, today's vehicles are lighter, stronger and thus have small fuel consumption. However, mounting a more powerful engine to a lighter vehicle could cause vibration induced by the dynamics of the engine and thus affecting the comfort of the passenger. One way to overcome this predicament is to modify the mounting of the engine by introducing an active engine mounting (AEM) system which consists of passive rubber mount and a linear force actuator. At the correct frequency the linear force actuator would trigger a force which has a magnitude approximately equal to the engine's disturbance force but opposite in direction. With this the force transmitted to the chassis of the vehicle would then be minimized and increases passenger's comfort. In controlling the system, especially the force actuator, numerous controllers have been introduced which include but not limited to H2 controller, hybrid of feedback and feedforward, filtered X-LMS controller, optimal controller based on Haar wavelet and other classical feedback and feedforwad controllers. Determining the controller parameters could be a major and difficult task to perform since these parameters are based on the mathematical model of the engine-chassis system which also includes the mathematical model of the engine disturbance. In this thesis an intelligent controller namely the neural network controller has been introduced to reduce controller parameters identification. The system considered in this research includes two degree and multi degree of freedom systems. The dynamics of a nonlinear actuator was also included. Two types of neural network controller that has been used in this research namely the nonlinear auto regressive moving average (NARMA-L2) and the extended minimal resource allocating network (EMRAN). The performance of the neural network based controllers was then compared with classical controller such as PID for two degree of freedom system and a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller for the multi degree of freedom system. The ability of the EMRAN to be trained online makes it advantageous for a non-model based controller. The EMRAN neural network has the ability to add and prune hidden layer neurons and for the purpose of efficiency and additional advantage was the adoption of the 'winner-takes-all' algorithm. Results show that the EMRAN controller perform much better as compared to PID and LQR controllers for the purpose of active vibration isolation based on the reduction of the force transmitted to the chassis of the vehicle.