This study aims to investigate conceptual understanding based on the cognitive process and to describe the learning obstacles faced by students to digest the notion of definition of a function. For ...this purpose, a case study is conducted by involving three undergraduate students of mathematics education program as the subjects. One is a second semester student (M1), and the other two are a sixth semester student (M2) and eighth semester student (M3), respectively. The data are collected using observation, tests, and interviews. We found that M1's process level of cognitive is in remembering. M1 experienced didactical, cognitive, and epistemological obstacles; M2's process level of cognition is in remembering and understanding, which reveals cognitive and epistemological obstacles; M3's process level of cognition is in remembering, which shows cognitive and epistemological obstacles. The results are definitely important to improve the process of teaching and learning at universities.This result is used as an evaluation material for students to be at the Analysis stage in terms of Bloom's taxonomy level. Thus, it will serve as a material for the lecturers to deliver the concept of function emphasizing on formal definition and representation.
This paper describes a measurement model used to measure the students’ performances in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti ...Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The assessment model was developed based on students mark entries together with Rasch Measurement Model; it can be used to measure the students’ performances in term of course outcomes (COs) for the Civil Engineering Design II Course (KH 4253).This assessment was conducted to all 64 final year students in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (JKAS), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia that have registered for the course in second semester of session 2010/2011. This study shows that Rasch Model can precisely classify and tabulates the students; i.e. Person and Items on a Distribution Map (PIDM) according to their achievements. Comparative analysis against the conventional distribution marks shows that Rasch Measurement Model was found to give almost the same results on the students’ achievement and reveals the true degree of learning abilities of the students even with small number of sampling unit.
PDF