UPSI, 6th May 2016 – Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) was given the trust to transform teacher education in Malaysia to raise the future generation of the 21st century teachers through the Niche Researcher Grant Scheme (NRGS) programme.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching said, this programme which is funded by the Ministry of Higher Education since 2014, aims to develop and validate a teacher education model.
“The model covers five main aspects of teacher education, which are curriculum, teaching and learning, assessment, teacher leadership and clinical experience and teacher induction”.
“In terms of teaching and learning, creativity and innovation in teaching practice could be revealed through effective and efficient use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the classroom” she said during the launch of UPSI Gamification Seminar & Exhibition 2016 at UPSI Education Research Laboratory, Sultan Azlan Shah Campus, Proton City.
She also said, learning should be fun and teaching should be doubly fun.
“Through gamification, teachers and lecturers can turn their creative teaching and learning ideas into an enjoyable activities for students”.
“To dedicated teachers, the biggest reward we get in teaching is the ‘eureka’ moment demonstrated by our students, in which they transform themselves from unknown to known and then to the mastery of intended knowledge and skills, after going through the learning process we designed. And this should be a key criterion in determining the quality of games used in education,” she said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Prof. Dato’ Dr. Noraini Idris, said that UPSI is extremely delighted to organize such event. This is the first of its kind in Malaysia and everyone is grateful to have speakers from Singapore, UK, and Italy, apart from Malaysia to grace the event by sharing their valuable experience and knowledge in gamification.
“In particular, the NRGS team is working with executive members of the Serious Games Asia Society in order to explore opportunities on gamification for education and game-based learning practices in teacher education. Hence, the genesis of the first UPSI Gamification Seminar and Exhibition, which aims to showcase the achievement and outcomes of research and development (R&D), carried out with the support of and collaboration with various local and international partners, both from the academia and the industry,” said Dr. Noraini.
Below is the list of international partners involved during the event:
The Invited Talk, CEO and Founder of GAETSSS, Mr. Davis Wortley,
President of Serious Games Asia Society, Mr. Ivan Boo,
CEO of MAGES Institute of Excellence, Singapore, MS. Neeru Bahl,
Senior Executive, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporations (MDEC), Mr. Siow Aik Wee,
Chairperson of MayGameDev, Malaysia, Mr. Tan Chin Ike,
Managing Director of Aseptika, Kevin Auston,
CEO of Imaginary SRL, Italy, Ms. Lucia Pannese.
