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Papers by Thavamalar Thuraisingam
Transnational education (TNE) teaching and professional teams conduct assessment work across orga... more Transnational education (TNE) teaching and professional teams conduct assessment work across organisational, national and cultural boundaries. Achieving a shared set of principles and understandings, and through that, fair assessment processes within and across programs, is a complex task that requires ongoing dialogue and collaboration between all members of the teaching team. Collaborative approaches facilitate development of a community of practice
This paper presents research from an Australian Learning and Teaching Council priority project wh... more This paper presents research from an Australian Learning and Teaching Council priority project which focuses on the assessment moderation practices between parent and partner universities in transnational partner universities. This paper addresses the challenges faced by transnational academic staff in ensuring comparable assessment standards. The data illuminates many issues of culture, language, relationships, trust, power and control. Using activity theory and its principles of contradictions, these issues are analysed in terms of Engestrom's expanded mediated triangle. The components of subject, mediating tools, objects, rules, community and division of labour are interconnected and in constant dynamic interaction emphasising the social and contextualised nature of moderation practices and policies. Systemic tensions are bound to emerge between and among these components. This paper sets out to identify these systemic tensions or contradictions for their heuristic value and potential as the driving force for change, indicating points of intervention to improve assessment moderation practices and policies. Among the three indicated contradiction triads, some fundamental contradictions exist between subjectcommunity-object, subject-mediating tools-object and subject-division of labour-object. These help identify the weaknesses in the existing collaborative patterns and lack of efficacy of the mediating tools for ignoring the 'culture of use' of the tools and a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities on the ground.
... Michelle Wallace. Southern Cross University. ... Moderation of assessment in transnational hi... more ... Michelle Wallace. Southern Cross University. ... Moderation of assessment in transnational higher eduction. Michelle Wallace, Southern Cross University Saadia Mahmud Gavin Sanderson Pavinder Hukam Singh Carmela Briguglio Thavamalar Thuraisingam Shelley Yeo. ...
Jurnal EL-RIYASAH
The present study is focused on the issue of refugee education in Malaysia and the premise for th... more The present study is focused on the issue of refugee education in Malaysia and the premise for this study is rooted in SDG 4. As Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 United Nations convention and is not a signatory of its 1967 Protocol, refugee children in the country are unable to access public school systems. Their only means to obtain an education is via an informal parallel system of refugee community learning centres that are run across the country. It is therefore pertinent for policymakers, NGOs, UNHCR Malaysia and local communities to have a clear understanding of the issues concerning refugee education to propose sustainable solutions to ensure that no refugee child in Malaysia is left behind. A systematic literature review approach, guided by the PRISMA statement 2020 was adopted in this study to better understand the phenomenon of concern and outline the key barriers and facilitators in the context of refugee education in Malaysia. A total of 14 articles met the selection c...
Purpose – This study sets out to investigate the impact of the peer assessment intervention on st... more Purpose – This study sets out to investigate the impact of the peer assessment intervention on student motivation and learning given the numerous calls by stakeholders in higher education institutions to make assessment criteria more explicit. Methodology – The sample involved two groups of students, 65 in total, enrolled in a first-year writing course. The intervention group was subjected to a peer assessment workshop while the other served as the control group. A 45 item Likert scale questionnaire was administered on both groups subsequently. Findings – Results from independent sample T-tests and Pearson Chi-Square test of independence showed that increased levels of motivation and better learning strategies were reported by the intervention group compared to the control group except for one dimension of learning peer learning. A moderate strength of association was reported between the peer review intervention and the dimensions of motivation whereas the strength of association b...
Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2011
This paper attempts to shed light on the role of language in keeping religion relevant to the ind... more This paper attempts to shed light on the role of language in keeping religion relevant to the individual and society in present times. In the context of postmodernity, religion has become more of a meaning system to address the existential questions of the individual. Religious institutions have had to accommodate the changes brought about by a detraditionalized, decentralized, and rationalized social climate. Although these wider changes are mediated by language, scholars in the past have tended to place more emphasis on the epistemological status and nature of religious beliefs than on religious language itself. Hence, this study sets out to explore (through the critical discourse analysis framework) how language renews itself with a close analysis of the textual and intertextual linguistic features to capture the 'zeitgeist' of the times. Six religious sermons (discourses) from three major faiths in Malaysia were recorded. The recordings were then transcribed verbatim and the data analyzed. Activity theory and its principle of contradictions provide an appropriate theoretical, methodological, and heuristic tool to unpack the role of language in the formation of religious meaning systems. Contradictions related to the clergy, language used in sermons in terms of modes, quotations, vocabulary, and personal narratives; religious meaning systems, norms and values, and the social world at large have been identified. It is believed that this understanding of contradictions will aid in uncovering the role of language in reconciling religious meaning systems with the challenges of a postmodern world.
unisanet.unisa.edu.au
Page 1. 1 An Activity Theory Approach to Moderation for Fair Assessment in Transnational Educatio... more Page 1. 1 An Activity Theory Approach to Moderation for Fair Assessment in Transnational Education Thavamalar Thuraisingam 1 Parvinder Kaur Hukam Singh 1 Associate Professor Gavin Sanderson 2 Dr Saadia Mahmud 2 Professor Shelley Yeo 3 ...
proceedings.com.au
This study sets out to capture the essence of the socio-cultural and academic lived experiences o... more This study sets out to capture the essence of the socio-cultural and academic lived experiences of international students in a private higher education institution as the phenomenon of adjustment has neither been studied extensively nor qualitatively in the South East Asian setting. The narrations of 12 international students from four countries; Nigeria, Korea, India and Indonesia were gathered through prolonged conversational interviews. The interviews were then transcribed verbatim and meaning units identified using the selective and highlighting approach. The formulated meaning units were then arranged into clusters which resulted in five themes. The paper concludes with the discussion of specific implications and recommendations to improve the campus climate for diversity.
Malaysia has had a degree of success in establishing itself as a regional education hub in recent... more Malaysia has had a degree of success in establishing itself as a regional education hub in recent years and private higher education institutions are significant players that dominate the international student market because more than 50% of the international student population in Malaysia is enrolled in these institutions. The phenomenon of adjustment has not been studied extensively in the Malaysian setting. Therefore, this study sets out to investigate the essence of socio-cultural and academic adjustment experiences of international students in an established private higher education institution. The informants of this study comprised 21 international students from 7 countries. A multiple case study design was adopted. The semi-structured interview method of data collection was employed. The interviews were then recorded and transcribed verbatim. The themes were then captured in phenomenologically sensitive descriptions which resonate with the experiences of the international st...
Transnational education (TNE) teaching and professional teams conduct assessment work across orga... more Transnational education (TNE) teaching and professional teams conduct assessment work across organisational, national and cultural boundaries. Achieving a shared set of principles and understandings, and through that, fair assessment processes within and across programs, is a complex task that requires ongoing dialogue and collaboration between all members of the teaching team. Collaborative approaches facilitate development of a community of practice
This paper presents research from an Australian Learning and Teaching Council priority project wh... more This paper presents research from an Australian Learning and Teaching Council priority project which focuses on the assessment moderation practices between parent and partner universities in transnational partner universities. This paper addresses the challenges faced by transnational academic staff in ensuring comparable assessment standards. The data illuminates many issues of culture, language, relationships, trust, power and control. Using activity theory and its principles of contradictions, these issues are analysed in terms of Engestrom's expanded mediated triangle. The components of subject, mediating tools, objects, rules, community and division of labour are interconnected and in constant dynamic interaction emphasising the social and contextualised nature of moderation practices and policies. Systemic tensions are bound to emerge between and among these components. This paper sets out to identify these systemic tensions or contradictions for their heuristic value and potential as the driving force for change, indicating points of intervention to improve assessment moderation practices and policies. Among the three indicated contradiction triads, some fundamental contradictions exist between subjectcommunity-object, subject-mediating tools-object and subject-division of labour-object. These help identify the weaknesses in the existing collaborative patterns and lack of efficacy of the mediating tools for ignoring the 'culture of use' of the tools and a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities on the ground.
... Michelle Wallace. Southern Cross University. ... Moderation of assessment in transnational hi... more ... Michelle Wallace. Southern Cross University. ... Moderation of assessment in transnational higher eduction. Michelle Wallace, Southern Cross University Saadia Mahmud Gavin Sanderson Pavinder Hukam Singh Carmela Briguglio Thavamalar Thuraisingam Shelley Yeo. ...
Jurnal EL-RIYASAH
The present study is focused on the issue of refugee education in Malaysia and the premise for th... more The present study is focused on the issue of refugee education in Malaysia and the premise for this study is rooted in SDG 4. As Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 United Nations convention and is not a signatory of its 1967 Protocol, refugee children in the country are unable to access public school systems. Their only means to obtain an education is via an informal parallel system of refugee community learning centres that are run across the country. It is therefore pertinent for policymakers, NGOs, UNHCR Malaysia and local communities to have a clear understanding of the issues concerning refugee education to propose sustainable solutions to ensure that no refugee child in Malaysia is left behind. A systematic literature review approach, guided by the PRISMA statement 2020 was adopted in this study to better understand the phenomenon of concern and outline the key barriers and facilitators in the context of refugee education in Malaysia. A total of 14 articles met the selection c...
Purpose – This study sets out to investigate the impact of the peer assessment intervention on st... more Purpose – This study sets out to investigate the impact of the peer assessment intervention on student motivation and learning given the numerous calls by stakeholders in higher education institutions to make assessment criteria more explicit. Methodology – The sample involved two groups of students, 65 in total, enrolled in a first-year writing course. The intervention group was subjected to a peer assessment workshop while the other served as the control group. A 45 item Likert scale questionnaire was administered on both groups subsequently. Findings – Results from independent sample T-tests and Pearson Chi-Square test of independence showed that increased levels of motivation and better learning strategies were reported by the intervention group compared to the control group except for one dimension of learning peer learning. A moderate strength of association was reported between the peer review intervention and the dimensions of motivation whereas the strength of association b...
Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2011
This paper attempts to shed light on the role of language in keeping religion relevant to the ind... more This paper attempts to shed light on the role of language in keeping religion relevant to the individual and society in present times. In the context of postmodernity, religion has become more of a meaning system to address the existential questions of the individual. Religious institutions have had to accommodate the changes brought about by a detraditionalized, decentralized, and rationalized social climate. Although these wider changes are mediated by language, scholars in the past have tended to place more emphasis on the epistemological status and nature of religious beliefs than on religious language itself. Hence, this study sets out to explore (through the critical discourse analysis framework) how language renews itself with a close analysis of the textual and intertextual linguistic features to capture the 'zeitgeist' of the times. Six religious sermons (discourses) from three major faiths in Malaysia were recorded. The recordings were then transcribed verbatim and the data analyzed. Activity theory and its principle of contradictions provide an appropriate theoretical, methodological, and heuristic tool to unpack the role of language in the formation of religious meaning systems. Contradictions related to the clergy, language used in sermons in terms of modes, quotations, vocabulary, and personal narratives; religious meaning systems, norms and values, and the social world at large have been identified. It is believed that this understanding of contradictions will aid in uncovering the role of language in reconciling religious meaning systems with the challenges of a postmodern world.
unisanet.unisa.edu.au
Page 1. 1 An Activity Theory Approach to Moderation for Fair Assessment in Transnational Educatio... more Page 1. 1 An Activity Theory Approach to Moderation for Fair Assessment in Transnational Education Thavamalar Thuraisingam 1 Parvinder Kaur Hukam Singh 1 Associate Professor Gavin Sanderson 2 Dr Saadia Mahmud 2 Professor Shelley Yeo 3 ...
proceedings.com.au
This study sets out to capture the essence of the socio-cultural and academic lived experiences o... more This study sets out to capture the essence of the socio-cultural and academic lived experiences of international students in a private higher education institution as the phenomenon of adjustment has neither been studied extensively nor qualitatively in the South East Asian setting. The narrations of 12 international students from four countries; Nigeria, Korea, India and Indonesia were gathered through prolonged conversational interviews. The interviews were then transcribed verbatim and meaning units identified using the selective and highlighting approach. The formulated meaning units were then arranged into clusters which resulted in five themes. The paper concludes with the discussion of specific implications and recommendations to improve the campus climate for diversity.
Malaysia has had a degree of success in establishing itself as a regional education hub in recent... more Malaysia has had a degree of success in establishing itself as a regional education hub in recent years and private higher education institutions are significant players that dominate the international student market because more than 50% of the international student population in Malaysia is enrolled in these institutions. The phenomenon of adjustment has not been studied extensively in the Malaysian setting. Therefore, this study sets out to investigate the essence of socio-cultural and academic adjustment experiences of international students in an established private higher education institution. The informants of this study comprised 21 international students from 7 countries. A multiple case study design was adopted. The semi-structured interview method of data collection was employed. The interviews were then recorded and transcribed verbatim. The themes were then captured in phenomenologically sensitive descriptions which resonate with the experiences of the international st...