Invited Speakers
ICDLE 2019

Prof. Betsy J. Bannier
Lake Region State College, USA

Betsy Bannier is a tenured Professor of Chemistry at Lake Region State College in North Dakota, USA. She holds a PhD in Adult & Continuing Education with an emphasis in online science education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as an MS in analytical chemistry from the University of North Dakota. She has over twenty years of experience teaching in higher education, serves on several national and international review boards, and is widely published in the fields of distance education and student motivation. She serves as a Solar System Ambassador volunteer through a program coordinated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her current speaking engagements and research interests include teaching at the intersection of space science and chemistry, and transnational education trends.

Speech title: Using the Cosmos to Cultivate Curiosity among College Students

Abstract: Research shows that creating a culture of curiosity is an effective way of helping students strengthen and persist in their higher education experience. The Universe offers literally infinite opportunities to build exciting, creative connections to and between a wide variety of education disciplines. From stars and chemistry to moons and physics, from satellites and the humanities to deep space telescopes, black holes, and the arts, we’ll explore how the cosmos might inspire us to become more creative educators and also how the cosmos might inspire our students to become more engaged learners.

 

Prof. Jowati Juhary
Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Malaysia

Jowati Juhary received her PhD in Governance and Development from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and her first and second degrees from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi Selangor Malaysia. Her research interests include higher education, military pedagogy and educational technology, particularly e-learning and simulation for language studies. She is currently involved in two main research projects, military pedagogy and Industrial Revolution 4.0. She has over 16 years teaching experience, and was the former Director of the Language Center at the National Defence University of Malaysia. She is currently heading the UPNM Press, the publication house of the Defense University.

Speech title: Perceptions of Students: Blended Learning for IR4.0

Abstract: Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) is the current key term today that affects various facets of humans’ life. As society struggles to grasp its impact, academics are responsible to prepare the future workers, who must be able to cope with IR4.0 and beyond. This paper attempts to gauge students’ perceptions of blended learning. At the same time, the author wants to investigate whether they perceive blended learning as a platform to help them face IR4.0 after graduation. A class taught by the author was observed for two semesters, and at the end of the second semester, all students in the class were asked five main questions on blended learning and their readiness to face IR4.0. Preliminary findings suggest that, firstly, students were not exactly comfortable learning in a blended learning environment and with flipped classroom as one of its strategies. Secondly, the majority of the respondents were unsure of what IR4.0 is, and yet they were confident that they would be able to face IR4.0. The author argues that much is still needed to be done in order to embrace IR4.0, despite the abundance of preparation to face it at various levels.