Many students in Malaysia lack proficiency in the English language, from difficulty understanding the meaning of the text to inferring the text. The use of explicit instruction to introduce reading comprehension skills are also rarely employed in the classroom. This study investigated how metacognitive reading strategies and peer tutoring improved Year 7 students’ reading comprehension at a home-school centre. A total of 20 Year 7 students took part in this research, whereby 10 students were placed in the controlled group and 10 students in the experimental group. Students in the experimental group were exposed to 12 weeks of training on metacognitive reading strategies and peer tutoring session. In addition, IGCSE reading comprehension, learning journals and a semi-structured interview were employed to collect data from the experimental group. A paired sample t-test was conducted to analyse the quantitative data of this study whereas document analysis and thematic analysis were used to analyse the qualitative data. The results obtained from this study indicated that metacognitive reading strategies have assisted students to use suitable techniques to comprehend the reading text and answer the reading comprehension questions. In addition, peer tutoring aids student by having their peers translate meaning of the texts in their native language, explain how to properly use the metacognitive reading skills as well as provide guidance and support in the classroom. Therefore, the findings of this study are significant as it suggests the difficulty of students to adapt to new strategies in a short time; hence, they should be exposed at primary level. Keywords: Metacognitive reading strategies, peer tutoring, reading comprehension, home- school centres.

Distance learning is one convenient form of education for adult learners who aspire to advance their career as well as to meet the demand at workplace. Thus, this study aims to investigate factors encouraging adult learners to continue their education and their coping strategies with challenges they encounter as adult learners.  This group of adult learners furthers their studies through a distance learning programme via a system called ‘ilearn’, which is offered by the institution. This study adopted quantitative methodology to elicit information and substantiated with structured interview responses to add credibility to the findings. Eighty-two adult learners from Bachelor of Finance, UiTM Shah Alam participated in this study. The results indicated that the main factors motivating adult learners to pursue their education are their aspiration for professional advancement, monetary gains and improving their quality of lifestyle. The results also revealed that financial constraints and time factor are the most significant barriers affecting adult learners’ mindset and they strive to overcome these challenges by approaching banks for study loans and opting out for distance learning programme offered during weekends. These two options reduce their hurdles slightly and they are able to cope with their choice of furthering their education.

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The study investigated the effects of group-writing on learners at an institution of higher learning who worked in cooperative based writing groups (group-writing henceforth) and individually. 117 undergraduates participated in this quasi-experimental study for 14 weeks. The learners were grouped in groups of three or four. A mixed-design approach was employed in data collection. Questionnaires were administered and semi-structured interviews were carried out to elicit information. The results indicated a favourable view of group-writing as an instructional approach in English as a second language (hereafter ESL) writing classrooms. The learners in the group-writing cooperated with each other on assigned tasks. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the experiment and control groups, whereby the m 39.3 772 value for the experimental group while m 28.1149 for the control group at (0<,05). This obviously shows that the learners in the experimental group have out performed the learners who worked individually. As they had more opportunities to work together, they built a strong perception of group cohesion and responsibility for other's learning which gradually helped them become autonomous writers. This study adds insights into pedagogical approaches used in ESL centres of higher learning and recommendations are suggested for further research.

Studio critiquing that is generally carried out in physical sites should be done at virtual and beyond offline platforms in order to overcome geographic boundaries amongst professional artists, fellow students, galleries and museums. This research reports on a study of the impact of art criticism in an online gallery for independent artists. The main objective is to observe independent artists' development. An online gallery was created by utilizing design and development research (DDR) by Richey and Klein (2004) that involved three distinct phases: (1) Phase One: Need Analysis was conducted using the Visual Culture Model by Mirzoeff (1998); (2) Phase Two utilized the E-Portfolio Model by Barret (2009) to design and develop an online gallery called Artique using Facebook page, and (3) Phase Three (3): Implementation and Evaluation, applied Art Criticism Theory by Feldman (1967). There were 16 independent artists and 3 expert artists who engaged in this study. Data was obtained by analysing their online postings and comments, specifically expert opinion of independent artist artwork. The findings show that the use of online gallery offered wide opportunities via blogs, news, reviews, galleries and forums. Most of the participants reported positively on their experience in engaging on the e-platform ARTIQUE whereby they were able to improve their ideas, creativity, techniques and skills. The findings suggest that independent artists could engage with experts on an online platform like ARTIQUE to hone their skills.