On 07 December 2022 (Wednesday), the Cameron Highlands District Education Office High Impact STEM Action Research Colloquium 2022 (KOLKATS@CH 22) was successfully held as a result of the collaboration of UUM MySTEM Ambassador, the School of Quantitative Science, the Center for Testing, Measurement and Appraisal (CeTMA), Cameron Highlands District Education Office (PPDCH), Institute for Advanced and Smart Digital Opportunities (IASDO) and Institute of Excellent Teachers and Leaders in Education (IETLE). The program, carried out face-to-face at the PPDCH Main Hall, was attended by approximately 35 participants, consisting of 18 teachers, five PPDCH officials, and two Pahang State Education Department (JPNP) officials.
The colloquium, this time, started with a keynote speech delivered by three panellists, namely Dr. Saadi Ahmad Kamaruddin (CeTMA Deputy Director & UUM MySTEM Ambassador Coordinator), Dr. Hapini Awang (IASDO), and Dr. Nur Suhaili Mansor (IASDO) entitled "The Role of Action Research in STEM Education." Next, a total of eight participants presented their respective action studies and were evaluated by three panellists, namely Dr. Hapini Awang (IASDO), Dr. Nur Suhaili Mansor (IASDO), and Dr. Nasaruddin Abdullah (JPNP). The purpose of this program is to cultivate action research as a medium to improve the quality of knowledge delivery by educators.
This implemented program is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Core 4 (SDG4): Ensuring comprehensive education and equity and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all and Thrust 17 (SDG17): Strengthening practices and intensifying international cooperation for sustainable development.
This program received a favourable response from the teachers involved, where interactive sessions can be seen throughout the program. Although this colloquium session was relatively short, the teachers were still able to gain useful knowledge from the presentations and the evaluators' comments. In addition to experience, the facilitators appointed to help with action research writing also share some knowledge and how to become a good high-impact writer according to the requirements of the action research criteria.
The colloquium ended with the presentation of the district's best action research award, which will represent PPDCH at the Pahang State Level Action Research Colloquium 2023.