13 Integration2010 Proceedings

Proceedings of Regional Conference on Knowledge Integration in ICT 2010 13

THE USAGE OF WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK FOR EARLY DETECTION

METHOD OF CORROSION ON BURIED STEEL GAS PIPELINE

Mohd Saiful Abdul Rahman, Mazeyanti Mohd Ariffin

Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia

[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Early detection on any abnormality on the pipeline such as leakage is essential for efficient

pipeline monitoring. As to date, wireless sensors have been widely used to gather

information in monitoring reliability of the pipelines. The commonly used sensors are

temperature and pressure sensors. One of the issues related to pipeline monitoring is the

reactive rather than proactive maintenance approach to leakage and abnormality. The

objective of this research is to develop a method for early detection of corrosion, in which

the buried pipeline is exposed to changing temperatures and gas flow pressures. This will

ensure that maintenance works can be made in time to prevent pipeline burst, as well as to

minimize operational cost.

Keywords: Early detection; wireless sensors; corrosion; buried pipeline.

1. Introduction

Oil, gas and water are the key natural resources to the life and source of economy for most

countries in the world (Bonny B.N. Umeadi, K.G. Jones, 2008). These natural resources

are transported from its original plants or storage through extended pipelines which

spreads throughout the countries. In some countries, pipelines also used to supply gas

directly to users. These pipelines serve as the backbone between producers and consumers.

Maintaining pipelines is essential to sustain economic growth, political stability and also

safety. Delays in detecting leakage on pipeline may lead to more serious matters such as

fire and fatality (Richard Kluth, Jerry Worsley, 2008).

Wireless technologies have evolved so rapidly nowadays and widely used in many

applications and services. This is mainly because it can remotely place and uses its own

power source such as battery to power itself. There are number of technologies to monitor

and protect pipelines. Most of these are designed specifically for detecting and locating

pipeline leakages. These technologies allow a remote facility to detect and to report the

positions of any leakage as shown in figure 1. Most of these solutions rely on the

availability of a network to transfer the information and report leakages (I. Jawhar, N.

Mohamed, and K. Shuaib, 2008). Pipeline monitoring systems have been using wireless

devices as part of the system communication and information transfer.


Figure 1: Common Oil and Gas Pipeline Monitoring Setup

(E. Odusina, J. Akingbola, and D. Mannel, 2008) stated that one of the industries that have

taken the advantage of wireless sensors is oil and gas industry. Monitoring of pipeline is

very crucial because of its valuable resources as well as for safety precautions leakages.

Wireless sensors have been widely used to monitor the health and the condition of the

pipeline. Continuous monitoring of pipelines is necessary to ensure the safety operation of

pipelines transmission as shown by (Yumei Wen, Ping Li, Jin Yang, Zhangmin Zhou,

2004). However, several issues and problems have been discussed related to the usage of

wireless sensors in pipeline monitoring system. One of the issues is to detect leakage or

abnormality of the pipeline as early as possible particularly in gas pipeline.

It is very important to detect the signs of pipeline defects as early as possible to avoid

serious problems such as endangering the environment, and if the pipeline is near

populated area, it can be a disaster. Structural defects on gas pipeline may caused by

several factors such as corrosion. Several factors have been identified that lead to the event

of buried pipeline corrosion such as pipe coatings, soil conditions, changing of

temperature, stresses, pipe pressure and cyclic loading effects.

The objective of this research is to develop a method for early detection of corrosion, in

which the buried pipeline is exposed to changing temperatures and gas flow pressures so

that prompt actions can be taken to prevent incidents or fatality.

A pipeline monitoring and inspection system has several tasks to be performed for natural

gas pipelines environment to ensure the integrity of the pipeline as shown by (Yuanwei

Jin, Ali Eydgahi, 2008). These include measuring pipe wall thickness, measuring velocity

and flow of gas, detecting gas contamination in pipeline and also determining structural

defects on pipe. Gas pipelines are commonly placed in hazardous environmental such as

deserts, underwater and buried deep (Daniele Inaudi, Riccardo Belli, 2008).

These conditions can cause deterioration or even damage due to corrosion, erosion and

fatigue. Major problem is to detect corrosion cracks as shown in figure 2.


Figure 2: Corrosion Cracks That Result a Leakage

The main focus in this research is on early detection of corrosion on pipeline concentrating

on a) changing of temperature of pipeline and b) pressure of gas flow in the pipeline.

2. Related Works

The problem of corrosion cracks has been long affected gas pipeline and has been widely

discussed in recent years especially for oil and gas industry. Many researchers have been

motivated to look into from different perspectives.

Data and results on the application of long gage-length fiber-optic sensors for monitoring

pipeline corrosion, including internal wall thinning and external stress corrosion crack

(SCC) growth were presented by (R.C. Tennyson, W.D. Morison, T. Cherpillod, 2005).

Furthermore, the authors included complete mathematical model in the experiment to

monitor internal pipeline wall corrosion rate. The model shown in the publication can be

useful to this research due to the relation of pressure and temperature used in that model

although the context of the model is for fiber-optic sensing.

(R.K. Ginzel, W.W. Kanters, 2002) have shown types of defects known in pipeline

industry and the suitable methods for assessment of the defects were presented. Types of

corrosion and cracks also been discussed in the publications. However, there was no

detailed discussion on how to prevent and calculate the defects.

The failure analysis of an 18-inch diameter electric resistance-welded gas pipeline was

discussed. Mechanical and operating parameters of the pipe used were also included in the

publication to show the detailed characteristic of the pipeline. Schematic views and photos

during examination of ruptured pipe were shown to depict the level of failure occurs

during the incident in (F. Hassan, J. Iqbal, F. Ahmed, 2006). However, the analysis was

made after the incident of pipe ruptured.


The internal corrosion direct assessment (ICDA) was been implemented in the 24 inch

diameter of main gas transmission pipeline by (Ahmad Taufik, Nathanel Nainggolan,

2006). The corrosion rate prediction associated with carbon dioxide and water was done

using simulation. The simulation utilized by using NORSOK and de Waard model. The

corrosion rate model in the simulation also included temperature and pressure parameter

that can be relevant to this research.

A theory has been developed for the effect of pressure on the rates of corrosion reactions

in high sub-critical and supercritical temperatures aqueous system by (Digby D.

Macdonald, 2003). The theory is compared with experimental data for corrosion of carbon

steel in the water at 481 °C and at pressures ranging from 170 bar (2500psi) to 238 bar

(3500psi). Although, parameters of temperature and pressure were included in the model,

the equation emphasized more on the chemical reaction of the corrosion process.

Norwegian operators and authorities used NORSOK model for prediction of CO2

corrosion. The model is based on the experiments done at the Institute for Energy

Technology in Norway, (Stein Olsen, 2003). All experiments perform at various

temperature, pressures and pH values. Steels of different types have been tested in the

experiments and concluded that the predicted corrosion rates are conservative with respect

to the most steel type. The limitation of this model is that it is based on experimental data

for temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius. All predicted corrosion rates for temperatures

below 20 degrees Celsius are set equal to the predicted corrosion rate at 20 degrees

Celsius. All experiments for lower temperatures show, however, a steady decrease of the

corrosion rate with reduced temperature.

The idea proposed in this research is to take advantage of all the related research

mentioned and use all relevant and important information in order to fulfill the given

objective.

3. Methodology

System modeling and simulation are the two methods that will be used to simulate

solution to the abovementioned problem. Mathematical model based on NORSOK method

[13] for CO2 corrosion rate computation will be the basis for the development of the

system model.

3.1.System Model

Figure 3, shows the schematic view of the corrosion for the experimental setup to calculate

corrosion rate in the presence of temperature and pressure parameters. Assuming that a

steel pipe with diameter d, already in corroded state C. Various value of temperatures and

pressures will be performed in the experiment and each rate of corrosion will be noted. If

values of corrosion rate are constantly changing with different values of temperature and

pressure, then the hypotheses of the effect by temperature and pressure to the pipeline

corrosion rate will be proven.


Figure 3: Schematic view of Corrosion Rate Calculation with the Presence of

Temperature and Pressure parameters

3.2. Mathematical Model

For the effect of temperatures and pressure in determining the corrosion rate, one has to

understand related models that have include temperatures and pressure as parameters. The

most suitable model used is based on NORSOK method [13]. This is a model used to find

corrosion rate for carbon steel containing CO 2 at different temperatures, PHs, fugacity

and pipeline wall shear stress.

4. Discussions

This is only the preliminary stage of the research. Several values of temperatures and

pressures will be tested in the simulation on the corrosion rate. Limitation of the model in

this research is on the section of the tested pipeline, where corrosion is already happened

and the simulation made is to observe the changing of the corrosion rate.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the research on the effects of temperature and pressure on the corrosion rate

of buried gas pipeline is still ongoing on the modeling phase. Future works will be on

improving the model so that by observing the corrosion rate values, the pattern for

structural defects caused by corrosion can be predicted.

6. References

Ahmad Taufik & Nathanel Nainggolan (2006). Gas Flow Modelling and Simulation To

Predict Corrosion Attack On Pipeline, In Proceeding of INDOPIPE 2006

Conference & Exhibition, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia, 30 May-1

June 2006

Bonny B.N. Umeadi & K.G. Jones (2008). The Development of An Intelligent Sensor For

The Monitoring of Pipeline System Integrity, nanomindidc.com ,Oil and Gas 2008


Daniele Inaudi & Riccardo Belli (2008). Detection and Localization of Micro-Leakages

Using Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing, In proceeding of The 7th International

Pipeline Conference, Calgary, Canada,October 2008

Digby D. Macdonald (2003). Effect of pressure on the rate of corrosion of metals in high

sub-critical and supercritical aqueous systems, Journal of Supercritical Fluids,

Volume 30, pp. 375–382, September 2003

E. Odusina, J. Akingbola, and D. Mannel (2008). Software-Based Pipeline Leak

Detection. Advanced Chemical Engineering Design CHE 4273Department of

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science University of Oklahoma, May 2,

2008

F. Hassan, J. Iqbal & F. Ahmed (2006). Stress corrosion failure of high-pressure gas

pipeline, Journal of Engineering Failure Analysis, Volume 14, pp. 801-809,

November 2006

I. Jawhar, N. Mohamed, & K. Shuaib (2008). Reliability Challenges and Enhancement

Approaches for Pipeline Sensor and Actor Networks. In proceeding of The

International Conference on Wireless Networks (ICWN 2008), Las Vegas, Nevada,

USA, July 2008

Richard Kluth & Jerry Worsley (2008). Digital Pipeline Leak Detection Using Fiber-optic

Distributed Sensing (DTS). Westwick-Farrow Publishing, What‘s New in Process

Technology, April 2008

R.C. Tennyson, W.D. Morison & T. Cherpillod (2005). Monitoring Pipeline Integrity

Using Fiber Optic Sensors, In proceeding of Corrosion 2005 Conference, Warsaw,

Poland, June 2005

R.K. Ginzel & W.W. Kanters (2002). Pipeline Corrosion and Cracking and The

Associated Calibration Considerations for Same Side Sizing Applications , e-

Journal of Nondestructive Testing, e-Journal of Nondestructive Testing, Vol. 7,

No. 7 , July 2002

Stein Olsen (2003). CO2 Corrosion Prediction By use of the NORSOK M-506 Model -

Guideline and Limitations, In Proceeding of NACE Corrosion 2003 Conference,

San Diego, CA, March 2003

Yuanwei Jin & Ali Eydgahi (2008). Monitoring of Distributed Pipeline Systems by

Wireless Sensor Networks. In proceeding of The 2008 IAJC-IJME International

Conference, 2008

Yumei Wen, Ping Li, Jin Yang & Zhangmin Zhou (2004). Adaptive Leak Detection and

Location in Underground Buried Pipelines, International Journal 0f Information

Acquisition, vol.1, no.3, pp269-277, 2004


THE EFFECTIVENESS OF E-LEARNING ISLAMIC STUDIES FOR FORM

FOUR STUDENTS

Hasmiza Othman, Seyed Ahmad Rahimi & Nazirah Mat Sin

Multimedia University, Cyberjaya

[email protected], [email protected],

[email protected]

Abstract

Despite the effort by Ministry of Education to promote ICT in education in Malaysia,

Islamic education syllabus is way far behind the intended plan in terms of its ICT usage in

learning and teaching. It was believed that Islamic Studies faced the risk of being

misleading or misunderstood if the lessons were taught through self-accessing method

with minimal intervention from teachers; a method that e-learning is popular for.

Embracing on Dick and Carey instructional model as the theoretical framework, this paper

explored the form 4 Islamic Studies syllabus ―The steps and procedures of Hajj and

Umrah‖ and created an e-learning version of it. In this study, the contents from the

Islamic Studies textbook of the National Secondary School in Malaysia were revised and

studied using the Dick and Carey systematic approach beginning from identifying the

instructional goal and moving the way up to formative and summative evaluation

processes. The interview sessions were then conducted to see whether the instruction

could be misleading and misunderstood as what it was perceived before. The goal of the

instructions being developed in this study was to validate (or vindicate) those beliefs and

observe the extent of truth the beliefs hold. Findings from this study are discussed and

reported in the paper.

Keywords: e-learning, multimedia, Malaysian education

Introduction

Despite the effort by Ministry of Education to promote ICT in education in Malaysia,

Islamic education syllabus is way far behind the intended plan in terms of its ICT usage in

learning and teaching. Problems have been identified by Hamzah, Ismail, and Embi (2009)

ranging from the teachers, students and the facilities as well as the syllabus itself.

The concerns raised by the teachers in adapting ICT technology in the classroom are

circling around the issues of how to make use of ICT as part of the pedagogy due to the

nature of the syllabus itself, that is, the Islamic Studies is different from any science

subjects because it is non-experimental and no input-output formula that can be tested

(Hamzah et al, 2009).

It was also reported that the subject needed a ‗creative and attractive‘ teaching approach

that can engage the students‘ interests in the subject. Hamzah et al (2009) acknowledged

that students were more attracted to use the computer because it was ―more informative

and had lots of pictures‖; a contradiction to the normal teaching style which was

monotonous and static. However, by just putting any teaching materials in slides and

project them on the classroom wall does not signify e-learning because that does not help

the learner extract the learning (Blass & Davis, 2003).

The initial work in producing a textbook CD-ROMs for English and Mathematics took

place back in 2003 by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. The work progressed in 2004

until 2005, producing CD-ROM textbooks for Bahasa Malaysia and English.


However, there was limited work being carried out for other non-core subjects, including

Islamic Studies subject. Hamzah et al. (2009) reported that the reasons for this were

because the nature of the subject itself and the concept of ‗self-accessing learning‘ in e-

learning which was believed unsuitable for a subject like Islamic Studies.

Islamic Studies is a subject that is non-experimental, no input-output formula and cannot

be tested and analyzed, thus, signifying the difference between this subject and science

subjects. (Hamzah, et al. 2009). This has been the main basis for the underdevelopment of

Islamic Studies into e-learning.

However, Islamic Studies has broad sub-topics that can be thought out and considered to

be e-learning. This research is intended to act as ‗the tool‘ to bridge the gap between the

Islamic Studies subject and e-learning and subsequently serve as a guideline for future

development of e-learning instruction for Islamic Studies.

Research Questions

This research is intended to find answers for these questions:

a. Is it true that e-learning is not suitable for Islamic Studies subject?

b. What is the criterion the Islamic Studies must have in order to be e-learning?

Theoretical Framework

The framework used for this study is based on the Dick and Carey theory and, the

Systematic Instructional Design Model (D&C Model), also from Dick and Carey. The

D&C Model consists of interlinked instructional ‗disciplines‘ that help the instructional

designer to learn, understand, analyze and improve the practice of these disciplines. The

term ‗disciplines‘ defined by Peter Senge (1990) as quoted in Dick and Carey‘s textbook

means - ―referring to the theories and technique that must be studied and mastered and put

into practice.‖ There are ten interconnected disciplines that represent the theories,

procedures and techniques engaged by the instructional designer to design, develop and

evaluate instructions, and finally revise them (Figure 1).

Figure 1 : Dick and Carey Instructional System Design


One of the advantages of D&C Model is that the model works well as a blueprint to

instructional design regardless of the form of the intended instruction. The intended

delivery format of the Islamic Studies subject in this study is e-learning; a computer-based

delivery format and the topic Unit 2 – ‗The steps and procedures of Hajj and Umrah‘ is a

procedural topic that includes steps and procedural learning objects.

The model is advantageous in the sense that it focuses on what learners are to know or be

able to do at the end of the lesson, which without this, the succeeding planning and

implementation can be confusing and unsystematic.

From the Dick and Carey‘s theoretical perspectives - it bases on the understanding of the

connection between the stimulus (instructional materials) and the reaction it produces in a

learner. The theory talks about the process of identifying the sub-skills of the learners that

they must have, and the intended outcome (behavior) that must be learned. The theory

focuses on the choice of the stimulus and strategy for each sub-skill‘s development. The

theory also recommends a procedural methodology of instructional development based on

a reductionist model of ‗breaking instruction down into smaller components‘.

The learning, according to Dick and Carey theory, will be demonstrated in the form of the

ability of the learners to master a set of predictable behavior identified in earlier stage,

which in this case, are the concept, steps and procedures of performing the hajj and

umrah.

The E-learning Instructions

The application was developed using Adobe Flash Professional CS4 and iLife08

Garageband for Mac. The storyboarding was carried out after the completion of the

analyses and design. After creating the storyboard, the scripts were prepared and finally

the audio recording.

Figure 2 : Sample of E-learning screen


The choice of vocabulary of the instructions was adopted and adapted from the textbook

that was written in Arabic characters known as 'Jawi'. In these e-learning instructions, the

text used standard Roman characters.

Students could navigate the instructions in more than one ways. At the bottom of every

screen page, students could navigate the instruction by clicking on the Back/Next button.

They could also click on the topic list in the left pane. The instructions were designed in

such a way to give the best quality of interface to the users.

The instructions were also developed in dual languages. The instructions‘ content was

maintained in Bahasa Malaysia; similar to the textbook, but as for the navigation menu,

button captions, and other operational instructions; they were presented in English.

The instructions were also furnished with pictures of people in ihram, a picture of Kaabah

and animated transitions to give the maximum value.

Evaluation, Results and Findings

There are 3 types of evaluations involved in this project – the entry behavior test,

formative evaluation and summative evaluation tests. All the evaluation steps and

procedures were adapted from the Dick and Carey (2005). Three students were selected

for the one-to-one evaluation, eight for formative small-group evaluations, and thirty for

the summative field test. However, for entry behavior test, Dick and Carey did not specify

the size of the group for the test. Hence, the author decided to follow the small group

model of eight students used in formative evaluation. According to Dick and Carey, any

number of students fewer than eight would not be presentative to the target population and

the data collected would not be sufficient enough for any conclusive recommendations.

Entry Behavior Test - The first test i.e. the entry behavior test was intended to observe the

mastery level of prerequisite skills that the students must have already mastered before

beginning instructions. Dick and Carey (2005) defined the entry behavior as ―the ability to

have skills in order to learn the new skills included in the instruction.‖

The entry behavior elements shown in Table 1 were derived from the sub-skills analysis in

the instructional goal analysis phase. This test was carried out before the development of

the instructions began.

Table 1: Entry Behavior Elements

Entry Behavior

1.Students must be able to read al Quran

1.Students must know the technique to search the al Quran content

1.Students must have the basic skill for operating a computer

1.Students must know how to operate the al Quran compact disc

• Students must know the concept of halal, haram and mahram

1.Students must know the definition and concept of ihram


Eight students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Puchong Utama 1 participated in the

test. The students were asked to respond to six rubric questions (Figure 3) regarding their

prior knowledge in Islamic Studies and their mastery level of computer skills.

Figure 3 : Rubric used to access students‘ entry behavior skills.

The result of this test revealed that all students have high level of computer literacy. The

students also demonstrated their skill in reading al Quran with little to no errors. When

asked to find a verse in the al Quran book, two students could not complete the task

successfully. However, when asked to find a verse using a digital al Quran, all students

demonstrated their ability to explore the application and subsequently find the verse with

minimal effort.

The majority of the students indicated they understood the concept of halal, haram and

mahram very well. One of the students however, indicated that the term 'mahram' was a

new term and could not explain the concept.

Ultimately, a mixed response was recorded for the last entry behavior question - the

understanding of the term ihram. There was only one student who could explain the term

in a complete definition and able to demonstrate the techniques successfully with no help

or guide from the author at all. Three students managed to demonstrate the technique

successfully but could not explain the concept. One student could explain it briefly but

was unable to demonstrate the technique. Another three students could neither explain nor

demonstrate the technique of ihram at all.

Formative Evaluation Test - The formative one-to-one evaluation was to discover any

obvious errors and mistakes in the instruction, whereas the formative small-group

evaluation tried to identify any remaining problems after changes were made to the

instruction following the one-to-one evaluation. Eleven students from Sekolah Menengah

Kebangsaan Desa Tun Hussein Onn participated in the test (three for one-to-one and eight

for small-group).


The instructions criteria were divided into three specific aspects i.e. message, links and

procedures. In message, the evaluations covered aspects such as the vocabulary level,

sentence complexity, message complexity, introductions, elaborations, conclusions and

transitions. In link aspect, the evaluations covered the contexts, examples, analogies,

illustrations, demonstrations, reviews and summaries. And, in procedures - sequence,

transition, pace and variation (Dick and Carey, 2005).

In formative evaluation, we found that:

1. All students agreed that the vocabulary and the use of standard Roman characters in

instructions were accepted as suitable for the students. Students also indicated that the

standard Roman characters were more convenient than Jawi. When asked about personal

preference, students unanimously voted for instructions in standard Roman characters to

Jawi.

2. It was proven during the evaluation that the navigation was working well as intended

when there was no student seeking for assistance on how to use the application although

they used it for the first time.

3. Students agreed with the idea of maintaining the navigation menu, button captions and

other operational instructions in English. When asked, they affirmed that it was the

standard that they were familiar with. They explained that the familiarization with English

operational instructions came from the experience in using Internet, web browsing or

games. When asked if they wanted it to be presented in Bahasa Malaysia, all of them

agreed that it would be 'sound funny', 'awkward' and 'not necessary'.

Summative Evaluation Test - Thirty students participated in the session that was assisted

by the Islamic Studies teacher Ustazah Roslahiah, one technician and one supervising

teacher, Cikgu Nazmi. There were sixteen desktop computers available for the test; each

accommodated two students and one reserved for the teacher. The session was led by

Ustazah Roslahiah who demonstrated the instructions through the projected image on the

white screen. The session was conducted in a synchronous manner due to the fact that only

the computer reserved for the teacher had the loud speakers. The summative field test

was intended to discover the effectiveness of the instructions. In the session the author

distributed a set of questionnaire (a posttest questionnaire) on learner‘s attitude and the

assessment questionnaire and finally followed with an in-depth debriefing session with the

group.

The findings are as follows:

1. Students said that learning through interactive instructions like what they had just

experienced was easy. They said that learning with interactive instructions like this one

gave them more control over the lesson. The students also agreed that they could use this

application at home and learned it individually. However, when asked about the needs for

the teacher to be present during the session, mixed responses were conveyed by the

students. An equal number of students responded 'they do not need teachers to be present'

while the other half was on the opposite side of the idea. Those students who said "no

teachers needed to be present" claimed that the topic was 'too easy'. Others added that the

background narration in the instructions was the 'teacher' itself and that would be

sufficient for learning. On the other hand, students who said teachers should be present

during the session questioned the consequences they might face should there be any


confusions or difficulties during the session. They said they might need the teachers to

help them with the lesson and answer their questions during the lesson.

2. When asked about the learning pace, more than half of the students said that they felt

they had to 'keep up' with the teacher's pace during the session. They said the distractions

happened when they had to keep looking at the projected screen to keep abreast with the

narration. Alternatively, had the loud speakers attached to their computer, they said they

would be more confident with the session.

3. According to one student, he would like to see more topics from Islamic Studies to be

developed as e-learning because 'the content does not change'. When asked to elaborate, he

continued saying that the facts and contents in Islamic Studies "were referred to sources

like al Quran" - the main source of knowledge that did not and would not change for all

time. For that, he said these e-learning instructions would be useful for a long time.

4. When asked about the improvement of the instructions for the future, majority of the

students recommended for more content in the instructions. They highlighted that learning

with computers like e-learning was fun, easy and engaging. For that, they could learn more

with the same amount of time spent reading the textbook or attending the class.

5. At the end of the session, Ustazah Roslahiah highlighted some factual correction in

the instructions. The correct number of tawaf was actually five and not four. According to

her, the correction was first discovered in 2004 after being referred to Tabung Haji (Hajj

Board of Malaysia) by the Islamic Studies panel teachers. However, the correction was yet

to be carried out because of the high cost for textbook reprinting.

6. Before the session ended, we also noted that too little effort spent on choosing the

graphics has brought down the aesthetic value of the instructions. Not enough references

were also a contributing factor to the quality of the instructions. A new approach of notes

presentation using keywords were not widely accepted by the students who were used to

lengthy words notes presented in traditional classrooms. Students also concerned about the

relationship with teachers and perceived e-learning as a distant part in teachers-students

relationship.

Performance Context

The study was conducted with thirty students in the same session with the summative

evaluation. The objective for this study was to measure the acquired Islamic Studies

knowledge through the use of interactive e-learning instruction. Students were given 10-

item questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured to measure the level of

understanding of each student after they had used the instructions (Neo, Neo, & Xiao-

Lian, 2007). The questionnaire also had open-ended comments section to seek feedback

on the success of the instructions in assisting the students achieving the learning

objectives. Results showed that majority scored high marks between 8 to 10 points (87%)

(full mark = 10 points) in the assessment, indicating very favorable and positive

performance rate from the students in this learning environment.


Conclusion

The study is looking at the perception surrounding the e-learning instructions that was

perceived by teachers (as reported by Hamzah et al., (2009)) as having the risk to be

misleading because of the nature of the topic itself; it does not have an input-output

formula that can be tested like Mathematics and Science subjects.

As a conclusion we can say that:

1. Islamic Studies subject can be developed into e-learning. The key feature for the

development was the type of information contained in the instruction. The topic 2 - Rukun

Haji dan Umrah (The steps and procedures in hajj and umrah) contained a ‗procedural‘

information object. According to the Reusable Information Object Strategy guidelines

produced by Cisco System, a procedural information object is the type of information that

is "sequential set of steps to be followed by one individual to accomplish a task ". By

using a systematic instructional design model by Dick and Carey, the Islamic Studies

subject has been successfully revisited, restudied and finally remodeled into e-learning.

2. The students' success rate in acquiring the knowledge from the e-learning instructions

depicts the effectiveness of the instructions in delivering the information. The success of

transferring the knowledge through this type of pedagogy validates the Islamic Studies is

in fact suitable for e-learning, with a condition the information bears the required criterion

of information object, i.e. procedural.

3. One of the advantages of e-learning demonstrated during the summative evaluation

session was when Ustazah Roslahiah highlighted the factual correction in the instructions.

The fact that e-learning instructions could make such corrections immediately at a

comparatively minimal cost has given another advantage point to the instructions.

4. Despite the weaknesses as noted during the closure of the session, the learning

objectives were successfully achieved through these e-learning instructions when there

were only two out of thirty students scored below 8 points. The weaknesses recorded from

the evaluation showed the inclination towards the product quality and not the achievement

of the knowledge acquisition.

Recommendations

Throughout the process of designing, developing and producing the e-learning instructions

in this project, a few highlights have been discovered and recorded along the way during

the construction of the instructions and worth considerations for future instructional

design, especially for Islamic Studies subject. Hopefully, this study will provide a path for

further research on the subject for education excellence in Malaysia.

In particular, it is found that:

• The results of the entry behavior test showed that the students' computer skill level is

acceptable. The students are also skillful in using the digital al Quran as well as reading.

The students also have sound understanding of the halal, haram and mahram concepts.

However, the students have little to none knowledge about the definition and concept of

ihram. In view with the fact that the ihram is one of the essential parts of hajj and umrah,


it is recommended that the ihram concept and definition to be included in the syllabus in

the future.

• The Dick and Carey Model have proved its efficiency for being a template model for the

development of the instructions. The approach allows interchangeability of activities

around the disciplines in a controlled and systematic ways, progressing forward with a

caution of possibility to go on backward whenever necessary. However, for entry behavior

test, the model did not specifically mention the number of sample that must be used in the

evaluation process. It was the author's own initiative to use eight number of students for

this test based on the statement in the textbook that says "any number of learners fewer

than eight would not be presentative to the target population and the data collected would

not be sufficient enough for any conclusive recommendations". The author perceived the

statement as practical in every small-group test although the statement was actually meant

for formative evaluation.

• E-learning is fun and engaging - The majority of the students said during the discussion

that learning through computers is fun. Although the instructions developed the whole

topic 2, students found that the topic was "too short" and expected more. They made it

clear that they could "learn more" with a fun and attractive e-learning instructions like

they had just experienced. With this finding, it is an opportunity for future research to

further discover the "fun and engaging" attributes of e-learning in bestowing the capability

of knowledge empowerment and the retention of skills taught and eventually juxtapose the

advantage of e-learning versus the traditional pedagogy.

References

Blass, E., & Davis, A. (2003). Buiding on Solid Foundations: establishing criteria for e-

learning development. Journal of Further and Higher Education , 27 (3), 227-245.

Fauziah, M. R., & Aminah, I. (2008). Islamic Studies for Form Four (in Bahasa

Malaysia). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Hamzah, I., Ismail, A., & Embi, M. A. (2009). The Impact of Technology Change in

Malaysian Smart Schools on Islamic Education Teachers and Students. World

Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 49 2009.

Neo, M., Neo, T.-K., & Xiao-Lian, G. T. (2007). A constructivist approach to learning an

interactive multimedia course: Malaysian students' perspectives. Australasian

Journal of Educational Technology , 23 (4), 470-489.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization.

Sisco Systems, Inc. (1999). Cisco Systems Reusable Information Object Strategy:

Definition, Creation Overview and Guidelines (Version 3.0 ed.).

Walter, D., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2005). The Systemaic Design of Instruction (6th

ed.).

Documents

13 Integration2010 Proceedings