Curriculum Evaluation In Malaysia: Aspirations And Realities Curriculum evaluation is among the popular areas of research in education in Malaysia. This inaugural lecture book aims to compare the aspirations and realities of curriculum evaluation in the country. The aspirations are based on concepts and purposes of curriculum evaluation and guidelines provided by some popular curriculum evaluation models. On the other hand, the realities of curriculum evaluation in Malaysia are presented based on a review of 50 randomly sampled reports of curriculum evaluation. The review resulted in a summary of the current state of curriculum evaluation practices in Malaysia. The comparison of the aspirations and realities of the curriculum evaluation practices found a diversity of approaches and methods used; all studies have evaluative features; most of the evaluation findings are for specific implications to the programme evaluated; the terms ‘curriculum evaluation’, ‘programme evaluation’, and ‘curriculum research’ are used interchangeably; less than half of the reports did not involve the use of an evaluation model; a large proportion of curriculum evaluation in higher education projects focused on outcome-based education and entrepreneurship educati on; and only a handful of the evaluation projects were conducted by decision and policy makers at ministerial level. In the light of these findings, implications to policy makers and curriculum practitioners are discussed.

This book examines Malaysia’s educational landscape, providing a contemporary study of key themes that have emerged in this multicultural, multi-ethnic society, as it attempts to shift from a middle-income to a high-income nation. Combining contributions by scholars from various fields—such as economics, history, sociology, political science and, of course, education—the book provides richer insights into Malaysia. Offering a unique resource, it will be of particular interest to educators, researchers, students, policymakers and members of the public who want to be updated on the latest trends and challenges in Malaysian education.