Mark Smith
mark.smith@ubd.edu.bn
Mark Smith is a teacher educator with over twenty years’ experience at the primary and tertiary levels. Having commenced his career as a primary classroom teacher in Australia in 1990, Mark entered the ESL field in 2000. From this period he has worked as a teacher and lecturer in Brunei, and more recently as a training fellow with the Brighton Education group in Malaysia.
He has presented a number of papers at conferences throughout South East Asia as well as conducting several work- shops for teachers, trainee teachers and teacher educators. Mr. Smith has a Masters in TESOL, and his varied research interests include phonological awareness, school-based assessment, formative assessment and peer coaching.
Presently, Mark works as an educational officer at the Centre for Lifelong Learning where he teaches communication, IELTS and language proficiency. His current research focuses on the perceptions of trainee teachers to school-based assessment in Malaysia. In collaboration with two of his colleagues, he hopes to have two internationally peer reviewed journals published by the end of the year.
Internationally, he is collaborating with Institute Teacher's College Gaya, Malaysia in the area of formative school-based assessment. An article entitled: "Introducing formative assessment via task-based learning to teacher trainees in a Malaysian Institute of Education" is almost ready for publication.
In UBD, he has conducted and participated in the following research:
• As principal investigator for “An examination and comparison of the new year 1 phonics programme in Brunei Darussalamâ€. Approved Funding: $20,963. UBD/PNC2/2/RG/1(114).
• Joint researcher in teacher professional development which produced the paper “Lesson Study: An integrated professional development strategy’, presented at NIE Singapore, May 2007.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Lesson Study, Phonological Awareness, Formative Assessment, Professional Learning Communities, Teacher Training, Classroom Management
FUTURE PROJECTS
Trainee Teachers' Perceptions of School-Based Assessment in Malaysia: An Exploratory Study.
School-based assessment, while quite established in many Western countries, is still relatively new in the Asian education context. Consequently, operational problems such as large class sizes, lack of teacher skills and inadequate computer management systems mean that many teachers are still focused on more traditional methods of assessment. This paper attempts to address this apparent reluctance by teachers to embrace school-based assessment through an exploratory research study on 25 first year bachelor of education students from a Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education. Findings showed that the majority of students were more positive towards a student-centred and formative learning approach after the students had experienced a teaching unit based on formative assessment principles. Results may serve as a useful starting point for researchers interested in more classroom-based explorations of school-based assessment in Asia.
Applications Invited
Usage Patterns and Potential for Vocabulary Apps Amongst Thai Pre-University Students.
Applications Invited
Google Scholar Citations
Google Scholar h-index
Google Scholar i10-index
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Issues for teaching phonics in a multi-lingual Context: A Brunei Perspective
Is the RELA Approach Enough?
Lesson Study: An integrated professional development strategy for an isolated profession
TOP PUBLICATIONS
Issues for Phonics in a Multilingual Context: A Brunei Perspective
Lesson Study: An integrated professional development strategy for an isolated profession
GRANT DETAILS
URG
UBD/PNC2/2/RG/1(114)
Mark Smith, Malai Hayati Bte Sheikh Hamid, Pg Hjh Rohaniah Bte Pg Hj Metussin
BND20,963
01/05/2010 - 31/07/2011
RESEARCH OUTPUTS (PATENTS, SOFTWARE, PUBLICATIONS, PRODUCTS)
Conference Proceedings / Papers
• Smith, M.B. (2010). “The ‘How’ of Phonics Instruction in the ESL Context.' Paper Presentation at the 6th Annual CamTESOL Conference, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 25th-27th February, 2010.
• Smith, M.B. (2007). Lesson Study: An integrated professional development strategy for an isolated profession. Paper presented at the NIE Education Conference, Singapore, 28-30 May 07
• Smith, M.B. (2007). Activities to strengthen phonemic /phonological awareness amongst students with special needs. Workshop report for 2nd National Seminar & Workshop on Special Education.
Conference Proceedings/Workshops
• 17 April 2013. Workshop "Having Fun With Phonological Awareness" at Support & Development for ELT Professionals: Challenges & Opportunities, Penang, Malaysia.
• 23rd Feb 2013. Keynote speaker. 'Facilitating Student-Centred Learning via Effective Classroom Management.' Creating Opportunities Through a Child's Eyes, Brighton Conference, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
• Workshop Presenter for " A Reflective Approach to Punctuation", "Enhancing Phonics with Literature" & "Having Fun With Phonological Awareness" at Language Arts- Catalyst for Change conference, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
• Smith, M.B. (2007). Phonics – A systematic and explicit guide to teacher Instruction. Report of the third SHBIE annual National seminar/Workshop in Education, SANSWE 2007, 3, 94.
• Smith, M.B. (2007). Addressing the literacy deficit in lower primary English. Workshop report presented at SANSWE (06) report 5.12.
• Smith, M.B. (2007). Activities to strengthen phonemic /phonological awareness amongst students with special needs. Workshop report for 2nd National Seminar & Workshop on Special Education.
Compendium Entries
• 2013 'Having Fun With Phonological Awareness' a workshop for Primary teachers, in the Brighton Education compendium for the Malaysian Ministry of Education.
Industry, Institute, or Organisation Collaboration
• Currently collaborating with Institute Teacher's College Gaya, Malaysia in the area of formative school-based assessment. An article entitled: "Trainee Teachers' Perceptions of School-Based Assessment in Malaysia: An Exploratory Study" is almost ready for publication.
• Invited visiting lecturer to Hong Kong Institute of Education to brief staff on our research and provide a series of lectures for students. March and October 2011.
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
Has industry experience
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, or ACADEMIC BENEFITS
The potential commercial benefits from both Unibridge and the Discovery programmes are immense. As these programmes expand worldwide with the support of the University so too will monetary benefits. Continual collaborative research on these programmes is also expected to refine and improve the courses, leading to greater student outcomes.