Dato' Lee receiving a souvenir from Prof Chuah (centre) after the opening ceremony of the conference. Looking on is Assistant Prof Dr Cheah Phaik Kin, the Organising Chairperson of ICBSSR 2012.
As part of its year-long 10th anniversary celebration, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) held the first International Conference on Behavioral and Social Science Research (ICBSSR) 2012 at UTAR Perak Campus on 2 November 2012.
Themed ‘Celebrating Scholarly Connections from Global Interchange and Interdisciplinary Perspectives’, the conference aimed to provide the platform for academicians and researchers to present and exchange views on social and behavioral sciences and to bring together diverse avenues to explore theoretical and practical discussion to advance knowledge.
Officiating the conference, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malaysia YB Dato’ Lee Chee Leong said, “With the advent of technology and innovation, holistic solutions take a myriad of perspectives and an inter-disciplinary approach. It is thus an encouraging step that the faculty had taken to motivate interdisciplinary research in the field of behavioral and social science”.
Also present at the opening ceremony were UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, Vice President (Student Development and Alumni Relations) Assoc. Prof Dr Teh Chee Seng and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Asssistant Professor Dr Sebastian K. Francis.
A total of 200 participants, presenters and paper reviewers from Malaysia, Singapore, China, USA, Hong Kong, Australia and other countries attended the one-day conference. There were 70 research papers presented at the conference. The recipients of the Best Paper Awards were Manisha Parai, Pramod D Shenoy and Keng Yin Loh from Malaysia with the paper titled ‘Students’ Perception of Technology-Assisted Learning in Undergraduate Medical Education – A Survey’ and Preeti Singh on ‘Socio-Economic Characteristics Of Home Based Weavers In Varanasi, India.
Assoc. Prof Dr Teh Chee Seng, the keynote speaker at the conference, presented his paper on ‘Challenges and Current Issues in Behavioral and Social Science Research – Going the Way Forward’.
Renowned criminologist, Professor N. Prabha Unnithan, Director of the Center for the Study of Crime and Justice, Colorado State University and former Editor of the Social Science Journal conducted a workshop on ‘How to publish in ISI-Indexed Journals’.
The conference covered a wide interdisciplinary discussion such as online teaching and learning issues, sustainable development, marginalized communities, universal cultures, cyber psychology, online behavior, neuropsychology and others.
Dato' Lee presenting a certificate of recognition to Preeti (right) who won "The Best Paper Award" at ICBSSR 2012
