Universiti Sains Malaysia

Graduate Student, School of Distance Education

Other Affiliations: Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Educational Studies

Thesis Title: Effects of Pedagogical Agents' Instructional Roles on Learners with Different Cognitive Styles in terms of Achievement and Motivation

About

Foo Kok Keong was born on 22nd November 1982. He received his primary and secondary education at Saint Anthony School, Teluk Intan, Perak. He earned a Bachelor of Science with Education (Hons) Degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang in 2006. During his undergraduate studies, he was listed in the Dean’s List for his outstanding academic achievement. He was actively involved in extracurricular activities where he was the President and Captain of the USM Archery Team and the EXCO Director of the USM Buddhist Society.

He has particular interests in innovative teaching strategies and multimedia instructional design. He realised that the application of technology in education should be based on theoretical foundations and rigorous experimental researches. In order to upgrade his knowledge and skills in instructional technology, he therefore decided to pursue his career as an educational researcher and joined the postgraduate program at the School of Distance Education, USM. With strong encouragement and recommendation by Prof. Hanafi Atan, Foo began studying on pedagogical agents and working as a research assistant in a Pedagogical Agents Research Project, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). In the research project, they investigated various characteristics of pedagogical agents for distance education, such as instructional roles, images, types of feedback and levels of realism.

During his postgraduate studies at USM, he was awarded the USM Fellowship by the university in December 2007. In May 2008, Prof. Hanafi and Foo won the ITEX Silver Award in the 19th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX) 2008 at Kuala Lumpur for their invention entitled “i-Teacher: New e-Learning Solution for the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics”.

In his efforts to extend his knowledge and skills in educational research, he has been actively participating in various workshops, seminars, exhibitions, competitions, conferences and trainings, organised by the faculty, university as well as other educational institutions.

Recently, in November 2009, he was awarded the “Persada Kencana Award” for his excellent performance in publications and contributions to the university as the Best Postgraduate Research Project by the Vice-Chancellor of USM.