Wei Fong holding up the mock cheque for her Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research Award received during INTRAC 2026.
TAR UMT senior lecturer Cheng Wei Fong’s research on students’ learning and writing skills in a blended learning environment earned her an Interdisciplinary Research Award during Universiti Malaya’s (UM) International Transdisciplinary Research Conference (INTRAC) 2026 held on 8 – 11 June 2026.
Her working thesis, ‘Bridging the Knowledge-Application Gap: Metacognitive Regulation and Generative AI Integration in Academic Writing in a Blended Learning Environment’, explores undergraduates’ knowledge-application gap within a blended learning environment and examines the role of metacognition (awareness about thought processes) in their learning and academic writing.
Wei Fong was among 200 participants who presented their research and findings to a panel of academic judges during INTRAC 2026. Her detailed analysis and presentation skills earned Wei Fong the award, a result of her accumulated effort over the past five years in understanding her own students better, to discover ways to educate them more effectively.
“I’m interested in this topic because I find that students sometimes lack effective information management strategies, which negatively impact their writing or comprehension skills.
“The goal of my research is to help teachers and educators create better education plans to help students learn how to manage information more effectively, especially with so much information being circulated nowadays. This will allow educators like me to prepare them (students) well for their future and fully equip them with the necessary skills to tackle challenges in today’s workforce,” said Wei Fong.
On presenting her thesis to other academicians during INTRAC 2026, Wei Fong said the experience was both “thrilling” and “humbling”.
“There were so many other great presentations and excellent speakers from different fields of study; I truly did not expect to win since my thesis is not even completed yet. Nevertheless, I am truly grateful for being selected for this award, and thankful for the opportunity to share my work with a wider audience,” added the former Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Perempuan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur student, who is looking forward to completing her thesis and obtaining her PhD qualifications in the near future.
