Higher Learning Institutions In Malaysia Research Articles

Intrinsic Motivation, Life Satisfaction and Happiness: Students at higher learning institution in Malaysia

Happiness is currently one of the primary indicators of social progress in modern society, particularly among students at higher learning institutions. The study examines the relationship between intrinsic motivation, life satisfaction, and happiness. 285 business faculty students at a higher learning institution in Malaysia enrolled in a bachelor's degree programme received online surveys. The results demonstrated a positive and significant relationship between happiness and the two independent variables of intrinsic motivation and life satisfaction. This study sheds light on how offering extracurricular activities can boost students' pleasure in higher learning and improve students’ intrinsic motivation and life satisfaction

Unpacking Qalb Behavioral Traits through the Lens of Maqasid al-Shariah: A Pathway to Foster Inclusive Entrepreneurial Intentions in the Muslim Community

In Malaysia, a worrisome trend is emerging as an increasing number of individuals find themselves trapped within the poverty bracket and the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) socioeconomic groups. To address the economic and social challenges faced by these marginalized communities and to contribute significantly to poverty reduction and overall well-being, inclusive entrepreneurship has emerged as a pivotal strategy. This study delves into the critical imperative of inclusive entrepreneurship, which often eludes existing quantitative measurements of societal well-being. These measurements frequently overlook the fundamental dimensions of social and psychological well-being inherent to inclusive entrepreneurship. Drawing from the Islamic framework of Maqasid al-Shariah, which elucidates the objectives of Islamic law, we introduce a unique concept—Qalb-based Entrepreneurial Traits. These traits are rooted in moral values and ethics, forming a bridge between Islamic principles and entrepreneurial intentions. Using a quantitative approach, we explore the determinacy of these Qalb-based entrepreneurial traits in conjunction with three key antecedents derived from the theory of planned behavior. Our study specifically focuses on assessing the entrepreneurial intentions of Muslim students enrolled in Malaysian institutions of higher learning (IHLs). Our survey encompassed 287 respondents, and we conducted a rigorous multiple regression analysis using PLS-SEM to scrutinize the relationships between these variables. Our findings leave no room for doubt—Qalb-based behavioral traits exert a significant influence on inclusive entrepreneurial intentions (IEI) among Muslim youth in Malaysia. Furthermore, we uncover that gender plays a moderating role in the relationships between Darurriyyat and Tahsiniyyat Qalb behavioral traits and inclusive entrepreneurial intentions, shedding light on the nuanced dynamics of these determinants. In essence, this study offers valuable insights into the pivotal role of Islamic ethical principles in shaping inclusive entrepreneurship. Beyond theoretical contributions, it provides practical implications for policymakers and stakeholders dedicated to addressing the pressing challenges of poverty and social well-being within the Muslim community in Malaysia.

Students’ Perception of the Enforcement Model Approach towards Radicalism Movement in Malaysia Higher Learning Institutions (HLI’s)

Radicalism among undergraduates in a higher learning institution (is an HLI’s) thing that is already synonymous in most countries, especially in developing nations. The radicalism brought about by the student movement is not triggered, but it is often influenced by the issue of statehood, which is a factor in social change and the formation of community values. However, the involvement of students in higher learning institutions (HLI’s) in Malaysia is now not as intense and aggressive as in the foreign context. Based on scientific studies, student participation in Malaysia lack awareness and concern about the current political issues and problems around them. The enforcement of the University College University Act (AUKU) 1971 in Malaysia, which prohibits students from engaging in politics for five decades, has caused some passivity and paralysis in the students’ interest in political activities. Therefore, this study’s main objective is to develop a resilience model in preventing radicalism in a more student-friendly scenario that does not constrain students’ rights in Malaysia, like the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU), by benchmarking the good practices in Indonesia’s Higher Learning Institution (HLI’s) using the Altbach’s theoretical framework. Thus, questionnaires were conducted among students in three HLI’s – UTM, UKM and UM to understand students’ perception of AUKU from the technical and social sciences backgrounds. The study found that students’ perception of the AUKU enforcement model was poorly satisfactory and required a review, as universities function not as controlled factories but as generators of knowledge for producing great and intellectual national leaders regardless of their calibre and performance.

PERSEPSI AWAL PARA PELAJAR KEJURUTERAAN TEKNOLOGI DI UNIVERSITAS SWASTA TERHADAP AMALAN RASUAH (KORUPSI) DI DALAM KERJAYA

The Integrity and Anti Corruption Course was first implemented at private higher learning institutions in Malaysia in 2022 (UniKL) to follow the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) which aims to realise the vision of the country to be of high integrity and corruption-free. The Integrity and Anti course was made compulsory to be offered and taught as one of the elective courses under the general subject category (MPU). The objective of the study is to measure the level of comprehension of the university students of engineering technology programme on integrity and corruption in Malaysia. This is important for them to be individuals who have high integrity and despise corrupt practices when they join the workforce. This initial study is important to see whether the content, delivery method, and duration of the course are suitable and adequate to create positive impacts among the undergraduates. A total of 89 respondents were chosen as convenient non-probability sampling for this study and all of them have enrolled in the Integrity and Anti-corruption course for 1 semester. They were asked to respond to questions in a survey instrument adapted from previous studies by Malaysia Integrity Institute (MII). The findings from the survey show that the majority of the respondents have a good grasp on what is integrity and why anti-corruption is detrimental to a country. Their general comprehension on the matter of Integrity and Anti-corruption is good but many have the preceptive that some specific examples of corrupt practices are acceptable. This is quite worrisome and the study proposes that this course be further improved and enhanced into a compulsory subject for all university undergraduates. This is to propagate a more comprehensive understanding of integrity and corruption as a crime that must be eradicated.

Implementation of BYOD Security Policy in Malaysia Institutions of Higher Learning (MIHL): An Overview

The BYOD Security Policy (BYOD-SP) constitutes formal documentation protecting sensitive data and information during BYOD implementation in an organization. The BYOD environment in an organization might face threats if information assets security is not prioritized before initializing BYOD. Releasing BYOD-SP is one of the key strategies to safeguard safety in BYOD implementation and to ensure users adhere to the BYOD-SP. It can also increase the understanding of ways to protect the BYOD environment from any risk. Hence, this study explores the current situation of BYOD, specifically in Malaysian tertiary education institutions, and the compulsory components that should be highlighted in the BYOD-SP. The implementation of (BYOD-SP) in Malaysian Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) has led to a sense of discouragement, with only a few institutions being able to clearly outline their implementation strategy, in contrast to what has been done by foreign universities. This has resulted in a lack of information and understanding about the components of BYOD-SP in the Malaysian environment, making it difficult to make deeper comparisons. Understanding the current practice of BYOD can provide a more comprehensive study of a suitable model, cybersecurity framework, or other features to prepare a comprehensive BYOD-SP documentation on campus. As the BYOD implementation is underway, this study could increase awareness of all aspects of BYOD to aid organizations in formulating the BYOD-SP document. This could encourage BYOD players to achieve maximum information security protection.

The Influence of Commitment to Change and Change-Related Behaviour among Academics of Malaysian-Islamic Higher Learning Institutions

The implementation of change in higher learning institutions is rapidly becoming a norm. Academics have to grapple with the changes imposed in order to remain relevant. With the introduction of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013–2025) and other factors, academics in higher learning institutions have had to change and ensure that change is sustainable. In line with this, one of the issues in the area of organisational change is commitment to change. The purpose of this paper is to determine the link between the academics’ level of commitment to change and change-related behaviour in selected Islamic higher learning institutions in Malaysia. A survey method was applied, and questionnaires were distributed. Responses from 103 respondents were analysed using PLS-SEM. Results indicated that academics’ level of affective commitment to change has an influence on cooperation and championing, while continuance commitment to change only influenced compliance. Normative commitment to change only has an influence on cooperation. Other than being the only study that focuses on Malaysian-Islamic higher learning institutions in studying commitment to change, the results of this research also provide insights on the behavioural outcomes of commitment to change, which is crucial for the success of change implementation.

Strategies for building institutional repositories a case study of content recruitment in Malaysian higher learning institutions

Various strategies have been developed to ensure the success of the critical and challenging process of recruiting content for institutional repositories. This article presents an in-depth exploration of content recruitment strategies used by three Malaysian higher learning institutions in their institutional repositories. Through interviews with nine repository librarians, the study investigates the various methods used to acquire content, including mediated deposit, self-archiving, and promotion activities. The study reveals that setting up content deposit as a quality objective and key performance indicator (KPI) is a new and effective strategy used among the three case studies. The findings provide valuable insights into the approaches taken by these institutions to recruit content and offer practical guidelines for academic librarians in general. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on institutional repository management, highlighting the importance of implementing effective content recruitment strategies to ensure the success and sustainability of these repositories.

Determining Entrepreneurial Intention Among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

One of the main issues many countries face is unemployment. Entrepreneurship has been acknowledged as a means of solving unemployment problems. The study aims to determine the factors influencing the entrepreneurial intention of undergraduate students after having exposure to entrepreneurship subjects. This study adopts a quantitative approach using an e-survey and was distributed to students in one of the higher learning institutions in Malaysia. A stratified sampling method was chosen and only 100 responses can be used for further analysis. The data was analyzed using SPSS. Results of the study show that personal attitude and family influence have a significant relationship with students’ intention to start a business. However, there is no significant relationship between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention. The study has provided valuable insights for the university to develop more effective entrepreneurship programs besides providing support to those who are passionate to go into business.

Literacy, profile, and determinants of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin: Survey results

This study attempts to assess individuals’ Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy, and then identifies different profiles based on the literacy levels of these cryptocurrencies, and further investigates whether financial literacy explains Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy. Using a sample from higher learning institutions in Malaysia, the results indicate that individuals exhibit higher knowledge on Bitcoin compared to Ethereum and Litecoin. Cluster analysis revealed two clusters, where the high-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (high in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy) has a distinct demographic profile and higher financial literacy than the low-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (low in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy). Financial literacy is shown to explain Bitcoin and Ethereum literacy, but not Litecoin literacy.

Determining the Factors that Promote Higher Order Thinking Skills in Mathematics Technology Enhanced Learning Environment: Perspective from University Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence promotion of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) among mathematics higher learning institution students in technology enhanced learning environment (TEL) in Malaysia. The study used descriptive research design. Data of the study was collected by using quantitative research approach. A total of 250 students from three public universities participated in the study. The study explores the relationship between students' attitude towards technology use and organisation support towards promotion of HOTS in mathematics TEL environment. Results from structural equation modelling reported that students' attitude towards technology use had a positive direct relationship with HOTS. Meanwhile, organisation support had a positive direct relationship with students' attitude towards technology use which in turn indirectly influence promotion of HOTS. The hypothesized structural equation model accounted for 20.2% of the variance in HOTS. The results indicated a need for further studies in order to examine factors that predict promotion of HOTS in mathematics TEL at higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Entrepreneurship Education at Higher Learning Institutions (HLI): Policy Mismatch and Recommendations

Recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship as one of the engines of economic growth. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has launched MOHE Guide to Entrepreneurship Integrated Education (EIE) Entrepreneurship Action Plan 2021 – 2025. The main aim of the plan is to form holistic entrepreneurial ecosystem that will encourage young entrepreneurs to venture into business upon their graduation. Past studies on youth entrepreneurship development mainly concentrated on the public universities in Malaysia. Studies on the youth entrepreneurial development at the private universities still untrodden. Despite various efforts and policy initiated by the government, the youth entrepreneurship achievement is still unsatisfactory. Hence, the objectives of this paper are to review the impact of youth entrepreneurship policy at the higher learning institutions particularly at the private universities; to identify issues and challenges of youth entrepreneurial development programmes; and finally, this paper will give recommendations to enhance entrepreneurial education development at the private universities. This paper reviewed past literatures on entrepreneurial development at higher education in Malaysia. The findings of this paper revealed that the private universities were unable to leverage to the youth entrepreneurship development programmes designed by the government; there is lack of synchronization of entrepreneurship curriculum and modules from foundation level to master’s degree level; and there were insufficient support systems to nurture young entrepreneur at the tertiary level. Lastly, this paper able to provide several policy recommendations that can be considered to improve the youth entrepreneurship development particularly at private higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Examining the effects of academic motivation and online learning on Malaysian tertiary students’ psychological well-being and perceived learning performance

This study investigated how online learning, mandated for tertiary education over one year in Malaysia since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impacted students’ perceived learning performance and psychological well-being. This study focused on the relationship between academic motivation, psychological engagement (enthusiasm, perseverance, and reconciliation), and their impact on perceived learning performance and psychological well-being, with psychological engagement acting as a mediator. This study collected survey responses from 288 students at 49 higher learning institutions in Malaysia using purposive sampling in March 2022. The results revealed that intrinsic motivation is the sole predictor of enthusiasm engagement. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations jointly influence perseverance engagement, while reconciliation is significantly affected by all three types of motivations. The mediation analysis results suggest that enthusiasm engagement mediates the relationship between intrinsic motivation and two outcome variables. Furthermore, perseverance engagement mediates the relationship between both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations with the two outcome variables. In contrast, reconciliation serves as a mediator for the relationship between amotivation and learning performance, as well as the relationship between extrinsic motivation and both learning performance and psychological well-being. Overall, the study highlights the importance of academic motivation and psychological engagement in online learning in tertiary education.

Determinants of Students’ Academic Performance in Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia

Determinants of Students’ Academic Performance in Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia

Descriptive Analysis of Psychological Well-being among Students in Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia: Which Gender Contributes More?

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on our daily lives. Officials from the Department of Public Health are urging people to limit their social gatherings, limiting the amount of time and people they can interact with in person. Due to the closure of educational institutions, students have to changed their learning method from face-to-face to online learning. Stress, anxiety, and depression have been identified as the most common mental health issues among university students. Many people, notably students, have suffered psychological consequences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. University students experience stress, worry, and despair even when there is no epidemic because of the constant demands of study. Research objectives of this study is to determine factor mostly influenced psychological well-being during online learning and to identify the significant relationship between digital competence, fear of infection COVID-19, social interaction, student attitude and psychological well-being.

Intuitive Eating Behaviour among Young Malay Adults in Malaysian Higher Learning Institutions

Despite the significance of dietary knowledge interventions, there is a lack of established studies on intuitive eating behaviour among young Malay adults in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the intuitive eating score, identify the intuitive eating factors, and determine the association of intuitive eating with weight-control behaviours and binge eating. A total of 367 respondents completed self-administered questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics, namely the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES-2) and The Diabetes Eating Problems Survey (DEPS). The findings reported IES-2 mean scores of 3.52 ± 0.32 and 3.47 ± 0.35 for both men and women. No difference in total IES-2 scores was found between genders for Unconditional Permission to Eat (UPE) and Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cue (RHSC) subscales (p > 0.05). However, among all four subscales of IES-2, there was a gender difference in the mean EPR and B-FCC subscale scores (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was found in intuitive eating, which refers to a belief in one's body's ability to tell one how much to eat, in women across living areas (p < 0.05). The result shows that there is a relationship between weight-control behaviour and binge eating and dieting, with the coefficient of the relationship (R2) of 0.34. As a result, intuitive eating throughout young adulthood is likely to be related to a decreased prevalence of obesity, dieting, poor weight-management behaviours, and binge eating.

SWOT Analysis on the Concept of Spirituality among Muslim Support Staff in a Faith-Based Higher Learning Institution in Malaysia

Spirituality and religion are two different concepts that are closely related to one another. For its strategic planning, the organisation under study (a faith-based higher learning institution) needs to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis related to the concept of spirituality. Therefore, a hermeneutic research design was used to identify the institution’s Muslim support staff’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Purposive sampling was used to recruit eight participants who were Muslim full-time support staff currently working at the institution. Data were collected via a focus group discussion through the Google Meet platform. The findings revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats at both theoretical and practical levels. Although all participants agreed that spirituality is an innate human nature expressed via good deeds, it is still difficult for them to differentiate between spirituality and religion. In terms of opportunities, spirituality becomes the institution’s branding as a faith-based organisation, and this organisation conducted many spiritual-based programmes and community service activities. However, the financial constraints, generational gap, and organisational change might threaten the practice of spirituality in the organisation. The findings serve as an essential basis and guideline for the organisation to develop interventions related to spirituality. Some limitations and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

Correlates of Job Satisfaction among Female Non-Academics

This study aims to determine the relationship between motivation, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction among female non-academics in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). A total of 154 respondents were involved in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used in the data collection. Result revealed that respondents had high levels of extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation (r = 0.33, p < 0.01), intrinsic motivation (r = 0.44, p < 0.01) and emotional intelligence (r = 0.48, p < 0.01) were significantly correlated with job satisfaction. There was also a significant difference in job satisfaction between marital status, (F (2,150) = 8.16, p < 0.05), where the divorced female respondents exhibited higher job satisfaction than the single and married female respondents. Multiple regression analysis revealed that intrinsic motivation (? = 0.22, p < 0.05) and emotional intelligence (? = 0.31, p < 0.001) were the significant predictors of job satisfaction. Respondents’ intrinsic motivation and emotional intelligence were important in influencing job satisfaction. Thus, by understanding the positive impact of motivation and emotional intelligence towards job satisfaction among female non-academics, it helped to ensure the high quality of job satisfaction while maintaining the performance of higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

University Students’ Perceptions on The Effectiveness of Online Teaching in Malaysia During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case of the International Relations (IR) Programme, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Malaysia

Since the pandemic outbreak, most of the students of higher learning have to instantaneously adapt to online teaching as part of today’s new norms. Malaysia is also not an exception to this situation. Since March 2020, most of the higher learning students had to undergo lectures and tutorials via online platform for the entire academic year. As a result, various feelings and opinions on the effectiveness of online teaching were ubiquitously discussed particularly on the cognitive ability of the students to comprehend online lectures. Generally, it has been agreed that, the most challenging issue is the internet coverage involving students residing in the interior areas that either have poor or no internet access. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to unravel higher learning students’ perceptions on the effectiveness of online teaching and learning in Malaysia during this pandemic. To achieve this, this paper focuses on undergraduate students from the International Relations (IR) Programme at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) located in Sabah. Such a selection is due to Sabah being one of the states that is facing enormous challenges to provide internet services for academic learning. The data collection method for this study is a combination of documentary analysis and the online of survey-questionnaires distributed to 100 IR students as the main respondents. From the findings, this paper crucially identifies the students’ internet problems as well as recommends remedies to increase the effectiveness of online teaching at higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Group Online Engagement: An Analysis From Tuckman Model

The use of group work strategy or collaborative learning can enlighten and benefit students in studying and completing tasks assigned to them. In view of this, online group work has been incorporated into online learning to promote student engagement in their learning process. However, there are also challenges related to this approach as the students would have to manage their collaborative work with other group members virtually. This study investigated the feasibility of conducting online group work by examining the students’ engagement through four group developmental stages, namely forming, storming, norming and performing. This quantitative research involved 141 undergraduates in several public higher learning institutions in Malaysia. A survey instrument was used to collect data related to forming, storming, norming and performing in an online group work where the items were divided into four sections namely demographic profile, learner-to-learner engagement, learner-to-instructor engagement, and learner-to-content engagement. The descriptive analysis of the quantitative data revealed a significant finding to prove that learners have high engagement in online learning when doing group activities or tasks. The result from this research would be useful for educators to be more aware of the effective strategies to enhance students’ understanding and improve online engagement. Future research could also be carried out to investigate the efficacy of online group in a larger scale from various fields to further strengthen the findings from this research.

PAPAN PEMUKA (DASHBOARD) SEBAGAI ALTERNATIF VISUALISASI INTEGRITI STAF

Honesty, transparency, and responsibility to the organisation depicts the integrity personality of an officer towards the organisation. Therefore, integrity is one of the components that could drive the development of the organisation to be more progressive and excellent in its specialisation. Various data could be assessed by the management to evaluate the integrity level of its staff, however it is quite difficult for the management to read through all the unstructured data and analyse them without missing any information. Accordingly, this study proposes the development of an analytical integrated technique to assess the integrity level of structured and unstructured data in the form of dashboard to make it easy for the management to analyse their staff’s data. The primary objective of this study is to examine the roles of dashboard as an alternative to visualize integrity data of staff at one higher learning institution in Malaysia. This objective could be achieved by developing a dashboard framework for integrity and generating reports and visualisations in the form of dashboard based on the respective staff. The outcome of the study is the identification of the roles of dashboard and the reporting and visualisation in the form of dashboard for the organisation’s purpose. The potential use of the dashboard system is wide, particularly for organisations that want an integrity framework for their staff information, as well as generating reports and interesting visualisations in the form of dashboard, in line with the needs of the organisation.