Malaysian Students Research Articles

The role of peace educators in building a culture of peace in the school: Comparisons between Indonesia and Malaysia

<span lang="EN-US">A culture of peace is a condition that school members covet. Indonesia and Malaysia are two neighboring countries that support implementing peace education. Even though the two countries are allied and neighbors, each country has uniqueness, including implementing peace education. This study aims to describe the role of peace educators in Indonesian and Malaysian schools. Systematic literature reviews identify the position of peace educators in building a culture of peace in schools. The study uses eight main articles to describe the role of peace educators in Indonesia and Malaysia. The selected articles were analyzed by data extraction. The study results show that peace educators in Indonesia and Malaysia have different characteristics. Peace educators in Indonesia focus more on efforts to suppress student violence. Meanwhile, peace educators in Malaysia focus on building a constructive mindset towards all forms of experiences experienced by students. The study recommends further research to create a unique model of peace education according to the characteristics of students in Indonesia and Malaysia.</span>

Seeking higher order construction of cognitive abilities in a psychosocial learning environment

<span lang="EN-US">In this study, we created a psychosocial learning environment consisting of five types of interaction, namely: student collaboration; specific learning objectives and curriculum coherence; learning facilities; independent learning; and constructivist instruction. This research aimed to determine the scope in which the five modes of contact improved students’ learning outcomes in higher order cognitive abilities. This quantitative study involved form four accounting students (N=352) in Malaysia who completed a self-administered questionnaire that included the higher order cognitive abilities (HOCA) test, the instruments of students’ perceived learning environment, and zone-specific demographic data. The results showed two of the five inventory of students’ perceived learning environment (ISPLE) scores. Specific learning objectives and curriculum coherence, were the most significant predictors and strongly correlated with higher order cognitive abilities. Even the components of the psychosocial learning environment impact HOCA in most subjects. However, researchers have obtained new findings that explain other factors that need to be studied to evaluate or encourage HOCA in accounting subjects. Thus, the researcher suggests further research using self-learning methods through modules to assess and promote HOCA in accounting</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span>

New Media's Influence in Shaping Political Awareness, Attitudes and Behaviours: The Media Literacy as a Moderator and Peer Influence as a Mediator

This comparative study delves into the intricate dynamics of new media's influence on political awareness, attitudes, and behaviors among university students in China and Malaysia. It examines how various factors, including media literacy and peer influence, moderate and mediate the relationship between new media consumption habits and political education outcomes. Through a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from Chinese and Malaysian university students, exploring their engagement with different types of new media platforms, content delivery methods, frequency of exposure, perceived credibility of sources, and the influence of peer networks. The study identifies significant challenges and opportunities posed by the evolving digital landscape in both countries, addressing issues such as misinformation, echo chambers, commercialization, digital divide, and disparities in access. Findings reveal nuanced differences in the impact of new media on political education between the two cultural contexts, highlighting the importance of context-specific interventions and educational strategies.

The Role of Social Support and Emotional Intelligence in Fostering Resilience Among Malaysian Undergraduate Students

One of the challenges impeding Malaysia's economic growth in 2024 is the condition of the global economy, which would raise the country's unemployment rate. There are generally 224,000 new graduates born in Malaysia every year, yet only 127,000 highly skilled jobs are available. This means that Malaysia produces an excessive number of university graduates. The shortage of job prospects will make it harder for the next graduates to find jobs. Hence, graduates from universities need to be psychologically ready to handle uncertain circumstances. Employers do believe that university graduates must acquire workplace resilience before beginning their careers. People perceive a resilient individual as tough, deserving of respect, and successful. Empirical evidence supports the claim that university students' emotional intelligence and social support play a major role in determining their resilience. Thus, the purpose of this study is to find out the extent to which students’ resilience correlated with social support and emotional intelligence at six Malaysian public universities. To collect data, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with 387 students. The results show a considerable positive correlation between resilience, emotional intelligence, and social support. This study demonstrates the potential influences of social support and emotional intelligence on the development of resilience in Malaysian undergraduate students. The unpredictable nature of the global economy signifies that changes in the university environments are inevitable. This study suggests that enhancing the university's general courses and co-curriculum module will foster students’ willingness to take risks and increase their self-confidence, both of which will increase resilience.

Factors Influencing Students’ Choice of Sustainable Transportation Modes on University Campuses

Abstract The increased number of registered vehicles among students at the universities, such as cars and motorcycles, were causing some problems on the campus and around the hostels, such as traffic congestion, crowded parking, which also lead to disturbances in universities communities. The aims of this study were to identify the types of transportation preferred among Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) students, and to analyze the factors that influence mode choice among UTHM students. The study was carried out using a self-guided questionnaire with a determined sample of 120 respondents among undergraduate students that included those who lived on campus nor off-campus residences. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression, and the tools used were Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The Finding of this study showed that the preferred mode choice was bus. However, only a few independent variables were statistically significant for each transport mode, respectively, in multiple regression analyzes. Generally, the main factors that affected the mode choice among UTHM students were security and convenience. In utility functions, walking was predicted to have the highest preference among UTHM students.

Optimizing Internship Placement Process: A Study on the Implementation of an Internship Placement Management System (IPMS) at Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia to Improve Efficiency and Student Experience

Managing student internship and placement of Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia (UPTM) students is a task that needs to be handled systematically and efficiently. With proper management and organization of data, a proper system can help in managing data and manipulating it to get more information and produce more results in reporting. This study aims to improve the process of managing students for internship placement using a new proposed system called IPMS (Internship Placement Management System). The evolutionary prototyping models were used as a methodology to develop the IPMS (Internship Placement Management System). There are 5 (FIVE) categories of users involved in this system that have 6 (SIX) modules to be used according to their roles. The modules will consist from the beginning which is managing the users’ information records, processing internship applications and confirmation, updating continuous progress from the students, assignment of academic supervisor by the Coordinator, students’ internship performance evaluation, and reporting. The implementation of IPMS will help the Coordinator monitor the process from the beginning of the internship until the end. Therefore, the new proposed system, IPMS (Internship Placement Management System) will be useful and helpful in keeping track of and managing the complete process of internship placement in Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia (UPTM).

Bridging the Digital Divide: The Connection Between Perception of Acceptance of Technology in Learning and Behavioral Intentions of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Students

Bridging the Digital Divide: The Connection Between Perception of Acceptance of Technology in Learning and Behavioral Intentions of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Students

IOT based noise pollution and water quality monitoring system

Presently, noise pollution has become a very big issue around the world. The adverse effects of this pollution include hearing impairment, negative social behaviour, annoyance, sleep disturbance and intelligibility to understand people’s speech. In learning context, noise can affect understanding and behaviour of people and places with high noise level are not suitable for learning and teaching process. Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one of the best choices to monitor the noise or sound intensity in the environment for the safety of human being. The aim of this paper is to deliver a development of an IoT based noise monitoring system comprises of a sound sensor, an IoT platform called Node MCU, LCD and LEDs. The system will provide a real-time alert if the noise exceeds the threshold noise limit set by Environmental Department of Health standard. Equipped with an Android application, the data from the sound sensor will be transferred into the cloud server and subsequently transferred into the app for display and to enable remote monitoring. A case study is carried out using the developed prototype to ascertain the noise comfort for University Technology Malaysia (UTM) students for studying or learning purpose. The sound level is measured for two different days during weekend and weekday. Based on Charted Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE), 60dBA is the permissible ambient level and any readings that above 60dBA can interrupt speech intelligibility.

Peace Culture Practices Based on Islamic Values Among Secondary School Students in Malaysia

Peace Culture has been discussed widely especially in the education field to improve the well-being of students and society. However, the level of Peace Culture practices based on Islamic values among school students are still not widely researched. This study investigates the level of Peace Culture practices based on Islamic values among school students in Malaysia, and also the levels of Peace Culture dimensions which comprising (a) Refrainment (b) Forgiveness (c) Humility (d) Collaboration (e) Communication and (f) Peace. This article also examines teachers’ perspectives on the level of Peace Culture among school students. A total of 298 students from 9 secondary schools participated in the study. The instrument used in this study is the Peace Culture instrument which was used in Uman’s et al (2019) research. The findings of the study show the practices of Peace Culture among secondary school students is at a high level (min=3.62). As for the dimensions of Peace Culture, the highest level is Communication (min=4.12), followed by Humility (min=4.10), Peace (min=4.06), Refrainment (3.97), and Forgiveness and Collaboration (3.93). It is hoped that the findings of this study can give an overview on the level of Peace Culture among secondary school students in Malaysia thus can assist prompt activities to enhance and sustain the harmony and peace among school students in Malaysia.

A Study of the Factors that Influenced Smartphone Purchases among UiTM Students in Malaysia

A Study of the Factors that Influenced Smartphone Purchases among UiTM Students in Malaysia

Reaching Malaysian ESL students through Instagram stories - perceived effectiveness, language exposure and learner engagement: A structural equation modelling analysis

Students often find discontinuation between classroom learning and out-of-school practice. As Generation Z and millennials are avid users of Instagram and Instagram Stories, this research aims to study the perceived effectiveness of social media on language exposure and learner engagement, with a learner’s perceived proficiency as a moderating effect. A total of 202 Malaysian Chinese Independent Secondary School Senior 2 and Senior 3 students took part in the Google Form survey. This quantitative study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling for data analysis. The results showed that Instagram Stories are perceived to be effective and useful as it contributes to language exposure and learner engagement agentically, cognitively, and emotionally. However, a learner’s perceived proficiency was not found to be a significant moderator. Future studies point towards exploring English learning outside of the classroom context using other engaging social media tools such as TikTok and more.

Enhancing Ionic Compound Formulation: Assessing the Efficacy of 'Fit-Me-Ion' among Malaysian Secondary Students

Enhancing Ionic Compound Formulation: Assessing the Efficacy of 'Fit-Me-Ion' among Malaysian Secondary Students

A Study on Unemployment rate of Youth Graduates Student in Malaysia

This study delves into the dynamics of unemployment rate among recent graduates within the first two years post-graduation. By employing Partial Least Square (PLS) as a statistical tool, the research aims to assess both the measurement and structural models, providing valuable insights into the factors influencing unemployment. This research aims to investigate how English proficiency, employability skills and job mismatch affect unemployment rate among youth graduate students in Malaysia. This quantitative research distributed an online questionnaire to collect data from 300 unemployed youth graduate students. The findings implies that English proficiency and job mismatch have significant positive relationship with unemployment rate, whereas employability skills possess a significant negative relationship with unemployment rate. The findings contribute to the continuous improvement on unemployment rate among the youth graduate students of Malaysia by English proficiency, employability skills and job mismatch

The Role of Media Entertainment in Managing Stress among Malaysian Students: Escapism vs Adaptive Coping Strategies

The Role of Media Entertainment in Managing Stress among Malaysian Students: Escapism vs Adaptive Coping Strategies

Validation of the Malay version of the recovery-stress questionnaire for athletes: Application of confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling

The Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport-52) is a tool developed to measure the frequency of stress associated through recovery activities with strong theoretical foundations. The study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Malay version of RESTQ-Sport-52 using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). A cross-sectional study with purposive sampling method was employed. There were 617 undergraduate university students in Malaysia participated in the study with mean age of 20 years old (SD = 1.5). The majority of the participants were female (66.1 %), Malay (76 %) and participated in at least one sport or exercise. The RESTQ-Sport-52-M consisted of 52 items with two main sections; (1) general stress and recovery scales and (2) sport-specific stress and recovery scales. Mplus 8.3 was used to perform the CFA and ESEM analysis to examine the construct validity and reliability of RESTQ-Sport-52-M. For measurement model assessment using CFA, the final model of general-stress/recovery and sport-specific stress/recovery indicated a fit based on several fit indices. However, in the measurement model assessment using ESEM, the fit indices for model of general-stress/recovery (CFI = 0.935, SRMR = 0.037, RMSEA = 0.045) and sport-stress/recovery (CFI = 0.923, SRMR = 0.036, RMSEA = 0.044) were generally improved. The construct reliability for measurement models of RESTQ-Sport-52-M ranged from 0.76 to 0.89. The ESEM approach yielded a better fit indices compared to the CFA approach for both scales. The RESTQ-Sport-52-M (50 items) were considered a more valid and reliable questionnaire to measure recovery and stress in sports for Malaysian sample.

Caffeine Consumption, Sleep Quality and Mental Health Outcomes Among Malaysian University Students

Background: Recognizing the scarcity of data on caffeine consumption among university students in Malaysia, this study was designed to first characterize the habitual caffeine intake within this group. This study further investigated the potential association between these caffeine consumption patterns and sleep quality and mental health status. Methodology: The study employed an online self-administered questionnaire to assess habitual caffeine intake from various products. Sleep quality and mental health were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), respectively. Results: 78% of the respondents consumed caffeinated products daily within the safe level recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (£400mg/day). Only 2.6% of the students consumed caffeine exceeding the recommended limit. The median total daily caffeine intake was 100mg/day. Most students had poor sleep quality (77.3%), with 43.5%, 49.5%, and 33.0% reporting varying levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Odds ratio calculations revealed respondents consuming less than or more than 400 mg/day of caffeine did not show significantly different odds of poor sleep quality, depression, anxiety, or stress compared to non-consumers. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for further localized research on caffeine's effects among Malaysian university students regarding caffeine consumption, sleep, and mental health.

PERCEPTIONS ON THE ROLE OF YOUTUBE IN IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract: This study investigated the attitudes of undergraduate students in Malaysia regarding the use of YouTube as a tool to enhance their speaking skills. A quantitative research instrument in the form of a 5-point Likert Scale survey questionnaire, adapted from Alkhatiri (2019), was used. The survey was administered to a sample of 30 undergraduate students who were currently enrolled in the English for Presentation Skills (ELC590) course at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). The purpose of the survey was to gather information regarding the perceptions of these students regarding the impact of YouTube on enhancing English speaking abilities. The data was examined using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 27, employing descriptive analysis to calculate the mean, standard deviation, and ANNOVA. The results indicated that YouTube is considered to be a highly successful online medium for enhancing speaking skills, as evidenced by an average score of 4.05 in the current study. The ANOVA analysis revealed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the association between attitudes and the usefulness of YouTube. This indicates a strong connection between attitudes and the usefulness of YouTube, and improvements in one area directly benefit the other. Therefore, it can be concluded that YouTube is a good resource for learning English, since it increases student motivation and engagement by utilising YouTube to improve speaking abilities among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Keywords: Perceptions; YouTube; Speaking skills; Attitudes; Usefulness of YouTube

The impact of third-person effect on social networking sites privacy risks and protective measures adoption among Yemeni students in Malaysia

This investigation utilized the Third-Person Effect (TPE) theory to comprehend how individuals perceive the impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) privacy risks on themselves versus others. The TPE theory posits that individuals tend to believe that media messages, particularly negative ones, exert a diminished or negligible influence on themselves but wield a substantial impact on others. First introduced by Davison in 1983, this theory has historically been employed to examine perceived negative influences in media content, such as stereotyping and pornography. The current study focuses on the perceptions of individuals regarding the influence of SNS privacy risks, specifically among Yemeni students in Malaysia. The study aimed to achieve three primary objectives: Firstly, to investigate whether individuals perceive SNS privacy risks as affecting others more than themselves. Secondly, to examine the connection between the difference in perceived risk between oneself and others and the likelihood of recommending SNS privacy protective measures to others, and Thirdly, to evaluate the relationship between the difference in perceived risk between oneself and others and the likelihood of adopting SNS privacy protective measures for oneself. Through judgmental sampling, a total of 387 participants took part in the study, involving the distribution of an online questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The results of the study indicate a pronounced Third-Person Effect concerning SNS privacy risks among Yemeni students. Additionally, the study revealed that these students not only recommended privacy-protective measures to others but did not adopt the same measures for themselves. In summary, the findings support the validity of the Third-Person Effect (TPE) theory in the context of SNS privacy risks, suggesting that individuals tend to perceive the impact more on others than on themselves when experiencing fear.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LONELINESS IN INDONESIAN AND MALAYSIAN STUDENTS

7.8% of teenagers in ASEAN including Indonesia and Malaysia reported mostly or always feeling lonely and 31.3% reported feeling lonely sometimes in the last 12 months. This is closely related to the similarities in demographic background and social and cultural background of these countries. This research aims to determine the comparative level of loneliness among students in Indonesia and Malaysia. Loneliness Statistics data states that 43% of young adults aged 17-25 years feel lonely. Initial research interviews showed that students experienced loneliness and felt several things such as not feeling close to people around them, often being abandoned and ostracized, fear of rejection, and so on. A total of 235 Indonesian and Malaysian students living in dormitories were involved in this research. The measurement instrument uses the loneliness scale. The collection technique uses purposive sampling. The research results show that there is no difference in loneliness between Indonesian and Malaysian students. Variable analysis found that the biggest factor causing loneliness in Indonesian students came from within themselves and in Malaysian students the biggest factor causing loneliness came from outside themselves.

Development and Validation of a Psychoeducational Video on Depression.

Background Depression is an important public health issue that affects many university studentsworldwide. It causes a wide range of physiological impairments, resulting in high mortality and morbidity rates. Regardless of the severity of the situation, the lack of knowledge about depression prevents them from seeking help. Furthermore, many individuals mistakenly believe that supernatural powers cause mental illnesses, which leads them to seek treatment from traditional healers instead of medical professionals. Therefore, video is a suitable instrument for disseminating information about depression because it corresponds to the younger generations' preferred method of accessing information. However, there is a scarcity of research on the development of psychoeducational videos aimed at improving depression literacy among university students in Malaysia. Hence, this study was conducted to address this research gap. Methods The study was conducted from October 2022 to October 2023, following the guidelines of video production and the principles of psychoeducation. During the preproduction phase, the script was written based on medical reference books and medically reviewed websites. The script's consistency, relevance, representativeness, and clarity were validated by five subject-matter experts. Subsequently, it was translated into Malay, which is the national language of Malaysia, to create subtitles. This wasfollowed by script breakdown, storyboard and shot list creation, location scouting, blocking, shooting schedule, preparing call sheets, and recruiting talents. The production phase included the activities of voiceover recordings and filming, followed by the post-production phase, which consisted of video editing. Nine subject matter experts and 30 end-users validated the video by assessing its functionality, usability, efficiency, audio-visual style, and setting. Results The video script scored an overall item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and scale-levelcontent validity indexbased on the average method (S-CVI/Ave) value of 1 for the domains of consistency, relevancy, representativeness, and clarity. On the other hand, the video's I-CVI and S-CVI/Ave scores indicated that it met the minimum acceptable valueof 0.78(with a range of 0.78 to 1) and 0.9 (with a range of 0.92 to 0.98) in the domains of functionality, usability, efficacy, audiovisual technique, and setting. Similarly, the video'sitem-level face validity index (I-FVI) achieved a minimal value of 0.80 (with a range of 0.87 to 1) across all domains following validation by 30 end-users. The video's scale-level face validity index based on the average method (S-FVI/Ave) scored 0.91, 0.96, and 0.97 for functionality, usability, and consistency domains, while the audiovisual technique and setting domains scored 0.94 and 0.98, respectively. The feedback from participants included reducing the video speed to increase subtitle readability, replacing gloomy background music with a more vibrant composition and tempo, and substituting stock videos with footage depicting Asian settings. Conclusion The psychoeducational video, titled "Educating University Students About Depression: A Short Documentary," serves as a valid instrument for disseminating information pertaining to depression. The practical application of this video has the potential to improve depression literacy and mitigate the adverse consequences of depression among university students.