Private Institutions Of Higher Learning Research Articles

DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AMONG EMPLOYEES AT PRIVATE HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTION IN PERLIS: A CONCEPTUAL PAPER

This is a conceptual paper for a future study based on the review of the literature related to job satisfaction and the effect of Islamic leadership behaviour, workload and co-workers’ relationship on job satisfaction in private higher learning institutions. Job satisfaction remains among the most studied industrial and organisational psychology constructs for two main reasons. First, job satisfaction is effective in addressing employees’ absenteeism, fluctuation in production, and organizational inefficiencies, such as counter-productive behaviour and sabotage and second, job satisfaction is relevant to employees’ motivation to work and to those interested in evaluating such working conditions as task diversity, work requirements, and communications. To address these issues, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing job satisfaction; Islamic leadership behaviour, workload and co-workers’ relationship guided by the Social Exchange theory. The paper went on to analyse the issues, concepts and objectives for the forthcoming study through several literatures of various disciplines. The conceptual paper signifies to supplement literatures for academics as reference for their research. The result of this future research may provide information to the management of higher learning institutions on the factors and the preventive measures that should be taken to reduce the employees’ problems and enhancing the employees’ performance towards achieving the organizational objectives and sustainability.

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.

Impact of Dynamic Leadership and Marketing Planning on Organizational Resilience During Covid-19: Higher Learning Institutions

The impact and changes due to sudden internal or external occurrence are difficult scenarios faced by many business organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nation’s economic, social, and technological progressions. The effects of the sudden, extreme changes and uncertainty toward the environment require business organizations to further adapt and change to improve their survivability. Dynamic leadership requires leaders to make sudden changes improving adaptability or marketing capabilities to stay resilient and relevant to the mass market. Thus, the goal of the present study was to investigate the influence of dynamic leadership and marketing planning on organizational resilience in the context of Malaysian Private Higher Learning Institutions (PHLI). In this paper, the study performed PLS-SEM on the data collected using purposive sampling of 224 respondents, consisting of managers from colleges and universities in urban areas of Malaysia. The SEM was used to test on the levels of relation and whether there was any mediation between the tested variables. The study revealed that the dynamic leadership and marketing planning of Private Higher Learning Institutions’ (PHLI) managers can improve organizational resilience. It highlighted the impact of leadership values has on improving overall market plans and affecting their resilience. Marketing planning should not be neglected as it is one of the crucial factors in achieving resiliency. The study’s results are timely as they provide information for users to improve their overall survivability. The value of marketing planning should not be lightly treated as it has a serious impact toward organizational resilience. It is an important element for organizations in the current state of where survivability is essential in an unpredictable environment.

Alternative Teaching and Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Online learning is a common learning mode for adult learners, but this may not be the case for Malaysian full-time undergraduate learners before the COVID-19 pandemic. Synchronous online learning was introduced as a temporary solution to ensure continuity in learning during the 2020 Movement Control Order (MCO). However, the infrastructure, facilities, and course programs in most mainstream universities in Malaysia are not built for synchronous online learning during MCO. As a result, the effectiveness of synchronous online learning during MCO was affected, especially learners' engagement. Engagement is a very important component of effective learning. Nevertheless, promoting and sustaining a learner's engagement is not an easy task, especially in a synchronous online learning class during MCO. Therefore, how to promote learners' interest and sustain their engagement are two key concerns. This is because the nature of synchronous online learning requires learners to be more committed to independent learning (Kahn et al., 2017) and it also reduces the in-person interaction between learners and their instructors as well as with other fellow learners (Friedman, 2020; Dhawan, 2020). Learning from home has also posed some challenges to learners. Learners find it harder for them to focus on synchronous online learning during MCO due to distractions from unconducive home environments, weak infrastructure (i.e., availability of electronic devices, poor Internet connection) and flexibility to social media (Alam 2020; Vardhaman, 2020; Friedman, 2020). In addition, the sudden migration from physical face-to-face classroom learning to synchronous online learning may also require new pedagogies to ensure learning effectiveness (Flynn-Wilson, 2021). Therefore, two underlying theories related to effective learning namely, engagement theory and interest theory were adopted to understand how to improve the effectiveness of synchronous online learning in the context of Malaysia's private higher learning institutions during MCO. Keywords: Synchronous Online Learning, Engagement, Interest, Higher Learning Institutions

Unmasking Reliable News: An Investigation of University Students' Search for Trustworthy Information during the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a deluge of misinformation and falsehoods about the virus, which have made it challenging to discern facts from fake news. This study aims to investigate the correlation between university students' background and their knowledge of fake news, as well as their perception of their ability to distinguish between facts and fake news. Data was collected through an online Google Form as the pandemic intensified, and it became imperative to contain the spread of COVID-19. This study utilised quantitative cross sectional survey design with purposive sampling to select active social media users who are studying full time programs from a private higher learning institution as the research samples. The collected data of 261 respondents was then analysed using Social Science Statistical Software (SPSS) and Excel. The study's findings reveal that most university students have a commendable level of knowledge about fake news, which empowers them to differentiate between factual information and fake news. However, the study also indicates that the level of education of college students does not significantly affect their knowledge of fake news or their ability to recognize the differences between fake news and facts. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that there is a positive correlation between knowledge of fake news and the ability to distinguish between fake news and real news. In conclusion, this study's results suggest that university students possess a good understanding of fake news and are capable of differentiating it from factual information. The findings imply that there is a need to prioritize teaching critical thinking skills to all students to equip them to effectively combat misinformation and fake news.

The Social and Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Private Higher Education in Rwanda

This study is entitled “The Social and economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on private higher education in Rwanda.” The purpose of this study is to identify the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on private higher learning institutions in Rwanda. The researchers reviewed the related literature from physical and online documents. This research employed descriptive research design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research adopted purposive sampling technique to determine a sample size of 437 respondents ranged from Students, Staff, and Senior Managers from 26 private HLIs in Rwanda. Data was collected through questionnaire, documentation, and interviews. Primary data were analyzed using SPSS. As results of this study, almost 90% of respondents confirmed that COVID-19 affected the enrolment numbers for both international and local students. Some HLIs, especially local-based ones, reported that this impact would continuously have negative financial consequences over the next 3 to five years. At almost all HLIs, COVID-19 affected teaching and learning activities where 91% of the respondents reported that classroom teaching had been replaced by remote teaching and learning. 100% of HLIs also reported that COVID-19 had affected the planning to carry out exams and it has had an impact on international students and staff mobility at 99% of participating HLIs. As a major recommendation, HLIs should have strategies in place to control future pandemic rather than considering the COVID-19 pandemic as a once-in-a-lifetime crisis.

The 3 Cs of Online Learning-Content, Coach and Community

The current era is now not approaching physical classroom learning for younger generations. This flaw leads to the Internet and distance learning called as online education which is one of the important part in education system. But there are some drawbacks in online education. In order to have a better understanding and ideology on online education and its implication among students mostly in a private higher learning institution, survey has been conducted and information is collected with secondary data and analysed using excel. This study mainly focuses on 3C’s-Content, Coach and Community to make it more clear about Online Learning and its role in Education System for improvising in a efficient manner.

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.

Assuring Quality of Teaching and Learning through Quality Instructional Supervision. A Case of Private Higher Education Institutions in Post-Conflict Somalia

The study aimed to investigate quality instructional supervision and its effect on the quality of teaching and learning in private higher education institutions in post-conflict Somalia. This was owing to the phenomenon that quality instructional supervision is very crucial for the success of all university institutions, and if properly succeeded, such practice is apt to ensure the quality of teaching and learning, hence the realization of one of the core functions of higher education institutions. The literature review focused mainly on quality instructional supervision; and how it related to quality teaching and learning in different empirical and theoretical contexts. The study employed a non-experimental, descriptive, and cross-sectional design involving a quantitative paradigm. A total of 253 academic staff members were randomly chosen to participate in the study, with one objective and one hypothesis. The Linear Regression Model was used to test the study hypothesis (F = 5.991, p = 0.017, p > 0.05). The findings, therefore, revealed that quality instructional supervision determines the quality of teaching and learning in private institutions of higher learning in Somalia, henceforth enabling graduates to be equipped with necessary and handy skills of the 21st century relevant to the demands and needs of the worldwide competition. It recommended that managers of higher education institutions need to consider taking institution administrators (Deans, Heads of Departments, and Subject Unit Coordinators) through pedagogical instructional supervision training through which administrators could transform their knowledge and put to full utilization of the knowledge and skills acquired during their training, thereby developing lecturers equipped with necessary 21st Century teaching skills relevant to students’ learning demands and needs of the worldwide competition.

Postgraduate Research on International Tertiary Students: The Case of Malaysia

This paper sought to enumerate theses produced by postgraduate researchers of Malaysian universities that focus on international students enrolled in Malaysian tertiary institutions. Using the Malaysian Theses Online (MyTO) and the university libraries’ Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) databases to gather the initial data, this paper went on to present metadata about the researchers as well as the participants of these postgraduate studies. It concluded that though there has been quantitative progress since the first thesis on international students was produced in 1999, there is a need to address the unevenness of focus that was leaning more towards the experiences of postgraduate students in public institutions of higher learning and less on those enrolled in undergraduate programs, especially at private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia.

LECTURERS ATTITUDE TOWARDS COMMUNICATING WITH LIBRARIANS FOR PRODUCTIVE TEACHING IN SEVERAL PRIVATE HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN SELANGOR

The research investigated the attitude of lecturers towards communicating with librarians for a productive teaching process in universities in several private higher learning institutions in Selangor. The research adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the research comprised 2,500 lecturers in several private higher learning institutions in Selangor. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. A total of 750 copies of questionnaire were administered by the researchers, out of which 730 copies were correctly filled and returned and used for the research. The data obtained were analyzed using frequencies, mean and standard deviation. The results revealed that lecturers show a positive attitude in communicating with librarians for a productive teaching process in several private higher learning institutions in Selangor. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that lecturers should check the library information resources at the beginning of each semester to know whether the information resources required for the courses they teach are sufficient or not; this will help in building library collections. Lecturers should also communicate with the librarian on library resources and services and the way they feel that librarian can serve them better.

Workplace Challenges during the Covid-19 Pandemic in a Private Institution of Higher Learning

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected both people and organizations. However, several studies on the pandemic’s effects on the workplace in the educational sector have mainly focused on developed countries. This qualitative case study aimed to describe the challenges faced by the faculty of a private institution of higher learning in a developing country during the Covid-19 pandemic and how they coped with these challenges. Nine faculty members were purposively selected to participate in the study. Data analysis followed the thematic approach outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). The findings highlighted challenges such as the country’s economic condition; the level of preparedness of the organization, faculty, and students; technology; and the teaching faculty’s health conditions. The faculty members met these challenges differently based on their personal skills and the institution’s available resources. The participants thought that the institution’s leaders needed to invest more resources to meet the future demands of the job. The major recommendation is that the administration prepares the faculty and puts mechanisms in place to help the organization thrive.

Digitilization of academic libraries, a response to the blended mode of teaching in private higher learning institutions in Africa

ABSTRACT Academic libraries are being encouraged to digitalize their services. This idea has been supported with the advent of COVID-19 where health measures are encouraging social distancing and avoiding hand to hand distribution of documents and the limit of face to face contacts. Encouragement is being made to have a full online lectures or blended mode of teaching where there is a mixture of face to face with online courses. The main challenge in this process is that most of core books related to academic courses in libraries are in printed format and accessible only by visiting the library. It is to note that private higher learning institutions in Africa are still facing challenges related to inadequate resources as they do not get governmental finance support. This study aims to review literature on the role of digitalization of academic libraries as a response to the blended mode of teaching. The objective of the study is to investigate challenges faced by academic libraries in private higher learning institutions in Africa that limit them to satisfy their users’ needs through digitization of the library and to propose strategies that can be adopted in order to overcome those challenges. Literature reviewed found out that: The digitalization of library has a great role to play on library users’ needs satisfaction; That academic libraries are facing challenges during the digitalization process, challenges that limit fully adoption the use of internet and the digitalization of libraries in order to satisfy library users’ needs.The study recommends: the management to avail adequate resources to libraries; hiring new personnel and deploying/retraining existing staff in ICT related to library digitalization; Training of library users on the access and use of digitalized library resources; To embrace new technology and move from printed documents accessed physically to digitalized documents accessed through internet in order to meet the users’ needs satisfaction in the age of digitalization of education.

NILAI MENGUTAMAKAN PELANGGAN DALAM KALANGAN KAKITANGAN DI IPTS: SATU TINJAUAN TERHADAP PELAKSANAAN PIAWAIAN MS 1900:2014 CUSTOMER PRIORITY VALUE AMONG STAFF IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: A SURVEY TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF MS 1900:2014 STANDARD

Nowadays, the appreciation of noble values in organizational management is emphasized when new working methods and norms are developing rapidly. The value aspect of prioritizing customers first is often an important topic to ensure that a product or service is competitive and excellent. Accordingly, an organization such as a higher education institution that involves many customers is very relevant in ensuring that the services provided are of high quality and ultimately provide satisfaction to all parties. Therefore, this study focuses on the appreciation of the noble values of prioritizing customers in a Private Institution of Higher Learning, Malaysia which has adopted the implementation of a Shariah-based Quality Management System (MS 1900: 2014). The methodology of this study uses a quantitative study design through data collection by survey method with the distribution of questionnaires using simple random sampling. The respondents of this study involved a total of 297 staff which includes academic staff, executive and non-executive staff. The results were analyzed through the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS) which engaged the Pearson Correlation Test, using descriptive and inferential analysis. Furthermore, the findings of the study have proven that there is a positive relationship between the noble value of prioritizing customers with aspects of job satisfaction among the staff involved. In conclusion, the findings of this study show that the appreciation of noble values of prioritizing customers has a significant relationship and influences the job satisfaction while implementing Shariah-based Quality Management System (MS 1900) in institutions of higher learning.

The role played by gender, household income and age in factors contributing to consumers’ attitudes towards short message service advertisements

The exponential growth in the use of mobile phones has seen companies investing heavilyin mobile marketing to exploit the advertising opportunities presented by this medium. Thisstudy investigated the role that gender, household income and age play with regard to factorscontributing to the attitudes of consumers towards SMS advertisements. The contributingfactors reviewed in this study are content appeal, perceived personalisation, interactivity of SMSadvertisements, attitudes towards advertising in general, consumers’ innovativeness, perceivedconsumer knowledge, perceived control, fear of spamming, perceived incentives and locationbasedadvertising. A convenience sample was drawn from staff and students of three privateinstitutions of higher learning. The findings indicate that gender, household income and agetend to affect consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertisements. More specifically, of all thecontributing factors, household income emerged as the most significant differentiator.

Digitilization of academic libraries, a response to the blended mode of teaching in private higher learning institutions in Africa

Academic libraries are being encouraged to digitalize their services. This idea has been supported with the advent of COVID-19 where health measures are encouraging social distancing and avoiding hand to hand distribution of documents and the limit of face to face contacts. Encouragement is being made to have a full online lectures or blended mode of teaching where there is a mixture of face to face with online courses. The main challenge in this process is that most of core books related to academic courses in libraries are in printed format and accessible only by visiting the library.It is to note that private higher learning institutions in Africa are still facing challenges related to inadequate resources as they do not get governmental finance support. This study aims to review literature on the role of digitalization of academic libraries as a response to the blended mode of teaching. The objective of the study is to investigate challenges faced by academic libraries in private higher learning institutions in Africa that limit them to satisfy their users’ needs through digitization of the library and to propose strategies that can be adopted in order to overcome those challenges. Literature reviewed found out that: The digitalization of library has a great role to play on library users’ needs satisfaction; That academic libraries are facing challenges during the digitalization process, challenges that limit fully adoption the use of internet and the digitalization of libraries in order to satisfy library users’ needs.The study recommends: the managementto avail adequate resources to libraries; hiring new personnel and deploying/retraining existing staff in ICT related to library digitalization; Training of library users on the access and use of digitalized library resources; To embrace new technology and move from printed documents accessed physically to digitalized documents accessed through internet in order to meet the users’ needs satisfaction in the age of digitalization of education.

Evaluating the competence of private higher-learning institutions based on the BWM and vague set theory

Since the implementation of the Private Education Promotion Law in China, reasonably evaluating the competence of private higher-learning institutions (PHLIs) has become an urgent issue. Based on an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the existing evaluation methods and index system, this paper proposes a comprehensive method for evaluating the competitiveness of private colleges and universities. The evaluation index system is constructed, and private colleges and universities are then evaluated by means of the best worst method (BWM) and vague set theory. Finally, S university in Zhejiang Province is evaluated as an example. The results show that the university has strong competitiveness in operating its schools, but the quality of the schools and its ability to operate them need to be strengthened. Compared with other experimental approaches, this method can be used for effective and reasonable evaluation of the competitiveness of private universities.

THE INFLUENCE OF INTERACTION FACTORS IN CROSS-CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN A PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNING INSTITUTION

Adjustment process is needed in a new living environment in a new host culture and is a prerequisite for any international student when studying abroad. In addition, successful adaptation to the new host culture by international students can be achieved by getting good emotional and physical support, coupled with deep understanding from family members. This study aims to understand the interaction adjustment process among international students in a private higher learning institution. We had identified and collected relevant data from two faculties in Kolej Universiti Islam Perlis. A total of 5 respondents were selected and interviewed, and the selection process was made through a snowball sampling technique. Two main themes, local accent and communication in the English Language, were developed for this study. This study provides a discussion of the main findings from the research and where applicable, links the works of literature to the research outcomes. The study outcomes can also be used as a guideline in the adjustment process for international students. Universities can also make references to this study in helping international students adapt to a new host’s culture, especially in terms of interaction adjustment, by providing appropriate pieces of training and guidelines.

ISU DAN CABARAN DANA WAKAF ILMU UITM CAWANGAN PERLIS

The establishment of waqf funds in institutions of higher learning is increasingly being developed by many public and private institutions of higher learning throughout the country. The phenomenon of the establishment of waqf funds has triggered great innovations in the development of waqf in the country. It is in line with the launch of the UniTP Purple Book Guidelines that has been enforced for use in October 2016 by the Ministry of Higher Education to develop their respective endowment management centers to generate income. In this regard, UiTM Perlis Branch took the initiative to establish the UiTM Perlis Knowledge Endowment Fund (DWIPs). Thus, this study examined the issues and challenges faced by DWIPs in helping the income generation of higher learnings institutions. This study used a qualitative method with a case study at UiTM Perlis Branch. The experience of the authors and fellow authors who led DWIPs from the beginning of the establishment to the present were analyzed and described descriptively and comparatively. The findings of the study found that there are four issues and challenges, which are lack of understanding and public awareness of waqf, management bureaucracy problems, lack of energy resources in the management of DWIPs as well as legal and financial barriers. The results of this study are intended to help spread awareness of DWIPs among the staff and gain attention from the university management. In relation to that, it can also increase the amount of knowledge endowment fund collection and benefit all UiTM Perlis Branch staff.

The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress level of Students in Private Higher Learning Institution during COVID-19 Crisis in Malaysia

The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress level of Students in Private Higher Learning Institution during COVID-19 Crisis in Malaysia