Undergraduates In Malaysia Research Articles

MOCK INTERVIEW: SELF-PERCEIVED COMPETENCE AND ACTUAL PERFORMANCE AMONG ESL UNDERGRADUATES

The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived competence and actual performance among ESL undergraduates in Malaysia. This study investigates the differences between students’ self-perceived competence and actual performance in mock interviews. The study was conducted in Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The survey was distributed to 40 ESL undergraduates who were attending Language for Occupational Purposes (LE 4500) course. A descriptive quantitative method is used to examine the two variables involved in this study. The result revealed that students perform better than they think they are. The results of this study show that they underestimate their capability to do well in mock interview. This study helps give instructors a better understanding about the student perspective. It could be implied students’ lack of confidence drives them to work harder in order to do well in the mock interviews.

Relationship between Self-concept Clarity and Generalised Pathological Internet Use among Undergraduates in Malaysia

Relationship between Self-concept Clarity and Generalised Pathological Internet Use among Undergraduates in Malaysia

Beyond Conventional Classroom Learning: Linking Emotions and Self-Efficacy to Academic Achievement and Satisfaction with Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined the impact of online learning on students’ mental well-being, distress, anxiety, academic achievement and satisfaction with online learning. A total of 915 undergraduates in Malaysia and Indonesia responded to the Google Classroom Evaluation survey. Results indicated that students’ mental well-being was negatively impacted by financial difficulties, concern that their physical health may suffer due to exposure to Covid-19, and a lack of motivation for online learning. Analysis of emotional factors revealed distress and feelings of nervousness when classes were conducted online. Overall, participants were satisfied with the online learning experience, as was evident from the academic achievement in courses conducted with above average CGPA. Multiple regression analysis indicated that distress, anxiety and self-efficacy in online learning were significant predictors of satisfaction with online learning, with self-efficacy in online learning making the largest contribution. However, academic achievement was not a significant predictor of satisfaction with online learning. It is recommended that higher learning institutions provide counselling, behavioral adaptations and study techniques to support students in managing their distress and anxiety surrounding online learning, which is anticipated to continue throughout 2021 due to the increase in virus cases.

Exploring emoji as a viable cultural tool in WhatsApp communications among Malaysian undergraduates

An emoji is a form of a symbol in communication available on almost all social media platforms. Its convenience brings potential implications for its usage in digital communication. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of emojis in WhatsApp communication and the influence of culture on emoji usage among undergraduates in Malaysia. The study employed a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight undergraduates of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). The data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Overall, the findings revealed that emojis increase communication efficiency. The participants have positive attitudes towards emoji usage. They describe emojis as viable symbols that help them to maintain social relations and express feelings. Additionally, the findings showed that Malaysian culture influences emoji communication by promoting harmony and relationships as well as instilling high context values in emoji usage. This research concludes that emojis can influence WhatsApp Communication positively if utilized correctly.

Exploring University Students’ Acceptance of Open Distance Learning Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

The technology acceptance model (TAM) can be used to study the success of Online Distance Learning (ODL) as a teaching and learning approach. ODL became the only tool available due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted the learning process in Malaysia and the world over. ODL took the place of traditional classrooms and created new chances for students and teachers to interact and communicate. This study investigates students' acceptance of ODL as an acceptable learning approach among undergraduates in Malaysia. This research makes three contributions. First, this research may aid in determining whether learners or users prefer ODL. Second, this research will aid in identifying the characteristics that significantly influence the intention to use ODL. Third, this research also provides insights into whether variables like perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness impact ODL acceptance as a learning tool. The findings reveal that ODL was not a popular choice of learning approach among students. Although students had a positive perception of ODL, the student's attitude and intention to use ODL for future learning were lacking.

E-Learning among the undergraduates in Malaysia during COVID-19

E-Learning among the undergraduates in Malaysia during COVID-19

THE OCCURRENCE OF CODE-SWITCHING AMONG MALAYSIAN UNDERGRADUATES ON WHATSAPP: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This research proffers a critical overview of the theoretical and analytical occurrence of code-switching by reviewing a range of empirical and relevant studies. In particular, the dominating and governing factor of computer-mediated communication and code-switching. This research also probes the pertinent concepts, focusing on the types of code-switching and its correlation with computer mediated communication. Subsequently, it reviews the structural features of WhatsApp, deliberating the occurrence of code-switching among UiTM undergraduates in Malaysia, noting the social motivation of style-shifting. The research concludes with recommendations for future research, emphasising on the issue of its applicability to the analysis of second language acquisition and learning.
 
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Financial Health of Undergraduates in Malaysia: An Empirical Study on the Underlying Factors

This study aims to identify factors that influence the financial health of students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Among the factors studied are financial socialization, childhood experience, financial literacy and academic qualifications. The sample of this study consists of a total of 173 students that were randomly selected. A questionnaire containing a Likert scale to measure each factor influencing the financial health of students was used as a research instrument and multivariate analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that financial literacy have a significant relationship on the financial health of students while financial socialization, childhood experience and academic qualifications had a non-significant relationship. In particular, students valued financial literacy to increase savings rates, obtain insurance, prepare retirement plans and use credit cards to achieve a high level of financial health. Lastly, we provide some recommendations on how to increase the financial literacy amongst young adults in Malaysia.

Igenerations’ Intention to become Entrepreneur: Determinants in Malaysia

The purpose of the research is to examine determinants that influence entrepreneurial intention among iGeneration in Malaysia. This study shall investigate the relationship between perceived education supports, perceived informal network, perceived formal network, and proactive personality toward entrepreneurial intention. The method that have been used in this study was a causal research or hypothesis testing in the experiment, and non-probability sampling was used and to be more precise, judgmental purposive sampling. Primary data was collected through questionnaires that have been distributed among undergraduates in Malaysia. The data has been collected and analyze among 183 respondents by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). All the independent variables were found to be significantly positive with entrepreneurial intention except for perceived formal network.

Is Online Training Program Effective for Undergraduates’ Learning During COVID 19? A Quasi-experimental Study Using the Malaysian Sample

Pandemic COVID 19 has changed the world’s communication medium into online communication to prevent the spread of pandemic since the end of 2019; this has also impacted students’ learning either at primary, secondary, college or university level. Since online communication was mandated as a medium to deliver learning, many researchers have started to determine the effectiveness of online learning for formal educational setting. However, research reported the effectiveness of students’ online learning in informal setting, such as online training program was very limited. Hence, this article aims to report the effectiveness of online training program among undergraduates in Malaysia using a quasi-experimental design. Three different training programs were conducted during December 2020 among undergraduates at University Kebangsaan Malaysia based on open registration; there were 52 participants in total. Participants were asked to answer a questionnaire before and after the completion of training program using google form to determine the achievement of training objectives. General Training Effectiveness Scale was adapted and modified accordingly to each training program’s objective to measure learning performance as perceived by participants; data were analysed using paired sample t-test and one-way ANOVA in SPSS software. Findings indicated a significant mean difference between scores as measured before and after training completion, and insignificant difference between all the three training programs indicating that online training among undergraduates is effective regardless different training objectives. In conclusion, it is verified that online learning is beneficial to replace traditional classroom for informal education during the pandemic, such as training program among undergraduates. Hence, it should be used for knowledge acquisition, such as organizing online training program to enhance undergraduates’ learning as additional value to increase students’ competencies. Research implications were further discussed.

A national survey on the teaching provision of undergraduate geriatric medicine in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Malaysia is becoming an aging nation, with 32 medical schools providing 5,000 graduates every year. The extent these graduates have been trained in core concepts in geriatric medicine remains unclear. This work aims to describe the current state of teaching provision on aging and geriatric medicine to the medical undergraduates in Malaysia. A survey was developed by geriatric medicine experts from the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine (MSGM) to review the teaching provision based on the recommended MSGM Undergraduate Geriatric Medicine Curriculum and was sent to all medical schools across the country. The response rate was 50% (16 out of 32 medical schools). Among 16 medical schools, 10 (62.5%) delivered the learning outcomes as part of an integrated curriculum, and five via a mixed geriatric and integrated curriculum at varying degrees of completeness, ranging from 19% to 94%. One particular medical school did not deliver any of the core topics as part of its undergraduate curriculum. It has been identified that the strongest barrier to delivery was lack of expertise, followed by the fact that the topics were not included in the current curriculum. Improvement in teaching provision should be implemented through a concerted effort to adopt a geriatric medical curriculum nationwide, while future research should aim at the interventions taken to address the barriers in its provision.

Engineering ethics education from the cultural and religious perspectives: a study among Malaysian undergraduates

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to examine the influence of cultural and religious values in engineering ethics education, which has been largely adopted from Western ideologies among engineering undergraduates in Malaysia. Data were elicited from open-ended interviews involving a group of engineering students of a higher education institution in Malaysia. The findings revealed several themes showing that prevailing cultural and religious values have an important place in engineering ethics education by influencing ethical decision making among future engineers. The findings of this study would provide practitioners with considerable insight into the understanding of the immense impact of religious and cultural values on Malaysian engineering ethics education among engineering undergraduates. Conformity to such religious and cultural values was prevalent among engineering undergraduates, suggesting the need to factor in such values in the development of engineering ethics education model that helps strike a proper balance between local social ideologies and Western ethical principles.

Evaluation of Stress in Concurrence with Level of Oral Hygiene among Dental Undergraduates in Malaysia

Evaluation of Stress in Concurrence with Level of Oral Hygiene among Dental Undergraduates in Malaysia

The Role of Education Support in Enhancement of Entrepreneurial Intentions Amongst Undergraduates in Malaysia

Entrepreneurship has long been a topic of interest for many researchers. The economy being volatile has impeded job opportunities for many, particularly amongst youths. In Malaysia specifically, where unemployment has been increasing over the years, measures have been taken by the government to promote entrepreneurship to youth and undergraduates to make them more entrepreneurially inclined. Despite the numerous incentives and programs by the government to encourage youth to be entrepreneurial inclined, the unemployment rate is still high in many countries, particularly Malaysia. This research aims to offer a systematic literature review on the growing role of education support in promoting entrepreneurial intention amongst undergraduates in Malaysia. This research will highlight the increasing importance of education in fostering entrepreneurial intentions amongst undergraduates in Malaysia over the last five years. Through the compilation of past literature and research, this study aims to contribute to entrepreneurship research by discussing the impact of education support as well as highlighting ongoing discussions on education support in nurturing undergraduate entrepreneurial intention.

The Efficacy of Kibbitzer in Solving Specific Language Problems among ESL Undergraduates

The corpus-based approach is known to be beneficial in developing teaching materials for language learning and teaching. Kibbitzers, which are language modules, are developed using an indirect corpus-based approach and they address specific language problems. The modules are meant for self-paced, self-accessed and independent study. In this study, the efficacy of Kibbitzers in disambiguating pairs of near synonyms which are generally confusing to learners who are investigated. The two key research questions are: a) Is Kibbitzer useful in disambiguating the meaning of pairs of near synonyms? b) How can a Kibbitzer assist learners to differentiate pairs of near synonyms? Thirty two (32) English as Second Language (ESL) undergraduates in Malaysia were recruited to test the use of it. The results indicated that the overall use of Kibbitzers is statistically beneficial for ESL learners. The features incorporated in Kibbitzers helped learners by offering examples from concordance lines, links to Corpus Banks and presenting explanations in a creative way. This helped clarify how a language item should be used in a specific situation enormously. Potential Kibbitzer developers and classroom practitioners who may want to incorporate Kibbitzers in their language classrooms will find the results useful in addressing specific language problems.

CONCEPTUALIZING CRITICAL THINKING LEARNING TRANSFER MODEL: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Purpose – Although there is a growing interest in Critical Thinking Learning Transfer (CTLT), detailed information regarding the transfer seems to be lacking, particularly in the Malaysian context. In addition, past studies have not focused on medical education. This raises the question: How do Malaysian medical undergraduates transfer their critical thinking learning? Thus, this study sought to explore the CTLT process among medical undergraduates in Malaysia, synthesize the CTLT model and present the types of CTLT. Methodology – A qualitative case study approach was adopted. Eight medical undergraduates were selected using purposive sampling, through two sampling strategies. Data was obtained via in-depth interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings –Three types of CTLT were found, namely near transfer, far transfer, and integrated transfer. Each type of transfer was specified into components. The participants’ conceptions of the CTLT process led to the development of a model that presented the types of CTLT and provided a better understanding of the extension of occurrence of CTLT among medical undergraduates. Significance – The CTLT model adds value to the description of the CTLT process among students, especially in the context of the early clinical year medical programme. The model may also influence the future development of critical thinking pedagogies.

Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement: The Relationship and Gender Differences of Malaysian University Undergraduates

A positive correlation between self-esteem and academic achievement is often noted in the literature on educational psychology. As such, self-esteem and academic achievement are often inter-related. Additionally, gender is believed to have an impact on an individual’s self-esteem and varied disparities are found in self-esteem level between genders. The relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement among undergraduates in Malaysia, is still understudied and the lack of literature necessitates an empirical study. Hence, this study explored the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement among undergraduates of a private university in Malaysia. Also, it investigated if there is any significant difference in self-esteem and academic achievement between genders. A convenience sampling method was employed on 60 male and 60 female undergraduates of TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) program. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire was utilized to obtain the data on the participants’ self-esteem and their Grade Point Average (GPA). Data analysis using Spearman’s rho correlation revealed a significant relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement. Based on the Chi-square test result, a significant difference in academic achievement between male and female students was established. However, the independent t-test result revealed an absence of significant difference in self-esteem between male and female students. The findings demonstrate essential implications for students, counselors, and educators, and suggest relevant recommendations for future research. A larger sample size should be employed, and other important demographic variables should be explored to examine more in-depth into this interesting field of study.

Students’ Readiness in using E learning Application for English subjects Among Undergraduates in Malaysia

Covid-19 is declared as a global pandemic that has been affecting the economy, society, policy as well as education sector. One of the badly affected countries is Malaysia. Covid-19 had struck the country and affected its education sector. Undergraduates in Malaysia are required to learn their subjects throughout the semesters via e-learning involuntarily. The utilization of e-learning for the teaching and learning at tertiary level came after the announcement from the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia as the initiative to curb the spreading of the virus. However, the usage of e-learning had led to few difficulties and dissatisfactions especially in the learning process among the undergraduates. Thus, this paper attempted to investigate students’ readiness in using e-learning application specifically for English language subjects among university undergraduates. This study also explored students’ perceptions towards the components of e-learning and to see whether this new norm can be administered in the future especially in an emergency state like a pandemic outbreak. This study utilized a questionnaire on students’ readiness in using e-learning to elicit data from 236 respondents. The respondents were both diploma and degree students of one private university in Malaysia, who underwent online classes specifically for English language classes during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period in Malaysia.

Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among healthcare undergraduates in Malaysia

Staphylococcus aureus is a common component of skin flora of healthy adults. However, it can cause serious infections such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia, or bone and joint infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is known to cause hospital- (HA-MRSA) and community-acquired (CA-MRSA) infections worldwide. Asia is reported to have highest prevalence rates of HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA. As there were very less number of epidemiological studies being done in Malaysia, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of MRSA infection among the healthcare undergraduates who will be engaging with patients soon. We analyzed nasal swabs of students from a private medical institution in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methicillin-resistance was accessed by sensitivity to the Oxacillin and Cefoxitin disks. In a total of 151 healthcare undergraduates, 117 of them were found positive for Staphylococcus aureus. Among the latter, 21 samples (13.9%) were resistant to Oxacillin and Cefoxitin. Our data shows significant high percentage of MRSA infection and therefore prevention strategies for MRSA need to be developed for the healthcare students before they engage with patients in clinic setting. Keywords: MRSA, nasal swab, healthcare undergraduates, Oxacillin.

The Correlation between Aggression, Self-esteem and Cyberbullying among Undergraduates in Malaysia

The prevalence of cyberbullying cases has been increasing over the years and it causes detrimental effects on one's mental health and psychological well-being. This cross-sectional research aims to determine the significant relationship between proactive aggression, reactive aggression and self-esteem on cyberbullying among undergraduates in Malaysia. 255 participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Questionnaires were distributed online via social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Three validated and reliable self-report measures were used to gather responses for this including Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) and Cyberbullying Test (CT). RPQ consists of 23 items followed by RSES with 10 items and lastly, CT consists of 45 items. All measures yielded a high reliability ranging from .84 to .95. The present study has found that proactive and reactive aggressions have a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration. However, proactive aggression has a stronger relationship as compared to reactive ones. Those with high proactive aggressions tend to involve more in cyberbullying as compared to reactive aggression. Moreover, it also found a negative but non-significant relationship between self-esteem and cyberbullying perpetration among undergraduates in Malaysia. It shows that those with high self-esteem tend to be cyberbullying victims but not perpetrators due to their frequent usage of social media. This study implies that it could be useful to tackle those involved in proactive aggressions as compared to reactive aggression and those with high self-esteem. Healthy ways to channel proactive aggression in which perpetrator seeks reward or dominance should be identified rather than focusing on those who reacts aggressively to a threat or provocation.