Universiti Teknologi MARA Terengganu Research Articles

Teaching and Learning (T&L) Among University Students During the Movement Control Order (MCO)

Both academic institutions and schools were required to conduct online learning during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. This study aims to identify Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Terengganu’s branch students’ perceptions of teaching and learning (T&L) during MCO. The preferred technology framework for T&L during the MCO period is also identified in this report. Furthermore, this study identifies the factors that influenced the choice of said application. The respondents were 256 UiTM Terengganu students from eight specialisations. Data were gathered through the use of online questionnaires administered through Google Forms. According to the findings, students had a generally positive attitude toward the online learning process but were less satisfied with its effectiveness. In terms of application selection, the university’s teaching and learning platform, Ufuture system, comes in first, followed by Google Classroom, Telegram, and WhatsApp. This study also discussed the strategies for improving the effectiveness of technology utilisation to optimise e-learning.

Diploma Students’ Challenges and Best Practices in ODL at UiTM Terengganu: A Pilot Study

The objectives of this mixed method study were to determine challenges that students faced in open distance learning (ODL), and to find out their practices for handling the challenges. While blended learning has been fully integrated at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) since 2011, the spread of COVID-19 worldwide including Malaysia meant that all UiTM students had to complete the rest of the semester fully online, regardless of their readiness level. Data was gathered through an online questionnaire survey from 188 students and an interview was carried out with 19 semester two students at UiTM Terengganu. Multiple response set and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that students experience issues with lecturers, family, personal problems, classmates, technical problems, class requirements and home environment. Although many previous studies have found that poor internet connection to be the biggest challenge of online learning among students, the results of this study indicated that personal issues are of a greater concern among the students. Further analyses of the interview responses showed that students’ biggest challenges were related to lack of time management skills, have a poor internet connection and face a noisy home environment.

Students Attendance System (SAS)

In UiTM Terengganu, student attendance current manual processis based on Academic Affairs (HEA) criteria. Lecturer has tobring attendance sheet to each class and take student attendance.At the end of semester lecturer has to manually calculate andsend the report to HEA. Based on preliminary study, currentprocess causing inefficiency on processing reporting. In order toimprove the current process, Student Attendance System (SAS) isa system proposed to be developed for Universiti TeknologiMARA (UiTM) Terengganu. Lecturer is the primary users of thesystem. These allow user control, update, and view the attendancebased on session, course and group. SAS was developed withSystem Development Life Cycle based on Extreme Programming(XP). XP phases involve phase of select user stories for release,then break down stories to tasks, plan release, develop, release toevaluate it. Then, process is repeated until meet user requirement.System testing based on test plan has been conducted. As for theevaluation, the evaluation process is done by three (3) expertsthen comment and suggestion is produced. Results based onexperts evaluation shows that positive feedback from the expertswhere the development of SAS caters elements of ease of use,flow is easy to be understood and the system is consistent andfollow the standard As conclusion, SAS can be improved basedon comments and suggestions form experts and it has a bigpotential to be implemented in UiTM Terengganu.

Students Attendance System (SAS)

In UiTM Terengganu, student attendance current manual processis based on Academic Affairs (HEA) criteria. Lecturer has tobring attendance sheet to each class and take student attendance.At the end of semester lecturer has to manually calculate andsend the report to HEA. Based on preliminary study, currentprocess causing inefficiency on processing reporting. In order toimprove the current process, Student Attendance System (SAS) isa system proposed to be developed for Universiti TeknologiMARA (UiTM) Terengganu. Lecturer is the primary users of thesystem. These allow user control, update, and view the attendancebased on session, course and group. SAS was developed withSystem Development Life Cycle based on Extreme Programming(XP). XP phases involve phase of select user stories for release,then break down stories to tasks, plan release, develop, release toevaluate it. Then, process is repeated until meet user requirement.System testing based on test plan has been conducted. As for theevaluation, the evaluation process is done by three (3) expertsthen comment and suggestion is produced. Results based onexperts evaluation shows that positive feedback from the expertswhere the development of SAS caters elements of ease of use,flow is easy to be understood and the system is consistent andfollow the standard As conclusion, SAS can be improved basedon comments and suggestions form experts and it has a bigpotential to be implemented in UiTM Terengganu.

Relationship between Employee Motivation and Job Performance: A Study at Universiti Teknologi MARA (Terengganu)

Motivation is considered as a predictor of job performance. In other words, the determinants of employee job performance were motivation, aptitudes and skill. Thus, motivated employees with high levels of job involvement are considered as important elements to an organization. In this paper, it attempts to measure the effect of employee motivation towards job performance among non-academic staff in Universiti Teknologi MARA Terengganu (UiTMT). A total of 169 respondents were selected from non-academic staff of departments in UiTMT. Three predictors such as individual needs, personal preferences and work environment were found to have medium to strong correlation with the dependent variables namely job performance. The analysis shows that individual needs, personal preferences and work environment are positively and significantly related to job performance. The outcome of the study indicates that UiTMT needs to focus on their motivation aspect, where it can boost up their level of job performance. Finally, research and practical implications of the study are discussed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p632

The leadership performance of departmental heads in an institution of higher learning in Malaysia

Higher learning institutions in Malaysia recently became a subject of scrutiny by stakeholders and the public at large. Its managerial and leadership performance were being assessed through various perspectives. A pilot study was conducted to measure the performance of the heads of department leadership, with an objective to identify factors that drive their leadership performance. One hundredand twenty twofull-time managerial/professional and supervisory staff in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Terengganu, Malaysia, participated in this survey. The questionnaire was adopted from an international management survey to measure the effectiveness of the management capability of Malaysian organizations. The results from the survey showed that there were different perceptions between the academic and non-academic staff in UiTM of the ability of the heads of department leadership performance in developing the organization's capability. The survey also concluded that visionary & strategic leadership; and leadership skills & personality traits of these department heads were pivotal in shaping their leadership performance in UiTM Terengganu.