Universiti Teknologi MARA Students Research Articles

CONCEPTUALIZING TERTIARY EDUCATION MOTIVATION: A MULTIMEDIA INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO APPROACH HARNESSING UiTM ZAKAT SERVICES

This research demonstrates a Community Services Responsibility (CSR) initiative that utilises instructional videos as an interactive tool for knowledge dissemination. It aims to improve Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Perlis branch students’ and potential future UiTM students’ awareness regarding the Zakat financial assistance offered by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia. This is also an effort to provide the necessary motivation to encourage school students to aim for tertiary education. The study involves two groups: newly enrolled students at the UiTM Perlis branch and upper secondary school students from selected schools around Perlis, Malaysia. These students will explore the specifically designed multimedia instructional video regarding Zakat accommodations. This video is carefully designed to ensure audience engagement and understanding. The research employs a Quasi-Experimental Research Design with pre-test and post-test assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional videos. Overall, the study has produced a compelling video that can provide understanding and assistance in accessing the Zakat services in UiTM while at the same time promoting social responsibility towards the country’s future educated generation.

EXAMINING TIKTOK AS E-LEARNING PLATFORM ATTRIBUTE AND STUDENTS’ ACCEPTANCE

TikTok is a social networking platform for uploading short films that has grown in popularity among young students. However, its promise as an e-learning platform attributes has yet to be realized. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of TikTok that contribute to students' acceptance of it as an e-learning platform attributes at Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA. It entails examining aspects like usability, interactivity, content relevancy, and user engagement. The study's goal is to investigate how much these characteristics influence students' acceptance of TikTok as an e-learning tool. A quantitative data collection method being used. SPSS was performed to analyzed the proposed hypotheses. Finding showed that useful insights into TikTok's potential as an e-learning platform attributes and its qualities as perceived by Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA students. It will add to the existing e-learning literature and give recommendations for educators and policymakers on how to effectively integrate TikTok into educational practices.

A Review of a Malaysian Public University Students’ Motivational Behaviour in Learning a Foreign Language

A Review of a Malaysian Public University Students’ Motivational Behaviour in Learning a Foreign Language

An Analysis of Recommendations on Psychological Well-Being During Open and Distance Learning (ODL): Students’ Viewpoints

The COVID-19 pandemic that hit Malaysia prompted the administration of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) to switch all its classes to the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode, which commenced in April 2020. The shift in the teaching and learning mode elicited a variety of responses from students as they grappled with their mixed emotions of anguish and uneasiness pertaining to ODL. They displayed signs of mental anguish through several comments and status updates posted on social networking sites. Thus, to help ease the problems with students’ psychological well-being while utilising the ODL mode amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers felt inclined to place more emphasis on recommendations from the perspectives of UiTM students in urban, suburban, and rural localities. A total of 1,931 students from all UiTM campuses responded to the DASS-21 online survey, which assessed their levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during ODL. Using Microsoft Excel software, the collected data were analysed, and all comments and recommendations provided by the respondents were then coded, categorised into themes and sub-themes, and reviewed to ensure accuracy. From 569 recommendations provided by the respondents on their perspectives on handling depression, anxiety, and stress, three major themes were identified: social support (value of peer support, expert support, significant person support, family support, and administrative assistance), self-care (need for self-management of emotions, spiritual and recreational activities, and outdoor activities), and learning environment (students’ learning preferences and in-person instruction). The results underline how crucial social support, self-care, and a supportive learning environment are for managing DAS. The findings are hoped to assist educational institutions in comprehending the types of resources and assistance they can provide to help students adjust to online education, even after the pandemic period.

Students Facilitators Involvement in a University-Based Community Service: How It Benefits Them

This paper explores tertiary students’ perception on their involvement in a university-based cross-age tutoring community service project known as Edutainment. The project which received an industrial grant by KHIND Starfish Foundation was organized by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Johor Malaysia. The project involved thirty UiTM students who acted as the facilitators as well as five lecturers who were the advisors for the project. The project was carried out for eight weeks among underprivileged one hundred Standard Four and Five primary school students who were provided with special learning modules which focused on providing learning tips and motivation particularly in learning the English Language, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language), Mathematics and Science. After the project ended, the facilitators were asked to answer a set of questionnaires to analyse their perception regarding their involvement in the community service project and how it benefits them. The findings revealed that they perceived the project provides positive impacts towards their communication skill as well as motivation in community service volunteerism.

Hedonism Culture and the Effects on Academic Performance of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Student

One of the harmful trends that managed to penetrate Muslim society is the culture of hedonism. Hedonism, once a fashion, is now a way of life in contemporary culture. This has come to represent the core of people who only care about pleasure and do not care about the purpose of their existence. Those who enter the hedonistic realm are only deified by lust. They also fail to fulfil their obligations to their families and communities. The impact of the hedonistic culture on the University of Technology MARA (UiTM) students' academic success is discussed in this study. This study aims to determine the level of hedonistic culture knowledge among UiTM students, pinpoint the prevalent hedonistic cultural manifestations among them, and examine the effects of hedonistic culture diffusion on their academic performance. The Google Form platform was used to disseminate questionnaires to collect responses to those questions. Students from the Foundation, Pre-Higher Education, Diploma, and Bachelor's programmes at all UiTM campuses make up the 848 responders in total. The study's findings indicate that students are aware of hedonistic society and its manifestation. Despite their hedonistic actions, they maintain control.

Gender disparities in Universiti Teknologi MARA students’ mental wellness: A comparative study

<span lang="EN-US">The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the wellbeing of people worldwide, especially the younger population, primarily students, who are ill-equipped to cope with the new norm. The need to adapt to the new learning methods has created greater difficulties. Previous research stated that altered life routine and upsetting life events have led to psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, and stress, with females experiencing higher degrees of disorder. With the objectives to further investigate the escalating students’ mental wellbeing issues, the researchers focused on gender comparison among Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) students. There were 1,931 students from all UiTM campuses answered Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) questionnaire online to test their levels of depression, anxiety and stress while attending online distance learning (ODL) classes. Descriptive and independent t-test analyses were performed using IBM-SPSS AMOS version 24 software. The result indicated that both genders’ levels of depression and stress were normal but most females experienced an extremely severe anxiety level. There also existed significant differences at 5% level of significance between the genders for anxiety and stress disorder levels. The findings are hoped to provide relevant authorities a better understanding on the appropriate intervention approaches focusing on gender to alleviate the COVID-19 impacts and prevent potential declines in the students’ wellbeing.</span>

Mastering Principles of Risk Management, Insurance, and Takaful: A Comprehensive UiTM Massive Open Online Course

The need to integrate technology into the education system has always been on the rise in the 21st century. The emergence of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has further increased the need for web-based education since educational institutions have to temporarily close to curb the spread of the virus. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has also chosen to migrate its face-to-face classroom teaching and learning approach to open and distance learning (ODL). UFUTURE is a platform developed by UiTM for lecturers and students to have online learning through the development of massive online open courses (MOOCs) which can also be accessed by anyone who wants to self-learning. Principles of Risk Management, Insurance and Takaful course has also been transformed into MOOC to assist anyone especially UiTM students in learning this course remotely. This paper will discuss the design of ASC173 in the UFUTURE platform that implements various types of learning materials and evaluate the usability of the platform using the System Usability Scale (SUS) test among the students who took this course in the semester March 2022. The obtained SUS score 92/100 indicated that respondents were satisfied with the form of the proposed MOOC and it is acceptable to be implemented for anyone who wants to learn this course.

Pandemic Covid 19: The Challenges of Online Learning Among UITMs’ Students

Purpose: In 2020, the emergence of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has led Malaysia to an unprecedented public health crisis. Due to this, all universities in Malaysia are forced to shut down any physical activities by the Government. Hence, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) had conducted an Online Distance Learning (ODL) starting on 13th April 2020 due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus. As a result, the government had to implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) to control the spread of the disease among the community. In attending online classes, a lot of challenges are faced by the students. Therefore, this study reveals out a few challenges: time management, family support and financial crisis during online learning.
 Methodology: The sample of the study is 100 of UiTM students throughout Malaysia and the researchers set a form of questionnaires, distributed via google form to the respondents using convenience sampling.
 Findings: SPSS is used in analyzing the data and the result shows that all independent variables (time management, family support, financial crisis) are challenges towards online learning. Implications: Thus, this study will benefit the Ministry of Education, universities and students in managing and controlling their challenges while attending online classes during Pandemic Covid 19.

Examining The Students' Understanding Level on the Concept of Differentiation Topics in Calculus I Subject

Numerous studies have discovered that students' performance in Calculus I contributed to one of the highest failure rates in Mathematics courses among Universiti Teknologi MARA students. According to the results of Assessment 1 of the March-August 2022 session, which covers the topics of limits, continuity, and differentiation, most students were unable to obtain high or full marks on the topic of differentiation when compared to the topic of limits. Meanwhile, in Assessment 3 (group video presentation), which focuses on differentiation, most students gain nearly full marks. This assessment is used to encourage critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills, as well as effective teamwork and problem-solving methods. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine whether group video presentation can assist students in gaining a deeper understanding of the differentiation topic, as well as to investigate students' perceptions of this type of assessment for their learning differentiation topics in the Calculus I subject. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 86 full-time diploma students enrolled in Calculus I. The findings show that students are willing to accept that learning differentiation topics should be approached in a more technological manner.

Augmented Reality in Language Learning: Enhancing Student Engagement in a Third Language Subject

To improve student performance on the subjects studied, the fields of education and technology cannot be separated. Although technology has been used in Third Language Subject Education for a long time, student performance has been seen to decline from 2020 to 2021. In fact, the use of augmented reality (AR) multimedia technology continues to remain uncommon, particularly in third-language subjects at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Due to the paucity of studies on the impact of using AR technology in the third language on student performance, this needs to be investigated. The use of AR in education and training can speed up instruction, be lightweight and portable, have clear content, and cost less to print. The purpose of this research is to determine how the use of AR-oriented multimedia technology affects student performance in third-language learning methods and lecturer roles. Data from questionnaires is collected using quantitative methods. SmartPLS 3.0 was used to analyse the data. A total of 387 UiTM students who took a third language course participated in the study. The analysis revealed that the use of multimedia had a significant impact on student performance, with the exception of the teaching strategy factor, which had no effect on student performance. Future proposals to broaden AR research into other areas of social science.

The Role of Relational Trust During Covid-19 Pandemic among University Students

In response to the Corona Virus diseases 2019 (Covid-19) crisis, the university students became as one of the Malaysian concern especially when they are stranded while the MCO has been exposed by the government. To reduce the impact on psychological pressure, the university via health center and student accommodation center were instructed to function as social support units. Besides food and other necessaries, the information regarding to Covid-19 and crisis management needs to be disseminated. We sampled stranded university students from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) using simple random sampling. With 275 responses, results of multiple mediation regression analysis indicated that the role of relational trust mediates the relationship between crisis responsibility and willingness to seek information. However, gender differences were not influence the behavior and willingness towards seeking the information. It is suggested that the relational trust among UiTM students were influenced by the service quality offered by the centers, thus inculcate them to discover more information with regards to Covid-19 outbreak.

Prevalence of Problematic Internet Use and its Association with Psychological Distress and Coping Strategies among Universiti Teknologi Mara Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our day-to-day life and brings a serious impact on public mental health. Due to the practice of physical distancing, the Internet technology is being used to accommodate our daily interactions. In view of the increasing dependency towards this technology, its impact on our mental health well-being is indeterminate. This study aimed to examine the association between problematic Internet use, psychological distress, and the type of coping strategies used among Universiti Teknologi MARA students during this pandemic. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted using Internet Addiction Test, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory. Data was analysed using SPSS version 26. Results: Of the 444 respondents, 32.2% were noted to have problematic Internet use with 61.3% reported psychological distress. Problematic Internet use was associated with higher level of psychological distress (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.08), and the coping strategies of self-distraction (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.04 – 1.47) and behavioural disengagement (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.07 – 1.55). Conclusion: A high prevalence of psychological distress and its association with problematic Internet use and maladaptive coping among students during this pandemic was evident in this study. Hence, the findings from this study could help to provide insight on the state of the psychological well-being of students in higher education institutions as well as to assist the stakeholders in taking measures to help the students dealing with the pandemic.

KEBERKESANAN KURSUS PENGHAYATAN ETIKA DAN PERADABAN DALAM MEMUPUK KESEPADUAN KAUM: KAJIAN TERHADAP PELAJAR UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM)

University core courses are basic courses set by the university which are also certified by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). This course is also subject as a course prescribed by the university senate to ensure that a comprehensive education can be given to a student. Students must take and must pass this course at the same time will qualify students to graduate according to the time set. At Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), one of the university's core courses of Ethics and Civilization which is a compulsory course under the auspices of the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies (ACIS) and offered to students at the diploma and bachelor's degree levels at each branch campus entire Malaysia. However, it is questionable whether this course is effective in fostering racial unity among UiTM students because as far as we know, all university students consist of Bumiputera students only. In line with that, the objective of this study is to identify the level of student acceptance of the course content and will then analyze how the effectiveness of this course in shaping racial unity among UiTM students. The measurement tools used in data collection include questionnaires distributed online using google form software to 455 UiTM students in Malaysia at random. The data obtained from this random sample were then analyzed using descriptive analysis through quantitative software to see the overall continuity of the analysis of the study findings. The results obtained will then draw conclusions on the characteristics of the studied population. The results of the study found that the university's core courses are dynamic and flexible, as well as in line with current needs and requirements in an effort to fulfill the components of Malaysian nationhood as well as have their own role in fostering racial unity in particular.

Understanding the Continuance Intention to Learn Using Google Classroom (GC) in Online Classes: Decomposed Technology Acceptance Model Based

Coronavirus pandemic has led to changes in the teaching and learning landscape. Both lecturers and students must accommodate to the changes, where teaching and learning which used to be face to face learning, has now changed into online learning. This results in the various problems faced by both lecturers and students in online learning. Hence, many online platforms have been introduced to the field of education such as Google Classroom, Edmodo and Microsoft Teams. By pinning on the 12 factors in decomposed technology acceptance model (DTAM) (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived cognitive absorption, perceived ease of use, perceived internet self-efficacy, perceived computer self-efficacy, interpersonal influence, external influence, information quality, service quality, system quality, confirmation, and satisfaction) which are suggested by Roca et al. 2006, this research aims to investigate students’ continuance intention to learn with Google Classroom (GC) in online classes. A 56-item questionnaire which covers the 12 factors of the decomposed technology acceptance model was administered to 242 undergraduate students from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM); Puncak Alam and Shah Alam campuses. The statistical data of this research suggests that students’ continuance intention towards Google Classroom among UiTM students is high which is influenced by the aforementioned factors. From these findings, this research is hoped to provide a new insight on the effectiveness of using GC in providing continuous interest in online learning among students.

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.

Modelling the Relationship between the Environmental Factors and Environmental Behavioural Intentionamong University Students using a Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM)

Currently, the world is facing an exceptionally alarming scale of environmental problems involving phenomena such as climate change, ozone layer depletion and global warming. The affected world urgently requires an immediate way out to counter these environmental problems. Evidences show that environmentalproblems occurrencesare mainly due to irresponsible human activities. As part of overcoming these problems, behavioural solutions areneeded to make individuals friendly to the environment. As university students ‘populationrepresents huge users of large environmental resources, universities can play a major role in endorsing environmentally friendly behavior in society through proper environmental education to their students. However, information on the students’ pro-environmental behaviour is lacking in local universities such as in UniversitiTeknologi MARA (UiTM). Recent studies have found pro-environmental behavior can be explained by many direct factors, however, indirect factors have received far less attention. This study aims to (1) determine specific Environmental Factors that may affect Environmental Behavioural Intention among UiTM students and to (2) determine the mediation effect of Environmental Attitude on the relationship between Environmental Factors and Environmental Behavioural Intention.These Environmental Factors and mediation factors are analyzed using Partial Least Square - Structural Equations Modelling (PLS-SEM). Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among a sample of 382 UiTM students, selected using Stratified random sampling. The results indicate that two significant factors directly affect Environmental Behavioural Intention i.e. Environmental Knowledge and Social Norms.This implies that students with environmental knowledge and are surrounded by pro-environmental persons tend to have responsible environmental behaviour. Meanwhile, another two other factors i.e. Environmental Concern and Perceived Risk were found to be indirectly influencing Environmental Behavioural Intention through the mediation of Environmental Attitude. The finding indicates that students who are concerned about the environment and aware of the environmental risk related will behave in a responsible environmental manner if and only if the students have a positive attitude. Overall, integrating both types of direct and indirect factors to explain pro-environmental behaviour gives abetter understanding of the student’s attitude and behaviour towards the environment.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) among Medical Students in Malaysia.

Communication is one of the fundamental skills in the medical profession. The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) is a widely used questionnaire to measure the attitudes of medical students toward learning communication skills. It has been adapted and translated into many languages. The objective of this study was to adapt and translate the CSAS into the Malay language and determine its psychometric properties in medical students. This is a cross-sectional study involving 218 first-year Universiti Teknologi MARA students. Content validation, cross-cultural adaptation, translation, and face validation of the 26-item CSAS were performed according to established guidelines. Principal component analysis with direct oblimin rotation was used to determine the underlying structure of the CSAS-Malay. The reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficient for internal consistency and using the intraclass correlation coefficient for the test–retest reliability. Although the contents of the CSAS-Malay and the original version were conceptually equivalent, item 11 was removed during the content validation stage due to a low item content validity index (I-CVI < 1.00). Two subscales were derived from the remaining 25 items, which were the Positive Attitude Scale and the Negative Attitude Scale. Items 1 and 15 were removed due to poor factor loadings. The total variance explained by the final two-factor solution with three items removed was 30.8%. Cronbach’s α coefficients for both the Positive and Negative Attitude Scales in the final questionnaire were 0.815 and 0.614, respectively. It also showed a good reproducibility with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values of 0.725–0.950 for all the items. This study provided preliminary information about the psychometric properties of the CSAS-Malay. The final 23-item questionnaire had a good construct validity, an acceptable internal consistency, and at least a moderate test–retest reproducibility. It can be used to assess the attitudes of medical students toward learning communication skills. Future research to improve the generalizability of the questionnaire should include medical students from other universities with diverse backgrounds.

Knowledge and Perception of Facial Candling for Allergic Rhinitis among University Staff and Students

Introduction Facial candling is a traditional method used for relieving symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR). This study aims to investigate the knowledge and perception of facial candling in a sample of staff and students in a public university in Malaysia. Methods An online questionnaire survey method was used. Based on sample size calculation, a total of 1,508 UiTM staff and students from ten selected campuses of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) were invited to participate in this survey. An up-to-date e-mail list of staff in the selected campuses was used as the sampling frame for the study, whereas the students were recruited from the official university student Facebook portal. Results A total of 788 respondents participated in this survey, 72.2% of them knew about facial candling, though only 35.4% had tried the treatment. Approximately one-fifth of respondents agreed that facial candling might treat AR. It was found that a higher number of users than nonusers agreed that facial candling was a traditional medicine (78.9% vs 55.0%); could be used on the face and ears (83.5% vs 45.4%); and could be self-administered at home (83.5 vs 45.4%). Interestingly, more than half of them were uncertain about its long-term effects and adverse reactions. Conclusion This study confirms the facial candling use among patients with AR although the percentage is low. The patients and general public need to be better informed about the use of facial candling in AR and its associated risks.

HOW DO ESL STUDENTS STRATEGISE WHEN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS?

Understanding academic texts in English may be challenging for second language learners. It requires a certain amount of effort and appropriate use of reading strategies in order to understand the texts. In order to understand the academic texts, students have to be conscious of the reading strategies that can be used to enhance their level of reading comprehension. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate reading strategies used by students in dealing with academic texts. This study explores Universiti Teknologi MARA students’ awareness level of the use of reading strategies when reading academic texts. This study utilises the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002). A total of 157 students from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies participated in this study. Findings showed that problem solving strategies are more prevalent among the students compared to support reading strategies and global reading strategies. The findings reveal that the students need to be more exposed to support reading strategies and global reading strategies to further enhance their level of comprehension when reading academic texts.