University Sultan Zainal Abidin Research Articles

A quantitative exploration of the knowledge of pharmacy and medical students about Pharmacogenetics: Findings from a public university in Malaysia

Background: Having a strong foundation in the science of pharmacogenetics is a significant prerequisite for both pharmacy and medical students to apply this knowledge in patient care once they enter into the healthcare setting. This study examines the level of foundational knowledge of pharmacogenetics and interest in learning about pharmacogenetics among third and fourth-year pharmacy and final-year medical students of the University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) in Malaysia. Method: A total of 95 students participated in the study. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated questionnaire from a previously published research paper. It was an electronic-based survey shared among the targeted population. Results: The average knowledge score for pharmacy students was 15.58 (SD ± 0.49) while final-year medical students had an average score of 14.56 (SD ± 0.32). A major percentage of the fourth-year pharmacy students were able to obtain scores higher than their junior counterparts and final-year medical students. Although the overall average knowledge score of the medical students was lower than that of the pharmacy students, nevertheless, they had a greater interest in learning about pharmacogenetics. Conclusion: There is a need to introduce up-to-date curricula for both pharmacy and medical students to enhance student comfort levels in pharmacogenetics practice.

The Relationship between Dietary Intake and Cognitive Performance Before and During Ramadan Fasting among Healthy Adult Population in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, during which healthy adolescents and adult Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for a month. During Ramadan fasting, dietary intake and cognitive performance changes can be seen related to many factors. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the comparison between dietary intake and cognitive performance among healthy adult populations in Kuala Nerus before and during Ramadan fasting and the possible correlation between these parameters.
 
 This study was conducted among a healthy adult population in Kuala Terengganu and mainly at University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). Socio-demographics data, dietary data, and cognitive assessment were measured. Energy and macronutrient intakes were measured by using a three-day food record while cognitive performance was measured by using Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) and Trail-Making Test (TMT) through a face-to- face activity-based survey. All the measurements were taken in the two-time interval which is before Ramadan fasting (one to two weeks prior to Ramadan month) and during Ramadan fasting (week two to four of Ramadan Month)
 
 A total of 113 participants with a mean age of 23.1 ± 4.9 years old were recruited in this cross-sectional study consisting of 23 males (20.4%) and 90 females (79.6%). The majority of the participants were Malay (97.3%), and still single (92.9%). Most of the participants also still pursuing their degrees (92%) and has no income (92%). Almost all of the participants were non-smokers (99.1%).
 
 The dietary data shows that the energy intake was significantly reduced during Ramadan by 293.8 kcal compared to before Ramadan (p<0.001). Regarding macronutrients, a significant reduction in carbohydrates, protein, and fat was reported, p=0.003, p=0.011, and p<0.001 respectively. Next, the results of cognitive performances varied according to Stroop congruent and incongruent test; and Trail Making Test A and B. Stroop Congruent Test (word test) showed that the reaction time was significantly higher before Ramadan compared to during Ramadan (p<0.001), meanwhile the reaction time for Trail-making Test A and B showed that there were significantly lower before Ramadan compared to during Ramadan (p<0.001). But there were no significant differences in others' tests. In addition, the result for correlation showed that the reaction time for Trail Making B was significantly negatively correlated with energy intake (p=0.002) and protein intake (p=0.007) while positively correlated with fat intake (p=0.004).
 In conclusion, according to the results, most participants reported a decrease in their dietary intake during Ramadan, similar to what was observed in cognitive performance, with most participants reporting a slower reaction time during Ramadan. Hence, the consumption of sufficient energy is critical for good cognitive performance because diet can influence cognitive abilities.

Development of COVID-19 Health-Risk Assessment and Self-Evaluation (CHaSe): a health screening system for university students and staff during the movement control order (MCO).

COVID-19 has triggered a global health crisis. Death from severe respiratory failure and symptoms, including fever, dry cough, sore throat, anosmia, and gastrointestinal disturbances, has been attributed to the disease. Development of screening and diagnosis methods prove to be challenging due to shared clinical features between COVID-19 and other pathologies, such as Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and common colds. This study aims to develop a comprehensive one-stop online public health screening system based on clinical and epidemiological criteria. The immediate target populations are the university students and staff of University Sultan Zainal Abidin and the civil servants of the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Forty-nine (49) clinical and epidemiological factors associated with COVID-19 were identified and prioritized based on their prevalence via rigorous review of the literature and vetting sessions. A pilot study of 200 volunteers was conducted to assess the extent of risk mitigation of COVID-19 infection among the university students and civil servants using the prototyped model. Consequently, twelve (12) clinical parameters were identified and validated by the medical experts as essential variables for COVID-19 risk-screening. The updated model was then revalidated via real mass-screening of 5000 resulting in the final adopted CHaSe system. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to confirm the weightage of risk level toward COVID-19 to procures the optimal accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of this system. Twelve (12) factor loadings accountable for 58.287% of the clinical symptoms and clinical history variables with forty-nine (49) parameters of COVID-19 were identified through PCA. The variables of the clinical and epidemiological aspects identified are the C6 (History of joining high-risk gathering (where confirmed cases had been recorded), CH11 [History of contact with confirmed cases (close contact)], CH13 [Duration of exposure with confirmed cases (minutes)] with substantial positive factors of 0.7053, 0.706 and 0.5086, respectively. The contribution toward high-risk infection of COVID-19 was firmly attributable to the variables CH14 [Last contact with confirmed cases (days)], CH13 [Duration of exposure with confirmed cases (minutes)], and S1 (Age). The revalidated PCA for 5000 respondents also yielded twelve significant PCs with a cumulative variance of 58.288%. Importantly, the medical experts have revalidated the CHaSe system for accuracy of all clinical aspects (clinical symptoms and clinical history) and epidemiological links to COVID-19 infection. After revalidating the model for 5000 respondents, the PC variance for PC1, PC2, PC3, and PC4 was 27.36%, 11.79%, 10.347%, and 8.785%, respectively, with the cumulative explanation of 58.288% in data variability. The level of risks detected using the CHaSe system toward COVID-19 provides optimal accuracy, reliability, and efficiency to conduct mass-screening of students and government servants for COVID-19 infection.

Reflection-based Whole-batch Discussion (RWD) as a Tool for Learning Proficiency Enhancement at Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Malaysia: Toward Curriculum Development

INTRODUCTION: Different approaches have been endeavoured by medical educationists to produce high[1]standard graduates from medical school, including collaborative group discussions and reflective practice (RP) assignments. The current study aimed to evaluate the outcome of teacher-led whole batch discussion following RP tasks given to the students. The overall teaching approach is referred to as “Reflection-based whole-batch discussion (RWD)”. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-two medical students who attended the haematology course at the University Sultan Zainal Abidin were recruited into this study over 2 academic years. The first batch of students (n=61) was unexposed to the RWD intervention (RWD-unexposed) while the second batch from the following academic year (n=61) was exposed (RWD-exposed) to the intervention. Students adhered to the guidelines given by the instructor pertaining to the reflective practice (RP) before the sessions. A weekly RWD session was conducted where the instructor-led a dually interactive forum to discuss students’ mistakes and misunderstandings as reflected within their write-ups. Exam results from both RWD-exposed and the RWD[1]unexposed students were compared using the student t-test. RESULTS: The mean scores of students’ results were significantly higher among RWD-exposed students compared to RWD-unexposed students in their essay questions and objective structured practical exam questions (p<0.01). However, RWD-exposed students scored significantly lower than the RWD-unexposed < 0.01). However, RWD-exposed students scored significantly lower than the RWD-unexposed student's group in multiple true and false (MTF) questions. CONCLUSION: Implementing RWD is a promising teaching strategy in improving the academic achievement of medical students especially in answering essay questions. MTF questions format may be an incompetent tool for evaluating the impacts of new teaching strategies and therefore medical educationists recommended efficient alternative assessment tools such as OBA and EMQ for the sake of curriculum development in medical institutes.

The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan

In-Text Citation: (Abusinie & Baioumy, 2020) To Cite this Article: Abusinie, A., & Baioumy, N. (2020). The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(3), 183–201. Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s) Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com) This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode Vol. 10, No. 3, 2020, Pg. 183 - 201 http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/IJARBSS JOURNAL HOMEPAGE Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/publication-ethics The Effectiveness of the Hijaashi Method to Reduce Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan Ahmad Abusinie, Nashaat Baioumy Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, MALAYSIA Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder suffer from behavioral problems represented in aggressive behavior towards themselves and others, therefore, the child's inability to perform basic life skills, his isolation and his inability to integrate with others. As such, the present study aimed to prepare a training program based on the Hijaashi method in alleviating aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder in Jordan and verifying its effectiveness in the pre and post measurements. The present study used a quasi-experimental quantitative descriptive approach. To achieve the objectives of the study, an aggressive behavior measure consisting of 23 paragraphs was divided into two dimensions. The sample of the study consisted of (30) children with autism spectrum disorder chosen intentionally and distributed randomly to two control groups and consisted of (15) children, and experimental consisted of (15) children. Appropriate statistical analyzes were performed, such as manova, accompanying multiple variance (mancova), ancova analysis, arithmetic mean, and standard deviations. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (? = 0.05) between the mean ranks of the experimental and control groups' scores on the scale of aggressive behavior in the dimensional measurement, and the presence of statistically significant differences at the level of significance (? = 0.05) between the average ranks of the experimental group on the scale of aggressive behavior in telemetry. Conclusion: The current study contributes to alleviating aggressive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder in Jordan and developing basic life skills, increasing their effectiveness with others, avoiding isolation, introvertedness, and contributing to training specialists on how to prepare training programs that help these children to modify their behavior.

Physical activity among medical students of university sultan zainal abidin (UniSZA), Malaysia

Physical activity among medical students of university sultan zainal abidin (UniSZA), Malaysia

Assessment of Hydrological Inspection using Development Low-Cost Boat Application in University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Lake, Terengganu, Malaysia

Unmanned vehicles may provide less time consume and cost-effective methods of gathering hydrographic survey data compared to traditional, manned survey vessels. A remote-controlled Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) was outfitted with range finder, depth transducer, and velocity current meter for the purpose of conducting a hydro survey. The purpose of study to describes a project for the development of Unmanned Survey Vessel (USV) platform useful for hydrological survey. The control unit includes a motor control system, communication equipment, and a simple radio control system installed to enables an operator to remotely control the boat. The motor radio control system, the measurement equipment (sonar depth, current meter, range finder) used in data collecting activities. The result showed the validation values of Hydro Survey Boat Version 1 and Hydro Survey Boat Version 2, the estimated validation of river discharge (Q) recorded 0.0373 m3/s. The significant differences of Q between Hydro Survey Boat Version 1 as 0.0853 m3/s (56.3%) and Hydro Survey Boat Version 2 as 0.042 m3/s (11.2%) which is the Hydro Survey Boat Version 2 recorded more accurate readings compared Hydro Survey Boat Version 1. There are several advantages of this project which is reducing cost, improve efficiency, and reduce risk during hydrology survey. The development survey boat USV is innovation technology and it will improved the hydrological method

Perspective of Malaysian Youths towards Homosexuals

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender are from the acronym LGBT. Gay are men who has emotions or feelings toward the men but although gay is also use for women too. They are men who are attracted towards the same sex and are unattached towards the opposite sex. Gay usually refers towards homosexual men or men who had sexual intercourse with other men. This research was conducted to identify the perspectives of teenage boys and girls towards homosexuals. The method that was used in this research was the quantitative method. XLSTAT with non-parametric tests were used in this research. A total of 1200 respondents were involved in this research. There were 664 male and 536 female respondents. A questionnaire was handed out to students of University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Gong Badak campus. The results showed that 6/10 from the research question were significant towards the perspective of youths toward gays. One of them is the first question which has a p-value of 0.160. This showed that there is significant difference between male and female towards gay to be allow to adopt a child.

BREAST CANCER KNOWLEDGE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Background: In Malaysia, women had breast cancer always reported at their late stage. One of the causes is due to the delay in seeking medical attention. Poor knowledge about the breast cancer is one of the factors that cause the delay. Aim: This study was designed to assess the knowledge on breast cancer symptoms and risk factors, screening method, and practice among participants. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study done from 1st of March till 15th of March 2016 involving 89 nursing students from School of Nursing Science, Medical Faculty, University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). Data analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21. Results: Eighty-nine participants responded. Majority of the students (>80.0%) knew the symptoms of breast cancer and common method of screening. Less than 50.0% knew the high risk factor for developing breast carcinoma. Less than 50.0% carried out the breast self-examination. Conclusion: Students had excellent knowledge on symptoms of breast carcinoma and its screening method. Majority (>50%) of the students were still not clear about high risk factors group. Lack of breast self-examination practice among students was noted.

Comparing Coping Strategies Practiced and its association with stress among medical Students from a Private and Public Medical University

Introduction: Medical education has been considered highly stressful to medical students. It not only affects medical students’ physical and mental health but chronic stress can impair academic performance, personal and professional development, leading to unsatisfactory patient care. The objective of this study is to compare the coping strategies practiced and its association with stress between medical students from a private and public university. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a public and private university namely, University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniZSA) and UCSI University (UCSI) respectively. A total of 245 medical students from UniZSA and 315 medical students from UCSI, from year 1 to year 5 participated in this study. This study was carried out between 2015 till 2016. A universal sampling method was used. A self-administered questionnaires comprising of 3 sections namely sociodemographic information, 12 item validated General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and a 28 item validated Brief Cope Inventory was used in this study. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20.0 software. Results: The prevalence of stress was higher (42.2%) among UCSI University medical students compared to University Sultan Zainal Abidin medical students (33.1%). The commonly practised coping strategies in both universities were religion, active coping, acceptance, planning, and positive reframing. The negative coping strategies behavioural disengagement and substance abuse were the least practised in both universities. The associated coping strategies with stress were denial (?2 5.740; P<0.05 for UniZSA and ?2 13.31; P<0.001 for UCSI), behavioural disengagement; (?2 19.306; P<0.001 for UniZSA and ?2 7.65; P<0.05 for UCSI) venting (?2 28.776; P<0.001 for UniZSA and ?2 8.56; P<0.05 for UCSI), and self-blame (?2 10.700; P<0.001 for UniZSA and ?2 9.94; P<0.05 for UCSI) in both universities, with an additional associated coping strategy; acceptance (?2 4.277; p<0.05) reported in University Sultan Zainal Abidin. Discussion and conclusion: The stress prevalence was higher among UCSI university students compared to UniZSA medical students. UniZSA medical students practised religion as their highest ranked coping strategy compared to UCSI students who practised active coping. The last 2 ranked coping strategies practised; behavioural disengagement and substance abuse (negative strategies) were similar too. The associated coping strategies with stress were also similar for both universities. Stress management programmes like “Medical Student Well-Being Workshops” should be conducted to further add evidence for the implementation of such interventions for reducing medical student stress.

Prevalence of Stress and Associated Stressors among Medical Students: A Comparative Study between a Private and Public Medical School in Malaysia

Stress among medical students has been well documented as a significant problem. The objective of this study is to compare the stress levels and its associated stressors between public and private university medical students. A cross-sectional study design was carried out using universal sampling in both University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (245) and UCSI University (315) medical students year 1–5, from 2015 till 2016. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire including sociodemography, Medical Student Stress Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20.0 software. The studies reported a mean age of 23.02 years (SD 1.78) and 21.8 years (SD 1.50) at UCSI University and UniSZA respectively. UCSI University had majority Chinese medical students (52.1%) while UniZSA had majority (66.5) Malay medical students. The stress prevalence was 42.2% and 33.1% among UCSI University and UniZSA medical students respectively. UCSI University had a higher mean stress score of 4.66 (SD 3.4) compared to UniZSA 2.91 (SD 2.98), which was statistically different (p<0.001). Both universities reported Academic and Group Activity related stressors as of high severity. Multiple logistic regression models showed that Academic Related Stressors (ARS), Social Related Stressors (SRS) and Group Activity Related Stressors (GARS) were significant predictors of stress levels among UCSI University medical students while Academic Related Stressors (ARS) and Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Related Stressors (IRS) were significant predictors of stress among UniSZA medical students. Private university students reported higher stress prevalence compared to the government university but both university students documented similar (Academic and Group Related) stressors as of high severity. Academic related stressors were reported by both universities to be significantly associated with stress. Review of the academic curriculum to reduce stress, student support groups and stress management programme-Medical Student Well-being Workshops, to inculcate good inter and intrapersonal cum teamwork skills are highly recommended.

Assessment of Basic Fitness Related Performance Components between Three Essential Co-Curriculum Units of University Sultan Zainal Abidin Malaysia

Uniform arm units are set up to serve as the first line defence and to assist the university members for any emergency that might arise. To discharge their duties effectively, they need to meet up to the requirement of highest physical fitness level. This study aims to examine the physical fitness levels among armed uniform package unit of UniSZA and to investigate the components that distinguish their level of physical fitness. A total of 120 participants within the age range of (±20.45) male and (±20.63) female took part in this study 60 from each group. Standard physical fitness tests were conducted, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyse their performance on the physical fitness with the performance of physical fitness as the dependent variable (DV), while the categories of the uniform units as the independent variables (IV). Pairwise Comparison follow-up test was conducted to determine the significant parameters that differentiate the groups. The finding shows that there is a significant difference in the performance of physical fitness tests for both male and female F (20, 98) = 1.68, p

Student Readiness in Learning Arabic Language based on Blended Learning

Learning with technology or e-learning has been taking place in all areas of education including in learning and teaching of Arabic language. Despite the widespread use of e-learning for Arabic language, in line with the current technological advancements, the role of face-to-face classroom interactions must not be neglected. Face-to-face learning and e-learning have their own strengths. Hence, a combination of both elements in teaching and learning as afforded by blended learning may be an excellent choice. This study seeks to identify student readiness in learning Arabic language based on blended learning approach among students at university level. The research took place at University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Malaysia involving 248 students. The students were asked to answer the distributed questionnaires. The questionnaires used 1-5 points Likert scale which are strongly not agree, not agree, not sure, agree and strongly agree. The need analysis encompassed the presence of facilities supporting blended learning, the internet and e-learning literacy among students and their readiness to adopt blended learning. The findings highlight the important roles played by both the students and the institution in providing facilities needed to support blended learning. The findings also reported that the existing facilities are in a state of readiness for the implementation of blended learning. The institution provides wireless connection throughout the campus while 96% of the students own a laptop. In addition, students are also discovered to be internet-savvy besides displaying readiness to adopt blended learning. Further studies are recommended in exploring how to design and develop successful blended learning in teaching and learning Arabic language.

Prediction of Specific Physical characteristic and Fitness Related Variables on Cardiovascular Endurance among some Selected Uniform Arm Units of University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia.

Cardiovascular endurance is considered the most vital aspect of fitness due to its direct impact on human performance. For any uniform arm units to discharge their duties effectively, they need to meet up to the requirement of highest physical fitness level in respective of their body characteristics. This study aims to predict the relationship of physical characteristics and fitness variables on cardiovascular endurance performance among armed uniform package unit of UniSZA. A total of 26 participants within the age range of (±20.45) randomly selected from the three co-arm units of the university took part in this study. Standard physical characteristics measurement and fitness tests were conducted, and multiple linear regression was applied to predict their cardiovascular endurance performance as the dependent variables (DV) on their body characteristics and performance of physical fitness as the independent variable (IV). A significant regression equation was obtained F (9, 16) = 4.97, p &lt; 0.05, R2 = 0.74 indicating that the model accounted for approximately 74% variability of the whole data set. Sensitivity prediction analysis of the contributions of each variable revealed that height, speed, agility, upper body strength and core body strength are factors to cardiovascular endurance p &lt; 0.05 while, weight, waist circumference, neck circumference, and flexibility cannot determine cardiovascular endurance p&gt; 0.05. To improve the cardiovascular performance of uniform arm units, certain physical and fitness variables have to be considered for an effective discharge of their duties.

Antibiotic prescribing and resistance: knowledge level of medical students of clinical years of University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia.

The innovation of penicillin by Dr Alexander Fleming in 1928 and its use in clinical practice saved many lives, especially during the Second World War. Tuberculosis still carries a significant public health threat and has re-emerged over the past two decades, even in modern countries where tuberculosis was thought to be eliminated. The World Health Organization defines antimicrobial resistance as the resistance of a microorganism to an antimicrobial drug that was initially effective for treatment of infections caused by the microbe. Therefore, the findings of the current study will provide data to enable the design of a new educational program to better equip our students in confronting antimicrobial resistance. This study was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey, which was undertaken in the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The study participants were students of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery program (MBBS) of Year III, IV, and V. A total of 142 out of 164 (86%) medical students returned the questionnaire. Specifically, the year-wise breakdown of responses was 29% (41), 39% (55), and 32% (45) for Year III, IV, and V, respectively. Among the study respondents, 28% (40) were male, and the remaining 72% (102) were female. In all, 67% of the participants felt more confident in “making an accurate diagnosis of infection/sepsis.” The majority (88%) of the study participants stated that they would like more training on antibiotic selection. This research has found that there is a gap between theoretical input and clinical practice; the students are demanding more educational intervention to face the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Opiate dependence and withdrawal: role of oxidative stress in opiate regulations

Abstract not availableBangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.14(2) 2015 p.215

Business and Accounting Students’ Perceptions on Industrial Internship Program

Internship programme is one of the methods which will expose students a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the knowledge that they have learned in the classrooms through actual works experience in the industry. Normally, before a student graduates, he/she has to undergo this industrial internship programme. The objective of this study is to examine business and accounting students’ opinions on industrial internship programme by using a survey instruments which consists of 18 statements. The statements were grouped into four dimensions: Career; Knowledge and Practical Experience; Soft Skills; and Monetary and Non Monetary Incentives. The survey was conducted by using four point-likert scale and distributed to 33 business and 51 accounting students at University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia. The results indicate that both business and accounting students emphasise on Career as the most important dimension. Next of importance are Soft Skills, Knowledge and Practical Experience, and Monetary and Non Monetary Incentives. The results also indicate that both business and accounting students have similar opinions regarding industrial internship programme.

Lecturers’ Perspectives on using KeLiP as an E-Learning Tool

The aim of this paper is to investigate the use of an e-learning tool called KeLiP among lecturers in one of the public university in Malaysia, University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). Specifically, this study is intended to achieve three main objectives: to examine the opinions of lecturers towards KeLiP, to investigate willingness to use KeLiP and to examine the challenges using KeLip. A total of 250 lecturers responded to the survey. Interestingly, the experiences on internet and computers as well as exposure on the use of KeLiP among lecturers were vast. The results on opinions revealed that KeLiP is cost effective and easy to understand. The results also indicate that the main challenge faced in using KeLip was related to technical problems and lecturers were willing to use KeLiP if appropriate support is given.