IIUM Journal of Educational Studies
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Educational Strategic Leadership Practices among Leaders of Selected Malaysian Risky Schools
Get PDFThis paper explored the practice of educational strategic leadership (ESLP) among selected leaders of Malaysian risky schools, with the aim of developing, validating, and confirming a hypothesised structural model for leaders’ ESLP. Data were collected from 472 school leaders of 141 risky secondary schools across Malaysia using a set of five-point rating scales as the research instrument. For data analysis, the study used descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and full-fledged SEM. The findings revealed that Malaysian risky schools’ leaders had a high proclivity and inclination to practice educational strategic leadership (ESLP) at work and reported high levels of ESLP. Strategic orientation, strategic translation, strategic intervention, strategic alignment, strategic competencies, restlessness, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and wisdom were among the nine practices of educational strategic leadership identified in the survey responses. SEM procedures were used to confirm that the hypothesised model of ESLP for Malaysian risky schools’ leaders was empirically valid and reliable. The findings emphasised the importance of planning and developing a specific-context training program in strategic educational leadership for Malaysian risky schools’ leaders. The training was deemed essential in the pursuit of effective leadership and positive school outcomes in Malaysian schools. The study was able to develop, test, and validate an ESLP model for the strategic management of risky schools and it is regarded as one of the few studies on the factors influencing risky schools in Malaysia
Muslim Society’s Perceptions on the Needs of Android Application for Learning the Meaning of Words in Surah Al-Fatihah
Get PDFThe rapid development in technology has brought conventional learning styles to a whole new level of e-Learning, in which learning is not necessarily carried out in the classroom, but through mobile learning or m-learning that transcends the boundaries of time and place. Al-Quran learning is not excluded from this fast-paced evolution that has observed the emergence of various Quran-related mobile learning applications today. In view of this emerging trend, this study identified Muslim society's perception on the need for an educational android application for learning the meaning of words in Surah Al-Fatihah. The descriptive method was adopted where a questionnaire was distributed through the social media platform, namely -WhatsApp. 233 responses were recorded from Muslims of various backgrounds and- 11 different nationalities. The results showed that the Muslim respondents have a high level of acceptance for the development of an android application for learning the meaning of words in Surah Al-Fatihah. They also preferred varied functions and a helpful presentation method in the application, and informative learning content that is suited to various levels of the learner. The results of this study can be further used as a base for designing an android application for learning the meaning of words in Surah Al-Fatihah
The Effect of Reciprocal Teaching on Third Year Nigerian ESL Students’ Mastery of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
Get PDFThis true experimental study examined the effects of reciprocal teaching on 3rd year Nigerian university students’ mastery of “A Rose for Emily,” an English short story famously known for its intriguing plot but difficult narrative style. The subjects were a class of 60 students who were randomly assigned to either the treatment (n = 30) or control group (n = 30) based on the matching of their pretest scores. The experiment was conducted over 12 weeks where the treatment group studied the short story using reciprocal teaching that comprised the activities of summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting, while the control group was taught the same story using direct instruction. The subjects' mastery of the literary text was measured in terms of vocabulary, comprehension and recall using a self-developed test. The reliability of the measures ranged from α = 0.60 to α = 0.80. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that RT was very effective in enhancing the subjects’ recall and comprehension of the story and their acquisition of new vocabulary. The treatment group exhibited a significant increase of 67.6 points in their mastery of the short story compared to a significantly lower gain of 44.9 points by the control group. The effect size of the treatment was very large at Cohen’s d = 4.76. The results supported the use of active text processing strategies and social group interaction in facilitating students’ learning of literature as purported by Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory
Prevalence and Underlying Structure of Students’ Sejahtera Living vis-à-vis Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah
Get PDFThis study explored the prevalence of sejahtera living—an idea rooted in the belief that Islam is a way of life and aligned to Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah —among students at an Islamic university in Malaysia, and tested the extent to which the students’ responses to the questionnaire items on the concept constituted meaningful and interpretable facets of sejahtera living. A total of 596 students voluntarily participated in the study, with the sample being split into two random halves. The first subsample (n1 = 298) was used to identify the underlying facets of sejahtera living, while the other half (n2 = 298) served as the sample for a cross-validation procedure. The respondents filled out an online questionnaire containing 50 items that measured the prevalence of sejahtera living. Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis were used to address the two research objectives. Results showed that students’ reports of experiencing sejahtera living varied across items. The exploratory factor analyses, with principal axis factoring and the Promax rotation procedure, extracted five strong and reliable factors that explain the inter-correlations among items. The five-factor solution was supported by the results of a parallel analysis. As expected, the underlying facets of sejahtera living were factors associated with the preservations of faith (al-dīn), life (al-nafs), intellect (al-‘aql), property (al[1]māl) and progeny (al-nasl). The findings contribute to our current limited understanding about Muslim students’ sejahtera living, which would lead up to policy formulation and intervention
The Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Students’ Satisfaction: A Study of International Students in Malaysian Public Universities
Get PDFThis study is conducted to examine the relationship between quality service and students’ satisfaction based on the perceptions of international students in Malaysian public universities. The questionnaire used was adapted from ServQual and Customer Satisfaction instruments. Using the mean scores, Cronbach Alpha, correlation matrix, and regression analysis, the findings indicated moderate positive perceptions of overall university quality service and satisfaction with a low level of satisfaction for some dimensions of quality service such as empathy and assurance. This gap can be minimized by improving the issues of trust, courtesy, and responsiveness of university service with more focus on the emotional aspects and human connection in delivery service
Engineering Students’ Perceptions and Acceptance of the Online Flipped Classroom for Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFThis article reports on the results of an open-response survey sent out to IIUM Engineering students to elicit their thoughts and views about learning their courses online via the flipped learning mode. The decision to take academic courses online was brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced many sectors, including the education sector, to either cease operations or make changes to their approaches. Hence the objective of the survey was to explore Biochemical Engineering students’ perceptions and acceptance of online flipped learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses were collected from 80 Year 2, 3 and 4 students of Engineering at the IIUM. The results showed an overwhelming acceptance of online flipped learning among the students where only a small percentage of 2.7% completely rejected it as a preferred online learning mode. A majority of the students expressed a reserved acceptance (64.9%) of it, while 27% accepted it unconditionally. A major concern that emerged from the findings was uncurated and poor selection of videos for students to study before class meetings. This suggests that the flipped classroom approach can result in ineffective online learning if it is not designed carefully. The findings have significant implications on the technological skills and pedagogical readiness of university lecturers to design and deliver online flipped learning in an effective manner.
 
Religious Orientation, Academic Stress and Religious Coping among First Year Undergraduate Students
Get PDFThe study aimed to assess the prevalence of religious orientation, academic stress, and the use religion as a means to cope with academic stress among first-year undergraduates. The sample consisted of 321 first year students from five faculties of a religiously oriented public university in Malaysia. The data were collected using three separated instruments: a Religious Coping Questionnaire, an Academic Stress Scale, and an Orientation Scale. Frequency analysis was used to examine the prevalence of stress, and religious orientation, while Pearson moment correlation was used to analyze the relationship among the three main constructs: religious coping, religious orientation and academic stress. The analysis ran an independent sample t-test to check for gender-differences in academic stress, religious coping and academic stress. The results showed high incidences of the religious orientation and religious coping among the sample of undergraduates, but no significant gender differences. The study substantiated that one of the means by which the first year students reduced their academic stress is through religious coping and religious orientation
Influence of Participatory Decision Making on Job Satisfaction: The Moderating Effect of Staff Experience
Get PDFThe relationship between participatory decision-making (PDM) and job satisfaction (JS) has attracted the attention of researchers not only in the field of business industries but also education sector. However, the issue has not been given noteworthy priority in educational administration research let alone in Islamic tertiary institution context. Thus, the purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to validate the psychometric properties of administrative staff’s PDM and JS constructs, 2) to examine the degree of influence of administrative staff’s PDM on their JS, and 3) test the moderating role of staff’s working experience on the influence of PDM on JS. Using a quantitative survey approach, data were collected from 255 administrative staff working in different faculties, divisions, and centers of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The study employed co-variance-based SEM by using AMOS version 24 in order to achieve the objectives. First, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed to test the psychometric properties (such as convergent validity, divergent validity, and reliability) for both PDM and JS. Second, a Full-Fledged SEM was conducted to test the influence of PDM on JS. Finally, to examine the moderating effect of the staff working experience in the relationship between PDM and JST, a multi-group analysis (MGA) was applied. The results confirmed that the multidimensional hypothesized model of PDM and JS were empirically valid and reliable. The results also revealed a statistically significant impact for PDM on JS. Besides, the working experience was found to have a moderating role in the effect of PDM on JS. The study suggests that administrative staff involvement in decision making process is highly required as it increases their job satisfaction
The Influence of Urban Poverty on Students’ Academic Optimism: Does Government Assistance Play a Role?
Get PDFThe present study investigated the relationship between urban poor students’ perceptions of government assistance and poverty and their level of academic optimism. A survey was administered to 500 urban poor students in two major Malaysian cities, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. The students were identified and randomly selected for the study with the help of their respective schools. AMOS version 24 was used to test the hypothesised model using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The findings revealed a significant direct association between students’ perceptions of poverty and academic optimism. However, no significant indirect influence was found between students’ perceptions of poverty and their academic optimism through government assistance. These findings suggest that government assistance programmes are not necessarily a contributor to students’ academic optimism. The lack of any significant influence between students’ perceptions of poverty and academic optimism, through government assistance, may indicate a need to re-evaluate the existing assistance programmes rendered by the government to students in the urban poor category
The Impact of Future Economic Stability and Family Influence on Students’ Motivation for Higher Education: A Study on IIUM Students
Get PDFThis study was conducted to investigate the relationship between future economic stability (FES), family influence (FI) and students’ motivation for higher education (MFHE) based on the perceptions of undergraduate students in IIUM. The questionnaire used was self-developed and piloted with 263 undergraduate students, who were sampled purposely. Content validity, construct validity and – the Cronbach’s alpha for reliability were conducted to validate the instrument. SPSS V25 was used to analyze the data by manipulating the descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings from data analysis indicated that IIUM students held positive perception towards FES, FI and MFHE. The results also revealed a positive and significant relationship between FES, FI and MFHE, and that FES and FI were found to be significant predictors of MFHE. As an implication, higher education institutions as well as parents are urged to support their wards in terms of employment opportunities and continuous parental support, as the impact of future economic stability and family influence have been confirmed in this study as part of the reasons behind students’ motivation for higher education learning