**International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022**

Editors

**Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman Nor Erlissa Abd Aziz Mohd Nasir Ismail Ghazali Osman Khalid Abdul Wahid**

MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade

*Editors* Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch Malaysia Nor Erlissa Abd Aziz Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch Malaysia Mohd Nasir Ismail Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch Malaysia Ghazali Osman Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch Malaysia Khalid Abdul Wahid Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch Malaysia

*Editorial Office* MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland

This is a reprint of Proceedings published online in the open access journal *Proceedings* (ISSN 2504-3900) in 2022 (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/82/1).

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### **Contents**


Reprinted from: *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 26, doi:10.3390/proceedings2022082026 ........... **81**


Reprinted from: *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 51, doi:10.3390/proceedings2022082051 ........... **183**


Association between Lifestyle-Related Behaviors and Academic Performance among Students Reprinted from: *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 105, doi:10.3390/proceedings2022082105 ........... **273**


Reprinted from: *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 81, doi:10.3390/proceedings2022082081 ........... **367**


Reprinted from: *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 34, doi:10.3390/proceedings2022082034 ........... **479**


### *Editorial* **Statement of Peer Review †**

**Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman \* , Nor Erlissa Abd Aziz, Mohd Nasir Ismail, Ghazali Osman and Khalid Abdul Wahid**

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Kelantan 18500, Malaysia


When submitting conference proceedings to the journal *Proceedings*, the volume's editors notify the publisher that they carried out a peer review of all published papers. Reviews were conducted by expert referees while upholding all the professional and scientific standards expected of the *Proceedings* journal.


This publication gathered the proceedings of the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on 3 July 2022 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; the Digital Information Interest Group (DIGIT), Malaysia; the University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynotes speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, these proceedings provided an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and an understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. These proceeding could be helpful in shaping the future of academia and the industry by compiling state-of-the-art works, as well as future trends concerning the digital transformation of social science and the information systems field. It is also considered an interactive platform allowing for the gathering of academicians, practitioners, and students from various institutions and industries. A total of 186 manuscripts was received for consideration; however, only 114 manuscripts were accepted for presentation and publication, comprising of participants from Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

#### **International Advisory Board**

Prof. Datuk Ts. Dr. Roziah Mohd Janor, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Prof. Dr. Mohd Sazili Shahibi, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Prof. Dr. Haji Abdol Samad Nawi, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Charlito P. Cadag, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Prof. Engr. Harold Jan Terano, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Assoc. Prof. Filmor J. Murillo, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*.

**Citation:** Rosman, M.R.M.; Aziz, N.E.A.; Ismail, M.N.; Osman, G.; Wahid, K.A. Statement of Peer Review. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082001

Published: 6 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood, *University of the Punjab*, *Pakistan*. Prof. Dr. Subyantoro, M.Hum, *Universitas Ngudi Waluyo*, *Indonesia*. Meida Rachmawati, S.E,.M.M,.MH, *Universitas Ngudi Waluyo*, *Indonesia*. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Keoy Kay Hooi, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Prof. Datuk Dr. Rohana Binti Yusof, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Prof. Dr. Garry Tan Wei Han, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Prof. Dr. Chan Nee, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*.

#### **General Chairman**

Dr. Nor Erlissa Abdul Aziz, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **General Co-Chairman**

Ts. Inv. Dr. Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Keynote Speakers**

Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohamad Noorman Masrek, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sherah Kurnia, *University of Melbourne*, *Australia*. Dr. Susanta Udagedara, *University of Salford*, *United Kingdom*.

#### **Moderators**

Assoc. Prof. Filmor J. Murillo, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Nasir Ismail, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Masitah Ahmad, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Rudsada Kaewsaeng-On, *Prince of Songkla University*, *Thailand*. Dr. Zubaidah Iberahim, *Universiti Putra Malaysia*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Hafizah Mat Nawi, *Universiti Pertahanan Nasional*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Suryani Awang, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Nurazleena Ismail, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Technical Committee**

Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Nasir Ismail, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Ghazali Osman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marziana Madah Marzuki, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Masitah Ahmad, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Asst. Prof. Ts Chit Su Mon, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Ho Meng Chuan, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Asst. Prof. Dr Shyala Islam, *UCSI University*, *Malaysia*. Dr Tanaraj Krishna, *Quest International University*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Maria Teresa J. Manzano, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Dr. Jocelyn O. Jintalan, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Dr. Norel Peter M. Illo, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Dr. Crezel B. Obrero, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Dr. Challiz D. Omorog, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Dr. Ian P. Benitez, *Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges*, *Philippines*. Henki Bayu Seta, *Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta*, *Indonesia*. Tjahjanto, *Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta*, *Indonesia*. Erly Krisnanik, *Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta*, *Indonesia*. M. Octaviano Pratama, *Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta*, *Indonesia*. Mayanda Mega Santoni, *Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta*, *Indonesia*.

#### **Editors**

Ts. Inv. Dr. Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Dr. Nor Erlissa Abdul Aziz, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Nasir Ismail, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Ghazali Osman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Ts. Dr. Khalid Abdul Wahid, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Web Chair**

Faizal Haini Fadzil, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Parallel Session Chair**

Izzatil Husna Arshad, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Registration Chair**

Khadijah Abdul Rahman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Corporate Office Chair**

Salliza Md Radzi, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Secretariat Chair**

Siti Aishah Mokhtar, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

#### **Proceedings Compilation Team**

Ts. Inv. Dr. Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Ainatul Mardhiah Mat Nawi, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Amira Idayu Mohd Shukry, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Fatin Nur Zulkipli, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Haslinda Abdul Hamid, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Mohamad Syauqi Mohamad Arifin, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Nik Nur Izzati Nik Rosli, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Noor Arina Md Arifin, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Noor Azreen Alimin, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Nur Shaliza Sapial, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Nurfatihah S Baharuddin, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Siti Aishah Mokhtar, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Zaila Idris, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Noor Masliana Razlan, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*. Hadhifah Fadhlina bt Ismail, *Universiti Teknologi MARA*, *Malaysia*.

### *Proceeding Paper* **Gadgets and Their Impact on Child Development †**

**Zarina Mohd Zain \*, Fatin Nur Najidah Jasmani, Nurul Hadirah Haris and Suzei Mat Nurudin**

Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Seremban 70300, Malaysia

**\*** Correspondence: zarina752@uitm.edu.my

† Presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 3 July 2022.

**Abstract:** Having gadgets for children can be beneficial, as children can be creative through mobile games or with a stimulus for their senses and imagination through some creative applications. However, the overuse of gadgets can make the children rely on them, and it also can lead to addiction if they use them without proper guidance from their parents. This paper aims to visualize the use of gadgets among children on their acceptance and the impacts on their development. A total of fifteen informants were selected among children, caretakers, parents, and teachers via face-to-face interviews. The findings show that the children accept the use of gadgets due to their usefulness and easiness. However, there were some negative impacts of gadget usage in terms of social life, health, speech delay, and children's cognitive skills, which also could affect their education in the long term.

**Keywords:** the gadget; child development

#### **1. Introduction**

Children nowadays or those who can be referred to as Generation Z, are born during the digital world and can also be described as Digital Natives [1]. Members of Generation Z are more tech savvy, and they are the ones who are going to explore new applications as if they are part of their lives. The author stated that members of Generation Z could not live a day without gadgets, as if that is one of their basic needs to get through the day. As time goes by, Generation Alpha has the potential to be occupied with gadgets since they are being influenced by the immersion of technology since birth. Hence, gadgets have been used by parents as a medium to control their children and get them to behave well in public. There are few factors that would lead to an excessive usage of gadgets such as the place where the children are growing up from either urban or rural areas. Parents always established the idea of having gadgets for their children as an obligation, parallel with modern life. However, parents forget about their responsibility to weigh the pros and cons of giving gadgets to their children as it can be harmful or beneficial depending on how they use them. Having gadgets for children can be beneficial as the children can be creative through mobile games or with a stimulus for their senses and imagination through some creative applications [2]. However, the overuse of gadgets can make their children rely on them and it also can lead to addiction as if they use them without proper guidance from the parents.

#### **2. Past Studies on Related Subjects**

This part begins with the overview of gadget usage among children, followed by discussion on effects of technology used among children.

#### *2.1. Issue of Gadget Use among Children*

Gadget usage among children is worrisome because the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) found that 83.2 percent of Internet users are children between the ages of 5 to 17 years old [3]. To illustrate, 93 percent of Internet users are children using smartphones to access WhatsApp, Telegram, and any other applications

**Citation:** Zain, Z.M.; Jasmani, F.N.N.; Haris, N.H.; Nurudin, S.M. Gadgets and Their Impact on Child Development. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082006

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 7 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

that have a communication element. Furthermore, studies found that 75 percent of children do not get enough sleep in their daily activities, which would affect their development due to the impact of the use of gadgets [4]. In addition, findings from the Michael Cohen Group, which specializes in children's education, stated that 60 percent of parents that has a child aged 12 years old are also occupied with gadgets. To elaborate, 30 percent of them are using gadgets concurrently, while 36 percent of them did not know the long-term implication of using gadgets too much [5]. Referring to the scenario, this study aims to clarify the impact of gadgets on children's development and to identify parents' initiatives in controlling their children's usage of gadgets.

#### *2.2. Technology and the Use of Gadgets among Children*

Technology is unavoidable, and everyone must adapt to it. Technology is now the main tool in not only administration but also in education, the health sector, and even trade and businesses. In the 21st century, gadgets and the Internet are not taboo in our society. The behavior relating to the use of gadgets among children can be explained through several theories, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). In TAM, two elements predict the acceptance of technology, which are perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) [6]. PEOU is the ratio of individuals who believe that using technology will make it easy for them to do any task. PU is a comparison of individuals who believe that using technology can increase their productivity. These two elements reflect the ideas in the TRA that explain the behavior of using technology. This theory explained that a person's attitude and subjective norms influenced the intensity of the behavior of using technology. All of these lead to the level of acceptance or usage regarding the human behavior of using technology in a certain context.

Many studies related to technology focus on the use of a system approach in dealing with daily work, but few studies touch on how the use of devices affects child development. The first study, which was conducted by the original scholar for this model, Davis featured lab experiments with emails and graphics and identified that with these technologies, work can be done very quickly, easily, and effectively and lead to high job performance [7]. In addition, emails and graphics are also easy to learn, controllable, flexible, and understandable [8]. A lab experiment with a word processor, which was conducted by Davis, Bagozzi, Warshaw, and Venkatesh, found that using the processor improved performance and enhanced the effectiveness of completing the task given [9,10]. The process of learning to operate the processor is also easy and allows an individual to become skillful in handling the system. Heijden in his study on the use of website technology, identified that the information on sites is very interesting and adds value to the performance [11]. It is easy to navigate around sites, and users can obtain information very quickly. The system is also easy to learn, flexible, clear, and understandable. Another study, which involved voicemail, also identified that this technology is very important when it comes to job performance and effective decision-making. It is easy to get voice mails to do what individuals want them to do, and they are very comfortable to use. To the best of the author's knowledge, no studies in which children's use of gadgets was utilized to measure PU and PEOU have been conducted, and all the previous studies discussed the usefulness and ease of the technology, but not the impact of gadget use on children.

#### *2.3. The Future of Gadgets for Children*

Chiu [12] found that gadgets are most frequently used by people between 20 and 25 years old. However, as technology advances, the use of electronic gadgets by children is becoming a more important research topic, as some parents are very open with their children regarding the usage of gadgets. There are some benefits of gadget usage among children since technically it can improve their education because there is infinite information at their fingertips. However, gadget dependency can also arise when parents start to introduce gadgets to their children due to the rapid development of technology. Children use gadgets to do several things, such as listening to songs, online chatting, video gaming, and browsing through the Internet. In other words, children rely on gadgets to be the source of their entertainment, use them to explore information on the Internet, and spend most of their time on gadgets [13]. Therefore, if the children are left without the supervision of any adults, they tend to self-neglect, causing unwanted consequences to their vision and health.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the usage of gadgets among children has increased [14]. Children spend hours on gadgets, watching YouTube videos and movies, listening to music, and playing games. Hence, when children use gadgets for a long period of time, they tend to be aggressive, furious, and disrespectful most of the time because they are attached to the gadgets since they did not know what else to do while being in lockdown. Nor Azah Abdul Aziz stated that children as young as one year old are being surrounded by gadgets that become their incentive to behave well in public [15]. Parents are introducing their children to gadgets, and because children as young as one year old are full of curiosity, as time goes by, they get addicted. According to Naquiah Nahar, children in Malaysia spend 19 h a week on gadgets, which is abnormal for children without commitments such as working from home [16]. In Korea, as stated by Joo and Sang, most of the Korean people use gadgets because of the features provided by the developers, and they feel that the applications in the gadgets suit their needs [17]. This leads to more gadget addiction.

#### *2.4. The Impacts of Excessive Usage of Gadgets among Children*

The excessive usage of gadgets among children may affect their social skills. For example, they might become introverted and prefer being alone instead of talking to their friends. Moreover, when gadgets become part of their routine, it might also affect their health, causing joint pain, back pain, and eyestrain. Gadgets also might affect children's speech development if they just focus on videos rather than communicating with their peers verbally. On a side note, the excessive usage of gadgets could also affect the way children learn, write, and read, depending on their cognitive skills. When children are occupied with gadgets, they are reluctant to learn and to understand basic knowledge in school, which in turn can affect their cognitive skills. Chiu agrees that the effects of gadget addiction can lead to emotional stress and poor international relationships, as people who are addicted to gadgets tend to be very passive and alienated from their surroundings. Besides, Andreesen et al. also discussed that those who are addicted to gadgets, especially when it comes to video games, have increased stress and self-perception problems [18]. If they win the game, then they will continue to play, but if they lose, they become angry and rebellious, which affects their communication with other people. Jap said that those who always spend their time on gadgets suffer from a lack of sleep, escapism, mood disorders, aggression, physical injuries, and addiction [19]. Commonly, the effects can be categorized into social, health, communication, and knowledge effects.

#### 2.4.1. Effects on Socialization

According to Mildayani Suhana, the excessive usage of gadgets leads children to become anti-social and lack emotional management, so they tend to have tantrums in public or in their own home [20]. Hence, they may become introverted, have lower self-esteem, and keep away from their peers. Even during family gatherings, they keep themselves occupied with gadgets. The researcher also emphasized the importance of parents managing their children's behavior through limiting the usage of gadgets. A child who has unrestricted screen time is more likely to have trouble communicating with their peers and even family [21]. This is because when they are too occupied with gadgets, they have a limited vocabulary; hence, it may lead to stuttering because they did not practice speaking in real life with actual people [22].

#### 2.4.2. Effects on Health

Moreover, gadget dependency among children can cause hazardous health problems. The most obvious effect is that children who depend on gadgets tend to feel lazy and

weak and suffer malnutrition compared to those who do not. This is because children tend to sacrifice necessities such as sleep and food just to have their alone time playing with gadgets. As time goes by, this can affect their sleeping habits to the point where they only sleep for 3–4 h a day and can lead to insomnia and headaches. Consequently, children who do not undergo proper physical development are more prone to diseases involving the eyes, head, bones, joints, or back, in which they will experience tiredness and feel weak. Children who are too focused on their gadgets tend to suffer from sleep deprivation due to their addiction; hence, without them, they cannot go through their days like normal people. Moreover, children who are occupied with gadgets are more likely to have difficulty concentrating, which could affect their education while they are learning in school [23]. In addition, using gadgets can cause eye problems, and the blue light might negatively affect the brain and body.

#### 2.4.3. Effects on Speech Development

A child should be able to speak starting from as young as one year old, even if it is just babbling with the help of their parents. A child that is occupied with gadgets tends to respond slowly to any questions given, as if they cannot digest the question quickly. This also may affect their vocabulary, as they only know a few words in conjunction with repetitive words in cartoons and video games. Children who spend most of their time on electronic gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, and any other handheld devices are most likely to have delays in expressive speech. To elaborate, a study conducted by a pediatrician in Toronto, Canada found that children who play with gadgets for an additional 30 min each time could face the risk of speech delay by 49%. To adduce, when a child cannot express their needs verbally, they tend to express their frustration through movement, so they tend to get violent. This can be seen when a parent refuses to give a gadget to them, as they will throw a tantrum even though it is in public, which shows that a child who is too dependent on gadgets has no control over their emotions.

#### 2.4.4. Effects on Cognitive Skills

Cognitive skills are important for children to survive in education. If a child lacks in any cognitive skills, they will not be able to learn along with their peers. Cognitive skills can be referred to as how a child learns, writes, and gathers information. Children who are too dependent on gadgets are facing cognitive delays, as they do not communicate with their parents as often as needed [24]. A child needs their parents to practice communication skills, not gadgets; hence, this can affect their cognitive development, as their communication skills become stunted. Moreover, a child who depends on gadgets might face anxiety in which they worry about future events because they are not well-prepared and they may experience increased impulsivity [25]. The excessive use of gadgets may also lead to tantrums, fast heart rate, and shakiness. When children become too occupied with gadgets, they often cannot focus or multitask, which can cause lack of proactivity.

#### **3. Methodology**

The purpose of this research is to study the issue of gadget dependency among children as well as the impact of the excessive usage of gadgets and whether it gives a positive or negative effect towards children's development. Hence, a qualitative method was used to achieve the objectives of this study. Informants were selected and interviewed through an open-ended questions session regarding the usage of gadgets among their children or children whom they take care of. To finalize the number of informants, the saturation points were identified where the trend of responses received was almost similar, so a total of fifteen informants were selected for this study. The informants consist of people who are the parents, caretakers, and teachers of children aged 10 to 14 years old who are being exposed to gadgets and live in the Seremban 3 area. To examine the responses of the informants, this study followed the suggestions made by Creswell and Poth on the data collecting techniques for interviews [26]. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis, in which the initial step is to read the interview answers from respondents one by one. Before developing a code list, the researchers went through the text parts in the interview and the answer text from respondents. Then, texts in which respondents agreed with a code were circled. Lastly, the themes were developed. From the findings, the researchers developed the themes into levels of use, the benefits, and the impacts and finally provided the subthemes, as stated in Table 1 and Figure 1.


**Table 1.** The use and the impacts on gadget among the children.

\* The gadget refers to handphones, tablets, laptops and personal computers.

**Figure 1.** The framework on the gadget acceptance and its impact.

#### **4. Results**

Due to the pandemic, the whole system changed, including education and social life. The students from all levels (primary, secondary, and tertiary) who began studying online and their parents who began working from home used devices (gadgets such as handphone, tablet, laptop and personal computer) to perform their tasks. At this time, no one could resist this change. The participants' feedback showed that gadgets help them so much when it comes to their daily activities. However, most of them were aware that the use of gadgets can have a negative impact on children's development. The parents, teachers and caretakers noticed that children tended to behave aggressively if they could not play with gadgets in a day.

Our findings show that children use gadgets as their main tools not only for studying but also for leisure. They believe that these gadgets benefit them greatly, especially during the pandemic, which increased their level of gadget acceptance and caused gadgets to become important items that are always by their sides. Losing or being away from their devices can make children lose their direction. However, the response from the informants also agreed that the overuse of devices can lead to several negative implications in terms of health, social life, speech development, and cognitive skills.

It has been proven that technology has a significant impact on social life. The use of technology helps facilitate most matters, including not only administration but also education, especially during the pandemic. This was shown that most students, especially children, used gadgets for learning. The technology is easy to use, and they can explore more information in just a second. The technology is also flexible, controllable, comfortable, and understandable. However, one must consider the consequences of technology addiction when it begins to harm children's health, leading to text claw, an unhealthy level of radiation, phantom vibration syndrome, speech delay, and the poor development of cognitive skills. These could be temporary, but if parents or those who are close to children just ignore these signs, they may cause permanent effects and ruin their lives.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Technology and gadgets make life easy. This study found the concentration and impact of gadgets used among children. Basically, children use gadgets for learning activities and entertainment because they are useful and convenient. However, the impacts of gadget usage must be considered. Even though children use gadgets for online learning or to gather information, the negative impacts still apply, especially in cases of continuous use. These impacts can be seen in terms of health, social, physical, and mental development as well as cognitive skills. It is very important for parents, caretakers, and even teacher to reduce gadget dependency among children by limiting their screen time or enrolling them in extra classes so they can do other social activities. This can enhance their cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. At the same time, it is the responsibility of the parents and guardians who are very close to them to monitor the children to ensure they are not too occupied with gadgets. It is time for the government to re-plan and re-frame the policies related to the issue of gadget dependency among children by having a focused discussion with related ministries such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, Z.M.Z., F.N.N.J. and N.H.H.; methodology, Z.M.Z. and S.M.N.; validation, Z.M.Z. and S.M.N.; formal analysis, Z.M.Z.; investigation, Z.M.Z., F.N.N.J., N.H.H. and S.M.N.; resources, Z.M.Z., F.N.N.J., N.H.H. and S.M.N.; data curation, Z.M.Z., F.N.N.J., N.H.H. and S.M.N.; writing—original draft preparation, Z.M.Z., F.N.N.J., N.H.H. and S.M.N.; writing review and editing, Z.M.Z. and S.M.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** This study was supported by the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia). The appraisal was carried out by the Research, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Industry, Community and Alumni Network (RICAEN), FSPPP. The authors appreciate the valuable comments.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Barriers Faced by Teachers in Acclimatizing to Online Teaching †**

**Nurul Ashikin Izhar <sup>1</sup> , Yahya M. Al-dheleai <sup>1</sup> , Rozniza Zaharudin 1,\* and Si Na Kew <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** Centered on the transformation of the norm of education from face-to-face teaching to online platforms, this article explores the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contribute to the challenges teachers faced in delivering online lessons during the pandemic. The study adapts thematic deductive qualitative analysis approaches by using an open-ended questionnaire where the data were collected via Internet survey. The results portrayed intrinsic factors to exhibit the biggest barriers in comparison to extrinsic factors. Hence, teachers' pedagogical needs should be considered, with priority given to teachers' technological access by the education authority to improve the quality of the online teaching. This study provides insights for education authorities in addressing the challenges of online teaching, especially in terms of technological access.

**Keywords:** challenges; COVID-19; educational technology; online education; online teaching/learning; remote teaching; secondary school; teachers; technology in education

**Citation:** Izhar, N.A.; Al-dheleai, Y.M.; Zaharudin, R.; Kew, S.N. Barriers Faced by Teachers in Acclimatizing to Online Teaching. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082011

Academic Editors: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 7 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had global implications for education, whereby most lessons which were traditionally conducted through face-to-face teaching are now delivered through online platforms [1]. Not only do governments worldwide face the health threats of the contagious virus, but they also need to develop practical strategies to ensure that school classes do not cease [2]. For examples, Malaysia's neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines have adopted online teaching and home-based learning as their strategies to maintain the continuation of education during the pandemic. However, due to the differences in local and economic backgrounds among citizens, the countries have made changes to their online education which include adapting the curriculum, learning materials and online delivery modes [3].

The announcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia has put pressure on teachers, as they need to be prepared to adapt to the online teaching and learning mode immediately. Online teaching and learning readiness are the state of teachers' preparation for online teaching and learning practices [4]. During the shift from physical classroom interaction to this practice, teachers needed to plan and deliver online lessons. Past research pointed out that the sudden and massive global adoption of online teaching and learning practices has challenged teachers' readiness for online teaching like never before [5]. However, the severity of the COVID-19 crisis and its widespread outbreak may indicate that online teaching and learning practices will soon come into the picture of the global education scenario.

#### **2. Significance of the Study**

The observation of Malaysians' education experience with the use of technology shows that blended learning is being used at a limited scale. For instance, [6] it was found that only 0.57% to 4.69% of teachers in Malaysia have used the Learning Management System (LMS) for blended learning. This suggests that a significant number of teachers never or rarely used blended learning technology in their teaching before COVID-19 mandated online teaching and learning practices. Although online teaching and learning practices have existed in the educational context for a long time, it is still perceived as something novel when teachers have never encountered this technology in their teaching [7]. Teaching through an online teaching and learning platform becomes more difficult when teachers face infrastructure problems, limited bandwidth, unstable internet access and time challenges [8].

Nevertheless, previous research shows that technologies such as online platform teaching and learning practices were only used as a tool for teaching, unlike the current scenario during the pandemic where the entire teaching and learning process takes place online [9]. Therefore, teachers who had never used online teaching and learning practices before the school closure need to learn the basic skills to implement it. Teachers who have had experience with online teaching and learning practices need to improve their skills for more successful implementation.

Thus, there are a variety of challenges arising from the new norm of online education during the outbreak of COVID-19. Therefore, this study is essential in exploring the challenges faced by secondary schools due to the sudden shift from face-to-face teaching to online teaching and learning. The findings of this study will inform teachers, researchers, and education policy makers around the world, particularly in Malaysia, of the actions that are needed to be taken in order to address the challenges and improve the infrastructures for online teaching and learning practices and teacher readiness, not only during the pandemic but also in terms of future education plans.

#### **3. Review of Related Studies**

The current research suggests that there are several intrinsic and extrinsic factors that challenge teachers' readiness to deliver content online [10]. Intrinsic factors refer to factors derived from the teachers that challenged their readiness to conduct online teaching [11]. To put it in another way, it has to do with the fundamental and personal characteristics that are ingrained in their belief about education and technologies [12]. Concomitantly, the Self-Determination Theory [13] highlights the fact that the fundamental elements that affect the way a teacher engaged in a certain behavior were founded based on the need for relatedness, autonomy, and the need for competence. Noh et al. [10] found that the intrinsic factors that challenge teachers' willingness to teach online are teachers' innovation, information technology-specific innovation, computer self-efficacy, and technological knowledge and skills. In the context of professional development, when teachers understood the importance of intrinsic motivation, it engaged both their teaching process and their students' learning [14]. Therefore, the beliefs and thoughts of teachers influence their pedagogy. The lack of confidence has been found by Al-Maroof et al. [11] to be the factor that disconnect teachers from implementing online teaching and learning practices. This will be detrimental, as students need more support from teachers in adjusting from physical face-to-face class sessions into cyberspace. In order to cultivate self-efficacy in teachers to adapt to online teaching and learning practices, there is a need for external support such as teachers' training in adequate skills needed to teach online by the administrative [15], and the availability and stability of internet connections [9].

In this study, the external factors influencing the teachers were acknowledged as extrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors were related to external sources that affect teachers in their online teaching and learning practices. In the context of online teaching and learning practices, Wang [12] suggests extrinsic factors as elements in technology preparation to be integrated in pedagogy. Meanwhile, Rogers [7] emphasized in the theory of Diffusion of Innovation that technology does not have to take the form of a tangible product. Technology is an innovation that materializes in the form of hardware such as a laptop, software such as Google Meet, concepts, and practices such as online teaching and learning itself, or any combination of these things. Some of the extrinsic factors that affect the readiness for online teaching and learning practices are identified as administrative support [15], the role of change agents [7], and school and training institutions [12]. Botham [14] found that the policies that were developed by those in positions of higher authority (such as the Ministry of Education) ultimately led to the implementation of those policies into effective procedures (i.e., the implementation of online teaching as an alternative to ensure education continuation during school closure).

Therefore, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting teachers' readiness should not be considered as a separate entity, but instead as side-by-side factors. In this research, intrinsic factors are those originating from teachers themselves that challenge their readiness to implement online teaching. Meanwhile, extrinsic factors are external factors that influence teachers' willingness.

The objective of the current study is to find out the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect teachers' willingness to conduct online teaching and learning practices and therefore raises the following question: What are the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect teachers' willingness to conduct online teaching and learning?

#### **4. Population and Sample**

The population of this study is public school teachers that have conducted online teaching and learning processes. The teachers who participated in this study were recruited on a voluntary basis, and anyone who received the link to it could answer the questionnaire. A non-probability volunteer type of sampling was suggested by Cohen, Manion, and Morrison [16] when access to a sample is difficult. The adaptation of volunteer sampling and internet survey in the current study is a feasible and appropriate alternative method due to limited freedom of movement and health aspects to be considered amidst a pandemic. Internet-based surveys have the potential to act as representative data because of its ability to collect responses from a greater number of people compared to traditional methods.

#### *Statistical Techniques Used in the Present Study*

The researchers developed an open-ended questionnaire as the research instrument to collect feedback from teachers on the challenges they faced when teaching online. The items of the instrument were validated for language and content by two experts in the field. Subsequently, the Google Form questionnaire was distributed via social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram. A descriptive analysis of distribution was then used to present the findings derived from the samples. Consequently, frequency and percentage were then used as data presentations.

#### **5. Data Analysis and Interpretation**

At the first screening, the data were filtered by three types of sources, which were (i) sources from teachers, (ii) sources from students, and (iii) sources from parents. The data source from teachers was then further analyzed in this study. A total of 136 valid responses were collected from 116 secondary school teachers. The data were then sifted to remove unrelated information and were prepared for further analysis.

The data were analyzed using the deductive thematic analysis method in order to determine the frequency with which each particular theme emerged in the study that was being discussed. In carrying out deductive theme analysis, data were analyzed by employing a structure or framework that has been determined in advance. A deductive thematic analysis was adopted as it helps organize the data into categories and with the evaluation of the themes retrieved from literature that emerged in the scenario studied. After all the data were classified according to their respective themes, the next process was to categorize the data into intrinsic or extrinsic factors. The frequencies of occurrence and their respective percentages were then recorded.

116 teachers responded to the questionnaire, highlighting issues with facilitating online teaching, interaction and providing feedback. Of the eight issues, 33.1% are intrinsic factors and 66.9% are extrinsic factors. Among the factors, technological access is the most prominent, with 62.5% of mentions, followed by communication self-efficacy (14%). In comparison, online lesson planning and technological skills each account for 5.9%, knowledge for 5.1%, and time, students' lesson comprehension and environment for 2.2% each. Figure 1 shows the number of occurrences and the respective percentage in the current research.

**Figure 1.** Number and percentage of element occurrences in statements.

#### **6. Study Variables and Novelty**

This study has a unique focus within the factors included in this study. One of the investigated intrinsic factors is that the lesson plan has not been widely investigated in previous research. The authors of this study believe that the lesson plan prepared prior to teaching is particular and important to promote the success of online teaching, as the conducted online class requires a different method and skills of preparation than that of faceto-face lesson planning. Moreover, this study investigated the extrinsic factor components, which are the teachers' working time, students online learning comprehension and the teacher's working environment. To the authors' knowledge, those components have not been widely investigated in the context of online learning. However, the extrinsic factor focus on the working environment of the teachers itself, as the class was mostly conducted in the teachers' homes hence, making it easier for the teachers to feel distracted as they are bound to their own personal responsibilities and the need to balance work-personal life may lead to the lack of time they needed to achieve work-related task and their own personal tasks.

The themes and the type of factor, sources of adaptations and the number of statements that arose in the current study are shown in Table 1.


**Table 1.** Pre-determined and emerging themes and their number of statements.

#### *6.1. Intrinsic Factors*

The intrinsic factors are Knowledge, Online Lesson Plan, Technological Skills, Communication Self-Efficacy and Time. Figure 2 shows some examples expressed by the respondents in the current study.

**Figure 2.** Intrinsic Factor.

6.1.1. Knowledge and Technological Skills

The theme of Knowledge is labelled when a teacher knows how to use online instruction, develop instructional materials, assess students' learning, and use available online resources to teach on school days. In other words, knowledge means knowing what is and how to conduct online instruction [17]. For example, Teacher 4 emphasized that it was confusing to keep track of students' attendance and assignments. This was so because in the past, teachers could ask class leaders to monitor the attendance of respective classes early in the morning and teachers would update the attendance software system upon being informed by class leaders. For online courses, it is then difficult to track students' attendance. Teacher 35 stated that she did not know how to use the online teaching tools because using the online software was new to her. According to Rogers [7], a technology, practice or idea that has existed but that no one has ever been exposed to is perceived as a new innovation.

Teaching using technology, such as online teaching, requires technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, technological content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge [20]. Teacher 109, for example, admitted that she is not very skilled in using technology or online teaching tools. She expressed that she only knows how to use social media such as WhatsApp and Telegram for social interaction (chatting).

#### 6.1.2. Online Lesson Plan

Online Lesson Plan demand the teachers to design the way a lesson should be conducted through an online medium [17]. Online teaching differs from physical face-face class session as the change in the medium to conduct teaching and learning call for different approach to ensure the students' focus in class. For example, Teacher 72 expressed her difficulties in "... making sure that students are ready for the lesson they are planning, excited about the lesson, and participate in the lesson until the end". Teachers need to use their knowledge and skills in online teaching to prepare a lesson that will practically make students participate in the lesson and stay until the end, taking into account the students' screen time and attention spans. Teacher 102 also mentioned that it is difficult for her to ensure students' concentration throughout the lesson. With online teaching, teachers lose some of their aptitude to manage the class, such as controlling students' behaviors. Hence, unlike physical classrooms where natural interactions can happen, teachers cannot plan or monitor students' acts when teaching online.

For this reason, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) Malaysia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has established the Komuniti Guru Digital Learning platform (Teacher Digital Learning Community), which consists of learning modules for teachers to learn and develop their skills in preparing and delivering online lessons [21]. In addition, the Ministry of Education has prepared a teaching and learning module called the PdPR module, which focuses on mitigating lessons during school closure [22]. Nevertheless, there is no recent study on the effectiveness of Komuniti Guru Digital Learning and the PdPR module for teachers' professional development.

#### 6.1.3. Communication Self-Efficacy

The current research views Communication Self-Efficacy as teachers' self-confidence in online teaching, their expressiveness in words, voice and video, and their well-being [23]. Teachers 38 and 39 both indicated that they lacked confidence in conducting online classes because they could only use their smartphones for social communication and not for teaching purposes. Teacher 36 preferred to use pre-recorded videos for his lessons, as he had little time available for live video streaming.

#### 6.1.4. Time

In the current research, the term time is understood as the allocation of time to complete online classes and assignments. The problems were highlighted by Teacher 114, while Teacher 87 emphasized that she is happy about students being responsible for their education. She shared that "the students did not ask much during class, but afterwards they keep texting and asking about the lesson, no matter how late it is". This highlights the need for teachers to set up a class setting in the first week of online teaching that is sustainable and supportive for both teachers and students. It can be concluded that when teaching online, teachers need to plan their time thoroughly so that their online teaching will not be disrupted.

#### *6.2. Extrinsic Factors*

The extrinsic factors are Technological Access, Students' Lesson Comprehension, and Environment, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 also shows some excerpts received in the current study.

**Figure 3.** Extrinsic Factors.

#### 6.2.1. Technological Access

Technological access is at the heart of the successful implementation of online teaching. Other factors, such as knowledge, online lesson planning, etc., only emerge when the access to technology is available. Thus, technological access contributes to a larger part of the problems in implementing online teaching. Online teaching requires sufficient data coverage to conduct live streaming and share teaching materials. Furthermore, sufficient data coverage also contributes to the stability and the strength of internet connection, and most importantly, the availability of devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets for online classes. For example, Teachers 2, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 29 mentioned that they had problems with internet connections that kept disconnecting during lessons.

The slow internet coverage is not only due to the internet capacity subscribed by the teachers prior to their lessons, but is also influenced by geographical location. Zhang, Wang, Yang, and Wang [24] mentioned that some of the problems in implementing online teaching in China are due to geographical location, whereby rural and sub-rural areas have little to no internet access compared to urban areas. In the current study, Teacher 67 said, "I live in a fairly rural area. The internet coverage here is slow with only one to two bars (the indicator of internet coverage) and I have to find a better place to get internet". In addition, teachers who depend on mobile phone data coverage shoulder a bigger financial burden than those who use home Wi-Fi. Teacher 114 mentioned having to upgrade his mobile data coverage subscription to be able to do live streaming.

If the teachers have excellent technological access but the students do not have the same, it also makes online teaching difficult to conduct. Teacher 90 reported that her students only have a limited number of devices which they have to share among their siblings. Some even sacrificed their learning opportunities because other siblings were sitting for important exams and had to attend online classes to prepare for exams. Teacher 26 also mentioned that one of his students did not have access to the lessons because the only devices available in the household belonged to the parents, and his parents had to use them for their work. Therefore, technological access is a problem that needs to be solved by both teachers and students. It also shows that online teaching is not something that can be mastered quickly, especially when technological access plays a key role in its implementation.

#### 6.2.2. Students' Lesson Comprehension

The primary purpose of a teacher's delivery of learning is his or her students' understanding of the subject matter [20]. Teacher 14 indicated that they were concerned whether students understand the materials he taught in his online classes. In face-to-face physical classes, teachers can observe their students' facial expressions and body languages. However, according to Teacher 97 and Teacher 112, students tend to not turn on their

cameras during online classes. Some students do so because they are uncomfortable, and some do not have functional webcams on their devices (Teacher 113).

However, students' understanding of the subject matter may also be influenced by their behaviors. Teacher 69 expressed his disappointment; some of the students have openly said that they do not want to participate in class. This shows that the students do not take their education seriously. At the same time, teacher 81 mentioned that "students did not attend classes because they forgot, even though the timetable was announced beforehand on different platforms".

#### 6.2.3. Environment

During Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO), everyone was instructed to stay at their own respective home as a measure to control the spreading of COVID -19. Therefore, apart from teaching online, teachers are occupied with chores and the preparation of online teaching materials. Teacher 92, who has young children, expressed her concern with regard to concentrating during class while her children need her attention at the same time. Nonetheless, the distractions in online classes do not only come from the teacher's home environment, but also that of students. Teacher 24 mentioned that she and the other students could hear noises from one of the students during their live streaming session, which distracted the rest of the class. However, these problems can be overcome if the teacher uses the software skillfully, e.g., the mute function or good self-efficacy in communication, as mentioned earlier.

#### **7. Recommendations**

The current study only considered teachers' views on the challenges affecting their readiness and not the views of students or parents. In addition, individuals tend to emphasize the negative over the positive when presenting challenges. Therefore, it is recommended that suggestions for improvement of online education be developed from the perspective of teachers, students, parents, and other organizations such as telecommunication providers and devices (e.g., laptops, smartphones), manufacturers, etc. It is possible to overcome extrinsic issues by giving funding, sufficient training, technological help, and support within the teacher community [12].

The government could establish a task force group made up of representatives from teachers, students, and parents that reports transparently on strategies implemented to improve online teaching over time. Setting up a task force was also suggested by United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [25], which would better facilitate online teaching during the crisis. This article also identified the critical factors that should be considered if the government intends to integrate online teaching into its strategies of using technology in education for future education plans.

It is recommended that education authority involved should provide more teachers' training regarding the use of the online teaching with the focus on technological knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, technological content knowledge and the communication self-efficacy as they are the necessary aspects to improve the quality of online teaching. The education authority and the telecommunication companies could work together to improve the condition of the technological access to online teaching and learning for both the teachers and students in terms of the devices and reliable, affordable internet.

#### *Future Research Recommendations*

This study was conducted qualitatively using an open-ended questionnaire. It is recommended that future researchers study the significance of the obtained factors regarding their study quantitatively, within the actual usage of online teaching and learning practice among teachers as the higher number of responses would be able to predict the situation in a more accurate way.

#### **8. Conclusions**

It can be concluded that there are intrinsic and extrinsic issues and challenges that challenge teachers' readiness to deliver online content. In the context of this study, technological access is the factor with the highest degree of occurrence as barriers faced by teachers in acclimatizing to online teaching. Despite this, the number of intrinsic factors, which include knowledge, an online lesson plan, technological skills, communication self-efficacy, and time, has been found to outnumber the number of extrinsic factors, which include only three factors (technological access, student lesson comprehension, and time). It can also be seen that even though technological access is categorized as the extrinsic factor having the highest occurrence, the intrinsic factors still form the utmost barriers. Therefore, technological access and teacher self-efficacy are essentials for the online teaching and learning implementation. Moreover, the government could establish a task force from teachers, students, and parents in addition to education experts that reports transparently on strategies implemented to improve online teaching over time.

Hence, in an educational system that is structured and centralized, concern should still be focused on teachers' pedagogical needs in order to gain a better understanding of the updated scenario of technology integration in education. The only constant in technology is advancement, hence there will be several areas that will keep on changing and challenges that will need to be overcome in education. This article also identified the critical factors that should be considered if the government intends to integrate online teaching into its strategies of using technology in education for future education plans.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, N.A.I., Y.M.A.-d. and R.Z.; methodology, N.A.I.; data curation, N.A.I. and Y.M.A.-d.; writing—original draft preparation, N.A.I., Y.M.A.-d. and R.Z.; writing—review and editing, S.N.K.; visualization, N.A.I.; supervision, Y.M.A.-d.; project administration, N.A.I. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee USM (HREC) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) (USM/JEPeM/COVID19-19 and date of approval 17 May 2020).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to acknowledge Human Research Ethics Committee USM (HREC) for the ethical clearance for the study and all participants that were volunteering in current research.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


*Proceeding Paper*

### **TPACK Readiness among English-Language Lecturers for Open Distance Learning (ODL) Adoption in a Malaysian Public University †**

**Azlan Ab Aziz 1, Ameiruel Azwan Ab Aziz 2,\* , Nur Aqilah Norwahi 2, Nor Afifa Nordin 2, Nuramirah Zaini 2, Sumayyah Shaidin <sup>2</sup> and Sheik Badrul Hisham Jamil Azhar <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, the education domain all around the globe suddenly shifted to online/open distance learning (ODL) platforms. Despite decades of technological advancement in the fabric of education, it is progressively important to understand English-language lecturers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) readiness to adopt ODL. Generally, language-learning classes are conducted in the traditional physical setting. This is of great importance to investigate lecturers' ability to integrate technology into teaching and learning, as it is a significant factor that affects online learning success. This quantitative case study aims to explore the TPACK readiness of English-language lecturers in one public university in Malaysia. Based on the TPACK model, an online survey was designed and administered to collect data among 143 English-language lecturers during the movement control order. Despite an immediate compulsory ODL deployment, the results indicate that the English-language lecturers' TPACK readiness is progressive, and they are acquiescent and fairly receptive towards the ODL with efforts to overcome ODL challenges and stay positive. This, in turn, contributed to students' positive performance. It is hoped that such information can offer some insights for ensuring positive impacts in tertiary educational teaching and learning practice.

**Keywords:** COVID-19; English lecturers; open distance learning; self-efficacy; technological pedagogical content knowledge

#### **1. Introduction**

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to educational practices all around the world while severely crippling people's routines and devastating the worldwide economy. The sudden outbreak left many teachers, academicians, and lecturers with no choice but to hastily accept, embrace, and adopt online/open distance learning (ODL) as the solitary method for teaching and learning. English-language lecturers who previously enjoyed and engaged in face-to-face (F2F) interactions like other language classes generally had to move with the tide. On 18 March 2020, the Malaysian government issued an initiative in the form of the movement control order (MCO) to prevent the spread of the outbreak in the nation [1]. In response to the MCO, which closed down retail and stunted the economy, the F2F interactions in schools and higher education institutions were suspended, and teachers were instructed that all these educational practices and activities to be conducted online.

More than half of the education population worldwide has been adversely affected by this sudden technological transition [2], and the COVID-19 pandemic propelled the

**Citation:** Aziz, A.A.; Aziz, A.A.A.; Norwahi, N.A.; Nordin, N.A.; Zaini, N.; Shaidin, S.; Azhar, S.B.H.J. TPACK Readiness among English- Language Lecturers for Open Distance Learning (ODL) Adoption in a Malaysian Public University. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082012

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 8 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

whole world into unexpected online teaching and learning (T&L) dramatically. The transition from F2F to a heavily relied-on technology was no longer a matter of choice but rather imposed and the only viable alternative for future education. Thus, the teachers, lecturers, and educators alike needed to abruptly adapt, adopt, and equip themselves with information and communication technology (ICT) literacy to conduct classes through ODL. ICT application in higher education has remained a major concern at the global level for decades [3]. The shift from traditionally proposed lessons is now revolutionised to accommodate the new online approach. The day's main course is no longer facilitated by solely the beliefs and skills of English-language lecturers on T&L before but also includes unique online student responses, learner–instructor relationships, online dynamics and management, and suitable online teaching approaches on top of the online T&L activities. This has become a critical factor in meeting the needs of the learner [4] as well as ensuring the online learning process is still as exciting and motivational as the F2F [3] and continues to be a significant predictor of the learners' academic accomplishment [5].

Implementing effective ODL is vital to ensure the attainment of educational and institutional goals in a higher education setting. The emergency ODL has varied challenges for both the lecturers and the learners alike. Emergency ODL implementation posed a myriad of challenges such as lack of online technologies exposure, adequate facilities, online resources, and limited technological knowledge in utilising the appropriate educational technologies available, which may affect the learners' learning process [6]. Many previous studies on online learning touched on ever so many dimensions such as readiness, pedagogy, technology, support, faculty, ethics, planning, evaluation, management, and institution [7]. Online learning readiness is considered one of the essential dimensions being studied.

Past research has indicated that learners usually show better academic performance online than in traditional settings [8]. However, the same cannot be said for lecturers. Lecturers' digital proficiencies are found to be inadequate and more so in the lesson plan formulation [9] even when, in the normal sense, they are digitally literate and can conduct online classes but are concomitantly unsuccessful at delivering online content efficiently [10]. In the same context, this certainly raises the need to evaluate lecturers' technological abilities to remain successful pedagogically in the ODL setting.

TPACK model is regarded as a useful framework for describing and understanding the goals for technology use in the T&L delivery. Technology competency encompasses all critical components, including technological and pedagogical, content knowledge, skills, and attitudes [11]. Previous studies have evaluated lecturers' technological competencies focusing on their knowledge, beliefs, and adaptation [12] and investigated the technological competency regarding other TPACK determinants in various countries [13–15]. It is believed that to deliver effective instructions, English-language lecturers must acquire sufficient technological competency. Hence, this study focuses on examining the English-language lecturers' TPACK readiness for ODL adoption.

Several works of literature have examined how English as a second language (ESL) university lecturers adopted, adapted, endured, and persisted with the ODL delivery of lessons. However, only several studies have surfaced in the context of Malaysian university language lecturers. This study was designed to investigate the English language lecturers' readiness on the related technology competency via the TPACK perspective for online T&L delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study are estimated to contribute to understanding these university lecturers' acquired ICT literacy to deliver effective ODL and provide some insight for others to emulate. The English-language lecturers were considered for the following research questions:

1. What are the levels of TPACK of faculty members (English-language lecturers) in three southern region branches of a public university in Malaysia?

2. Is there any significant difference between faculty members' TPACK and their age and/or teaching experience?

#### **2. Literature Review**

The transition of F2F education to ODL delivery fundamentally concerns the teaching practices and administrative support central to sustaining important student engagement [4]. This phenomenon is rooted in the subject discipline and the learner characteristics with different teaching approaches and learning resources. What is almost seamlessly accomplished during the F2F setting needs careful consideration when carried out in ODL. It requires the lecturers to be adept at the available technologies, which may have been uncommon in their practice. From a common perspective, the shift from F2F to ODL is not without challenges. Far from enjoying a smooth transition, the shift from F2F to ODL, which can be attested from the various studies, was perceived as aggressive, disastrous, disruptive, and unwelcome to certain quarters [16]. Nonetheless, by understanding the challenges or unwillingness of lecturers, this study hoped better to assist the lecturers in the technology-supported pedagogical activities because they are vital to supporting and establishing change within the educational process [17].

#### *2.1. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Model*

The technological pedagogical content knowledge model (TPACK) model is a valuable framework for encapsulating today's lecturers' knowledge and skill demands. It is used to explore the lecturers' effective teaching practices in a digital setting. Mishra and Koehler's TPACK framework reiterates that effective instructors have the subject knowledge, adequate teaching skills, and technology capabilities to assist their students in achieving learning goals. TPACK is seen as a framework for measuring and enhancing teachers' knowledge of integrating technology into learning and instructing processes, which adds relationship and complexity to fundamental teaching knowledge [18].

The TPACK model has been constructed in the education domain regarding the central focus of an educator's knowledge on pedagogy, content, and technology for effective teaching [19]. Pedagogical knowledge (PK) relates to the lecturers' knowledge of teaching and learning methods, practices, and strategies. Content knowledge (CK) involves the lecturers' knowledge of the subject matter, while technological knowledge (TK) involves the lecturers' knowledge of modern information, communication technology, and the Internet. In addition, the integration between pedagogy and content knowledge creates an overlapping area of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on the idea of strategies for teaching specific content. Integrating pedagogy and technology knowledge forms technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK). This is about the technology that supports pedagogical goals. The content and technology knowledge overlap with technological content knowledge (TCK), referring to the transformation of the subject matter through technology. Lastly, the integrated knowledge of pedagogy, content, and technology, including the PCK, TPK, and TCK, is formalised as technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). Within the TPACK context, the lecturers understand the use of related technologies in effectively delivering effective content for attaining different pedagogical goals. Most of the general technology integration studies from the TPACK perspective have been carried out regarding the F2F learning setting [18]. Indeed, it is exciting and perhaps insightful to examine the technology integration and readiness involving English-language lecturers in the ODL context.

#### *2.2. Self-Efficacy*

Self-efficacy is considered an effective tool to predict the behaviours of individuals in performing specific tasks. It concerns how a person views his abilities and capabilities through self-reflection, internalisation, and actions. The self-efficacy theory suggests that the uncertainty or the lack of competency in oneself within his environment can transform into resistance to change [20]. An individual who performs at high levels has high selfefficacy and engages and participates more willingly than a low self-efficacy individual [20]. High self-efficacy individuals are ready to put in more exertion as necessary to fulfil a task and spend valuable time working out challenges.

Concerning this study, self-efficacy is viewed as a belief in the English-language lecturers' context reflected in their readiness and confidence in their professional capability to deliver educational activities using the appropriate technological tools, which will be an influential factor in the achievement of the educational outcomes. Knowledge of technology increases the self-efficacy of language lecturers about technology integration, and such readiness and belief are important to impact or impede the lecturers' ability to create an effective technology-friendly learning environment [17,21–23].

The literature suggests that educators' self-belief in integrating technology effectively is a significant factor in determining its use and implementation in their teaching practice [24]. Even though self-efficacy of technology integration is seen as a credible indicator of the educators' ability and willingness to adopt technology, other research discoveries also showed that technology integration for impactful instructional activities remains among the greatest challenges facing educators of today [3,17,23,24]. As a result, there is a need to explore the relationship between the educators' self-efficacy relating to technology and their ability to use and integrate technology into their teaching practice effectively.

Lastly, the researchers consider self-efficacy as a significant controlling factor that affects the adjustment of an individual's behaviour and thinking. Furthermore, it is hoped that the development of professional self-efficacy is a promising way to stimulate and motivate educators to accomplish effective educational activities with the support of appropriate technology.

#### **3. Methodology**

This study employed a quantitative approach using a survey instrument in Google Form that was developed and distributed online. The data collection method used 5-point Likert scale items to measure the four self-efficacy constructs of "Technology Knowledge" (TK), "Technological Content Knowledge" (TCK), "Technological Pedagogical Knowledge" (TPK), and "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (TPACK). The instrument consisted of three demographic items (age, position, and years of teaching experience). The other four sections contained eleven items on the construct TK, five items on the construct TCK, ten items on the construct TPK, and seven items on the construct TPACK, with the 5-point scale being 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. These items were developed in the frame of "can do" statements in which self-efficacy is perceived as a capability.

This study intends to measure the readiness of English-language lecturers to implement ODL during the COVID-19 pandemic condition. A total of 143 English-language lecturers were involved, and they were from three branch campuses representing three different states in the southern regions. They have a varied online experience; some stated that this was their first exposure to online teaching, while some had some exposure to online teaching. The respondents' demographic is shown in Table 1.

A descriptor for each scale or the alpha (α) value is where an α value of >0.9 is considered excellent, an α value of >0.8 is considered strong, and α value of >0.7 is considered acceptable, and an α value of >0.6 is considered reasonable [25]. Cronbach's alpha coefficient value was used to evaluate the internal consistency reliability of all the TPACK constructs. Table 2 shows that the Cronbach or the coefficient value of each construct was greater than 0.8 or 80%, indicating a solid internal consistency and reliability.



**Table 2.** Reliability evaluation.


#### **4. Results and Discussion**

The survey instrument was intended to examine the English-language lecturers' readiness to adopt the ODL approach from the TPACK point of view. Various descriptive and inferential statistical tests were used to analyse the collected data. Based on the four (4) constructs of TPACK, the English-language lecturers scored the highest in the TPK dimension (M = 3.91 SD = 0.58), followed by TCK (M = 3.89, SD = 0.53), and followed by TPACK (M = 3.85, SD = 0.59). The lowest score is the TK (M = 3.57, SD = 0.65), indicating that their age is not a significant factor contributing to the limited exposure to technological knowledge, as their focus or area of expertise is on the English language. Since the Cronbach's alpha value on all the constructs of TPACK was larger than 0.80, implying that the scales had strong reliability, it is believed that the values of the descriptive and inferential statistics for the four constructs, as shown in Table 2, are reliable and valid.

It is safe to say that these educators have minimal issues with technology fundamentals that enhance teaching and learning delivery, thus showing a progressive level of TPACK readiness for ODL. Table 3, which involves the TPACK construct, indicates that these English-language lecturers can relate and profess to know about selecting, combining, strategising, and utilising the appropriate technology for enhancing their T&L delivery in ODL. They can select and choose the suitable technology to teach the students (M = 3.98, SD = 0.64). They also are able to strategise and combine (M = 3.95, SD = 0.67) both the technologies and teaching approach as well as appropriately teach a particular lesson using the combined technology and teaching approach (M = 3.88, SD = 0.70).

However, a point worth noting in Table 4 is that even though the TK construct is the lowest, there is still the belief by the English language lecturers that they can learn technology easily (M = 3.88, SD = 0.76), and they may possess the necessary knowledge in solving their technical problems (M = 3.78, SD = 0.80). This relates to operating online ODL technologies in delivering the teaching and learning content during the pandemic. At the same time, these English-language lecturers understand the need to keep abreast with the new technologies being used or introduced in the environment (M = 3.76, SD = 0.77). This means that these lecturers are accommodating to the introduction of technologies into the T&L delivery.

**Table 3.** Statistics on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) construct for all respondents.


**Table 4.** Statistics on Technology Knowledge (TK) construct for all respondents.


Meanwhile, the results in Table 5 show that the respondents in the age level of 31–40 scored the highest in all the TPACK constructs, i.e., TK (M = 3.69, SD = 0.58), TCK (M = 3.97, SD = 0.51), and TPK (M = 3.96, SD = 0.54) except TPACK. In the TPACK construct, the 13 respondents in the 51–60 age group scored the highest with M = 3.91 and SD = 0.52. This could mean that even though these very senior respondents are not that well-versed with the TK, with the lowest score of M = 3.25 and SD = 0.42, they can still relate to the technological inclusion in the other constructs (TCK, TPK, TPACK). In short, this could mean that they make up in the other areas where they lacked in TK and reach a balance.


**Table 5.** *t*-test Analysis by the age of Respondents on TK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK constructs (n = 143).

As Table 6 shows, the cumulative teaching experience or the years of teaching did not significantly influence the English-language lecturers' level of TK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK. However, the teaching experience had a significant bearing on the younger lecturers with 15 years or less of teaching experience. The lecturers with five or fewer years of teaching scored the highest (M = 3.72, SD = 0.70) in the TK construct. Again, the same group of lecturers scored the highest with M = 4.01 and SD = 0.58 in the TCK construct, while the lecturers with six to ten years of teaching scored the highest (M = 4.00, SD = 0.45) in the TPK construct. For the TPACK construct, the English-language lecturers attained the highest score with 11 to 15 years of teaching experience (M = 3.91, SD = 0.58). None of the English-language lecturers with the most years of teaching experience (16 to 20, 21, or more) achieved a high score in any of the constructs. This indicates that the years of teaching experience do not relate to technological knowledge and competency. This means that the more senior lecturers accept technology but are slightly unfamiliar if they are not exposed to or engage in technology.

Pearson's correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between other constructs and the TK and the lecturers' readiness to carry out the ODL activities effectively. The findings are shown in Table 7. Based on the Pearson's correlation figures, there was a significantly strong positive correlation between the lecturers' self-perceived TK and their PCK (rs (143) = 0.753, *p* < 0.05). This is followed by the second-highest score with a significantly positive correlation between the lecturers' self-perceived TK and TCK (rs (143) = 0.731, *p* < 0.05). The third-highest score with a significantly moderate positive relationship existed between lecturers' self-perceived TK and the TPK (rs (143) = 0.713, *p* < 0.05).

It is also beneficial to identify the construct that most significantly influenced the respondents' readiness to conduct ODL activities by conducting a multiple linear regression analysis. Table 8 shows the model of the summary. All of the independent constructs showed a mere 4.2% contribution that would influence these lecturers' readiness to be well-prepared to handle related language ODL activities. This value indicates that 4.2% of the variance in "technology readiness and adoption" (self-efficacy) can be predicted from the TPACK constructs, but that does not mean the contribution was insignificant.


**Table 6.** *t*-test Analysis by Teaching Experience on TK, TCK, TPK, TPACK) constructs (n = 143).

**Table 7.** Correlation between the TCK, TPK, and TPCK Constructs and the TK Construct.


**Table 8.** Test Significance of Multiple Linear Regression Model.


Lastly, a multiple correlation analysis was conducted between all the constructs in the TPACK model, which are the TK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK. The statistics in Table 9 indicates that the value (F (1141) = 6.228, *p* < 0.5, R2 = 0.42) was significant at 0.05 level of significance. This indicated that the English-language lecturers' self-efficacy on TPACK constructs showed they are generally ready and on the right track for carrying out pedagogical activities through ODL.


**Table 9.** ANOVA for multiple correlations between TK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK.

<sup>b</sup> Predictors: (Constant), Years of Teaching.

#### **5. Limitation of Study**

The study identified some limitations. Firstly, the English-language lecturers' responses on their technological competencies may be biased, as they were self-reported. It is useful for future studies to undertake different available approaches to discover and understand the lecturers' TPACK competencies. Secondly, this study concentrated only on the TPACK model to gauge the technological proficiencies of the English-language lecturers to understand their technological readiness and knowledge. Therefore, it is also significant to reinforce the findings of this study by assessing other indicators to examine the English language lecturers' competencies in their actual technology-supported teaching. Lastly, evaluating these lecturers' online technological, content, and pedagogical competencies is beneficial over time, as this study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the initial digital transition. Over time, changes may need to be observed; thus, a longitudinal study can be conducted to strengthen the findings further. Such a move can also provide an avenue critical to the elevation and enhancement of online instructional practices.

#### **6. Conclusions**

As the COVID-19 pandemic terrified the world, the education system worldwide was not spared from the pandemic's rage. The devastating virus suspended all the F2F interactions of educational institutions and forced the pedagogical practices online. However, this involuntary and unexpected move somehow affected the continuous delivery of F2F lessons. The shift to ODL is undoubtedly not without concerns and challenges, as many works of literature demonstrate. This quantitative study examined the impact of TPACK readiness on the English language lecturers' technology competencies to handle the ODL instructional activities. In today's technology advancement era, language lecturers must be competent in digital delivery and related technologies to ensure an engaging and uninterrupted lesson, albeit digitally. The findings showed that the level of TPACK readiness among English-language lectures is progressive, as they are becoming more willing and receptive to the ODL with efforts to overcome any ODL challenges and stay positive. It is also noted that age is not a barrier to the use of technology, as older lecturers can relate to the technology. The more senior lecturers also were not apprehensive about technology if they were exposed to it properly. The teaching experience years did not influence the rejection of technology, but it was the other way around, showing that these more senior lecturers are open and willing to technology with the proper exposure. Overall, the English-language lecturers are considered on the right track regarding their readiness and continued effort towards delivering their pedagogical activities on the ODL platform.

**Author Contributions:** Methodology, A.A.A. and A.A.A.A.; conceived and designed the analysis, A.A.A.; writing—original draft preparation, A.A.A.; conceptualisation, A.A.A.A.; writing—reviewing and editing, A.A.A.A.; data collection and curation, N.A.N. (Nur Aqilah Norwahi), N.A.N. (Nor Afifa Nordin), N.Z. and S.S.; visualisation, S.B.H.J.A.; investigation, S.B.H.J.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Skim Geran Dalaman TEJA (GDT2022/1-2).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The researchers would like to thank the Research and Industrial Linkages Department of Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Melaka, which provided funding under the Skim Geran Dalaman TEJA (GDT2022/1-2).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


*Proceeding Paper*

### **Measuring Willingness to Communicate in English among Malaysian Language Learners through Domains of Language Use †**

**Fatin Nabila Abd Razak 1,\* , Ain Nadzimah Abdullah 2, Vahid Nimehchisalem <sup>3</sup> and Nur Ida Aniza Rusli <sup>4</sup>**


**Abstract:** In the field of second language acquisition (SLA) and language teaching, willingness to communicate (WTC), a construct of oral communication, has been extensively researched as it is considered a facilitative factor for language development. Most studies examine this construct using the quantitative method. There are fewer studies that have examined how languages are codeswitched and used interchangeably across different social domains, a common practice among Malaysian English language users. The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a WTC measuring tool for Malaysian English language learners. In the questionnaire, WTC in English was examined and determined via four language use domains—education, friendship, transaction and family. The validity of the four domain factors was tested using the two-stage approach factor analysis. The results suggest that WTC can be seen as a domain-based construct where learner social domains are contextualized. This paper aims to briefly introduce the study and presents its validation results.

**Keywords:** willingness to communicate; domains of language use; SLA

#### **1. Introduction**

Willingness to communicate (WTC) plays a crucial role in facilitating oral interaction among speakers. The term was coined [1] and defined as the inclination to participate in an interaction when there is an opportunity for it. This idea was shaped by other studies [2,3] who investigated the reluctance of native speakers to engage in communication.

Although various variables that influence a native speaker's WTC communication competence have been identified (for example, communication anxiety, introversion, selfefficacy, and cultural diversities), early studies on WTC of native speakers primarily focused on its link to personality attributes. Native speaker WTC has also been examined across several different communication settings as well as involving different types of recipients [4]. As a result of these personality-based studies, WTC is seen as a construct that remains mostly constant across various communicative situations. This native speaker view, or the L1 view, of WTC, however, is in contradiction to the second language speaker view, or the L2 view, posited by [5].

In the L2 context, WTC is defined as the psychological preparedness to interact in the target language when the opportunity arises. The manifestation of WTC among L2 speakers is different from L1 speakers as they generally have high oral competency and

**Citation:** Abd Razak, F.N.; Abdullah, A.N.; Nimehchisalem, V.; Rusli, N.I.A. Measuring Willingness to Communicate in English among Malaysian Language Learners through Domains of Language Use. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082016

Academic Editors: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 8 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

therefore the situation is rather simple, without any issues [5]. This however is not the case for L2 speakers whose oral competency levels could range from the lowest to the highest. Authors [5] believe that WTC among L2 speakers is dependent on the context as their predisposition to interact seems to be contingent on the situational condition that is different in each context. Given this, [6] included situation-bound contextual variables such as the topic, interactants, magnitude of the communicative group, and cultural setting to facilitate his research on WTC of Korean L2 speakers.

In addition, [5] also points out that there are many intergroup issues in the L2 context that have social and political ramifications. In Malaysia, for example, to ensure the unity of its multiethnic and multilingual population, Malay, the country's official language, is to be used as a language of unity. English, on the other hand, is seen as a global language—a language of international business, diplomacy, knowledge, technology etc. [7]. Because of the complex linguistic landscape of the country, an exploration of this crucial communication construct is warranted to avoid the over-generalisation of WTC in the L2 setting.

#### *1.1. The WTC Scale*

To identify the WTC levels of L2 learners, an adapted version of the WTC scale developed by [8] is usually employed. The instrument determines the WTC of language learners through their scores in four context-based situations: (1) group discussion, (2) meetings, (3) interpersonal interaction, and (4) public speaking. Additionally, it measures WTC in terms of the scores of the recipients which include strangers, acquaintances and friends. Most of the studies that have employed this instrument have been conducted in Western countries, particularly America and Canada [9–11]. Over in Asia, similar studies have been conducted in Japan [12–14] and China [4,15].

As noted by [16], these L2 studies view WTC from a monolithic perspective, the East versus the West perspective. She argues that given the pluralistic nature of Malaysia, WTC should be approached from a pluralistic viewpoint as it would be more representative of its society. Following this argument, the present study considered two variables—sociocultural and psychological—in its investigation of WTC. These factors are particularly pertinent to an ethnically and linguistically diverse country such as Malaysia.

This study measured the WTC in English of Malaysian undergraduates in four language use domains—education, family, friendship, and transaction—as outlined by [17]. This selection was also guided by specifications stated in government documents that touched on language policy and use such as the Rahman Talib Report and Tenth Malaysia Plan. Besides official documents, media also play a role in influencing the way Malaysians think and what they express in certain language domains [18].

#### *1.2. Language Use Domain*

Studies on language use domains describe the language choices of speakers, which are determined by the individuals they are conversing with, the conversation topic, and the location of the conversation. Their language choice is further confined by the cultural norms and social expectations of their society [17,19].

Discourse on language use is of particular relevance to Malaysia given its linguistically diverse society where it is common to code switch and use more than one language when communicating in some social domains [17,20]. Researchers such as [21–25] feel that in the context of a multilingual society, the decision on which language to use in a particular language domain is determined largely by the interactants, their relationships, the discussion topic and the setting.

The domains of language use are also discussed in relation to the familiarity among the interactants. Typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings create a domain [26]. A study by Platt links the domain to the continuum of formality [27]. In tandem with this view, it is stated that the degree of formality in a domain is dependent on the outcome intended by the interactants [28]. For example, if the intention is to create

an air of elitism, a formal code might be preferred while a more casual less formal code might be preferred to foster a sense of friendliness and kinship.

Another factor that affects language use choices is the social organization (the family, community, educational institution, workplace, etc.) that individuals are in [29]. Comparatively, the educational and workplace settings are likely to be more formal than the friendship and family settings.

Additionally, the government language policies also influence what language would be used in an institution and/or organisation. This is relevant for the Malaysian context where English is taught as a subject in schools. In other words, the elements of language use construct such as the discussion topic, relationship, setting, and formality are crucial to an understanding of the language choices that individuals made. For these reasons, this study aimed to focus on the education, transactional, friendship and family domains to study WTC in English among Malaysian undergraduates.

#### **2. Method**

The respondents were 540 undergraduates from a public university in Malaysia selected using proportionate quota sampling. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences Program (SPSS) version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyse the data collected. After the data were analysed and assessed, structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised. The second-order model presented in Figure 1 was validated using the twostage approach in SmartPLS 2.0.M3 software (SmartPLS2., Hamburg, Germany). Each item in the questionnaire is a reflective indicator of its domain in the model while each domain is the formative indicator of WTC in English. Hence, a complete measurement model of WTC in English for Malaysian language learners was developed.

**Figure 1.** The measurement model of WTC.

#### **3. Results**

The measurement model of WTC in English was validated statistically. First, factor analysis of the reflective-formative hierarchical component model (HCM) of the WTC construct was conducted using a two-stage approach. For the first stage, the first or lower order components of the reflective measurement model were evaluated whereas the second stage involved the evaluation of the second or higher order components of the formative measurement model.

#### *3.1. Reflective Measurement Model*

The reflective measurement model determines the validity and reliability of the questionnaire items or indicators. For this study, two types of validity assessment were conducted: (1) convergent validity and (2) discriminant validity.

"Convergent validity is the degree to which indicators of a specific construct converge or share a high proportion of variance in common" [30]. Both factor loadings and average variance extracted (AVE) were used to assess the convergent validity of these indicators [31]. The indicator loadings, AVE, and composite reliability (CR) of the reflective construct of WTC in the four domains of language use are presented in Table 1.


**Table 1.** WTC in English, reflective measurement model.

Note: WTC\_EDU5, WTC\_EDU7, WTC\_EDU11, WTC\_EDU12, WTC\_EDU13, and WTC\_EDU16 were deleted due to low loadings.

Items with loadings higher than 0.708, as suggested by [31], were retained while the others were omitted. These low loading items, WTC\_EDU5, 7, 12, 13 and 16, were from the education construct and are not depicted in Table 1. With their omission, the loading for WTC\_EDU15 fell from 0.705 to 0.692. Therefore, this item remained since the total loading scores are high with its inclusion. Furthermore, the AVE score is more than 0.5, which is acceptable [32]. The four constructs also attained the threshold values for CR and AVE. CR scores for all four domains are greater than 0.7 while the AVE scores are greater than 0.5 after the item deletion [31]. It can be concluded that the requirements for reliability and convergent validity of the four domains of the WTC construct have been attained.

To determine the discriminant validity of the model, the Fornell–Larcker indicators were used (see Table 2 for the results). According to [33], the indicators should load more strongly within the same construct compared to the other constructs of the model. Furthermore, the average variance of each construct and its measure should be more than the variance shared between the construct and other constructs. As indicated in Table 2, all the constructs attained satisfactory discriminant validity [33], that is, the square root of AVE (diagonal) is larger than the correlations (off-diagonal) of the four reflective constructs.


**Table 2.** Discriminant validity using the Fornell-Larcker criterion.

Based on the results of the Fornell–Lacker discriminant validity test, it can be concluded that the construct WTC in English in the education, friendship, transaction, and family domains met the requirement of discriminant validity for the reflective measurement model.

#### *3.2. Formative Measurement Model*

A three-step approach that involved determining the convergent validity, addressing collinearity issues, and assessing the significance and relevance of the formative indicators was used to establish the validity of the formative measurement model for this HCM. The measurement properties of the formative construct of WTC are indicated in Table 3.


**Table 3.** Measurement properties of the formative construct WTC.

Results of the redundancy analysis indicate that the path coefficient of 0.728 is bigger than 0.7. This means that the WTC formative construct has a satisfactory level of convergent validity [34]. Besides, the Varian Inflation Factor (VIF) values are all lower than the threshold value of 5 [31]. In addition, the collinearity does not reach a critical level in any of the formative construct indicators and therefore it can be used for estimating the Partial Least Square (PLS) path model.

As to the significance level, three of the WTC constructs (education, friendship and transaction) were found to be significant whereas the family domain was insignificant. By employing Hair et al.'s [31] absolute contribution method, the loading value was 0.640 and the *t*-value was 15.414. Thus, the family domain was retained. In conclusion, the results proved the validity and reliability of the reflective-formative measurement model for the WTC in English.

#### **4. Conclusions**

This research on WTC in English examines the interchangeable use of languages in the daily lives of Malaysians within and across the four language use domains of education, friendship, transaction, and family. It is quite usual for Malaysians to be able to converse in two or more languages and to codeswitch between them in their daily interaction. Furthermore, language policies (Malay as a language of unity and public domains; English as a global language and a language of knowledge and technology) dictate that one language is used more than another in specific domains. The validated WTC scale for Malaysian English language learners, which is reflective of the unique local social and linguistic landscape, is a valuable contribution to research in the area.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, F.N.A.R. and A.N.A.; methodology, F.N.A.R.; software, F.N.A.R. and N.I.A.R.; validation, F.N.A.R. and V.N.; formal analysis, F.N.A.R.; writing—original draft preparation, F.N.A.R.; writing—review and editing, A.N.A. and V.N.; supervision, A.N.A. and V.N.; funding acquisition, F.N.A.R. and N.I.A.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Universiti Putra Malaysia under the Putra Grant—Putra Graduate Initiative (GP-IPS/2018/9631200) and UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** Paper presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 by the first author.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Demystifying the Specific Roles and Challenges of Educational Audiologists: A Narrative Review †**

**Mohd Fadzil Nor Rashid <sup>1</sup> , Tian Kar Quar 2, Nashrah Maamor 2, Foong Yen Chong 2, Mohd Normani Zakaria 1, Mazlina Che Mustafa 3,4 and Hasrul Hosshan 3,4,\***


**Abstract:** Educational audiology is a critical subspecialty in the field of audiology. An educational audiologist is responsible for providing services to hearing-impaired children in educational settings. Despite their responsibilities in performing their roles, they also encounter challenges. Therefore, the aim of this literature review was to demystify the specific roles of educational audiologists and challenges faced by them in real school environments. Materials and Methods: A search of the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases was conducted in February 2020, and 17 relevant articles were identified. The inclusion criteria were educational audiology studies conducted in all countries or regions, and articles written in English. Results: The review identified six main themes concerning the roles of educational audiologists, and five main themes concerning the challenges that are faced by them. The findings from this review provide essential information on current educational practices in the audiology field. Conclusions: School-age hearing-impaired children have specific needs and require specific services to be provided to them by educational audiologists. In this review, the knowledge gaps in the roles and the challenges faced by educational audiologists are revealed accordingly. As a result, several recommendations are highlighted based on the review results. Notably, school-based audiological data for evidence-based practice in school settings are required and should be the focus of future research.

**Keywords:** educational audiologist; roles and challenges; literature review; narrative review

#### **1. Introduction**

To increase the likelihood of having adequate speech and language development among infants and young children with hearing impairments, hearing assessments and respective interventions must take place as early as possible. This is further facilitated by the advancements in technology (e.g., sophisticated hearing aids, cochlear implants etc.) and the availability of services related to hearing, speech, and language specialties. Hearingimpaired children who have been appropriately receiving intervention by audiologists and speech language pathologists (SLPs) may then enroll in specific educational institutions.

Provided with adequate academic background and appropriate clinical competency licenses, audiologists are able to work in various settings, including hospitals, private practices, hearing aid companies, universities, schools, and others. Educational audiologists who work in educational settings may play important roles in supporting the educational management of students with hearing impairments. As defined by the Educational Audiology Association (EAA), educational audiologists are a member of the school

**Citation:** Rashid, M.F.N.; Quar, T.K.; Maamor, N.; Chong, F.Y.; Zakaria, M.N.; Mustafa, M.C.; Hosshan, H. Demystifying the Specific Roles and Challenges of Educational Audiologists: A Narrative Review. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082017

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 8 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

multidisciplinary team who deliver a full spectrum of hearing services to all children, particularly those in educational settings [1]. To provide guidelines related to the roles of educational audiologists, suggestions have been made by three prominent associations, including the EAA [1], the British Association of Educational Audiologists (BAEA) [2], and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) [3]. The roles of educational audiologists provided by these associations are summarized in Table A1. It is worth noting that there are several acts and laws in the United States that support audiological services in schools such as the Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), Rehabilitation Act 1973 (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001), and Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) [1].

It is imperative to have educational audiologists to provide essential services to hearing-impaired school children so that their educational aims can be achieved. Nevertheless, there are many factors to be considered with regard to this specialized service delivery. As such, information on the specific roles of educational audiologists and challenges faced by them in real school settings should be made available. For example, the number of certified educational audiologists must be sufficient to provide optimal services to school children. Herein, the EAA stated that an educational audiologist should provide services to 10000 registered students at local education agencies [4]. In line with this, in a survey study conducted by Richburg and Smiley, the full-time educational audiologist to the general student population ratio in the United States ranged from 1:10,000 to 1:15,000 [5]. This "good" ratio, nevertheless, may not be achieved in other countries due to a limited number of audiologists available in both clinical and educational settings.

As shown in Table A1, there are some disagreements between the three associations, in which some roles of educational audiologists are not emphasized by the others. As such, it is essential to ascertain the suggested roles and identify the main elements based on the research evidence. The challenges faced by educational audiologists in the actual school environments should be unveiled to provide essential information on improving the existing services. In this paper, we performed a literature review to demystify the specific roles and challenges faced by educational audiologists. See Table A1 here.

#### **2. Methods**

A literature review was performed using the two main journal databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). Scopus is the main database of peer-reviewed literature that supports the Elsevier Research Intelligence and has been used by more than 5000 corporate, academic, and government institutions worldwide. The second database used in the review was WoS and has been established by Clarivate Analytics Company. The authors conducted the selection process focusing on a narrative review, not a systematic literature review. In line with this, Green et al. suggested that the literature search should include at least two databases related to the study in order to provide a reasonable scientific discussion [6]. Furthermore, grey literature searches through an internet web engine such as Google and Google Scholar were also conducted to identify any related publications, with the first five pages of results examined.

The review process was conducted in February 2020, and the identified keywords were used in the search process. Based on the previous studies and thesaurus, keywords which are similar and related to educational audiologist, roles, and challenges were used (Table A2). The selection process was carried out based on the method suggested by Moher et al. [7]. The inclusion criteria were educational audiology research conducted in all countries or regions, and articles in English. The exclusion criteria were articles not relevant to the topic, review articles, and those with unavailable abstract or full text. With regard to the timeline, the period between 2000 and 2020 (20 years) was selected and considered appropriate to gather related publications and information on the changes of scope of practices. Table A2 here.

The first stage of the review process was the identification. That is, 136 articles were found based on the keywords used in the search process. Of these, four duplicate articles were removed (based on EndNote X7 software, Clarivate Analytics, Philadelphia, US). In the second phase (i.e., screening), the 132 articles were screened by the authors. Subsequently, 102 articles were excluded as some of them did not focus on educational audiology, they were non-English articles, as well as systematic or scoping review articles. In the third stage (i.e., eligibility), the full text of 30 articles was thoroughly examined by the authors. Of these, 17 articles were found to be eligible and included in this review (Figure A1). Based on the categories, a content analysis was conducted to identify specific themes. A qualitative content analysis is typically carried out for evaluating the semantic content in the text of the data [8,9]. Figure A1 here.

#### **3. Result and Discussion**

The review of the 17 articles resulted in two main categories: educational audiologists' roles and the challenges faced by educational audiologists. Within these categories, specific themes were identified. Therefore, the subsequent discussion is based on these two categories and their specific themes supported by related articles.

#### *3.1. Roles of Educational Audiologists*

Findings from the previous studies are useful to provide the essential information with regard to the roles of educational audiologists in the actual school environment. This review resulted in six main themes related to the roles of educational audiologists. These were collaboration, (re)habilitation, support personnel, audiological assessments, managing hearing instruments, and monitoring classroom acoustics. Each theme is discussed accordingly in the subsequent paragraphs.

#### 3.1.1. Developing Professional Collaboration

The dynamic nature of the educational audiologist role requires strong collaboration with other professionals and paraprofessionals in order to deliver the optimum (evidencebased) service to hearing-impaired students in school settings [10]. In line with this, Welling and Ukstins stated that the medical and healthcare service providers and the school-based professionals should develop a bidirectional relationship [11,12]. For example, guidelines for service provision to students with otitis media with effusion (OME) must include school nurses, teachers, classroom paraprofessional staff members, speech–language pathologists, and educational audiologists. Furthermore, audiologists in clinical settings and schoolbased audiologists who are able to work collaboratively on behalf of students will create an efficient partnership to fulfil students' needs [11–13].

Richburg and Knickelbein conducted a study to determine whether school-based speech–language pathologists (SLPs) had access to the services of educational audiologists [14,15]. This study used a 36-item survey titled "How Can Educational Audiologists Assist Speech–Language Pathologists and Special Educators" to measure collaboration outcomes. It consists of four sections: (i) demographics; (ii) basic knowledge of audiological practices; (iii) access, benefit, and responsibility; and (iv) collaboration with educational audiologists. The findings from this study revealed that more than half of the SLPs (61.5%, n = 126) reported that they had access to audiologists, and 113 of these SLPs (89.7%) answered that they did receive the benefits. The authors then concluded that a notable avenue for building collaborative efforts was the involvement of educational audiologists in the individualized educational program (IEP) teams of students who need an auditory (re)habilitation.

Teachers are the other professionals who are involved in assisting hearing-impaired students in academic settings. In this regard, educational audiologists must find ways to shift their workload to include more time for collaboration with the classroom teachers [11,13]. In fact, around 79% of 110 special educators reported that they had benefited from collaboration with educational audiologists [16]. Likewise, Richburg and Goldberg shared their opinions regarding this collaboration and its impact on managing students with minimal hearing loss (MHL) [17]. Apart from providing the essential information about MHL and its educational consequences, they also found that the teachers felt more confident in dealing

with difficulties experienced by students with MHL when working with the educational audiologists [17].

In addition to the collaborations mentioned above, educational audiologists should also collaborate with architects to ensure that new building projects comply with their acoustic specifications [14]. In fact, to ensure students with hearing problems receive appropriate interventions, the educational audiologist should also be involved with the school multidisciplinary team to design clinical and educational programs [18]. In line with this, Welling and Ukstins added that in school settings, recommendations for educational modifications and accommodations should be achieved in collaboration with the SLPs, educational audiologists, and teachers [12].

#### 3.1.2. Providing Audiological (re)Habilitation

Loss of hearing sensitivity is the most common consequence of auditory disorders. In this regard, it is useful to have educational audiologists for providing aural (re)habilitation to school-age children, particularly if the hearing impairment cannot be medically treated. The aim of (re)habilitation is to help and ameliorate the effect of hearing loss on communication, psychological, and social aspects [19].

According to Soman and Nevins, hearing aid function assessment, appropriate hearing aid fitting, and periodic speech perception testing (using sounds, words and/or sentences) should be conducted by audiologists [20]. They emphasized the evidence-based principles of listening and spoken language (LSL) intervention and the involvement of practitioners such as SLPs, educational audiologists, and teachers when dealing with hearing-impaired school-age children. The proposed LSL interventions were: (i) learning through listening; (ii) language and literacy development; (iii) individualized, systematic, and multidimensional; (iv) interprofessional practice, and (v) family involvement [20]. They also stated the importance of collaboration and consultation with educational audiologists to maximize the auditory ability in all learning environments and the listening needs of students.

Meanwhile, according to Stach, the (re)habilitation should be carried out based on a patient-centered approach which includes communication needs, self, and family assessment of disability, selection of goals, and non-auditory needs assessment (physical abilities, psychosocial status, and financial status) [20–23]. In this regard, educational audiologists may consider this approach as a guideline for providing the respective (re)habilitation.

#### 3.1.3. Managing Hearing Instruments

The hearing instrument technology has made a great deal of headway in the audiological field. The benefits of having hearing instruments for hearing-impaired children are obvious. By using appropriately prescribed hearing aids, assistive listening devices, or cochlear implants, they are able to improve their hearing and communication skills. Therefore, the selection and management of appropriate hearing instruments, and linking hearing instruments with the school's technological facilities are important roles for educational audiologists [13]. In this regard, the educational audiologists must perform validation assessment to ensure the effectiveness of the amplification in the actual classroom setting.

Salathiel et al. suggested that educational audiologists need to provide in-service training for hearing amplification and should be aware of students' high-tech needs [14]. The teacher's responsibilities will be more challenging when hearing-impaired students attend his/her class. Therefore, comprehensive hands-on demonstrations of hearing instrument usage by an educational audiologist would be beneficial to teachers. In line with the advancement of technology, educational audiologists have to be knowledgeable in hearing technology to meet students' communication needs. For example, high-tech-literate students may request to build connectivity between the hearing instruments and other devices such as computers, iPods, cell phones, and recreational devices. Thus, educational audiologists should have the supplementary essential information regarding frequency modulated systems and class settings, compared to audiologists working in clinical settings [24–26].

#### 3.1.4. Monitoring Classroom Acoustics

Given the nature of room acoustics, the variables that can interfere with speech perception are background noise, signal to noise ratio, reverberation time, the distance between the talker and the listeners, and interactions among these variables [27–29]. For classroom acoustics, educational audiologists are the competent personnel to utilize these concepts and maximize learning adaptations to classroom environments [17]. This view is in agreement with those of Smaldino et al. [30], Johnson et al. [13], and Johnson [31] who suggested that educational audiologists were often the first professionals to assess classroom acoustics and student performance.

Providing the "best" room acoustics for conducive learning environments requires specific financial planning. The optimal listening in the classroom and educational audiologists' responsibilities in financial planning were discussed in-depth by Salathiel et al. [17]. For example, educational audiologists must be aware of the financial issues and work cooperatively with the local education agency staff to update technology and improve listening facilities in classrooms (including the application of acoustic modifications of the rooms). It would also be advisable to have proper planning in consultation with educational audiologists, contractors, architects, teachers, and school management team before the construction of the building.

#### *3.2. Challenges Faced by Educational Audiologists*

The educational audiologists may encounter clinical or non-clinical challenges while performing their roles in the educational settings. Their ongoing challenge is to maintain flexibility without sacrificing their professional ethics and the standard of care delivered to the children, youth, and families they serve [27]. Five themes have emerged from this review aiming to demystify the challenges faced by educational audiologists, namely the personnel shortage, high workload, limited understanding by school personnel, financial constraints, and limited collaboration. Each theme is discussed accordingly in the subsequent paragraphs.

#### 3.2.1. Personnel Shortage

As mentioned earlier, the full-time educational audiologist to the general student population ratio in the United States ranges from 1:10,000 to 1:15,000 [5], which is in line with the EAA recommendations [4]. Nevertheless, Johnson et al. stated that most educational audiologists need to travel to multiple school districts and do not see students in a single location because of personnel shortage [13]. The issue of personnel shortage is perhaps more prominent in developing and underdeveloped countries, and research in this area is greatly warranted.

Fitzpatrick and Olds conducted a qualitative study using a semi-structured focus group interview with 28 professionals to gain understanding of the functioning of schoolage children who use cochlear implants [32]. The interview findings were divided into two categories of professionals' perspectives on the functioning of school-age children and how to support the needs of children with cochlear implants. Under the category of supporting the needs of children, three themes emerged, i.e., specialized support and integration of school-based services, parental and family support, and service provider recommendations. They also found that some professionals reported that it would be an advantage to have educational audiologists because none of the participating school districts had educational audiologists in place.

#### 3.2.2. High Workload

According to the school survey by The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in 2018, the workload approach was based on all activities required and performed by educational audiologists [33]. The response rate for this survey was 41.3%, and 61.6% of respondents reported a high workload. ASHA also produced a school survey report regarding the trend in educational audiology from 2010 to 2018 (every two-year

survey) and found that high workload was reported by 42% to 51% of the respondents [33]. In line with this, Richburg and Smiley shared their concerns regarding the workload of educational audiologists (which was too high) because many states did not have enough full time equivalent (FTE) audiologists working in school settings [5].

Several factors that contributed to high workloads among the educational audiologists were thoughtfully discussed by Johnson et al. [13]. Firstly, the educational audiologists need to spend more time educating the school personnel in managing students with multiple disabilities and complex communications needs. Secondly, the use of the hearing instruments that require specialized service (lacks the ease of plug and play). Thirdly, the educational audiologists need to travel to several districts to meet their students, and the travel time is a contributing factor that increases their workload. Finally, due to the success of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs and inclusion agendas, the educational audiologists are also required to support students in the general education settings.

While many studies found the workload of educational audiologists to be high due to several factors [5,13,34], a contradictory outcome was reported by Blood and colleagues [34]. That is, in their survey study involving 332 members of the EAA, job burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) [34]. It was then found that the job burnout among educational audiologists was low compared to other educators' normative samples [35]. In particular, only 16% of the participants reported high burnout (the other 84% scored in the average and low burnout ranges) [34]. Nevertheless, the authors stated that their findings must be interpreted with caution due to a very low response rate. Other than this, factors such as the backgrounds of samples, the FTE ratio of audiologist to general student population, the type of questionnaire used, and the availability of adequate support personnel may also influence the study outcomes. Further studies are warranted to shed light on this area of educational audiology.

#### 3.2.3. Limited Understanding by School Personnel and Financial Constraints

In this review, only one article emphasized that some school personnel believed that educational audiologists were diagnosticians [13]. Consequently, this may affect the educational audiologists' roles, especially for collaboration and (re)habilitation tasks. In the worst situation, this may impede the effort to add more positions for educational audiologists and school personnel may suggest eliminating a few tasks such as consultation, collaboration, and counselling. Furthermore, this article also stated that financial constraints may cause the elimination of an educational audiologist position when he/she retires or leaves the position. That would not only affect the career path of educational audiologists, but the students' outcomes may also be jeopardized.

#### 3.2.4. Limited Collaboration

As mentioned earlier, collaboration plays an important role in expanding audiological services in school settings. In the survey study carried out by Knickelbein and Richburg involving SLPs, collaboration was not widely achieved [16]. Some respondents expressed a lack of satisfaction with the services provided by educational audiologists because the information provided was already known. Other respondents reported that the information provided was insufficient, particularly in the preparation of the student's IEP [13].

#### **4. Limitation of the Review**

In this paper, a narrative review was employed to understand the roles of educational audiologists and the challenges faced by them in academic settings. Since different countries have different educational regulations and laws, educational audiology practice may differ across the countries. This factor, nevertheless, was not highlighted in this review. Additionally, this review included eligible articles regardless of the study type. Perhaps better review outcomes would be obtained if the study type is categorized with more specific discussions.

### **5. Conclusions**

Audiologists should provide continuous support to hearing-impaired children. As such, school-age hearing-impaired children have specific needs and require specific services from educational audiologists. This paper provides a literature review of the specific roles of educational audiologists and the challenges faced by them in real educational settings. Six main themes related to roles, including collaboration, (re)habilitation, support personnel, audiological assessments, managing hearing instruments, and monitoring classroom acoustics, were identified and discussed accordingly. This information may serve as a guideline for audiologists working in academic settings. For challenges faced by educational audiologists, five themes (personnel shortage, high workload, limited understanding by school personnel, financial constraints, and limited collaboration) were identified and discussed as intended.

Several recommendations are highlighted based on the review results. Notably, schoolbased audiological data for evidence-based practice in school settings are required and should be the focus of future research.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.F.N.R., T.K.Q. and N.M.; methodology, M.F.N.R.; T.K.Q. and F.Y.C.; formal analysis, M.F.N.R. and T.K.Q.; investigation, M.F.N.R.; resources, M.F.N.R. and H.H.; data preparation, M.F.N.R.; writing—original draft preparation, M.F.N.R.; writing—review and editing, M.F.N.R., T.K.Q., M.N.Z., M.C.M. and H.H.; visualization, H.H.; supervision, T.K.Q. and N.M.; project administration, M.F.N.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** Special thanks to School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia for the financial assistance.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Appendix A**

**Figure A1.** The flow chart of the literature review.

#### **Appendix B**

**Table A1.** A summary of educational audiologists' roles according to Educational Audiology Association (EAA, 2019), American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA, 2002) and British Association of Educational Audiologists (BAEA, 2016).


**Table A2.** The search string used for the literature review process.


#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Adaptation of Teleaudiology Approach in Undergraduate Clinical Examinations: Lesson Learned †**

**Mohd Fadzil Nor Rashid \* , Wan Najibah Wan Mohamad, Mahamad Almyzan Awang and Mohd Normani Zakaria**

Audiology Programme, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 16150, Malaysia

**\*** Correspondence: fadzilnor@usm.my; Tel.: +60-97677692

† Presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 3 July 2022.

**Abstract:** USM's undergraduate audiology program began in 2005 and lasted eight semesters. Advances in information and communications technology (ICT) and the global COVID-19 epidemic are promoting telehealth in clinical teaching. This study used Krumm's teleaudiology model for eight pediatric face-to-face clinical audiology examinations with final-year clinical students. Observation, Internet connectivity, and audiologist satisfaction confirmed the model's feasibility. Lack of ICT resources and staff caused technical issues in most sessions. Internet speed was faster than early estimates. Live observation was more satisfying than recordings. We successfully implemented a trial version of an adapted teleaudiology approach that may be used to observe audiology clinical examinations. With minor changes, this approach can also be used for clinical observation in the future, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

**Keywords:** teleaudiology; audiology; COVID-19; clinical examination

**Citation:** Rashid, M.F.N.; Mohamad, W.N.W.; Awang, M.A.; Zakaria, M.N. Adaptation of Teleaudiology Approach in Undergraduate Clinical Examinations: Lesson Learned. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082018

Academic Editors: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 8 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

Audiology is a health discipline that investigates hearing, balance, and related diseases. It is dedicated to the care of impaired people of all ages and backgrounds. According to Katz, audiology is concerned with the intersection of science and art [1]. Aside from the objective evaluation of tasks, audiology provides emotional and social support to people impacted. An audiologist is a professional that specializes in identifying, evaluating, and treating people with hearing loss. The hearing care professional is also involved in a multidisciplinary team of speech therapists, ear, nose and throat specialists, deaf instructors, engineers, pediatricians, psychologists, and occupational therapists.

A career in audiology is related to academic expectations, similar to the expansion of the audiology field. First, most audiologists hold a Bachelor's degree before pursuing a Master's or Ph.D. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia, and Universiti Sains Malaysia are the only three universities that provide undergraduate audiology programs in Malaysia [2]. A clinical audiologist in a private hospital or clinic and a dispensing audiologist in various hearing aid centers are possible job options for audiology graduates. Despite the increase in audiology graduates, audiology services require more attention in special education than other sectors such as clinical or private hearing aid centers [3]. Moreover, the significant number of special education students can lead to inadequate audiological care.

Since students must apply their knowledge when caring for patients, the connection between the lecturer's room and the clinical scene is critical. It covered clinical teaching foundations, effective clinical teaching tactics, adjusting clinical teaching techniques to individual situations, and clinical evaluation for audiology students. Aside from continuous clinical assessments, audiology students must complete all clinical hours and pass the audiological clinical examination to demonstrate clinical proficiency. For example, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency stated that a Bachelor's degree in audiology required 350 clinical hours with at least 200 direct student–patient contacts [4]. Meanwhile, final year students are evaluated on their clinical competency in dealing with new or follow-up patients in pediatrics and adults.

Following the expansion of ICT and the global COVID-19 pandemic, clinical training in higher education has lately changed to conform to new normal and standard operating procedures (SOP). As a result, telemedicine and telehealth approaches are becoming increasingly popular in clinical teaching [5–7]. Telehealth as a clinical teaching approach at universities has many benefits. Novak can also be used for professional collaboration, as the students learned excellent communication skills and expanded their expertise in diverse teams through this project [8].

The word teleaudiology has been widely used in research papers and publications to describe audiological services delivered via telehealth. Teleaudiology uses ICT to provide audiological services and information to clients [9], and it is classified into screening, diagnostic, and intervention services [10]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) identified three teleaudiology service delivery methods: synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid [11]. The synchronous method entails an audiologist and a client communicating through video or audio. Asynchronous refers to sending images or data to an audiologist for interpretation. A hybrid is a mix of these two approaches. These approaches are implemented directly with clients or with facilitator support.

Teleaudiology was incorporated into clinical instruction for undergraduate audiology students at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Health Campus in 2021. First, we provide online clinical knowledge and theories for lectures, clinical case studies, and problem-based learning. During the COVID-19 epidemic, clinical students did not attend clinical practice as anticipated at the start of the semester due to a rigorous movement restriction order (MCO) and decreased patient numbers at USM Audiology Clinic, notably for small children and seniors. To guarantee that clinical students could apply their knowledge, they were required to perform pure tone audiometry using the Audsim Flex audiometer simulator (audstudent.com, Hollywood, FL, USA) on the clinic's personal computer (PC). Alternatively, the students were taught how to use Chrome Remote Desktop Version 1.5 (Google, Mountain View, CA, USA) to control the audiology clinic PC from their hostel or house.

As previously stated, clinical evaluation is critical in measuring clinical student competence. For example, we administered an online Oriented Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) to examine their knowledge and clinical abilities. We recently conducted face-to-face clinical audiology exams for our final year clinical student, modifying Krumm's Teleaudiology Model [12]. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of an adapted teleaudiology model for pediatric clinical assessment with the following specific objectives:


#### **2. Materials and Methods**

Efforts are currently being made to maximize the USM Audiological Clinic's audiological resources, include teleaudiology in clinical education, and establish its practical feasibility. Instead, the teleaudiology model was modified to limit the testing room to one student and one patient. Moreover, each clinical step is visible to other lecturers and clinicians. We were able to link the audiological clinical examination to the principal investigator (PI), who was around 17 km away from the clinic. In total, four laptops and a personal computer running Windows 10 were employed in this study: the Acer Aspire A515-56 for Laptop A and B (Acer Inc., New Taipei City, Taiwan), the Asus ZenBook Flip UX360UAK for Laptop C (ASUSTek Computer Inc., Taipei, Taiwan), the Asus X450C Series

for Laptop D (ASUSTek Computer Inc., Taipei, Taiwan), and the Lenovo c40 for PC (Lenovo Group Limited, Hong Kong, China).

#### *2.1. Description of ICT Setup and Background of the Study*

Equipment and ICT stability are crucial for long-term teleaudiology services feasibility, as this approach aims to deliver a reliable clinical service similar to face-to-face. This study optimized clinic facilities without upgrading ICT or audiology systems. The clinical coordinator's Cisco Webex Meeting (https://usm-cmr.webex.com (accessed on 25 July 2021), Ver. 41.7.7.9) was shared with participants of laptops A, B, and D. The student clinical (tester) has to log into Webex using laptop A using their USM email. Technical support utilized TeamViewer Version 15.19.5 (TeamViewer AG, Göppingen, Germany) to remotely control the Panasonic HC-V550 video camera (Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Osaka, Japan) and digital web camera from a PC in the observation room (free version, 64 bit). The technical support will change the camera input for Webex as asked by PI. We employed a video camera to record the candidates' threshold searching on the audiometer (audiogram). An external digital web camera focused on the tympanometer, supporting the examiner in qualitative and quantitative tympanogram interpretation. Laptop A's built-in camera also records candidates' interactions with the child's parents.

Additionally, laptop B is located in the testing room to monitor the child's response during the audiological examinations. In general, hearing evaluations in pediatric cases may vary according to developmental age and may include distraction testing, visual reinforcement audiometry, and play audiometry. As a result, it is critical to monitor the child's response during the audiological exams. Moreover, this laptop is connected via TeamViewer to laptop D (PI) to assist the investigator in determining the Internet connection. The clinical coordinator records all sessions and uploads them to the cloud for educational purposes and to accomplish the third objective of this project. Furthermore, as noted previously, the personal computer (observation room) was connected to laptop A (test room), allowing additional examiners or lecturers to observe all clinical procedures and outcomes as displayed on laptop A (mirror screen concept). As illustrated in Figure A1, the PI was outside the USM Audiology Clinic, located within the USM Speech-Language Clinic (Day 1) and his home (Day 2).

#### *2.2. Internet Connection and Measurements*

As previously stated, we observed eight sessions of audiological tests using four laptops (A, B, C, and D) and a PC. Laptops A and C and the PC are essential for camera input, administrator access to the Webex application, and observation. As a result, these three laptops were connected to the Internet via a local area network (LAN) to ensure robust connectivity. Meanwhile, laptop B (testing room) and laptop D (day 1) were linked to USMSecure WiFi because of the room's insufficient LAN port. On Day 2, the PI was at home and connected to the Internet via a mobile hotspot for this investigation. Unifi's unlimited 2 h mobile hotspot service was subscribed to to ensure that each session's Internet connection was uninterrupted.

Speedtest.net (Ookla, Seattle, WA, USA) and BlazeMeter (Perforce Software, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) were used to measure Internet connectivity. The Internet connection speed of three laptops (A, B, and D) was measured regularly before, during, and after clinical assessment sessions. Ookla has maintained this website since 2006, reporting over 35 billion tests that meet the wide-angle contact measurement requirements [13,14]. It has three main features: it can upload, download, and ping. Second, Webex's performance with four participants was rated using BlazeMeter. This open-source load testing tool for mobile apps, databases, online services, and websites [15]. However, we did not restrict the license or scalability during the test. The test results were automatically sent to the PI after completion. Maximum users, average throughput, faults, and 50% response time were provided. The average bandwidth could not be tracked due to the testing credit restriction.

#### *2.3. Live Observations and Satisfaction Level*

During these two-day clinical tests, the principal investigator must observe all live sessions. It was also necessary to record all data acquired during the observation, including Internet speed, audio-visual quality, and comments on technical challenges. Because this is a trial version of the adapted teleaudiology approach, the PI serves as an external examiner located outside the clinic or in another state. For this study, the principal investigator did not evaluate the candidates' performance throughout their clinical examinations. The course coordinator recorded every session and sent the URL to the PI. Because the recorded sessions contain private and confidential information, only experienced audiologists at USM were invited to evaluate the audio-visual quality. Quality and Impairment Scales of the International Telecommunication Union-R chose the grading structure (ITU, 2015). It was decided that the assessment process would be relevant to the recorded sessions. Each section covers a different aspect of the exam (Appendix C): history taking (HT), otoscopic examination (OE), and tympanometry (tymp), as well as providing feedback (PF) and other relevant tests (OT). This process requires four experienced audiologists. During the assessments, the recorded sessions were shown on laptop B and a Panasonic television.

#### **3. Results**

All candidates for the audiological clinical examinations were familiar with the testing room's facilities and audiological equipment, having spent nearly two years practicing in the USM Audiology Clinic. As illustrated in Figure A1, we implemented only a few ICT facilities and incorporated comments from students, technologists, clinicians, and examiners to ensure that they do not interfere with or distract during clinical assessments. Technically, we optimized all existing infrastructure and had a few issues connecting laptop A to the exterior digital web camera due to a short cable. As a result, we were prompted to connect the camera via a three-meter USB extension wire, which resulted in signal loss. As a consequence, one of three web camera models was chosen following several trials. In general, the trial version of the adapted teleaudiology approach was successful in observing clinical examinations, and further details about the results are presented below.

#### *3.1. Internet Connection*

Ookla and BlazeMeter were used to test Internet speed for eight clinical sessions. However, in laptops B and D, the Internet speed cannot be determined during the 'middle' and 'after' sessions of Session 8 due to the PI's laptop's poor Internet connection. Because the data are significantly deviant from normal, all non-parametric tests were chosen to analyze ping, download, and upload Internet features. For this study, we compared the following: (i) the Internet speed properties of the same laptop, measured three times for each session; (ii) the Internet speed properties of different types of connectivity in different laptops, and (iii) the Internet speed properties of USMSecure Wireless (within USM) and unlimited Unifi Hotspot (at home) connections using laptop D.

Friedman's analysis revealed no statistically significant change in the ping (ms), download (Mbps), and upload (Mbps) values for each session, which were measured three times (before, middle, and after) (*p* > 0.05). As a result, the repeated values for online properties were merged, and the mean values were calculated, as illustrated in Figure A2. A Kruskal–Wallis H test revealed a statistically significant difference between the three laptops' ping, download, and upload times (ms) (Table A1). A post hoc analysis using Conover yielded a significance level of *p* < 0.05. Between laptop B and laptop D, there were no significant differences in ping and upload speeds. However, statistically significant differences in download speeds were observed across laptops A, B, and C. Additionally, a Mann—Whitney test revealed no statistically significant difference between the USMSecure Wireless and the unrestricted Unifi Hotspot in all online properties.

Webex's performance during audiology clinical examinations was evaluated using BlazeMeter. According to the test findings, the maximum number of virtual users that could be tested was 20, and the Webex load capabilities were kept to a minimum during

the test period, as only four people participated. Overall, the average throughput, error rate, and response time were 16.50 hits per second, 99 percent, and 1215.88 ms, respectively. These values indicated that the Webex on the laptop D was operating at a deficient level of performance.

#### *3.2. Live Observation Report*

The live observation occurred in the USM Speech-Language Clinic on Day 1 and the PI's home on Day 2. The PI reported on various points, and each observation criterion was divided into six segments (Table A2). Seven clinical sessions used play audiometry to examine behavior, while one session applied visual reinforcement audiometry. These approaches were chosen following age-appropriate diagnostic audiology procedures, which required candidates to select differential diagnostic techniques that were developmentally suitable for the kid.

Due to the limits of the audiology equipment, the findings for otoscopic examination and distortion product otoacoustic emissions cannot be noticed during live observation. Overall, Session 8 had the most reported issues, at four, while Sessions 6 and 7 each had one. Additionally, the most frequently occurring recurring difficulties occurred only in two distinct sessions, and the most frequently occurring problems were noted in part for providing feedback (not related to the limitation of the equipment).

#### *3.3. Level of Satisfaction among the Principal Investigator and Experienced Audiologists*

Live observation by the PI established the level of satisfaction, and four experienced audiologists analyzed the recorded Webex sessions. The assessors, two male and three female audiologists, had an average of 5.36–15.8 years of experience. Participants were required to rate the audio-visual quality in at least five segments during each session. Respondents were generally satisfied with the audio quality (M = 3.02, SD = 1.14), with behavioral testing scoring the highest (M = 3.50, SD = 0.76) and history taking scoring the lowest (M = 2.63, SD = 1.06) during the live observation. Similarly, the audio quality of behavioral testing in recorded sessions suggested the greatest degree of satisfaction (M = 1.63, SD = 0.66), but otoscopic examination indicated the lowest level of satisfaction (M = 1.26, SD = 0.44). Meanwhile, the highest degree of visual quality was reported for audiograms performed under live observation (M = 4.75, SD = 0.71), while the lowest level of satisfaction was reported for recorded tympanometry testing (M = 2.13, SD = 1.06). Additionally, we averaged all areas for each session to compare satisfaction levels across live and recorded sessions. For audio (U = 867.50, *p* = 0.001) and visual (U = 4448.50, *p* = 0.001), satisfaction with live observation was significantly higher than satisfaction with recorded sessions. Other testing results were removed since the task was not included in all clinical sessions. Figure A3 summarizes the degree of satisfaction.

#### **4. Discussion**

The essential premise of a basic model of teleaudiology for adult clients was that the services should be comparable to those provided in conventional clinical settings and that they could be used in a variety of telecommunications studies utilizing synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid technology [14]. In this study, we adapted this model to create a trial version for use during audiology clinical evaluations. Thus, the principal investigator acted as an examiner in this study, evaluating the live audiology clinical examination via ICT applications from a distance. This approach may have a substantial impact, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the restriction of interstate travel orders, particularly for an external examiner. As a result, it may minimize the cost of travel [16,17]. Additionally, live observation via Webex can be used for undergraduate or postgraduate audiology clinical practice by domestic or international students. This may be advantageous for students who remained at home or in a hostel during the epidemic COVID-19. Additionally, as demonstrated by a previous study, it can foster health professional teamwork, who successfully collaborated with nursing and audiology students to fit hearing aids using teleaudiology [8].

In Malaysia, the first research concentrating on teleaudiology was conducted to ascertain audiologist attitudes about the field [18] and conduct remote hearing assessments for deaf and hard-of-hearing school children [3]. Because this approach is novel in Malaysia, we maximized the use of existing audiology equipment in the clinic, which was not PCbased. In this case, more ICT facilities are required for communication and recording of all audiological findings. For audio-visual communication, prior researchers have described the usage of Cisco Webex Meeting [19,20], and other studies have successfully adopted a nearly identical technique for cochlear implant users [21–23]. However, several researchers used a variety of platforms in their investigations, including AudioProConnect (AudioPro-Connect Company, Bobigny, France) [24], the Polycom System (Plantronics, Inc., 500 Series, CA, USA) [21,25], and Skype (Microsoft Corp., Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) [26]. Second, this study employed TeamViewer to control the laptop in the testing room remotely, comparable to earlier teleaudiology research [27–29]. Although this study's general design blended prior studies, its primary objective was distinct and did not even include remote hearing assessment. As a result, it is unlikely that this design may be used in the future to accomplish a similar purpose as the prior study.

The summary of the live observation report (Table A2) shows that most sessions encountered difficulties due to a lack of ICT resources and technical support staff. These two critical components should be highlighted in the teleaudiology approach planning checklist [20,30–32]. For instance, in our study, we allocated only existing staff members who are not ICT experts and must execute another duty during the clinical examination. As a result of the shortage of ICT technical support employees, specific technical issues occurred, such as camera selection input and monitoring Webex recording sessions. Additionally, because this study was conducted during a clinical assessment, all technological difficulties encountered inside the testing room were resolved remotely, as we did not intend to disrupt the sessions. In comparison, if we were to use the teleaudiology approach in daily clinical practice, any technical difficulties that arose could be resolved directly by technical support.

As a guideline to assure the proper functioning of this teleaudiology service, several researchers have established a minimum upload and download Internet connection speed of between 0.1 Mbps and 0.38 Mbps [27,28,33–35]. In comparison to this study, the Internet speed was significantly faster. The download speed was recorded as being between 2.77 Mbps and 86.21 Mbps, while the upload speed was reported as being between 3.01 Mbps and 92 Mbps. Meanwhile, researchers observed ping values for Internet speed was 16.75 ms to 76.32 ms, which were found to be greater than those reported in a study conducted by Penteado, which ranged between 58.5 ms and 7.3 ms [36]. However, no specific ping values have been established by prior studies in the teleaudiology approach.

Additionally, while the TeamViewer application utilized in this investigation was similar to those used in prior studies to operate the laptop at the testing site [27,28], the application's performance is reliant on the Internet connection. According to their website, the minimal criteria for Internet speed are 6 Mbps for download and 1 Mbps for upload [37]. Only laptop B exceeded the recommended download speed (Figure A1). This finding is consistent with PI's experience, during which TeamViewer regularly disconnected and one of the sessions encountered connectivity issues while using TeamViewer to test the Internet speed. Apart from that, PI observed a reduction in the audio-visual quality on laptop B after connecting to this application, which could be attributed to the volume of Internet traffic on laptop B, which was connected only via USMSecure WiFi. Additionally, we discovered that the wireless connection between USMSecure and Unifi Mobile was comparable in ping and upload speeds. This circumstance may have a beneficial influence on the use of mobile networks such as 3G cellular networks [38] or 3G Vodafone mobile hotspots [27] in areas with restricted Internet access, mainly rural areas.

Dharmar conducted a teleaudiology study for infant hearing assessment and discovered that audiologist satisfaction with live testing was 5.9 and 6.7, respectively, on a 7-point Likert scale [38]. These findings indicated that satisfaction accounted for more than half of the entire score, which corresponds to this study's findings for live observation, where the total satisfaction score for audio-visual was more significant than 2.5 on a 5-point Likert scale. However, the total score for the recorded sessions' audio quality was less than half (M = 1.39, SD = 0.55). As we are aware, the sound quality is poor because we can only use the built-in microphone on laptop A or the video camera, which is fixed in that position. Additionally, the recorded sessions do not focus on the screen that was selected during the live observation but rather on the four primary screens of the Webex participants, which include the clinical coordinator (for recording purposes), the principal investigator (for live observation), clinical students (for testing purposes), and technical staff (patient's response). As a result, this may affect the evaluations of the recorded sessions.

#### **5. Conclusions and Recommendations for the Future**

Students' abilities are routinely examined in a variety of ways during pediatric clinical assessment. However, these factors can be classified into two broad categories: communication abilities and hands-on skills. The following objectives for implementing a comprehensive observation system for audiology clinical examinations are provided together with their associated challenges:

• During clinical evaluations, establishing valid assessments of communication and hands-on skills.

Challenges: Communication abilities are contingent upon the adequacy of ICT infrastructure and audio-visual quality. We employed an existing communication device in the clinic (Figure A1) and fitted it to their position in this study. As a result, it may impair the audio-visual quality, mainly when working with pediatric patients who actively move throughout sessions. Meanwhile, clinical abilities are contingent on the ability to utilize audiology tools to examine the hearing status and be adaptable when dealing with patients. As previously stated, all audiology devices are not operated via a personal computer, necessitating an external camera (video camera or web camera) to watch all clinical stages while operating the machines. In general, these two concerns can be addressed by updating equipment to more portable, stable audio-visual, and PC-based devices capable of screen sharing and remote control.

• Creating a steady Internet connection in terms of network traffic or Internet speed.

Challenges: Due to the limitations of the existing Internet infrastructure, the testing room was equipped with only one LAN port for connection to laptop A (audiology device), while laptop B (patient reaction) was wirelessly connected. Thus, this may result in a significant difference in Internet speed between these two laptops with similar specifications and may affect the level of satisfaction with audio-visual quality. Additionally, using a Mobile Hotspot (Day2) may provide a more accurate forecast of the teleaudiology approach that can be used in areas with restricted Internet connectivity. However, network provider collaboration is critical to ensuring the stability of the Internet connection.

• Forming a team of individuals who are technically adept and educated about the teleaudiology program.

Challenges: We utilized all available employees throughout this clinical evaluation and assigned only one person to provide technological support, specifically for camera input choices. However, this staff member had a relationship with his regular employment, and as a result, the camera selection for specific clinical sessions was not as planned. Thus, the team should include skilled personnel dedicated solely to technological support, particularly during the teleaudiology session.

Overall, we were successful in implementing a trial version of an adapted teleaudiology approach that can be utilized to observe audiology clinical examinations and this

strategy can also be used in the future for clinical observation, particularly during pandemic COVID-19, when the total number of students in the clinic had to be limited. Additionally, the observation can be used to expose nonclinical professionals or students who work with special needs children, such as teachers, policymakers, and parents. With specific changes and upgrades to the teleaudiology equipment, it is possible to conduct hearing tests from a distance using the same approach.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.F.N.R. and W.N.W.M.; methodology, M.F.N.R.; formal analysis, M.F.N.R. and M.N.Z.; investigation, M.F.N.R.; resources, M.A.A.; writing—original draft preparation, M.F.N.R.; writing—review and editing, M.N.Z., W.N.W.M. and M.A.A.; project administration, M.F.N.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** We would like to express our gratitude to Suzana Mansor, Mohd Khary Hussain, Rozazipah Ahmad, and Halimah Mahmud for their participation and constructive remarks on this work. Additionally, we appreciate Mohd Alamin Mohd's willingness to serve as technical assistant during the audiology clinical examinations and the entire team of the USM audiology program. Special thanks to School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia for the financial assistance.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Appendix A**

**Figure A1.** Audiology clinical examination setup.

ϳϬ ϴϬ ϵϬ ϭϬϬ

**Figure A2.** Mean values for Internet speed measurements using three different laptops.

**Figure A3.** The satisfaction level of audio-visual quality for history taking (HT), otoscopic examination (OE), tympanometry (Tymp), behavioral testing (BT), and providing feedback (PF).

(Mbps)

Upload (Mbps)

#### **Appendix B**

Laptop A LAN


Laptop D Wireless <sup>2</sup> 29.73 Laptop A and B

56.50 0.001

Laptop B Wireless <sup>1</sup> 21.23 Laptop A Laptop D Wireless <sup>2</sup> 23.77 Laptop A

Wireless <sup>1</sup> = USMSecure, Wireless <sup>2</sup> = Unifi Mobile.

#### **Table A2.** Summary of the live observation.


\* Play = Play Audiometry, VRA = Visual Reinforcement Audiometry.

#### **Appendix C**


Instructions:

This assessment form was designed to evaluate the quality of audio-visual recorded sessions during audiology clinical examination. Kindly rate for each clinical session as below:

i. Please rate the quality of audio-visual on a scale of 'Bad', 'Poor', 'Fair', 'Good', or 'Excellent'. This grading process was recommended by International Telecommunication Union (ITU, 2015). The details of these rating scales are as below:

a. Bad: Very annoying or unable to listen (audio) or observe (visual) the recorded session

b. Poor: Annoying or able to listen (audio) or observe (visual) the recorded session, but with distortion/disconnected for more than five times

c. Fair: Slightly annoying or able to listen (audio) or observe (visual) the recorded session, but with distortion/disconnected for less than/ equal to five times

d. Good: Not annoying or able to listen (audio) or observe (visual) without any distortion/disconnected

e. Excellent: Able to listen (audio) or observe (visual) clearly without any distortion/disconnected

ii. Each session will be divided into five main sessions, which are 'History Taking', 'Otoscopic Examination', 'Tympanometry', 'Behavioral audiology testing', 'others testing' and 'Giving Feedback'

56.50 Laptop B and D


#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Moral Values Application in Islamic Education Teaching and Learning through the 21CE Activities †**

**Norfarahi Zulkifli \* , Zuraidah Ramdzan, Wan Ali Akbar Wan Abdullah, Mohd Isa Hamzah, Khadijah Abdul Razak and Hafizhah Zulkifli <sup>1</sup>**

Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia

**\*** Correspondence: farahijpa@gmail.com

† Presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 3 July 2022.

**Abstract:** This study aims to explore the values that can be applied through the 21st Century Education (21CE) implementation as well as explore creative methods that can be used to apply moral values to students during the 21CE activities. Online interviews were conducted with five Islamic education teachers (IET) and the data obtained were subsequently transcribed and analyzed. The results highlighted three main themes to answer the first objective, namely: religious appreciation, daily interaction, and leadership. Meanwhile, five main themes emerged to answer the second objective, namely role models, rewards and punishments, advice, social media use, and innovation production. The findings of this study are expected to provide ideas for IET to apply moral values creatively in the implementation of 21CE activities.

**Keywords:** moral values; creative method; Islamic education

**Citation:** Zulkifli, N.; Ramdzan, Z.; Abdullah, W.A.A.W.; Hamzah, M.I.; Razak, K.A.; Zulkifli, H. Moral Values Application in Islamic Education Teaching and Learning through the 21CE Activities. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082022

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 9 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

Morality is one of the Islamic teaching aspects related to a Muslim's behavior in daily life. Morality is also a measure of a Muslim's personality excellence. Based on Al-Ghazali's view, one of the purposes of Islamic education is to inculcate an excellent Muslim personality as a perfect human being (*Al-Insan al-K ¯ amil ¯* ) through the application of morality in the teaching process by using certain methods [1]. This also means that education not only aims to produce good citizens but also good, moral individuals. This matter is emphasized in the National Education Philosophy, which is the main aspiration and goal in the education system in Malaysia that emphasizes physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual balance [2]. The same thing is also emphasized in the Philosophy of Islamic Education (FPI) on the application of moral values in the educational process. In the context of education today, values and ethics are highly accentuated in the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013–2025 through the implementation of 21st-century learning (21CE) in teaching (Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan, 2013–2025).

The 21st-century student-centered learning is implemented based on five basic standards, namely, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration as well as values and ethics, which has encouraged teachers to progressively implement teaching and learning towards achieving educational excellence, realizing the aspirations of the National Education Philosophy in general and the Philosophy of Islamic Education in particular, which focuses on the moral formation to be a good Muslim. The application of values and ethics in teaching through the 21CE activities develops a high sense of identity. This is because teachers are the closest to the students when they are in school. Therefore, teachers' efforts to inculcate positive values in students during the T&L session can meet the students' aspirations [3]. In addition, the application of values and ethics emphasized in the 21CE is one of the main purposes of education because the goal is to inculcate noble morals and develop human beings to be able to perform the most important responsibility of

performing the duties of God's vicegerent (caliph) on earth according to the Divine law [4]. Therefore, the application of the values in T&L activities based on the 21CE elements will reveal the noble values practiced in daily life.

Educators are an important factor that influences students in the teaching and learning process. To ensure that good moral values can be applied to students, educators should implement appropriate methods. From Imam Al-Ghazali's perspective, the teacher or educator's role is not just to impart knowledge but as a *muaddib* [5]. In addition to knowledge, teachers need to have pedagogical skills, professional skills, personality skills, and social skills. Al-Ghazali also reminded teachers to prepare themselves in terms of knowledge, competence, ability, skills, attitude change, and readiness in education. Education in Islam is a process that emphasizes morals and relies on the teacher or educator's role to emulate good morals for students. Hence, the objective of this study is to explore the values that can be applied through the implementation of 21CE activities and to explore the creative methods that can be used to apply moral values to students during 21CE activities.

#### **2. Methodology**

This study used a qualitative approach by conducting interviews with five study participants. The design of this study is a single-case study that uses a constant comparison method to analyze the data. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews. The raw data were analyzed using Atlas.ti version 9 software to make comparisons, find similarities and differences between datasets through triangulation of interview data, observation, and document analysis. Atlas ti.9 is one of the established research tool for qualitative data and details on the features and capabilities of the software can be found from the free manual and video tutorials available at http://atlasti.com (accessed on 20 May 2022). The interview sessions were conducted online and the data obtained were then transcribed. Study participants were selected based on the purposive sampling technique and started by identifying the main selection criteria of the participants [6]. Therefore, the study participants' selection was based on the following criteria: (1) teaching Islamic education; (2) having more than 10 years of experience in teaching Islamic education; and (3) being approachable and cooperative. Five study participants were involved. They are given the codes G1 to G5. The demographics of the study participants were as follows (Table 1):

**Table 1.** Demography of study participants.


Table 1 shows the coding and years of teaching experience of the five participants. All participants have more than 10 years of teaching experience The analysis covered all types of data from all study participants. Findings are reported thematically according to the research questions. For the purpose of preserving the validity and reliability of the data, the researcher practiced: (1) triangulation, (2) review of study participants, (3) researcher bias description, (4) peer review, (5) in-depth description, and (6) audit trail.

#### **3. Findings**

The students' outcomes can be developed through the strength of Islamic appreciation in their lives. Therefore, 21st-century learning can enhance religious appreciation through *aqidah* (faith/belief). As stated by G1, the practice of the values in the 21CE brings students closer and instills their love of Allah SWT. G1 said, "when we make and practice 21CE in the Islamic way, then these pupils will be closer to Allah because the things with human beings will eventually reflect on his belief in Allah". Consequently, the Muslim personality of the student can be inculcated towards obedience to Allah. G2 said, "This concept if the teacher really does it, we can shape our students to be God's servants who follow the true path". In addition, 21CE can also improve moral practice among students. For example, maintaining cleanliness and tidiness while doing work. G1 said, "*Ok, we have to* do work neatly, God likes tidiness, we have to emphasize our values. That, I think, ease me. They did that".

The 21CE also improves students' daily interactions, such as respecting their friends (G3) and teachers (G2). G1 further explained the interaction by giving an example of the greeting practice, he said, "In life, they can evaluate the situation whether it is good or bad. For example, greetings ... It is according to the Prophet's sunnah. So, these students make it a practice. Isn't it parallel with the 21CE?". They also practiced working together and celebrating the differences between them. G1 explained, "They have a kind of value for them to be can work together ... The pupils who are not very smart, those who are weak, those who are smart, those who are moderate can blend with the 21CE".

In addition, 21CE stimulates students to become leaders when planning and organizing activities, interacting with friends as well as respecting opinion differences. G3 said, "For example (students) are trained to lead in groups and have the opportunity to present their work, students will usually think before making a decision and respect the findings of other friends". Pupils also become courageous to go forward and express their ideas. G2 explained, "21CE when applied in students, they dare to give speeches, ideas, and they are courageous to go forward". Consequently, students can be "independent" (G1). For example, doing a stage performance without guidance from the teacher. G2 described, "All our students make their own presentations without any guidance from the teacher and I really salute the students that they can come out with the idea that even the teacher doesn't teach them like that. I think that's the effect that the student got". Next, five main themes emerge from the creative methods that the IET used to inculcate values among students during 21CE activities, namely role model, reward and punishment, advice, use of social media, and innovation.

#### *3.1. Role Model*

Study participants agreed on the method of modeling values in teaching, especially by giving an example through the project implementation and the teachers' manners during the T&L delivery. G1 said, "Creative approach should be more effective in conveying the moral values. Either through the project, mentioned earlier, modeling the project through examples. How to appoint a group leader, obey the leader's instructions." G2 provides a more detailed example, "If we look at the modeling method, it can still be used ... even if it is online ... Although students do not look at us, our way when we say something, in terms of relationships and communication ... even communication via WhatsApp and so on, students can see our value". This method requires Islamic education teachers to set a good example for students because students can evaluate the teachers in any situation. G2 said, "In terms of delivery, our words ... Even online, we have to take care of that things, the manners and so on. So, when students look at us, even in an online class at home, sloppily dressed, for example, people look at that thing. Look at the students, for example, when they are on camera, we can actually see it".

#### *3.2. Rewards and Punishments*

Reward and punishment methods were also mentioned by the study participants among the methods that helped the application of the values. G1 said, "In terms of rewards, right? If you fail to follow the plan, it may be in the form of punishment. That's the application of moral values right". Punishment methods can be applied to students if they fail to comply with something set by the teacher, whereas, rewards are given by teachers based on the need of students to complete a task. G2 explained, "We can also use the reward. Rewards and punishments. For example, a student is supposed to be in class at 9 o'clock, but the pupil enters the class at 10 o'clock, that is a problem, right? So maybe we

can use our power to cut the marks. If we see the pupil do his homework, it's okay, if we see his attendance record is good, we can give him a bonus, right"?

#### *3.3. Advice*

Giving advice is also one way to inculcate moral values. Islamic education teachers need to advise students in various situations, either inside or outside the classroom, during face-to-face or non-face-to-face teaching. G1 said, "The input of the application of the moral value is actually more effective than in a traditional class. So, those are the values that we want to discuss in class. Most students are touched by this". G2 added, "Another method is giving advice. If in a face-to-face class, we can directly reprimand them if they did wrong. Even during online classes, if we can, ask the student to open his camera. Sometimes the student sleeps, or lies down, isn't it? We can see where he is. If we see something wrong, we can still advise them. But in a good manner. Not reprimand them in front of their friends." In addition, teachers can advise students either at the beginning of the lesson or at the end. The method of advising students can also be done by making reflections and conclusions. G2 said, "When the class is ending, maybe we can make a conclusion. That time is also suitable to give advice. Usually, if we stop before we close the class with a prayer or something, that's even more beautiful, right? But before that, we can also advise on what is appropriate. We can also ask students what they want to improve in our class, and what they want to do, and we can ask the student's opinions. Or we can ask the student to respond to our T&L as well. Like a reflection . . . ".

#### *3.4. Social Media Use*

Social media as a delivery platform is mentioned as one of the methods to instill values in students. For G3, he sees that moral values can be inculcated in teaching by using social media as a medium of delivery. G3 explained, "Looking at the current situation, there are various mediums or platforms to convey the T&L process and inculcate values. So, use various mediums. Medium of technology through social media. So, the students are more creative by using the medium of technology".

#### *3.5. Innovation*

To ensure that the 21CE activities are focused on values when developing innovations, the emphasis on values has become one of the important T&L objectives. G5 explained, "When pupils' morals are formed, for example, they keep up prayers, obey their parents, respect their teacher, what they learn, in the thick textbook, automatically they can get it. But why is it hard for students to study today? They didn't even want to come to school. They slept and did not pray. They are against their parents. If the parent who gave birth to them, are against them, how about we, teachers? Small in their eyes. That's why my methods are, I think that innovation is something that ... really helps the students' inner self". Therefore, the focus of innovation is given to topics that can have a direct impact on character development, such as prayer (G4). The emphasis on the prayer topic is made because of the belief in the Divine decree that prayer will prevent abominable and evil things. Although students can pray, the quality and appreciation of students during prayer are problematic. This is explained by G4, "Belief that, "*Innas salata tanha 'anil fahshai wal munkar*" ... When I did the prayer chapter, that's my effort to make the students and my child closer, to prevent them from falling into sin. So, we did a study on prayer. They apparently can pray. They prayed, and perform the prayer, but when you check back, apparently there is a problem with the prayer. That's why we made the prayer puzzle, we made the meaning of the prayer recitation ... That's what I see that I can help the children".

In line with the views of G4, G3 also focuses on the production of prayer innovations. The intention is to produce students of strong faith even when they enter the career world later. When there is faith, then students will be trusted at work. It all starts with prayer. Cakna Solat was produced. G3 explained, "We have to provide a strong base for them, in

which when they finish school, after this, even when they become mechanics, the become a Faithful mechanics. A Faithful cleaner. The one with integrity. How? We make sure their basis is strong ... They care of their prayer" (G3). G1, on the other hand, wants to educate his students to use good language. Thus, he produced Army Yell. The goal is to replace "their language ... It is not suitable for the Islamic Education class" (G1) to "So if it's used like that, they will say when they are grateful, fun, they say, "*Allahu akbar*!", Right? "*Alhamdulillah*!" (G1). Through Army Yell as well, students are educated to "share their knowledge ... Let's say, they got the knowledge but refused to share it with friends. But when we taught them the concept, they wanted to share because I said, what we learn, when we teach our friends, is a charity. Ha, so, it is one form of jihad, I said. So, there seems to be a little bit (of improvement). *Alhamdulillah"* (G1).

In addition, G5 stated that by using Trademark, a voice-based innovation, students' hearts will be touched. As a result, any reprimand and advice will be heard by the student (G5). As for G2, any content in Islamic education has an implicit element of da'wah (preaching) (G2). Therefore, when formula-based innovation is used, although it helps students remember the content, it is also a form of reminder for students to take lessons from what they learn. G2 explained, "For me, these formulas have an element of da'wah. For example, in the atom formula that I made, the destruction of the past people reminds us of how the people of Luth were destroyed. So, when they hear this, oh, this is the consequence if I do that. So, these students (think), they know that homosexual relationship is a great sin, and will be punished by Allah. Need to learn from Luth's people." In addition, the use of singing innovation about the life of a figure can evoke an appreciation for their struggle and inspire students. G2 explained, "If the song of the figure is on their struggle, need to be strong, to do jihad. If we do not fight and become lazy, we will not be successful. That's the *da'wah*, for them to study hard" (G2).

#### **4. Discussion**

The findings have identified three themes of values that can be applied through the 21CE activities, namely religious appreciation, daily interaction, and leadership. Religious appreciation plays an important role in shaping students' beliefs and personal values. The results showed that the 21CE activities can cultivate a sense of love and affection for God when the teachers apply 21CE activities such as critical questioning, group discussion, and games. The study of IET understanding of critical thinking activities, one of the 21CE elements, found that teachers understand that thinking activities are an act of worship and a tool to strengthen faith while wisely spreading Islamic teachings [7]. Indirectly, religious appreciation can have a good impact on the daily interaction of students based on the implementation of 21CE activities carried out by the teachers. This can be seen through the contribution of consistently applied knowledge in the teaching process with the elements of values and ethics, which has opened space for students to practice social manners such as greeting, cooperating, and helping each other in daily life. Therefore, the application of good and positive values should be inculcated to form students who are leaders with good morals to have a positive impact on their fellow students and the surrounding community. Effective teaching activities play an important role in producing individuals who fear God [8] and inculcate positive moral values while stimulating students' cognitive thinking and cultivating leadership [9].

Additionally, there are three themes on creative methods that can be used by the IET to inculcate values during 21CE activities, namely role model, reward and punishment, advice, use of social media, and innovation production. The creative method to cultivate values is also in line with the views of al-Ghazali in *Ihya 'Ulum al-Din* [4,10], such as: (1) loving and sympathetic, loving students like their own children; (2) sincerity, teaching with the sole intention of seeking the pleasure of Allah S.W.T; (3) giving advice, the teacher always advises the student through good words; (4) reprimanding mistakes wisely; (5) gradual teaching according to the ability of the student's intellect; and (6) practice with knowledge. Islamic education strongly emphasizes moral education and teachers play an

important role in ensuring that this can be achieved. Creative methods to apply moral values can be practiced by the IET because students always need guidance and advice in any T&L situation and activities so that students are spared from moral and social problems. Educators are responsible for playing a role in 'touching the hearts' of students and trying to limit their involvement in social problems by giving advice, reprimand, guidance, and being a good example and role model to students while implementing the T&L [11]. In addition, Islamic values can also be incorporated into teaching through innovations produced by the IET. There is a change in students' willingness to accept teaching innovations and Islamic values, and this can help produce students who excel academically and have outstanding personalities [12].

#### **5. Conclusions**

A summary of the theme for the first research question can be seen in Table 2:


**Table 2.** The theme of values applied through the implementation of 21CE activities.

A summary of the themes for the second research question can be seen in the following table (Table 3):



Table 2 shows the summary of the theme for values applied through the implementation of 21CE activities namely religious appreciation, daily interaction and religious appreciation. Table 3 shows the summary of the themes of creative methods in applying moral values during 21CE activies. The themes are role model, rewards and punishmnents, advice, use of social media and innovation. Therefore, various methods to apply moral values can be done in the Islamic education teaching and learning process. However, its implementation requires a tremendous effort and commitment from teachers to equip themselves with various skills to ensure that the T&L runs smoothly and strives to educate students in line with current developments. IET not only has a role to convey the content but also has a greater role and responsibility to achieve the student outcome as an excellent

human being with noble morals. The findings of this study are expected to provide ideas to IET to apply moral values creatively in the 21CE activities.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, W.A.A.W.A. and N.Z.; methodology, W.A.A.W.A.; software, W.A.A.W.A. and Z.R.; validation, Z.R.; formal analysis, N.Z.; investigation, W.A.A.W.A., Z.R. and N.Z.; resources, W.A.A.W.A., Z.R. and N.Z.; data curation, W.A.A.W.A., Z.R. and N.Z.; writing original draft preparation, N.Z.; writing—review and editing, W.A.A.W.A. and N.Z.; visualization, W.A.A.W.A., Z.R. and N.Z.; supervision, M.I.H., K.A.R. and H.Z.; project administration, M.I.H., K.A.R. and H.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** We are grateful to all of those with whom we have had the pleasure to work during this research and also to all the team members for the supports and encouragement.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Integrating Design Features for E-Learning Platforms †**

**Lilian Lee Shiau Gee**

Academy of Arts and Creative Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sabah 88450, Malaysia; lilian@ums.edu.my † Presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 3 July 2022.

**Abstract:** The reliance on online learning platforms to continue teaching and learning with COVID-19 issues and implications emphasises the necessity and preparedness of e-learning platforms as a main means of providing students with quality education. Supporting web platforms for higher education requires an awareness of content design elements for online learning sustainability and optimisation. This study proposes that e-learning platforms must prioritise usability and utility from a design standpoint to meet future needs. This article presents an overview of the primary features necessary in an online learning platform and conceptual work linked to design feature variables that may be developed to produce a good online learning platform and fulfil local students' preferences. Sharing, search, networking, and organisation enhance distance learning. This study examines new e-learning platform features to improve educational technology.

**Keywords:** e-learning; higher education; design platform

#### **1. Introduction**

Students are no longer unfamiliar with e-learning platform utilisation. The sudden change in daily activities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic increased the importance of web-based learning, especially the shift from face-to-face to online learning. Clearly, e-learning allows individuals to learn in a variety of ways; however, creating a high-quality e-learning platform is often a challenge for higher education. The evolution of web design and the results of a survey conducted at Universiti Malaysia Sabah indicate a pressing need to rethink and revamp the concept of an e-learning platform that not only provides "easy to access" content, but also stimulates a sensual learning experience, ease of communication, and a "multi-functional" context [1].

Therefore, the e-learning platform approach should be reconsidered in light of a more strategic, multifunctional, and experience-oriented design [2,3] for characterising students in relation to learning domains (cognitive, psychomotor, and affective). The design of the online learning procedure should incorporate technical (mechanism), content (design), and visual considerations (attractiveness). The creation of a straightforward e-learning design necessitates appropriate design characterization [4] and parallel technical and visual implementation. The requirement for didactic and effective content extends the knowledge transfer to the formation of an effective, integrated education.

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework for e-learning platform design characterization in order to assist researchers, educators, and designers in developing an appropriate platform for learning in higher education. This framework intends to shed light on the classification of key e-learning platform features, the nature and structure of existing dashboard displays, and the application of necessary component aspects for online learning. This overview aims to maximise the use and functionality of e-learning platforms, so that local students can continue learning remotely and maintain contact with instructors and peers.

#### **2. Education, Online Learning, and Web Platforms**

In the design of e-learning platforms that support lecturers, students, and other stakeholders in teaching and learning activities, a multi-functional awareness is often

**Citation:** Gee, L.L.S. Integrating Design Features for E-Learning Platforms. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082023

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 13 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

emphasized [5]. This specification must investigate the use of integrated design features to define screen interfaces for e-learning that support learning activities, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, and sensory engagement. Consider the current interest in how e-learning should be shaped and the implications of the required categorization for e-future learning. Dias et al. [6] identify communication tools, administration tools, and course delivery tools as crucial design principles for online learning platforms. According to Al Ajlan's [7] classification, in order for an e-learning platform to be highly functional, it must incorporate three main features: learning tools, support tools, and technical tools. Regarding the capabilities of e-learning platforms developed for academic institutions, Garrote Jurado et al. [8] assert that the most appropriate features for higher education are distribution tools, communication tools, interactive tools, and course administration tools to support the platform's design structure, and establish its relationship to blended and distance learning. In addition, Reitano's [9] study on students' need for e-learning platforms reveals that students are more concerned with the variety of communication tools and the adaptability of collaboration tools (such as Wiki and Google docs) when evaluating e-learning platforms.

Therefore, a deeper understanding of design features allows educational institutions, such as universities, to optimise the use of e-learning platforms and increase the likelihood of integrating institutional and consumer culture into the digital environment. All of these factors can ultimately result in a deeper understanding of how engagement with e-learning platforms impacts learning activities and motivational factors for e-learning. The platform is closely associated with the rising propensity of young people to engage in multiple tasks and learning activities. Given that "multi-function" is viewed as the platform's ability to communicate with the environment to deliver learning-specific information, the potential of the platform in continuous learning by students has necessitated features (integration of tools) that meet the need to maintain continuous use for addressing current learning problems, particularly in a crucial and necessary higher education environment.

#### **3. Online Platform Design Features Support**

Each learning platform's characteristics are highly dependent on its intended purpose and principle of application within the field of education. Thus, instructional design research begins to consider the requirements and consequences of e-learning platforms for education, with an emphasis on the development of higher learning component features.

Facilitated file sharing, media exchange (images, audio, and video), and instant discussion increased student participation in online discussions, thereby enhancing the platform's use in online education [10]. The ability to send real-time messages to individuals or groups of friends simultaneously, low cost, and privacy are characteristics that increase the popularity of e-learning use [11], and these characteristics strengthen student acceptance of the platform in addition to indirectly influencing students' attitudes and experiences. This suggests that the online learning platform must incorporate the following features in order to gain widespread student acceptance.

Richness of media influences the experience of lecturers and students as a learning tool, and the positive experiences that result increase students' assignment-completion productivity. This media richness [12,13] refers to the possibility of design principles supporting social interaction (lecturers and students), information processing, usability, and motivation. Similarly, the description of education platform development should avoid monotonous interface backgrounds, multifunctional and cluttered systems, and excessively formal design arrangements [14].

Users benefit from the availability of collaborative knowledge sharing, social connections, simple accessibility, engaging representations, and multiple functions [12,14]. Editing, annotating, and sharing information digitally and instantaneously are essential features for easily accessible instructional content, and efficiently facilitate students' search for information during independent study. In addition, educators and students benefited from the absence of time constraints and barriers in the use of online platforms in the context

of teaching and learning. Therefore, platform pages that address privacy and security are required to increase users' confidence in the platforms presented.

This demonstrates that the platform principle must be implemented with appropriate design features to improve online learning, where these features should contribute to student activation, ease of browsing, collaboration, expanded social interaction, active discussion, peer support, instant feedback, an efficient information provider, a large number of members, and achievement motivation. As a network of educational resources and support, it is crucial to benefit online classrooms and engage students and teachers. In addition, there is a requirement for an instantaneous alert function that includes announcements to encourage interaction and the sharing of course materials, assignments, tutorials, and class sessions.

#### **4. Tools Integration in the Platform**

The development of a successful platform requires more than the simple combination of teaching content and online capabilities; it should also include a combination of diverse features with four primary aspects: sharing, searching, networking, and organising to meet demand, flexibility, prompt delivery, and an efficient learning environment. This study examines in greater detail the integration of tools into the e-learning platform. These tools are divided into the following four categories:


With a focus on robust design features, and a greater emphasis on tool integration, it is crucial that e-learning platforms include the most essential components in each tool category. The categories of e-learning-platform-required tools and their constituent parts are depicted in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** The four tool categories in e-learning platform.

#### *4.1. Sharing Tools*

The speed of sharing is a benefit, while online learning is established. Sharing tools must include a method of obtaining media, links, and files instantly in live chat, unlimited media size, and must ensure that shared files, including meeting (class) recordings, are accessible on live chat throughout the semester. A new functionality proposed for sharing is a cloud-based folder where students and lecturers can access all collected media and files with a single click.

#### *4.2. Search Tools*

Depending on the responses of students and educators, the searching segment could expand to include features such as notifications, tagging, location services, search functionality, hand up, likes, and comments for enhanced distance learning or online learning.

#### 4.2.1. Notification

Post alerts directly from the platform as a friendly reminder to students and instructors enrolled in scheduled classes. To join the online class, simply click on the pop-up notification.

#### 4.2.2. Tagging

The tag feature enables students or lecturers to rapidly disseminate knowledge and pertinent learning topics. Tag dependency is a classroom benefit to increase student interest in mutual learning keyword topics.

#### 4.2.3. Location Services

Enable shared locations, which could be an excellent way for instructors to monitor their students' conditions.

#### 4.2.4. Search Functionally

A search feature is a design element that allows students to easily access content by inputting specific keywords or phrases.

#### 4.2.5. Hand Up

The handheld function permits students to pose questions or request anything from an instructor or a friend.

#### 4.2.6. Likes and Comments

The ability to like and comment in live chat as a contact source specification for individual posts in order to enhance individual participation and feedback in the learning process.

#### 4.2.7. Hashtag

The inclusion of the symbol "#" in a post with the intent of outlining shared knowledge topics and facilitating the search for information by keywords asserts knowledge sharing.

These search features contribute to the value of knowledge in online education, such as the 'like' button, which measures the majority of students' consent and opinions. The comments feature enables user discussions, thereby promoting the dissemination of new information. The tag and hashtag features are the most recent means of facilitating communication between users. The capability of instant tagging is useful for alerting other users to important information or activities, so they do not miss out.

#### *4.3. Networking Tools*

Concerning student engagement and immersion, it is essential to use networking tools such as quiz boards to maximise online classroom interactivity. The quiz board is a multiple-choice knowledge evaluation game that can be played in real time. In addition, quiz boards can be used for formative assessments, such as voting and student opinion

polls. In an educational platform, badge rewards are essential for student motivation. These badges may be rewarded with stickers, GIF emoticons, or emojis. This is another simple method for promoting positive attitudes among online learners. Transparency and the speed of the live chat tool, audio, and video are essential in online classrooms for maintaining positive emotions and attitudes among students and instructors, and for continuing the teaching and learning process. Cultural differences can lead to varying interpretations of the use of particular sentences and terms; therefore, automatic translation is advantageous for international students, allowing them to communicate effectively and comprehend learning themes more thoroughly. The subtitling capabilities of an automatic translation tool enhances learning, assignments, and conversations.

The pandemic in Malaysia requires the integration of e-wallets into the platform. The e-wallet system allows students to manage their finances and quickly reload their phone data. Long-term, the e-wallet on the platform enables students, particularly those at a distance, to make cashless and secure payments. Help services are a component of a networking tool intended to serve as a resource and aid for students. The aid service is responsible for providing IT support for platform-related technical issues, as well as troubleshooting and institution-related services.

#### *4.4. Organizing Tools*

Support services for students and instructors are systematically organised. In accordance with the recommendations of Pireva et al. [15], the standard of e-learning platforms should be enhanced in terms of student control over the screen interface, in order to increase student interaction and motivation by optimising the use of allocated features. The availability of digital whiteboards improves the responsiveness of online learning and facilitates the presentation by lecturers and students in classes, especially in tutorial classes and practical training, such as art classes, digital art classes, and courses involving skill acquisition. Digital whiteboards promote mutual comprehension by facilitating collaboration, idea development, and editing between students and instructors. Group rooms facilitate small-group interactions among students, making it easier for instructors to supervise and monitor student tasks, particularly group assignments and group projects. The group room also serves as a waiting area where students can engage in preliminary preparations and conversations prior to presenting their assignments or displaying their work.

The interface settings allow students to customise the layout of the display to their preference. By allowing users to select screen style, screen colour, display size, text size, font style, background blurring, and screen effects, interface options can emphasise student comfort and confidentiality.

Changing educators' reliance on recording online classes on e-learning platforms allows students in the classroom to create the most effective remote learning environment possible. The ability for anyone to take recordings increases the visibility of instructional content for all users, and the recorded content can be distributed instantly to the chat room of the platform.

Adding new tools such as schedule plans facilitates time and schedule management for instructors and students. Announcements and reminders regarding class sessions, events, and discussions can be scheduled by instructors. The schedule plan serves as an alert system for the public. Schedules allow instructors to be informed of invitations to instruct, reviews of student work, the return of formative assessment, and grade reports. The schedule plan aids students in submitting assignments, exam dates, and daily agenda reminders on time.

The intent of management tools is to help lecturers and students optimise the flow of lessons. The access button enables the instructor to designate the group leader, presenter, and accessor. In chat messages, attendees can include the status of a class post. Accessors can regulate who can join their sessions. Not only instructors, but also students, can record and send recordings automatically in chats. Each student has the ability to mute a classmate's microphone using a simple "mute" button. Students could invite their friends

to enrol in the class via a notification menu. Using the "role swap" option, both educators and students can share screens for discussions using the "share" function. The monitoring setting is a distinguishing feature that makes the job of online educators easier. Using the monitoring setting tool, lecturers have greater control over the management of their teaching courses by configuring reminders for class times, replacement classes, assignment submission schedules, late assignment submissions, re-submissions of student assignments, and additional class events. Activating reminder alerts enables lecturers to ensure that all students can effectively follow online classes.

#### **5. Conclusions**

To overcome this obstacle, the instructional feature framework of this built-in eplatform aims to upgrade and provide more social features in the interface to enhance online learning in accordance with current social platform image trends. By optimising the necessary tools, it improves the platform requirements that meet the needs of local students and expands the advantages of functionalization in online learning. The framework also aims to bridge the gap between learning outcomes and the implications of online learning tools by developing ideal practises for the formation of a variety of effective learning methods.

This feature design framework is intended to provide educators, designers, developers, researchers, and organisations with recommendations for developing a more beneficial and effective online learning platform. It is hoped that future research will be expanded by testing the design framework of instructional features of this e-platform in order to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of each of the features in the implementation function of online learning, and to develop a more knowledgeable iteration model in instructional design to provide advantageous instruction. Through the study of the structure of learning, technology becomes a critical part in the creation of innovative and high-tech online classroom instruction.

**Funding:** This research was funded by SKIM DANA KHAS, grant number SDK0284-2020 and the APC was funded by Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** Sincere gratitude is extended to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), both of which encouraged and supported this study as part of a Grant Project research endeavour. In addition, many thanks to all organisations for their great assistance, and to the reviewer for their thoughtful comments.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Major Selection Tendency among Creative Arts Students, Academy of Arts and Creative Technology, UMS †**

**Victor Pangayan**

Academy of Arts and Creative Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88450, Malaysia; victorpangayan@ums.edu.my

† Presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022, Kota Bharu, Malaysia, 3 July 2022.

**Abstract:** Both teachers and students are concerned about choosing majors. The gap between initial student expectations and external circumstances might lead to inferior academic performance and higher dropout rates. The purpose of this study was to determine the majors chosen by university freshmen and the factors that influenced their selection of creative arts majors. They filled out surveys about ASTiF's Creative Arts majors. Results show that desire, family, lecturer, and course difficulty influence student major selection. According to the survey, students have their own perceptions of majors before pursuing these specialisations. Academic accomplishment, personal and social growth, and retention must be outlined in advance. Better preparation and communication between teachers, students, and parents are needed to identify more appropriate majors for each student. Universities could perhaps offer courses geared toward the aspects of academic choices, attitudes, and social skills. This should be a process, not an event, and should include peer-mentoring and staff—student engagement to choose an ASTiF Creative Arts major.

**Keywords:** creative arts; higher education; student perceptions

**Citation:** Pangayan, V. Major Selection Tendency among Creative Arts Students, Academy of Arts and Creative Technology, UMS. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 26. https:// doi.org/10.3390/proceedings 2022082026

Academic Editors: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 13 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

The Academy of Arts and Creative Technology (ASTiF) is a new faculty of Universiti Malaysia Sabah created in 2021 [1]. ASTiF was founded in accordance with the reorganisation of the Social Sciences and Arts cluster, which had been united under the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Heritage since its establishment in 2014 [2]. The existence of ASTiF implicitly recalls the existence of the School of Arts (*Sekolah Pengajian Seni*), a former body at Universiti Malaysia Sabah that offered arts-focused study programmes such as the Creative Arts Programme, the Music Arts Programme, and the Visual Arts Technology Programme [3]. Compared to the School of Arts, ASTiF is an academy that concentrates on subjects attributed with the creative sector by offering three main programmes, namely the Creative Arts Programme, the Music Arts Programme, and the Visual Arts Technology Programme, as well as a forthcoming programme, the Cinematography Programme. Creative Arts is one of these programmes that frequently has an imbalance of students between the various majors. This makes the programme so unique that it merits thorough observation.

#### **2. Creative Arts Programme**

The Creative Arts Programme (UH2162002) is a programme that channels the specialisation of students into three branches: dance, theatre, and writing. This three-year, six-semester programme awards a Bachelor of Arts with Honours upon completion (Creative Arts). This programme offers both theoretical and practical courses, including Dance Art Analysis, Art Criticism, and Comparative Art Analysis, as well as Dance Art Fundamentals, Acting Fundamentals, Direction, Composition, and Choreography, New Media Writing, and Short Story Writing, and others [4]. However, the distribution of students according to their chosen major is unequal and follows a consistent percentage trend year

after year. This percentage is displayed in Table 1, which depicts the number of students per strip from 2019 to 2021.


**Table 1.** Number of Creative Arts Students Based on Specialisation/Strip from 2019 to 2021.

Based on the distribution of students indicated in Table 1, we can conclude that, on average, only 14 percent of students opted to concentrate on the dance strip, 29 percent chose the theatre segment, and the remaining students chose the writing segment. This has increased the significance of the study examining the primary selection parameters used by students in the Creative Arts. This study's objective was to assess the factors that influence students' choices in dance, theatre, and writing. Understanding students' attitudes, trends, and interests is crucial, especially for guiding and assisting students to define their talents at the beginning of the semester and choosing a field that matches their abilities, which is essential for their success in their professional careers.

#### **3. Research Methodology**

The purpose of this study was to evaluate student major selection by requesting responses to six essential factors that may influence their major choice. Using a random selection technique to obtain a sample, this study remained only focused on Year 1 Creative Arts Program students. This study was conducted between December 2020 and February 2021. Using Google Forms, questionnaires were distributed. Each respondent was given a questionnaire containing a total of 24 items. The level of respondents' agreement was measured using a Likert scale, with 1 representing "strongly disagree" and 5 representing "strongly agree." According to this study's findings, a total of 78 valid questionnaires were collected.

The first section evaluates respondents' feedback on preference tendency factors, the second section measures the influence of respondents' friends and family on major selection, the third section focuses on aspects of impact from lecturers and mentors, the fourth section focuses on the effect of course difficulty level, the fifth section assesses curriculum factors, and the final section focuses on career factors on student major selection. All obtained data will be evaluated using statistical packages for social science programmes (SPSS), with frequency analysis and percentage analysis serving as the fundamental analyses.

#### **4. Results**

#### *4.1. Student Demographics*

According to the number of students who responded to this survey, 59 (75.6%) are female students and 19 (24.4%) are male students. Sabah accounted for 82.1% of the students, followed by Peninsular Malaysia with 10.2% and Sarawak with 7.7%. A total of 65.4% (51 individuals) of students are from rural areas, while 34.6% (27 individuals) are from urban areas. This indirectly indicates that the majority of student households belong to the low-income B40 category, which is documented at 70.5%. (55 individuals). In terms of student entrance routes to the Creative Arts Program, the UPU offer, which registered 64 students, accounts for the majority of students. Meanwhile, 14 more individuals have passed through the appeals process. However, no student recruitment through talent has been documented as yet. This is evident from Table 2, which displays the proportion of students' personal information.



When asked about their selection within the Creative Arts Program, the majority of students (60.3%, or 47 individuals) chose writing. A total of 22 students, 28.2%, chose theatre, , while 9 students, 11.5%, chose dance . Again, this percentage implies an inconsistent selection pattern for specialisations. This is shown in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** Student Choice Specialisation.

#### *4.2. Tendencies and Preferences*

Students in the Creative Arts Program base their choice of specialisation firstly on their own inclinations or interests, uninfluenced by any third party. This is the factor that academics are most interested in observing, as it has the most influence on students' choice of academic direction [5]. To examine this factor, three questions have been outlined in order to precisely determine the tendencies of students. On the first question regarding their level of interest in their chosen major, 70.5% responded "strongly agree," while 25.6% responded "agree" and 3.8% responded "quite agree." Regarding the second question, which inquired about the target major they had chosen since the beginning of the course, 62.8% of the students responded "strongly agree," 25.6% responded "agree," and 11.5% responded "quite agree." The same answer was also displayed on the answer scale for question three, which examined the relationship between students' major selection and their ambitions, with a score of 60.3% "strongly agree", 32.1% "agree", and 7.7% "quite agree". On the basis of the percentage of students' responses, it can be concluded that the majority of Creative Arts Program students are very clear and confident in their personal decisions. This is clearly displayed in Table 3.


**Table 3.** Tendencies and Preferences.

#### *4.3. Influence of Society and Media*

Peer and family influence is also one of the variables that influences students' decisions and choices regarding their academic choices [6]. "Strongly agree" was selected by 26.9% on social media, followed by "agree" with 35.9%, "quite agree" with 33.3%, "disagree" with 3.8 percent, and "strongly disagree" with no responses. The influence of family members resulted in the second highest percentage for "strongly agree" with 25.6%, followed by 23.1% for "agree", 26.9% for "quite agree", 15.4% for "disagree", and 9% for "strongly disagree". Peer influence resulted in the lowest percentages of "strongly agree" with a score of 3.8%, "agree" with a level of 6.4%, "quite agree" with a score of 26.9%, "disagree" with a score of 15.4%, and "strongly disagree" with a score of 28.2%. This is evident from Table 4, which provides percentage breakdowns for each question in this section. Through the total percentages shown in Table 4, it is clear that major selection among Creative Arts students is not influenced by their peers, but more by the influence of social media as well as their family members.


**Table 4.** Influence of Society and Media.

#### *4.4. Influence of Mentor/Lecturer*

As shown in Table 5, the third factor employed as a measurement in this survey is the influence of mentors or programme lecturers. This is significant because students are more inclined to select their fields of study based on their idols [5]. Five questions are outlined for measuring the influential factors of mentors or lecturers, and the highest percentage indicates that mentors or lecturers are the primary source of information for students to explain the objectives, content, and assessment methods in the academic programme they will take. A total of 62.8% of students selected "strongly agree", 30.8% selected "agree", 6.4% selected "quite agree", and no student selected "disagree". In addition, 60.3% of students selected "strongly agree" (60.3%), 35.9% selected "agree" and 3.8% selected "quite agree" regarding the influence of mentors and lecturers in guiding students decisions. Further, none disagreed. By omitting the percentages for "disagree" and "strongly disagree," the distribution of student responses in Table 5 reveals that the vast majority of items were answered positively by students.


**Table 5.** Influence of Mentor/Lecturer.

#### *4.5. Course Intensity*

In addition to the three previously discussed factors, there is a fourth factor that must be considered: the level of difficulty of the Creative Arts Program courses. This is accomplished by outlining the three questions listed in Table 6. Approximately 56.4% responded they "strongly agree" in response to the second of the three questions answered. The response rate for the third question was 50.0%, while the response rate for the first question was 44.9%. On the "quite agree" scale, the percentages for the three questions were comparable, with the first question garnering the greatest percentage (15.4%), followed by the third question (10.3%), and the second question (5.1%). Only the third question on the "disagree" scale recorded a percentage of 1.3%, while the other two questions did not record a percentage figure. The same holds true for the "strongly disagree" scale, which had no graphical representation percentages for the next three items. Table 6 makes this explicitly clear.

**Table 6.** Creative Arts Program Course Intensity.


#### *4.6. Curriculum Factors*

Through this poll, it was also found that curriculum factors in a programme had a significant impact on students' decisions regarding their specialisation or major. Table 7 indicates that, as a whole, all 78 students agreed that curriculum variables play a major role in the selection of their profession and major. This is shown by the average percentage score of 56.4% for the "strongly agree" scale across the five question segments. According to Table 7, just 1.3% of respondents who responded negatively to the first question indicated disagreement. Based on the responses to these five questions, the tutor support and assistance factor received the highest percentage (62.8%), followed by the effective learning module delivery factor (61.5%), the description method at the beginning of the course (57.7%), and the flexibility in teaching delivery for selected majors (48.0%). This is clearly illustrated in Table 7 below.

**Table 7.** Curriculum Factors.


#### *4.7. Career Factors*

The final factor identified in this research is the career factor, which should be evaluated while choosing a particular major [7]. This is evident by the fact that the overall average percentage of student responses for this career category was 83.3%. In order to measure this aspect, it is divided into three questions, the first of which is a combination of the percentage scales of "strongly agree" and "agree" (89.7%). While the second impact reported 83.3% (strongly agree + agree) who considered career security in major options and 76.9% (strongly agree + agree) on the relationship between the application of IR 4.0 and major options. This conclusively shows that students agree that their choice of major is influenced by criteria related to their future employment.

#### **5. Conclusions**

According to the findings of this study, four factors—inclination, family, lecturer, and course difficulty—play a crucial influence in the primary selection of UH2612002 students majoring in creative arts at the Academy of Arts and Creative Technology (ASTiF). The statistics presented in Tables 4–8 provide clear evidence for this conclusion, as can be seen above. The difficulty of the course that will be studied comes in second with a record of 89.33%, followed by the influence of mentors and lecturers with a percentage of 85.12%, and a career factor with a record of 83.3%. Among the factors that have a big impact on student major selection is the co-curricular factor of the course—the content of the course that will be taken by students. The influence of this factor was rated as 93.32%. This alone is sufficient evidence to show that each of the three majors or specialised paths presents a compelling variety of co-curriculum and various complexity levels, as determined by the viewpoints of the students. This highest percentage may also be influenced by the backgrounds of undergraduates in creative arts, the majority of whom have a Malaysian Higher Certificate of Education (Malaysia Higher Certificate of Education) (STPM).


**Table 8.** Career Factors.

Moreover, significant alternatives have direct ties to the teaching and learning (T&L) of existing courses. Particularly, well-structured classes will offer favourable outcomes for students' decision making. It is noticeable that a learning module that prioritises concept development that facilitates students' learning skills, flexibility, conceptual knowledge, and skill is chosen by students. Regarding curriculum aspects, leadership (stakeholders) has a crucial role in the enhancement of current majors through various approaches. The dean employs leadership to support a number of initiatives implemented by lecturers to enhance the quality of classroom instruction. In addition, programmes of study can ensure that information, techniques, and resources positively impact the educational environment of students, thereby influencing their major choices. This study's findings recommend a greater emphasis on the pleasant interaction between teachers and parents of students in order to comprehend students' learning experiences and, consequently, the selection of acceptable major subjects. In addition, the preparation of workshops for future careers will also encourage students to strive and show good performance in the faculty.

**Funding:** This research was funded by SKIM DANA KHAS, and the APC was funded by SDK0284- 2020 Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The data reported in this research are obtainable from the corresponding author upon request.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in this study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** A huge thank you is extended to the students from the Universiti Malaysia Sabah who took part in the online survey for this research. Due to their receptivity, this study was able to obtain the necessary data for conducting this research. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) for their encouragement and support for this project.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Students' Attitudes and Behavior towards Academic Dishonesty during Online Learning †**

**Amirun Hasri, Rafidah Supar \*, Nurul Dizyana Nor Azman, Hairenanorashikin Sharip and Lyana Shahirah Mohamad Yamin**

Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Bandar Puncak Alam 42300, Malaysia


**Abstract:** Online learning has been an integral part of the educational process in universities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the popularity of online learning, concerns exist over their level of academic integrity. The aim of this study is to investigate students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning. In total, 319 undergraduate health sciences students at a public university took part in the survey. The online self-administered questionnaire was distributed through a social media platform. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.0. Majority of the respondents perceived the indicated behavior as serious cheating. However, most respondents (86.2%) self-report that they have engaged in academically dishonest behaviour at least once for the past one year. Furthermore, approximately 77% (n = 246) of respondent has witnessed act of academic dishonesty among their friends for the past one year. Spearman correlation test revealed no association between students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning. The result of this study, in summary, is that students perceive the indicated behaviors as serious cheating and have engaged in academically dishonest behaviors less frequently.

**Keywords:** academic dishonesty; academic integrity; attitude and behavior

#### **1. Introduction**

Academic integrity is an integral part of education that should be upheld by every member of an academic community to instill a good learning environment, allowing success and growth. Within tertiary education, acts of academic dishonesty are often used as a measure of lacking academic integrity. Academic dishonesty among students can be defined as academic behavior that does not conform with the university's policies, whereby the students perform acts of dishonesty to gain unjustified advantage in their assessment [1]. In addition, academic dishonesty is also defined as behavior such as plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, violating examination's rules, cheating during examination and attending an exam in place of another individual [2–4].

Academic dishonesty is not a new phenomenon, as it has been a long-standing challenge, existing since the beginning of traditional learning. Various studies have reported the occurrence of academic dishonesty, indicating that it can occur in various events such as academic assignments, tests or final examinations [5]. It was reported that 75% of students had engaged in one form or another of academic dishonesty [6]. Additionally, it was reported that the prevalence of academic dishonesty among students in medical school ranges from 0% to 58% [7]. Similarly, it was found that about 20% of medical and health sciences students cheated at least once during their undergraduate studies [8]. In recent years, the prevalence of students that self-report on acts of academic dishonesty has increased tremendously, especially in regards to cheating during tests [9,10].

With the advancement of technology, many institutions have shifted from traditional on-campus education to hybrid (online and face-to-face) or entirely online. Online learning

**Citation:** Hasri, A.; Supar, R.; Azman, N.D.N.; Sharip, H.; Yamin, L.S.M. Students' Attitudes and Behavior towards Academic Dishonesty during Online Learning. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 36. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/proceedings2022082036

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 13 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

has become more prominent especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, in that most universities have shifted to online learning to ensure continuation of the learning process. In spite of its great advantages, online learning has further raised concern, particularly regarding new methods of academic dishonesty. One study found that the majority of students believe that cheating is easier in online learning as compared to traditional learning [11].

To effectively address academic dishonesty, understanding of various factors such as the cause of engaging in such activity is needed. Students' perceptions of what are acceptable and unacceptable acts related to dishonest practices might affect their behaviors [12].

Therefore, to further understand academic dishonesty among health sciences students, this study aimed to examine students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty.

#### **2. Methods**

#### *2.1. Study Design and Data Collection*

This cross-sectional survey study was conducted among undergraduate health sciences students at a public university. A total of 319 respondents were recruited in this study by using convenience sampling. The questionnaire was distributed online. Respondents were assured of the data confidentiality and their participation were kept anonymous.

#### *2.2. Instrument*

This survey study used self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of 75 questions that was adapted from previous studies [13,14]. The questionnaire included three sections. Section A consisted of demographic information. Section B was used to identify students' attitude towards academic dishonesty. It consisted of 23 questions, which asked the respondents to identify how serious they believe each of the behaviors to be by using a scale of "Not Cheating", "Trivial Cheating", "Moderate Cheating" and "Serious Cheating". Section C was used to identify students' behaviors towards academic dishonesty. It consisted of 23 questions, which asked the respondents to indicate how often within the past year they (own self) and their friends (friends/classmates) had engaged in a set of behaviors.

#### *2.3. Scoring of Instrument's Items*

The responses to Section B and C were scored individually per respondent. For Section B, the responses were scored as 1 (Not Cheating), 2 (Trivial Cheating), 3 (Moderate Cheating) and 4 (Serious Cheating). An average score for each respondent was calculated with a value ranging from 1 to 4. Lower average value suggested that the respondent does not perceive the indicated behaviors as cheating, whereas higher average value indicated that the respondent perceived the behaviors as serious cheating. For Section C, responses were scored as 1 for "I never did it", scored 2 for "I've done it once" and scored 3 for "I have done it more than once". Responses of "Not Relevant" were scored as zero (0). An average score for each respondent was calculated with a value ranging from 1 to 3. Higher average value suggested that the students had engaged in academically dishonest behaviors more frequently.

#### *2.4. Reliability*

A total of 30 students were recruited in a pilot study for questionnaire reliability testing. Reliability test was conducted using test–retest reliability method. Cohen's kappa coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire using SPSS, and it yielded a value of 0.917, which reflected a substantial agreement of reliability.

#### *2.5. Statistical Analysis*

Both descriptive and inferential data analysis were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 25.0, Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp, with a value of *p* < 0.05 being considered statistically significant. Normality test was performed, which showed

not-normally distributed data. Hence, Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis and Spearman's correlation tests were performed for data analysis.

#### **3. Results**

#### *3.1. Demographic of Study Population*

A total of 260 (81.5%) female and 59 (18.5%) male students participated in this study. The age of the respondents ranges from 19 to 26 years old, with 69% (N = 220) of the respondents being bachelor's degree students. A higher number of semester two students participated (N = 87, 27.3%), while semester six students recorded the least participation (N = 60, 19.1%). According to the findings, the majority of the respondents have CGPA of '3.01 to 3.50' (N = 167, 52.4%) whereas only 2 (0.6%) respondents are from those with CGPA of '2.00 to 2.50'.

#### *3.2. Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty*

A majority of respondent (86.2%, n = 264) self-report that they have committed academic dishonesty behaviour at least once for the past one year. Furthermore, study revealed that about 89.8% (n = 53) male students self-report that they've performed academic misconduct at least once for the past one year; which is higher than female students (85.4%, n = 260). In addition, approximately 77.1% (n = 246) of respondent has witnessed act of academic dishonesty among their friends at least once for the past one year.

#### *3.3. Student's Attitude and Behaviour towards Academic Dishonesty*

Table 1 reveals the scores for students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty. For attitude, this study found a higher average mean score, which means that the respondent perceives the indicated behaviors as serious cheating. In addition, for behavior of own self and friends, a lower mean score shows that the students and their friends have engaged in academically dishonest behaviors less frequently.


**Table 1.** Students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty.

#### *3.4. Association of Demographic Factors and Student's Attitude and Behaviour towards Academic Dishonesty*

In addition, Table 2 shows that the score for attitude towards academic dishonesty during online learning for female students (3.22) is higher compared to male students (2.96), whereas the scores for behavior toward academic dishonesty are higher among male students. These scores show that female students perceived the indicated behavior more seriously whereas male students engaged in dishonest behavior more frequently compared to female. A Mann–Whitney test was conducted, and it was found that there is no association between gender and attitude towards academic dishonesty. However, it was found that there is an association between gender and behavior towards academic dishonesty (*p* value < 0.01).

**Table 2.** Association between gender and students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty.


<sup>a</sup> Mann–Whitney test. \* Statistically significant, *p* < 0.01.

Furthermore, it was found that the scores of students' attitudes toward academic dishonesty are highest among students aged 'more than 25 years old' (Table 3). These scores show that older students perceived the indicated behavior more seriously but had engaged in academic dishonesty more frequently. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted and reported no association between age and attitude toward academic dishonesty. However, there is an association between age and behaviors toward academic dishonesty (*p*-value < 0.01).


**Table 3.** Association between age and students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning.

<sup>b</sup> Kruskal–Wallis test. \* Statistically significant, *p* < 0.01.

Table 4 shows that the scores of students' attitudes and behavior toward academic dishonesty are the highest among students in semester 4 and 8 respectively. These scores show that second year students perceived the indicated behavior more seriously whereas final year students had engaged in academic dishonesty more frequently compared to others. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted and showed no association between year of study and attitude towards academic dishonesty. Nevertheless, there is an association between year of study and behavior towards academic dishonesty (*p*-value < 0.01).

**Table 4.** Results for students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning among respondents in association with semester.


<sup>b</sup> Kruskal–Wallis test. \* Statistically significant, *p* < 0.01.

In addition, Table 5 shows that the scores for students' attitudes towards academic dishonesty during online learning are higher among students with CGPA of '2.00–2.50' as compared to others. On the other hand, for behavior of own self towards academic dishonesty, students with CGPA of '3.51 to 4.00' recorded higher scores compared to others. These scores show that students with lower CGPA perceived the indicated behavior more seriously and had engaged in academic dishonesty less frequently. A Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted, which showed that there is an association between CGPA and attitude towards academic dishonesty (*p*-value < 0.05). However, there is no association between CGPA and behavior towards academic dishonesty.


**Table 5.** Results for students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning in association with CGPA.

<sup>b</sup> Kruskal–Wallis test. \* Statistically significant, *p* < 0.05.

#### *3.5. Association between Student's Attitude and Behaviour towards Academic Dishonesty*

Spearman's correlation test was conducted to determine association between students' attitudes and behavior of own self towards academic dishonesty. However, it was found that there is no association between students' attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty, as shown in Table 6.

**Table 6.** Results of association between students' attitudes and behavior (own self) towards academic dishonesty during online learning.


Spearman's rho.

#### **4. Discussion**

The results of this study reflect a positive attitude of health sciences students towards academic dishonesty during online learning amid COVID-19 pandemic. Higher average scores show that the respondents perceived the indicated behaviors as serious cheating. Respondent perceived cheating behaviours such as turning in work done by someone else, copying from other students during test; and copying other student's homework to be a serious cheating behaviour. This finding is in agreement with previous studies [15,16]. However, despite their positive perception, a majority (86.2%) of the respondents reported that they have engaged in cheating behaviour at least once for the past one year. In other words, despite the fact that students perceive academic dishonesty as serious problem and unethical, they couldn't dissuade from doing it. Various researches have reported cheating behaviours among medical and health sciences student [7,8,13]. Besides, 77% of students reported that they witnessed their friends engaged in academically dishonest behaviour. This is in line with previous study who reported that students cheat because they believe their friends do the same [17]. Additionally, they discover that their fellow friends engage in cheating behaviour more frequently than they do, which is viewed as "a justification for their behaviour" [18].

In addition, it is found that female students have higher scores of attitudes as compared to male students. However, statistically, the results of this study indicate that gender does not influence students' attitudes towards online learning. This is in contrast with study that reported significant difference in male and female students with female students perceive academic cheating behaviours as more serious [15]. The irony in this situation is that, despite the fact that most indicated behaviours were perceive by female students as serious, the study revealed that they got engaged in dishonest behaviour (85%) similar like male student. Although the scores on behaviour is low for both male and female respondents (less frequent of engaging in dishonest behaviour), male respondent reported to engage more frequently in dishonest behaviour compared to female respondent. This is similar with previous study which found that male students were more likely to believe a cheating culture is more prevalent [13]. Besides, it is found that there is an association between gender and cheating behaviour. This is in contrast with various studies whereby most researchers have found that gender does not have a significant impact on a student's decision to engage in acts of academic dishonesty [8,14,19]. The possible cause of outcome variation may be the difference in the number of male and female students in this research compared to other studies.

This study also shows that there's no statistically significant difference in student's attitudes towards academic dishonesty based on study level. However, it was found that their study level might have impact on the likelihood of engaging in the academically dishonest behaviour, with final year students engaged more frequently compared to other students. Previous studies stated that student's focus on academic is likely to diminish as they get older, which may affect how they perceive academic dishonesty and how likely they are to do it [14,19]. Furthermore, this study found that CGPA may have impact on the attitude but not likelihood of academic dishonesty. Interestingly, students with lower CGPA (2.00 to 2.50) perceive the indicated behaviour as serious cheating compared to higher achievers. This is in contrast with previous literature [16,19]. Besides, this study shows that students with CGPA of "3.51 to 4.00" engaged in dishonest act more frequently compared to other students. This result also suggests that as a student's cumulative GPA increases, their self-reported cheating behavior increased. This might be due to the fact that these students might feel the need to maintain their academic performance or for scholarship purposes. However, this is contradicted with study that suggested as student's CGPA increases, their self-reported cheating behaviour decreased [14,20]. The possible cause of outcome variation may be the difference in the number of respondents among lower and higher achievers in this research compared to other studies.

In addition, this study found that there is no association between students' attitude and behaviour towards academic dishonesty. It suggested that though students perceive the indicated behaviours as serious dishonesty act, it does not have an impact on their self-reported behaviour. In contrast, previous studies reported significant correlation between students' attitudes towards academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviours [14,21]. The absence of significant results in relation to individual components of sociodemographic data suggests that additional study into other possible elements, such as moral growth and institutional culture, that influence students' attitudes and behaviors is required.

This study presented some limitations. First, since students were asked to recollect actions that may have been conducted or observed for the past one year, recall bias may have affected the data. Besides, the data are relied on self-reports, which could make them vulnerable to social response bias due to sensitive subject matter. However, it was mitigated because the researcher guaranteed complete anonymity and stressing the importance of honest responses to the questions. Despite the limitation, this study has provided some insight into how university students perceived and act with regards to academic dishonesty.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Finally, this study revealed students' attitudes and behavior regarding academic dishonesty during online learning. The researcher achieved the overall goal of this study, which was to evaluate students' attitudes and behavior regarding academic dishonesty during online learning. Furthermore, the particular aim of determining the relationship between sociodemographic data and attitudes and behavior towards academic dishonesty during online learning has been effectively achieved.

A descriptive statistic has been administered to define the frequency of students' attitudes and behavior. Hence, it is helpful to determine the total students who experienced different attitudes and behavior based on this study. The analysis revealed that there is no association regarding both attitudes and behavior.

Lastly, the results of this study are, in summary, that the majority of students perceived the indicated behaviors as serious cheating and have engaged in academically dishonest behaviors less frequently. Serious attention and effective mechanism should be continuously implemented and monitored to ensure quality education as cheating can give unfair advantage to the cheater and it may falsify data about what students have truly learned.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.H., R.S. and N.D.N.A.; methodology, A.H., R.S. and H.S.; formal analysis, A.H., R.S. and L.S.M.Y.; investigation, A.H.; resources, R.S.; data curation, R.S.; writing—original draft preparation, A.H.; writing—review and editing, R.S.; supervision, R.S.; project administration, R.S. and N.D.N.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the UiTM Research Ethics Committee (REC/12/2021 (UG/MR/995, 14/12/2021).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


21. McCabe, D.L.; Trevino, L.K. Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. *J. High. Educ.* **1993**, *64*, 522–538. [CrossRef]

### *Proceeding Paper* **High School Students' Motivation Needs and Their Intentions to Pursue Tertiary Education †**

**Mazlina Mahdzar 1,\*, Aini Jaapar <sup>2</sup> and Wan Zuraida Wan Mohd Zain <sup>3</sup>**


**Abstract:** The study investigated the motivational needs of secondary school students and their intentions to pursue higher education. The descriptive survey method was utilised. This study's sample was comprised of 137 students in grades four and five in secondary schools in Langkawi Island, Malaysia. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised. The results indicated that these students have high educational aspirations concerning physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-improvement needs. The survey also revealed that the need for self-improvement influences the educational ambitions of students pursuing tertiary education. Other motivational elements, including physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, and self-esteem needs, have no statistically significant relationship with students' plans to pursue postsecondary education.

**Keywords:** motivation needs; secondary school students; tertiary education

**Citation:** Mahdzar, M.; Jaapar, A.; Zain, W.Z.W.M. High School Students' Motivation Needs and Their Intentions to Pursue Tertiary Education. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082037

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 13 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

In Malaysia, it is exceedingly difficult for a student to acquire admission to postsecondary education, particularly in public higher education institutions. The dilemma arises because the current tertiary education options are insufficiently able to meet societal demands and the country's expanding needs [1]. Furthermore, studies on access to higher education institutions are critical in assisting underprivileged students in improving their academic performance and social position. Secondary school students must be encouraged to aspire to higher levels of study and advancement.

Motivation is the engine that drives achievement. Students perform their best academically when they are motivated. According to [2], motivation reinforces and sustains classroom activities. Motivation is viewed as satisfying human wants or demands in order to attain individual primary objectives or organisational objectives [3]. Motivation stimulates, activates, and propels conduct [4]. Students' motivational demands are those things that they require in order to exert greater effort in their academic work. They may have physical, emotional, social, or material needs, among others. Motivation can be internal (intrinsic) or external (extrinsic). Intrinsic motivation refers to all components of motivation that might boost students' self-determination to see the need to thrive in their academic pursuits. According to [5], intrinsic motivation places control in the hands of the individual who controls learning based on his or her own preferences. A learner who is intrinsically driven maintains a quality of academic endeavour because his or her motivation for success originates from within. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from external sources. It takes external variables to provide such incentive. External variables that are required for extrinsic motivation include the students' teachers, parents, families' peers, and counsellors. Extrinsic motivation might come in the form of prizes, tokens, or money. Motivation enables pupils to push themselves in order to earn high grades [6]. Studies have indicated, for instance, that students from poor socioeconomic status households have low aspirations to continue their education [7,8]. They are therefore at risk of dropping out of higher education institutions.

A higher education institution (HLI) is primarily responsible for educating students according to specific prerequisites at a higher level, with an emphasis on practical and technical skill sets [9]. Education is a tool for reforming a country's economy, raising people's living standards, and reducing poverty issues [10]. Previous research has demonstrated that students are motivated and choose to enrol in universities because of a promising future profession [11,12]. In addition, research indicates that education helps students improve or requalify themselves as their future living circumstances change [7,13–16].

The theory focuses mostly on motivation. The study's central topic is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. According to the theory [17], individuals attempt to meet their wants in accordance with the hierarchy of those requirements. Needs are met in accordance with their relative importance. He ordered these requirements from lowest to highest priority. The order is as follows: physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization wants. Maslow stated that these requirements determine an individual's conduct, since behaviour stems from an individual's efforts to satisfy their needs. According to this idea, physiological needs relate to insufficiencies and necessities, while higher-order needs relate to human growth. The physiological demands include food, water, sleep, and sex. Safety needs relate to protection from physical and mental threats, as well as security of life, property, and employment. The purposes of the needs for belonging and love are to be accepted by others, to be liked, to enjoy a social circle of friendship, and to belong to a group. Respect is linked to self-esteem, accomplishment, position, and acknowledgment. Self-actualization demands relate to an individual's creativity, potential, and talent utilisation. Maslow recognised that these wants cannot be totally satisfied, and that when they are, they cease to inspire the individual.

Maslow's hierarchy of requirements postulated that individuals have needs and that these needs are structured in a hierarchy, beginning with the most basic or physiological needs which no one can live without. Such needs include food and shelter, among others. When the physiological needs are met, other needs, such as the need for safety, belonging, love, self-esteem, and self-actualization, will be satisfied. These needs must be addressed in order for students to be motivated to study; however, if these needs are not met, students will not be driven to learn. If these demands are addressed, however, they will move towards self-actualization. Therefore, students must be provided with an environment that encourages them to excel in their studies, thereby fostering their self-actualization.

Academic achievement [18], college experience [19], and demographic traits have been the subject of a number of earlier studies focusing on students [8,20]. Numerous studies on academic achievement, college experience, and demographic features of secondary school students have been conducted in western nations. Unfortunately, fewer studies have been undertaken, particularly in developing nations, on the motivations or variables that drive secondary school students, particularly those from rural areas, to enrol in higher education institutions. Based on Maslow's theory of the hierarchy of needs, the purpose of this study was to determine the motivation level of secondary school students in terms of their physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs, and to examine the ranking of their needs. This study also was conducted to examine the relationship between the influencing factors of secondary students' intentions to study at a higher education institution.

#### **2. Material and Methods**

Secondary school students in Malaysia comprised the population of this study, with its sampling frame comprising of students of two secondary schools in Langkawi. They include Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pulau Tuba, which is a school in a rural island, and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Putra, Langkawi. Langkawi schools were selected because they are part of the requirements for the research grant obtained for the research to be conducted in Langkawi and the sample is believed to represent the population. The Pejabat Program Pra Pendidikan Tinggi, Universiti Teknologi MARA collected data from students over the course of three days in November 2021 as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to help and provide a second chance to underprivileged youths of Malays, Sarawak origin descendant, Sabah origin descendant, and Orang Asli to enrol in institutions of higher education. The objective of this programme is to provide the B40 students with the option to pursue higher education through its pre-diploma programmes [21]. The B40 category is comprised of families with gross monthly incomes of less than MYR4849 [22]. There were 137 surveys distributed and analysed. For this study, fifth- and fourth-grade students from both schools who attended the motivational talk and programme were asked to complete the questionnaire. As the primary source of primary data for the study, a self-administered survey was utilised. The questions are composed of two portions and written in Bahasa Melayu. They include Part A (demographic portfolio) and Part B (students' perceptions on motivation factors to further their studies at HLI). Five elements were adopted from [23] for the demographic profile's questions. According to [23], motivation consists of five factors: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-improvement needs. Five items were utilised to measure each of the five motivational elements, for a total of 25 items. As the ultimate dependent construct, this study included two-item measures to examine secondary school students' behavioural intentions to continue their education at a higher education institution. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used to investigate the strength of the link between five motivational factors and students' plans to pursue higher education.

#### **3. Results**

#### *3.1. Descriptive Analysis*

Table 1 shows the total mean value for each motivation factor. Based on Table 1, the overall mean score for motivation is high, m = 4.42 (a mean score between 4.01– 5.00, according to [24]). The highest total mean value for motivation is for safety needs (m = 4.60), followed by physiological needs (m = 4.60), self-esteem needs (m = 4.49), and self-improvement needs (m = 4.40), respectively. The least important factor is social needs (m = 3.99).


**Table 1.** Mean, SD, and Rank for Maslow Hierarchy of Needs.

This reveals that the students have the greatest motivation for safety needs. The hierarchical order of the remaining needs is psychological needs, self-esteem needs, selfimprovement needs, and social needs.

Table 2 shows the important aspects for each of the motivation factors for the students in deciding to pursue their intentions to study at a higher education institution. Based on Table 2, the highest mean value in motivating secondary school children for physiological needs is to help family in improving living standards, m = 4.81. For the security needs factor, the most important aspect is to avoid being troublesome to others (m = 4.72), while for the social needs aspect it is the ability to meet new friends (m = 4.38). In the self-esteem factor, obtaining knowledge (m = 4.74) and the self-improvement needs factor of fulfilling dreams and aspirations (m = 4.71) are the most important parts for the secondary students in motivating them to pursue their studies at a higher learning institution. According to these group of students, the least important factor is social needs (wanting to be noticed by other friends).

**Table 2.** Motivation Aspects of Students in Secondary School in Langkawi.


#### *3.2. Correlation Analysis*

Table 3 exhibits the Pearson Correlation Matrix for all the independent variables of this study, namely motivation factors such as physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-improvement needs. The results of the correlations between the variables are statistically significant. There is a moderate to high association between all the elements of motivation among secondary school children (r = 0.540 to r = 0.750, *p* < 0.01), which also means that there is a positive relationship between the variables. Among all the elements, the physiological and safety needs element achieved the highest range (r = 0.70, *p* < 0.01). However, there is a low association between physiological needs and social needs (r = 0.39, *p* > 0.01), since the r-values are less than 0.40.


**Table 3.** Pearson Correlation Matrix.

#### *3.3. Regression Analysis*

To see whether there is a significant relationship between secondary school children and their motivation intentions to further their studies at HLI, a single step multiple regression was conducted. The 25 items in the independent (motivation) dimension and two items in the dependent dimension (behavioural intention) were collapsed and entered into the equation. The outcomes demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between secondary school children's motivation towards behavioural intentions. The secondary school children's perception of motivation was able to explain 40% (R2 = 0.400, F—change = 17.481, *p* < 0.000) of the variance in behavioural intentions to pursue studies at a higher education institution. It evidently shows that secondary students' perception of motivation is found to significantly and positively influence their intentions to pursue tertiary education. Besides that, Table 4 shows the value of beta coefficients for this study. In [24] it is stated that the beta coefficient indicates which variable(s) are important to the model by looking at the largest value while ignoring the negative signs. This study suggests that, among the factors of motivation, self-improvement needs (0.332) is the strongest influence on the behavioural intention to continue studying. However, other factors of motivation, such as physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, and self-esteem needs, have statistically insignificant relationships towards students' behavioural intentions.


#### **4. Discussion and Conclusions**

This study's findings indicate that the physiological needs element is the most essential factor for respondents' motivation to pursue studies at a higher education institution (HLI), while the social needs factor is the least important factor. The results of the regression analysis reveal that the independent variable, students' perceptions of their motivational needs, has a substantial impact on their intention to pursue higher education. Among all motivational elements, the need for self-improvement has the greatest influence on their behavioural intention.

Students' desires to continue their education at HLI is primarily motivated by their physiological requirements. After graduation, the desire for a better career is the primary physiological needs factor. These findings confirm the findings of [12], which discovered that students' motivations for pursuing related subjects closely resemble their desire to obtain employment after earning a degree. In addition, the desire to improve the family's level of living is a big motivation for students to continue their education at colleges. This finding is consistent with the majority of findings from prior studies indicating that students intend to continue their education at colleges and universities to help their family better their living conditions and escape poverty [7,14–16]. In addition, security standards are the second most significant criterion that inspires students to continue their education

at an institution of higher learning. The desire for a more secure life in the future is intimately tied to students' safety demands. The findings indicate that many pupils desire a permanent position following graduation. It is not surprising given that a survey of the relevant literature revealed that students wish to continue their studies at HLI in order to secure a job. The results of this study indirectly corroborate the findings of [13], which concluded that students will not attend college if they believe it will not improve their lives in the future.

The need for self-esteem is also an incentive for first-generation students to continue their studies at HLI. According to [17], once individuals have satisfied their basic needs and been accepted by others, they desire to be liked, respected, and appreciated by others. This study demonstrates that first-generation students are advancing their studies to HLI in order to receive academic excellence awards while continuing their education at HLI. They are doing so in order to gain respect and appreciation for their elevation. These findings are consistent with those of [25], which found that children want their parents to be proud of them. This demonstrates that the students' incentives to continue their education at HLI are closely tied to their desire to be praised by others, particularly their parents.

Additionally, students choose to continue their education at HLI due to the urge to achieve self-actualization. Students desire to attain their objectives and ambitions in order to satisfy their need for self-fulfilment. This finding is consistent with the findings of [12], which discovered that the primary reason students enrol in college is to attain personal and career goals, in particular, to get a degree. Additionally, [15,16] discovered that a student desires to attend college to increase social mobility.

Social needs, which is the final aspect that drives students to continue their studies at HLI, has the lowest mean scores. New friendships are not the driving force behind their decision to continue their studies at HLI. This is likely due to the fact that children already have numerous friends in secondary school. Consequently, they will not prioritise this factor when pursuing higher education at HLI in the future.

This study's findings also indicate that secondary students' perception of motivation was found to significantly and positively influence their intentions to pursue tertiary education. It was concluded that all five factors of needs, which are based on Maslow's theory of motivation, were considered motivators by secondary school students, invariably. It exhibited that there was a ladder in the motivational needs of secondary school children in Langkawi. The need for self-improvement was the greatest motivation for these students, which was followed by physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, and self-esteem needs.

This research will be useful and serve as a guide for authorities in the ministry of education and schools, as well as school counsellors, in recognizing the needs of their students. For these students' desires to continue their education at HLI to be achieved, the school must continually motivate or encourage them. For this reason, the school's counselling unit must concentrate on programmes that improve students' motivation and desire to continue their education at HLI. For instance, school counsellors are advised to arrange motivational programmes and invite universities such as the CSR teams from Pejabat Program Pra Pendidikan Tinggi (PPT), UITM to their individual schools. The purpose of PPT's programme is to expose students to the educational and employment opportunities available at HLI. Students in rural areas, such as Pulau Tuba, are only exposed to parental employment and other potential employment opportunities in their environment. Furthermore, it can be one of the effective techniques to help students succeed in their studies, particularly those from the B40 group, and provide them with the possibility to increase their family's future income [26]. In addition, with the career exposure programme for these students, it is hoped that these students' futures would be realised and secured by obtaining desired and better professions in the future.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.J., M.M. and W.Z.W.M.Z.; methodology, M.M.; formal analysis, M.M.; investigation, A.J., M.M. and W.Z.W.M.Z.; resources, W.Z.W.M.Z.; data curation, M.M.; writing—original draft preparation, M.M.; writing—review and editing, M.M.; supervision, A.J.; project administration, M.M.; funding acquisition, W.Z.W.M.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research is funded through the research grant obtained from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)-SDG Pulau Tuba (Grant No: 600-RMC/LESTARI SDG-T 5/3 (117/2019)).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **The Impact of Social Media on the Teaching and Learning of EFL Speaking Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic †**

**Latha Ravindran <sup>1</sup> , Ikhram Ridzuan <sup>2</sup> and Bee Eng Wong 2,\***


**Abstract:** The shift to teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the extensive use of social media in the English language classroom. The current study investigated the impact of social media on the speaking skills of tertiary-level EFL students during the pandemic. Adopting a qualitative framework, data was collected by using in-depth interviews with both students and lecturers. Findings generally point to the benefits of using social media in the speaking classroom. However, accounting for students' cultural differences is the most important aspect during the lessons. Implications on the pedagogical awareness of lecturers are underscored.

**Keywords:** COVID-19; EFL students; online teaching; social media; speaking skills

**Citation:** Ravindran, L.; Ridzuan, I.; Wong, B.E. The Impact of Social Media on the Teaching and Learning of EFL Speaking Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 38. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/proceedings2022082038

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 13 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

The English language is significant to the world community, especially in the 21st century. This is because English language proficiency not only encourages communication but also cooperation in aspects of everyday life, education, and employment, especially in a society that consists of members of various cultural backgrounds. In view of this, learning, understanding, and appreciating English is a long-term commitment in meeting social, employment, and educational needs, as well as individual needs [1]. English is a lingua franca as it is the most widely used language of communication in the world [2]. The importance of English has resulted in many students of other first languages learning English as a second language or as a foreign language. Learning English is a challenging process, and because of that, it requires a collaborative, massive and extraordinary effort that not only involves the students but also the educators [3]. The importance of English, especially during this era of globalization has resulted in the teaching of English in Malaysian higher education to increasingly shift from grammar translation to a communicative approach [4]. This approach has enabled students to be actively involved in the classroom and helped them improve their English, especially speaking and listening skills. There is no denying that the ability to listen, read, and write is important, but speaking competence is more important than the other skills because communication via speech often occurs in one's daily life, and in various settings.

Education plays a crucial role in the survival of a country especially in terms of economic and socio-economic aspects, as it is through education that people can be more productive. In the past two and a half years, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education system in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia [5]. This is because millions of students were not able to attend school physically as the schools had to be closed. By the end of March 2020, more than one billion students worldwide had been affected.

During the pandemic, schools were closed in late March 2020, and this disrupted learning for all students in the country. However, to enable them to learn from home, the Ministry of Education launched an online learning platform nationwide, called the Teacher Digital Learning Community (Komuniti Guru Digital Learning). This was established with support from UNICEF. The nation-wide platform enabled three million children to learn during physical closures of schools until 24 June 2020. The schools were gradually opened after that. The approach used to teach the students in schools then was blended—both face-to-face and online learning [6]. However, with periods of total lockdown in 2021, schools were again closed, and learning continued to be conducted online exclusively.

During this period, every educational institution helped educators by introducing online learning models, and providing laptops for students, teachers, and lecturers. Despite this, there were teachers and lecturers, especially in the less developed rural areas, who were still not adequately skilled in using e-learning for the teaching and learning process. At the same time, there were also students who had a negative attitude and did not want to accept the concept of e-learning although this is one of the best options during the pandemic era [7].

As stated earlier, due to the abrupt closure of educational institutions as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, students faced various obstacles in the process of learning. In particular, these events had a negative impact on language learning, including the learning of the English language. Generally, the majority of students who study English in schools have tried to enhance their speaking abilities during this trying period.

In the same vein, universities and colleges in Malaysia adopted the online mode to teach courses. Lecturers had to be creative in their delivery of these courses. The teaching of speaking skills in English was a case in point. English, being the second-most important language in Malaysia after Bahasa Malaysia, is taught in all schools locally. Due to its status, we used to refer to the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) rather than a foreign language (EFL) in the Malaysian classroom. However, EFL describes the study of English by non-native speakers in countries where English is not a native language and where it is not used as a medium of instruction [8]. Thus, based on this definition, Malaysia is now more of an EFL country rather than an ESL country. Further, the students in our classroom were from China, where the status of English is definitely that of a foreign language.

In view of the situation, it was important to find potential solutions to overcome the challenges of EFL students and improve their speaking abilities to enable them to engage in meaningful communication outside the classroom. Ideas and techniques include incorporating social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube in the classroom. This paper explores the concept and impact of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it investigates the challenges faced by teachers and EFL students in the teaching and learning of speaking skills respectively, and the use of social media platforms to assist them in facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic era.

#### **2. The Teaching of Speaking Skills in the ESL Classroom**

The British Council gives ten reasons why we should learn the English language. Among the reasons that are important to students at the tertiary level are the facts that many universities teach courses in English, scientific papers are written in English, English is the language used most widely by the media industry and the Internet, and international businesses conduct meetings in English [9]. In view of these reasons, it is clearly advantageous for tertiary-level students to master the language to a proficient enough level to function adequately in their future workplace.

Of the four language skills, speaking is generally deemed a difficult skill to learn by most learners as it is an overtly active skill. In fact, one of the key differences between the spoken language and written language that makes the speaking skill more difficult to learn is speech is constructed spontaneously [10] (p. 4) while the written form can be revised and edited over and over. In fact, Ur [11] went further to say that speaking is the most important skill to master among the other skills. She further states that problems in speaking were due to the students' lack of confidence and their fear of making mistakes while using the language.

According to Goh and Burn [12] (p. 53), the fundamental components of secondlanguage (L2) speaking competence are knowledge of language and discourse, essential speaking skills, and communication strategies. Burns [10] (p. 3) elaborates that knowledge of language and discourse requires the knowledge of the phonetics of the language, the grammar and vocabulary, and knowledge of how connected speech is organized. She further states that core speaking skills enable learners to comprehend the speech quickly, and to negotiate and manage the flow of it, while communication strategies are the cognitive and metacognitive strategies learners develop to compensate for their lack in linguistic knowledge. Pedagogically, she advocates for speaking lessons to be organized as "structured and supported learning opportunities that develop these various components of speaking competence" (p. 3). It is with this knowledge of what is required to aid the L2 learner toward a proficient level of speaking competence that we believe social media platforms are the best avenue for us to teach speaking skills in the Malaysian EFL classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the periods of lockdown.

#### **3. Theoretical Perspectives**

Teaching and learning collectively is a social activity (see e.g., [13]), in particular if the environment is student-centered. Vygotsky's theory stresses the role of social interaction in the development of cognition, and language plays an important role in this development. His belief in the central role that community plays in the process of making meaning makes a great deal of sense when we anchor our study on this perspective. In such a studentcentered learning situation, the teacher is a facilitator and the experience of learning on the students' part is more social constructivist in nature. In this environment, interaction and collaboration among the students is not only encouraged but a necessity. A resourceful teacher will capitalize on the students' interaction on social media platforms to aid them in the classroom. The teacher is able to disseminate the required and important information of the subject matter and tasks to be accomplished via these platforms. More crucially, students can interact, share information, learn from and discuss with each other, as well as collaborate via these social media platforms. As these platforms generally allow both speech and the written form to be communicated, the teacher could make it mandatory for students to only use the spoken form for their activities. Here, the teacher will scaffold the students' spoken language during the activities. In this way, the more proficient students will model the teacher's behavior, and the teacher could instruct the more proficient students to scaffold their less proficient friends via the social media platform(s) being used.

#### **4. Social Media in the EFL Speaking Classroom**

Social media tools enable their users to distribute and share knowledge over the Internet [14]. These tools or platforms can range from low social presence to frequent users [15]. These platforms, which include Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Instagram, allow students to connect with each other and to be able to communicate with others. The features that are of concern to us are affordances of social interaction, sharing of content, and content creation of these platforms. Crucially, students can work on their tasks outside the class which would enable them to practice English-speaking skills. This is the ideal situation during the pandemic as students were not able to meet face to face either with their teacher or with any of their course mates. The researchers view this avenue as positive because schools and higher institutions of learning were hard-pressed to go on with their job in the online mode. It was also generally acknowledged as a mode that makes language learning more engaging and perhaps even motivating (see e.g., [16]).

In fact, some past studies have used the various social media platforms to teach speaking skills and the findings have generally been positive. However, it has been found that e-learning in general can create high levels of anxiety for students due to factors such as fear of being assessed, educator teaching techniques, and student culture [17,18]. Specifically, factors that could contribute to speaking problems in an EFL classroom include lack of confidence and fear of making mistakes [11]. In a study, Al-Sobhi and Preece [19] highlighted the lack of exposure and limited knowledge of English, lack of motivation, anxiety, and lack of confidence on the part of the learners, and inefficient teaching methods on the part of the teacher, as some of the key issues that are often encountered in the EFL-speaking classroom. Yen and Mohamad [2] also found that the main problems that hinder the speaking ability of EFL students include lack of desire and self-confidence, anxiety, and lack of vocabulary skills.

According to Burns [10], speaking is related to "social and functional motivation." In speaking, a distinction is made between the notion of interpersonally and pragmatically motivated speech [20]. The latter involves exchanging information or goods or services while the former, also known as interactional speech, is used in creating and maintaining social relationships. Speaking for interaction and communication makes this activity in an EFL classroom a daunting prospect for students. Furthermore, speaking is an overtly productive skill and the language produced is here and gone. Unlike the written form, students would not have the opportunity to correct what had been said. In writing, students could revise and edit what has been written as the writing task progresses. As such, teachers or lecturers of speaking skills in an EFL classroom have a great challenge, in that they have to incorporate activities by using various techniques that would involve students in interactions and communication in order to produce the language. It was during the pandemic that we found the application of social media to be most fruitful in the teaching of speaking skills in the EFL classroom.

Generally, studies have shown that improvement in speaking skills are possible if there is a decline in speaking anxiety. Teachers are able to integrate social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Tik Tok, YouTube, Instagram, WeChat, and Telegram, and others to give their students an opportunity to practice beyond the confines of the physical classroom. The studies that investigated the use of WhatsApp have shown that the application was able to increase communication away from the physical classroom [21,22]. Instagram, a popular social media platform among the students, was also shown to be useful for improving speaking even with students who are not proficient in English [23,24]. Overall, the studies have yielded positive results in that students do improve in their speaking skills and with higher confidence and increased motivation. A key element that contributed to improvement is social interaction [25,26]. In the latter study, Sevy–Biloon and Chroman [26] showed that chat functions in the video led to students practicing their speaking skills in authentic and meaningful communicative activities. Yet another study revealed the positive effect of social media integration (Telegram and You Tube) for teachers to make amends for the insufficient teaching time in the class and for its affordance in out-of-class practice in the teaching of pronunciation [27]. Such integration of social media seemed to have enhanced the teaching procedures in the online mode.

However, as EFL teachers, we have to be judicious in the introduction of these platforms in our speaking classroom. If students are too young, for example, they could be inexperienced, and these tools may have more of an adverse effect than what was intended [28]. In the study by Teoh and Yunus [28], the primary school participants were young and lacked the experience in using the social media platforms to learn English, although they had access to and the competence to use the tools. The participants in our study are young adult university students, so they would not have any issue incorporating social media in the learning of EFL speaking skills. However, the lecturer would need to structure her lessons and activities in such a way that these platforms could be used optimally.

#### **5. Methodology**

This study adopted a qualitative research design. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of social media in the teaching and learning of speaking skills of EFL students during the pandemic. The study examines how social media was utilized by lecturers to enhance the speaking skills of EFL students. It also elicited the perspectives of students on how social media was useful to enhance their speaking skills and the difficulties faced by them. The paper also highlights the implications of using social media to enhance EFL students' speaking skills. The focus is to explore and give descriptive details of the data collected, and hence adopting a qualitative method is deemed appropriate. As Lancy [29] observed, "every aspect of one's work as a qualitative researcher demands more writing than would be the case for a quantitative scholar. Writing is to qualitative research what mathematics is to quantitative researcher" (p. 234).

The researchers selected three lecturers teaching EFL students at the intermediate level. These lecturers were selected based on the criteria that they have been teaching EFL courses for more than five years. This criterion was important as they are experienced in teaching EFL students. In-depth interviews were conducted with these lecturers and the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The participants were informed of the analysis to confirm the data (member-checking). The interview followed a protocol [30]. The researcher confirmed the findings with them, and further interviews were conducted for clarifications. In determining the number of participants, the researcher adopts the view contended by Patton [30] who recommends that we identify a minimum sample size "based on expected reasonable coverage of the phenomenon given the purpose of the study" (p. 186).

For the selection criteria of students, a total number of 20 of them were identified to be interviewed. These students were selected because they were EFL students and because they had been using social media for their intermediate English programs. The interviews focused on the speaking classes, as that is the only component being investigated. The students did a total of 10 h per week of speaking classes over a period of seven weeks. The interviews were conducted to get their perceptions on the difficulties they encountered in speaking classes, and their views on the problems encountered on the use of social media in EFL classes. The researchers conducted further follow-up interviews with the students for clarification and confirmed the findings with them. The results are discussed in the following section.

#### **6. Result and Discussion**

#### *6.1. Cultural Differences as a Major Factor*

In response to the difficulties they faced in learning speaking skills, one main theme that emerged in the discussion pertains to the cultural differences that accounted for the difficulties in mastering speaking skills. The spread of social media is beyond one culture and hence accounting for the cultural differences is deemed as one important finding of this study. Students posited that in China, eye contact is avoided as much as possible, whereas in classes they were required to have eye contact to establish the connection with the other listeners. In this class, students also had to pass the speaking test at the end of the seven weeks for their assessment. Topics were given to them by the lecturers, and they had to produce a speech outline and submit it to the lecturer. After the feedback given to them, they had to improve on the speech outline and deliver the speech as a form of assessment. Another factor relates to the learning environment, the learning context as well as the perseverance of the students. One student, Fan, whose band level is 5.5, said that, "English speaking skills are very important and we need to learn many words". However, "some of my group mates are not willing to communicate in English and hence it is difficult for us to practice".

Some students opine that it is good to learn English for 1 to 2 h a day. It is convenient to have conversations with lecturers via social media and students like platforms such as WeChat and Zoom, which make it convenient for them to practice more often. Hence, the lecturer must be able to understand their hesitancy to participate in class as cultural awareness is related to language learning. As Tomalin and Stempleski [31] posit, sensitivity to the impact of culture on language use and communication is important as they are interwoven. Moreover, they argued that language could not be taught without a reflection

of the associated culture. In response to the concept of cultural mediation propounded by Vygotsky, the lecturers used topics related to China for an effective learning environment as the students would be more familiar with the context. Topics such as places of interest and food were picked up for speaking practice for a more rewarding experience. Some students also cited the benefits of the choice of social media platform. A majority of the students loved using Tik Tok videos for practice sessions.

Nevertheless, the aspect of good communication between the lecturer and the student cannot be overlooked. Sharing videos with others in class was beneficial as they had the opportunity to listen to others and correct their own pronunciation. Past studies have also indicated the positive aspects of using social media for teaching activities related to speaking skills. Ainun et al. [32] also point to the optimistic views on using WhatsApp to improve students' oral skills.

#### *6.2. Usage of Social Media for Speaking Classes*

Most of the students interviewed opined that the use of social media enhanced their speaking skills. Zoom and MS Teams were the most used platforms. Sometimes they were also given YouTube videos to watch, and the students then have a group discussion based on the given topic. A majority of the students preferred watching YouTube and interacted well on the Zoom and Teams platforms. Students viewed Zoom and Teams as useful platforms for class participation, as they liked to interact with other students on the chat groups and they also liked the break-up room functions in the Teams platform. However, there are some students who have negative perceptions in terms of participating in the activities. This hinders their progress, as it leads to lack of practice sessions. As another student, Wang, said "We are very conscious of having to speak in English and the other students listening to us. While we like to the use of social media and sometimes, we use it for entertainment but shy away from speaking in class".

This inhibition on the part of the students stems from their own lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the content related to the topic. Ilyas and Putri [33] reinforce that using YouTube to teach speaking skills lends a positive learning attitude among the learners. A majority of the students indicated an increased confidence as it allowed them to view the same video multiple times, enabling them to enhance their memory of a given word in the process. Using Facebook was not an option, as most of the students in China do not have access to it. As Boyd [34] postulates, the unprecedented spread of social media around the world indicates its importance in helping students to improve fluency and understanding in the target language. Social media can have beneficial impact on students' language skills, teaching practice, and student learning when used appropriately [35].

#### *6.3. Willingness of Students in Class to Coomunicate*

As speaking requires interactions with other classmates and developing social skills, lecturers were interviewed on how they ensured participation in class and structured the activities to ensure effective participation in class. The lecturers cited that creating interesting teaching activities stimulated the interest of the students. According to them, they tried to create a language environment that approximated the actual lives of the students, such that the target language plays a crucial role in their interaction [13]. Based on this constructivist theory, which contends that learning takes place while engaging in social experiences, students were given opportunities to work as a team to internalize their speaking skills. To this effect, role plays were incorporated during online classes and the situational context was given to them. This helped to a certain extent to train their communicative ability. The lecturer Tand said, "The activities were used as a starter to get the students talking. They would indicate their topic in the WhatsApp group so that no students repeated the same topics".

The other lecturers also opined that they ensured participation in class by integrating social media together with their main text. Some lecturers awarded participation marks to ensure students participated. The feedback from the students was that they really enjoyed the class, and the shy students were also keen to participate in the activities. Though such integration was beneficial to students, the lecturers' role in structuring the lessons is deemed important. Reinders and Wattana [36] also support integrating technology in the teaching and learning process, as this encourages learners to use the target language freely. Otherwise, the objective of the lesson could be easily lost with random talk. On what facilitated participation in class, the lecturers viewed that the classroom was a friendlier place and that was a great feat because online classes tended to be more impersonal. In this case, the classes were conducted in a hybrid mode. The effectiveness of participation in class also was based on the good choice of the materials. This finding also points to the need to have strong pedagogical knowledge and the capacity to deliver the content effectively on the part of the lecturers. Students thought that setting expectations and boundaries in terms of class participation ensured that everyone had a fair chance to speak on the given topic. They were in favor of this practice adopted by the lecturers. This clearly points out the strength of the pedagogy of the lecturers and their awareness of how the activities should be structured. Lecturers should be proficient to ensure the efficiency and the interest of the class. It requires a lot of coordination on the part of the lecturer to create a good learning environment. This finding further supports the idea of "structured and supported learning opportunities" that develop the various components of oral skills, as advocated by Burns [10].

#### *6.4. Effects of Using Social Media to Enhance Speaking Skills*

The lecturers were interviewed about the effects of using social media to enhance the speaking skills, and they responded that it had both positive and negative aspects to it. Using social media was popular with students as they liked engaging with the technology. It is already a norm for every student to have laptops owing to the online or hybrid classes. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to the online platform has encouraged educators to turn to social media to motivate learners to participate in speaking classes to compensate for the lack of physical classes. Students who were shy to speak in conventional classes were readily participating in online platforms. As mentioned earlier, studies conducted by Sevy–Biloon and Chroman [26] also point out the chat functions that act as a platform to provide authentic and meaningful communication which are purposeful for the students. However, the lecturer points out that the negative aspect is that some of the students were not willing to switch on the cameras while they spoke, which made it difficult for the lecturer to ascertain if they were referring to some notes or a Google translation. As the teacher Ling said, "the positive aspect is that we were able to watch the videos we posted, and that helped them a lot with the pronunciation". The students were able to practice and listen repeatedly and thus gained confidence to speak. Some students preferred to use social media in the classroom as they perceived the environment to be friendlier whereas some others preferred online class as it was less threatening. This is also highlighted by Ghoneim and Elghotmy [25], who find that social interaction helps to improve speaking skills. They opined that with the online platform, the pressure to perform on the spot was less intense, as they could refer to other resources for vocabulary and sentence structures. Using social media enhanced their speaking skills, as they received materials from the instructor in advance, and this enabled them to go through the materials before the lesson. Students related positively to the fact that participation by all students was ensured by the lecturer and each student was responsible for their own learning. Some group discussions ensured that every member had watched the videos posted and that was an avenue as a starting point for the discussion to take place.

#### *6.5. Implications of Using Social Media for Speaking Classes*

The findings indicated that the students gained a lot of confidence and motivation by using social media for the speaking classes. The materials used were considered less formal, as most students perceived books to be formal whereas videos and other materials were

less formal and hence less threatening. They could relate to the materials and the content and hence participated enthusiastically. This implies that the lecturers should be selective in choosing the content for the lesson and also choose materials that will engage the students in meaningful interactions. The implications according to the lecturers also point to the versatility of the use of social media and its immediate reach with the students. Using social media just makes it convenient for us to connect with other like-minded people in a harmonious manner [37]. It helped to develop the interpersonal skills of the students, and they were able to connect with their classmates. The usage of social media enabled a relaxed environment for the students, and they were not apprehensive of making mistakes in the class. On the negative aspects relating to social media, students cited connectivity as one of the issues during the online learning process. Some students did not really engage with the activities, and they only spoke for a few minutes. This duration was more of a restraint as the lecturer could only give feedback based on the input. The lecturers also noted that students were still shy and produced limited utterances, thus limiting the speech. One of the lecturers commented, "No matter which medium I used, the students only spoke for a few minutes, and it was quite difficult to motivate them to speak up". The solution might be that students require more scaffolding, and the lecturers also need to strengthen their pedagogical approaches towards online teaching and using social media. As the lecturer Jia noted, "we try some of the approaches we are familiar with. However, a proper training on pedagogy to use social media will be beneficial in the long run".

#### **7. Conclusions and Recommendations**

This study points to the positive impact and the benefits of using social media for speaking classes despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the study underscores the implication on the training needs of the lecturers and the pedagogical awareness using social media to teach speaking skills. The students also will have to learn to utilize social media platforms for a specific purpose other than entertainment purposes. The limitation of the current study is that it only investigated a small sample from one private university, and further studies should be carried out with a bigger sample to consolidate the results of this study. Lecturers should also be able to incorporate text materials that cater to the cultural context of the students. Providing them with appropriate reading materials will stimulate their interest and participation in class. The implication that emanates from this is that lecturers should be given enough time to plan and to integrate social media in language teaching. It requires a considerable amount of time to plan according to each level of the students as well as to diversify their use of social media and not just resort to one platform.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; methodology, L.R. and B.E.W.; validation, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; formal analysis, L.R.; investigation, B.E.W.; resources, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; data curation, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; writing—original draft preparation, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; writing—review and editing, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W.; visualization, L.R.; supervision, L.R.; project administration, I.R.; funding acquisition, L.R., I.R. and B.E.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to acknowledge the participants in this study.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Intention to Choose Education Course in UiTM Using Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) †**

**Muhammad Saiful Anuar Yusoff 1, Wan Nazihah Wan Mohamed 1,\* , Zulkifli Mohamed <sup>2</sup> and Norhaiyati Abdul Muin <sup>3</sup>**


**Abstract:** In line with the offering of a Master's of Education as a new course in UiTM Kelantan, this study was conducted to investigate the willingness of the community to enrol into the course based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The influences of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control towards intention were studied. A total of 347 data elements were obtained from employees working in both public and private sectors in Kelantan and Terengganu. The data were analysed using SmartPLS. The findings reveal a significant influence of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control on the intention of the respondents to enrol into an education course offered at UiTM. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to identify the factors that influence the intentions of the community members, in particular public servants, to choose courses offered at UiTM Kelantan.

**Keywords:** attitude; subjective norms; perceived behavioural control

#### **1. Introduction**

The importance of education in increasing the productivity of individuals, workplaces and countries is undeniable since education is an ongoing process throughout a person's life. The learning process is not confined to only children and the working groups, but it also covers other community members including housewives, retirees, the disabled and the elderly. The ultimate goal of education is to improve the life quality of individuals and society; thus, the country is in dire need of knowledgeable human capital. Knowledge needs to be updated in order to produce human beings that are relevant to the progress and development of the nation [1]. A study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) found that educational programs provided to all community members in the developing countries has fostered progress in the respective countries' development. As such, lifelong education has been recognized by the United Nations (UN) as the key to human resource development. Subsequently, the government has taken proactive measures in the education system to produce high quality human capital that can move towards the global economy era of knowledge-based communities [2]. All of these measures are designed to fulfil the country's aspirations to produce balanced, high quality and knowledgeable human capital from all angles.

The rapid growth of education has indirectly created many opportunities for school students and workers in both public and private sectors to pursue studies into higher education. As a result, the process of selecting higher education institutions and courses is increasingly difficult due to the existence of various public and private institutions of higher learning that offer a wide selection of quality and competitive programs [3]. This

**Citation:** Yusoff, M.S.A.; Wan Mohamed, W.N.; Mohamed, Z.; Abdul Muin, N. Intention to Choose Education Course in UiTM Using Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082040

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 14 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

has created intense challenges and competitions among public and private institutions of higher learning to attract the public in choosing the courses offered. As such, there is a need to understand the tendency of the public and private employees to pursue higher education and to identify the factors influencing the intention to continue their studies. In addition, the absence of studies conducted to determine the community's interest in pursuing education-related courses at UiTM Kelantan makes this study very significant. Therefore, this study is conducted to provide an accurate and recent perspectives of their intention to choose educational courses offered at UiTM Kelantan.

#### **2. Literature Review**

#### *2.1. Intention to Enrol in Course*

In social science, intention is an important indicator of an individual's readiness to accept a behaviour [4,5]. It is an aspect of motivation that affects one's behaviour and an indication of the willingness to perform an action or plan the effort required to perform an action [6]. In addition, a person's tendency to perform an action increases with the strength of one's intention [7].

This study involved the variables of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control as factors that determine one's intention to perform an act or behaviour. The choice of these three factors is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The theory postulates that the more important one's intention to do something is, the higher the probability of an action being taken. With the support of previous studies, it is expected that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control will influence the intention to choose an education course at UiTM Kelantan.

#### *2.2. Attitude*

Attitude is an internal factor of an individual which is defined as the positive or negative level of a person's feelings towards a particular desire or behaviour [4]. According to [8], the students' perceptions of a domain often influence their choice of a particular subject. This means that students with negative attitudes toward a particular subject will avoid choosing it while positive students will have a positive commitment towards the subject. In relation to this study, attitude is required in the decision-making process so as to continuously and consistently choose the course offered.

Previous studies have proven the influence of positive attitude on the choice of various courses such as language [9,10], accounting [11] and entrepreneurship [12–14]. The analysis of these studies found that attitude towards certain subjects has a significant relationship with the formation of behavioural intention. Considering these findings, it is expected that a positive attitude towards an education course will also reflect the same effect on the intention to choose an education course at UiTM Kelantan. As such, the first hypothesis is presented as:

#### **H1.** *Attitude positively influences the intention of choosing an education course at UiTM Kelantan.*

#### *2.3. Subjective Norm*

Subjective norm is a part of external motivation that plays a role in persuading a person to do an important action. It also refers to a person's perception of social pressure placed on them from a particular parent, friend or community so as to perform or not to perform the desired behaviour [15]. In the context of this study, this represents a person who has the impression that individuals influence him or her, such as family, employers, friends and community, and may encourage him or her to make a choice and be motivated to do the action. In other words, subjective norm determines an individual's action.

The results of previous studies support subjective norm as one of the important factors in choosing a college or university course. Social factors which consist of family and peers are seen to be the major factors influencing the selection of a course [16,17]. A study by [17] on student selection at a university in Indonesia found that the family factor is one of the five important factors besides funding fees, reputation, distance factor and career prospects. Therefore, individuals are expected to choose the course offered at UiTM Kelantan if they are encouraged by the important individuals around them. This leads to the second hypothesis which is:

**H2.** *Subjective norm positively influences the intention of choosing an education course at UiTM Kelantan.*

#### *2.4. Perceived Behavioural Control*

Perceived behavioural control is an individual's perception according to which performing a behaviour is within his or her control and is often assessed by the ease or difficulty of performing the behaviour [18]. It is an internal motivation that influences one's intention and action which then enables a person to set goals for action [18]. In this study, a person with high expectations for his or her behaviour will be more likely to choose a course of action despite facing various problems such as lack of interest, course information or confidence in his or her own ability and limited economic resources.

Findings of previous studies on the choice of accounting and entrepreneurship courses showed the influence of perceived behavioural control on the intention to choose such courses [12,14]. The study of [14] showed that a student's self-confidence is one of the major sources of motivation to choose an accounting course and pursue a career in that field. As such, one is expected to choose an education course offered at UiTM Kelantan if he or she has the confidence to face various difficulties. In relation to that, the third hypothesis is written as:

**H3.** *Perceived behavioural control positively influences the intention of choosing an education course at UiTM Kelantan.*

#### **3. Research Framework**

The selection of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) [18] as the model of this study is based on the ability of this theory to explain the intention of choosing an action or behaviour. Several previous studies using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) have provided strong empirical support on the two variables of attitude and subjective norm [15]. Nevertheless, this initial theory (TRA) was criticized by scholars for its lack of factors that could explain one's self-control in performing an action [18]. Furthermore, the variable perceived behavioural control is included in the model which describes the person's actual intention and behaviour. The rationale for choosing this variable is due to the fact that a person's behaviour is usually influenced by one's confidence in the ability to perform an action. The higher the expectation for behavioural control, the higher the intention to do an action which leads to high performance [18]. In particular, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control are expected to be positively related to the intention to choose an education course offered at UiTM Kelantan.

#### **4. Methodology**

This study used a quantitative research approach through simple random probability sampling technique. The population of the study was employees working at public and private sectors in Kelantan and Terengganu. The number of the study sample was accurately described using the G\*power software [19] (Version 3.1.9.6, University Kiel, Germany) which resulted into a minimum of 77 samples required for this study.

Data were obtained through questionnaire distribution using a 7-point Likert scale. A preliminary test was performed to confirm the item reliability of the study. The analysis found that the values of Cronbach's alpha for all variables exceeded 0.6, which were beyond the level suggested by [20]. Data collection was completed with a total of 355 questionnaires obtained from 400 questionnaires distributed to the respondents in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. However, after the data cleaning process, a total of 347 data elements were usable for analysis in this study. The strength of the analysis was further enhanced by using two stages of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis, namely measurement model and structural model.

#### **5. Findings**

The demographic analysis of the respondents included 248 (71.5%) women and 99 (28.5%) men who are currently working in various public and private sectors in Kelantan and Terengganu. The majority of the respondents (84.7%) were from Kelantan while only 15.3% of them were from Terengganu. A total of 46 respondents (13.3%) were in the age group of 29 years, 106 (30.5%) were aged 30 to 39 years, 111 (32.0%) were aged 40 to 49 years and 84 respondents (24.2%) were over 50 years old. Most of the respondents earned over Ringgit Malaysia RM 6000 per month (43.8%), followed by an income between RM 5000 and RM 6000 (16.7%), RM 4001 and RM 5000 (17.3%), RM 3001 and RM 4000 (7.2%), RM 2001 and RM 3000 (5.8%) and less than RM 2000 (9.2%). The mode of study that the respondents chose was part-time for 209 respondents (60.2) followed by full-time for 138 (39.8%) respondents. The respondent's choice of education course at UiTM Kelantan was driven by the following reasons: being near to home (72.1%), low costs (62.9), appropriate environment (27.4%), family support (24.4%) and others (8.1%).

#### *5.1. Measurement Model Analysis*

The evaluation of the measurement model involves convergent validity and reliability. Convergent validity refers to the level of agreement of several items or indicators in measuring the same concept or construct [21]. The results in Table 1 show that all items exceeded the 0.6 value for item reliability (factor loading) [22], the 0.7 value for rhoA path coefficient [23], the 0.5 value for AVE (Average Variance Extracted) and the 0.7 value for CR (Construct Reliability) [24]. All the values obtained exceeded the minimum requirement of convergent validity [25].


**Table 1.** Convergent validity analysis.

ATT: Attitude, INT: Intention, PBC: Perceived Behavioural Control, SN: Subjective Norm, rhoA: Reliability indicator, AVE: Average Variance Extracted, CR: Construct Reliability.

In addition, a discriminant validity test was performed using the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) criterion. The analysis was performed to detect the presence of a collinearity issue or a cross-loading conflict in the research items. According to [25], HTMT is the latest criterion in SmartPLS software (SmartPLS GmbH, Version 3.3.9, Boenningstedt, Germany) that can accurately determine discriminant validity. Through this test, a construct value greater than 0.85 indicates discriminant validity has been fulfilled [20]. The analysis for this study found that all constructs had values below the HTMT value of 0.85, which is the

maximum value for discriminant validity. As such, discriminant validity of all constructs was achieved as presented in Table 2 below.

**Table 2.** Discriminant validity analysis.


ATT: Attitude, INT: Intention, PBC: Perceived Behavioural Control, SN: Subjective Norm.

Figure 1 shows the SmartPLS measurement model results. The *R*<sup>2</sup> value of business success was 0.704, suggesting that 70.4 percent of the course selection intention can be explained by the three independent variables. Once the evaluation of the measurement model was completed, a further analysis was carried out which included structural model analysis for hypothesis testing.

**Figure 1.** Measurement model.

#### *5.2. Structural Model Analysis*

Prior to the structural model analysis, a lateral collinearity test was performed. Even though discriminant validity and HTMT ratio showed no collinearity issue for all research constructs, conducting lateral collinearity testing is necessary. This is because the existence of this type of collinearity may impede the research findings, since it has a tendency to disrupt the causal relationship between the predictors and the dependent variables of the research model. This occurs when two variables that are fundamentally related to each other are found to measure the same construct [26].

Table 3 depicts the results for the lateral collinearity test. The Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) values for all independent variables (ATT, SN and PBC) were lesser than five [27], which indicated that lateral collinearity was not an issue in this study.

**Table 3.** Lateral collinearity analysis.


VIF ≤ 5.0 [27].

This study developed three hypotheses in determining the direct relationship between the constructs of the study. According to [24], a research hypothesis can be determined through bootstrapping analysis using 5000 sampling methods in SmartPLS software. The findings show that all three research hypotheses were supported by t values greater than or equal to 1.645 with attitude (ATT) (ß = 0.349, *p* < 0.01), subjective norm (SN) (ß = 0.177, *p* < 0.05) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) (ß = 0.381, *p* < 0.01) positively influenced course selection intention while the number of variance explained by these three variables accounted for 70.4%. Therefore, H1, H2 and H3 were fully supported. The *R*<sup>2</sup> value of 0.704 exceeded the value of 0.26 as proposed by [28] which showed that ATT, SN and PBC influence the intention to choose an education course at UiTM Kelantan. The structural model of hypothesis analysis is presented in Figure 2.

**Figure 2.** Structural model.

Table 4 shows the results of hypothesis analysis for this research model. The value *R*<sup>2</sup> = 0.704 indicates that 70.4% of the variance in the intention to choose an education course was explained by the three study variables of ATT, SN and PBC. According to [29] on the level of *R*<sup>2</sup> (0.67 = high; 0.33 = medium; 0.19 = low), the value for this study was considered high. In addition, as stated by [28] on the guideline of effect size (*f* 2) (0.02 = small; 0.15 = medium; 0.35 = large), this study had small and medium effect sizes since the values were between 0.023 and 0.166. Perceived behavioural control had a modest effect on the intention to choose an education course while attitude and subjective norm had little effect on the intention to choose a course. Prediction relevance value (*Q*2) beyond the value of zero suggests that the variable has a predictive ability based on the intention to choose an education course [24]. The acceptable data-model fit is determined through the goodness-of-fit measures (*GoFs*) [29]. If the average square root value of AVE multiplied by *R*<sup>2</sup> exceeds the value proposed by [30] (*GoF*small = 0.01; *GoF*medium = 0.25; *GoF*large = 0.36), the model fit of the study is achieved. The analysis found that the obtained value was high at 0.694, which exceeded the proposed value level.

**Table 4.** Hypothesis analysis.


ATT: Attitude, INT: Intention, PBC: Perceived Behavioural Control, SN: Subjective Norm \*\* *p* < 0.01, t value > 2.33; \* *p* < 0.05, t value > 1.645.

#### **6. Discussion**

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control on the intention to choose an education course at UiTM Kelantan. The findings support all the hypotheses of the study which demonstrates that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control influence the intention to choose an education course. The main perceived contributor is behavioural control, followed by attitude and subjective norm.

It can be seen in this study that all factors collectively influence a person's intention to perform an action. All factors accounted for 70.4% of the variance in the intention to choose an education course at UiTM Kelantan. However, the strength of the relationship is different. Perceived behavioural control was found to significantly contribute to the intention of choosing education course as compared to the other two factors with a moderate effect size (*f* <sup>2</sup> = 0.166). This result is similar to previous studies that examined the relationship of perceived behavioural control with the intention to select language, accounting and entrepreneurship courses [9–14]. In other words, employees involved in this study tend to choose an education course offered at UiTM Kelantan despite facing challenges such as limited economic resources and lack of adequate information on the offered course. However, they are still unsure of their interest and self-confidence in choosing an education course since there is no relationship analysis of these two items with perceived behavioural control.

Positive attitude towards an education course is the second important factor that influences the selection of an education course at UiTM Kelantan. This finding is also parallel to previous studies which showed that attitude is an important factor in influencing respondents' choice of university courses [9,10,12–14]. Based on this result, the offering of an education course at UiTM Kelantan is very much anticipated, and especially at the undergraduate level since such course is not offered at any UiTM campuses, with the exception of UiTM's main campus in Shah Alam.

The last factor influencing the respondents' selection of an education course at UiTM Kelantan is subjective norm. The finding of this study corresponds with previous studies that viewed the family factor as a source of motivation for choosing such course [14,16,17]. In this study, the family is seen to be the main motivator for the respondents to choose the course, followed by the community, employers and friends. Family and community are key references in the selection of a course, which may be due to the experience of family members or successful community members in the education field.

#### **7. Conclusions**

In conclusion, internal factors such as perceived behavioural control and positive attitude are significant factors that influence the selection of an education course in UiTM Kelantan as compared to external factors such as subjective norm. Despite the obstacles and challenges, the majority of the employees are positive towards choosing this course. Although subjective norm has the least influence within the research model, its influence is still significant since the existence of family members, friends and community is still relevant in the selection of an education course at UiTM Kelantan. Therefore, these three factors need to be taken into account as they greatly influence the intention to choose an education course offered at UiTM Kelantan.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, Z.M. and N.A.M.; methodology, M.S.A.Y.; validation, Z.M. and N.A.M.; formal analysis, M.S.A.Y.; investigation, M.S.A.Y., W.N.W.M., Z.M. and N.A.M.; data curation, M.S.A.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, M.S.A.Y. and W.N.W.M.; writing—review and editing, W.N.W.M. and N.A.M.; visualization, M.S.A.Y. and W.N.W.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors wish to thank UiTM Cawangan Kelantan for supporting this study.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Language Proficiency among Non-Native Chinese Language Learners: A Discriminant Analysis †**

**Sian Hoon Teoh 1,\*, Buai Chin Heng 2, Yee Feng Neo <sup>2</sup> and Julia Yin Yin Tan <sup>3</sup>**


**Abstract:** The Chinese Language (CL) is difficult to learn, and CL non-native learners are finding it increasingly difficult. Therefore, additional information on how to guide students is critical. As a result, the goal of this research is to find out what criteria distinguish high and low proficiency students in Chinese learning. The data was collected through a Google form questionnaire from 79 CL non-native students who had previously studied Chinese. The findings demonstrate that the only difference between the two groups is the writing strategies used. This study concludes that various teaching methods should emphasise writing skills in order to become proficient in Chinese.

**Keywords:** Chinese Language (CL); discriminant analysis; non-native CL learners; proficiency

**Citation:** Teoh, S.H.; Heng, B.C.; Neo, Y.F.; Tan, J.Y.Y. Language Proficiency among Non-Native Chinese Language Learners: A Discriminant Analysis. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082042

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 14 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

### **1. Introduction**

The Chinese Language (CL) seems to have drawn more people to learn it seriously. Seen in this light, it has been observed that parents pay close attention to their children's CL learning settings. Several Malaysian studies have investigated the learning situations of these non-native CL students, including research into the causes that motivate parents to send their children to CL medium schools (known as *Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina* (SJKC). These studies were also conducted on the pupils' academic achievement and learning issues [1–6].

These studies' conclusions have unintentionally highlighted a few problems faced by CL non-native learners. The problems highlighted were the non-native students' poor academic performance at SJKCs [2] and issues with the CL being the instructional medium of mathematics and science, hindering the learning of the latter as well [3]. The other much-discussed problems were the inadequate teaching methods used by teachers [1], an inconducive learning environment at home, and low expectations and support from parents [1–3].

This investigation was prompted by the public's interest in learning the CL effectively. Hence, the goal of this study was to investigate the learning elements that induced the learners' CL mastery of the 'high' and 'poor' proficiency learners in CL classrooms at SJKC schools.

#### **2. Literature Review**

*2.1. Learning Chinese Language*

Learning the CL is becoming increasingly popular as a result of education globalisation [7], which has resulted in an increasing interconnectedness of societies in economics, technology, politics, culture, and language [8]. Hence, language plays a vital role in maximising these interactionist relationships.

Among the spoken languages in the world, it was reported that CL ranks the most favoured [9]. Correspondingly, non-native CL learners have benefited from economic development by meeting global needs via learning this language. Although difficult, the CL has become an important subject in the Malaysian Certificate of Education, which is taken by all fifth-form secondary school pupils in Malaysia [10]. Hence, non-native learners' CL proficiency and challenges in achieving proficiency have been gaining attention.

#### *2.2. The Difficulties in Learning Chinese Characters*

When learning any language, voice is frequently used during the hearing and reading stages. Listening and reading require phonological awareness, which is concerned with the sounds of the spoken language. Phonological awareness, which is based on phonologically constructed speaking practises in Western (alphabetic) languages, plays a major role in a learner developing their reading. However, the CL is a unique medium where logographic letters are used to convey meaning rather than phonological speech.

Studies also highlighted that phonological speech, which is based on sound similarities of different characteristics, has caused difficulties for CL learners [11,12]. In classrooms, learners are often asked to identify the correct characters they see based on the meaning of a sentence. However, some CL characters have similar sounds, although they are different. This adds to the learners' confusion, which intensifies the failure to identify similar sounds (but having different meanings as they are different characters).

Figure 1 shows phonological speech representing different words with different meanings. For example, the phonological speech of /shàng/ is often used in reading for different characters with different meanings. Figure 1 also shows that a character will have a different meaning when it is attached to another (character). For example, the character /shàng/ is attached to /ma/ to form /m ˇ a sh ˇ àng/, which means 'immediately'. On the other hand, if it is attached to /miàn/to form /shàng miàn/, it means 'above'. Also, a single character of the different meaning (e.g., /shàng/) holds a specific meaning which is 'still'. This example shows that the same phonologic speech can have different characters with different phonologic speech.

**Figure 1.** Complexity of Learning Chinese Language Characters: An Illustration.

Secondly, the complexity of learning this language is also challenged by the multimeaning carried by a specific character and having different phonology for the same character with different meanings. As a result, a student's ability to read the CL is closely linked to his or her writing skills [6]. In short, writing skills are inextricably associated with CL proficiency.

#### *2.3. Some Considerations in Learning the CL*

It is noted that students' diverse origins, which may include strategies in learning, have an impact on their accomplishments. Hence in learning languages, students may be guided with specific strategies. It is important that students engage in the guided strategies when practising the four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). As learning improves, learners may apply more strategies to improve acquisition and, thus, confidence. According to [13] students who apply appropriate strategies tend to be seen as good language learners. Applying appropriate strategies also requires appropriate knowledge for the learners to proceed with their ability. According to [14], carrying out appropriate strategies involves thought and behaviour. To this end, students' activities are equally vital in determining the success of language learning, which can be altered by motivation. Figure 2 shows the steps and links involved in achieving linguistic competency, showing the importance of strategy as a significant factor.

**Figure 2.** Proficiency in CL: Factors Involved.

#### **3. Materials and Methods**

#### *3.1. Research Design and Sampling*

This study employed a survey research design. Its sample was 79 non-native CL students who had experience in learning the CL at school. The focus of this study was on those who had shown good achievement in learning the Chinese language. Hence, the sample was former SJKC non-native CL high achievers in Malaysia. Taking note of the low percentage of high-achieving learners, which was an average of 800 students yearly, this study took 10% of 800 to respond to the questionnaires. Thus, a total of 79 students participated. The participants were then placed in two groups, namely 'low proficiency' and 'high proficiency'.

A sampling method called snowballing with volunteerism was employed in the selection of the samples. A list of samples was first identified by a few educators in Malaysia. Then, the participants' permissions were obtained to access their data. The participants who did not agree to participate were excluded. The inclusion criteria to select the samples were based on a volunteer basis, and most importantly, they consented to complete a Google form questionnaire.

#### *3.2. Instrumentation*

A questionnaire consisting of three parts was constructed following two references [15,16]. The three parts were CL proficiency, motivation, and strategies. Two experts were consulted to establish the content validity of the instrument. A pilot test was conducted on

79 participants. Its results showed a convincing and acceptable level of Cronbach's Alpha values, ranging from 0.76 to 0.85. Even though the construct 'writing an essay' showed a lower value of Cronbach's Alpha, the items contributed fittingly to the overall construct of writing, which was the combination of basic writing and essay writing (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.76).

#### *3.3. Data Analysis*

Discriminant Function Analysis (DA) was used to analyse the obtained data. The DA serves the same purpose as multiple linear regression by predicting an outcome. Hence, the DA was employed in this study since multiple linear regression is restricted to scenarios where the dependent variable is an interval variable. The regression equation also provides an estimated mean population numerical dependent variable value for specified weighted combinations of independent variable values. The 'proficiency level' was the dependent variable.

This study used two proficiency levels, 'low' and 'high', to address research question one. To address research question two, six proficiency levels were measured. The first independent variable was motivation, which consisted of attitude, effort, and desire. Another independent variable was strategy, which consisted of basic writing, essay writing, and reading. These independents were the discriminators (in regression analysis, the independent variables are predictors). This study focused on high achievers divided into two categories ('low proficiency' and 'high proficiency') in order to observe the factors that affect their proficiency.

In the DA, the independent variables are combined in weighted combinations to produce a single new composite variable, namely the discriminant score. Thus, the significant portions of the discriminant score reflect misclassifying cases into respective groups (low/high proficiency). A good DA model shows minimal misclassification, so the analysis detects the variables that primarily contribute to differentiating groups.

However, this was a simple discriminant analysis with two groups in the dependent variable. The simple discriminant analysis is provided with one set of eigenvalues: Wilks' Lambda and beta coefficients. The number of sets is always one less than the number of DV groups. Therefore, in this analysis, the data obtained were the respondents' demographic data and the answers given by them. Further, the 'proficiency level' was a nominal variable to indicate whether the learner was of high or low proficiency. The other variables were attitude, effort, desire, and writing strategies.

To reiterate, the aim of the analysis was to identify if these variables discriminate the participants' proficiency (low or high proficiency) and examine whether there were any significant differences between the 'low' and 'high' proficiency groups on each of the independent variables using group means and ANOVA.

The 79 respondents were divided into two groups based on their self-reported CL competency, which was based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) categorization. Low proficiency refers to those who rated themselves A1, A2, or B1, while high proficiency refers to the respondents rating themselves B2, C1, or C2.

#### **4. Results**

#### *4.1. The First Finding*

Research Question 1: Are the factors (motivation, namely attitude, effort, and desire; strategies, namely basic writing, writing an essay, and reading) significantly discriminate between the two groups ('low' and 'high' proficiency)?

If the Group Statistics and Tests of Equality of Group Means show that there are no significant group differences, it is not worthwhile to proceed any further with the analysis. In this study, the group statistics (group means and standard deviations) suggest that these may not be good discriminators as the separations are small. Nevertheless, to determine the significant discriminator, a Test of Equality of Group Means is used. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of all independent variables in the two groups (LP and HP) with

overall scores of 5.20, 4.81, 5.43, 3.19, 3.23, and 3.05 for attitude, effort, desire, basic writing strategy, essay writing, and reading, respectively. Specifically, for the LP, the mean scores are 5.18 (attitude), 4.76 (effort), 5.43 (desire), 3.13 (basic writing strategy), 3.15 (writing an essay), and 3.00 (reading).


**Table 1.** Group Statistics.

While for the HP, the mean scores are 5.26 (attitude), 4.99 (effort), 5.41 (desire), 3.37 (basic writing strategy), 3.56 (writing an essay), and 3.21 (reading). The Tests of Equality of Group Means show no significant group differences; hence, proceeding further with the analysis is not worthwhile.

Table 2 provides statistical evidence of significance in differences between the means of the two groups for all IV's, with only the 'essay writing' producing a higher F value (F = 4.80), with a significant value of *p* (=0.03) < 0.05.

**Table 2.** Tests of Equality of Group Means.


Table 3 shows the Box's M test to test the null hypothesis of whether there is any difference among the groups. Alternatively, it tests equal population covariance matrices. In this analysis, the Box's M is 2.30 with F = 2.25, which is not significant at *p* > 0.05.


**Table 3.** Test Results.

For the assumption of equal variances to hold, the log determinants should also be equal. Table 4 shows that the groups have a reasonable Log Determinant with values close to each other, indicating mild variability of the groups.

**Table 4.** Log Determinants.


The eigenvalues in Table 5 show the result of a function. The canonical correlation is the multiple correlations between the predictors (independent variables) and the discriminant function. The function provides an index of overall model fit, which is interpreted as being the proportion of variance explained (R2). In this study, a canonical correlation of 0.24 suggests that the model is explaining a 5.9% variation in the grouping variable.

#### **Table 5.** Eigenvalues.


a. First 1 Canonical Discriminant Functions were used in the analysis.

Wilks' Lambda indicates the significance of the discriminant function. Table 6 shows a significant function (*p* < 0.000), providing a proportion of total variability not being explained, i.e., it is the converse of the squared canonical correlation. Therefore, a 94.1% variation is unexplained in the function.

**Table 6.** Wilks' Lambda.


#### *4.2. The Second Finding*

Research Question 2: Do motivation (attitude, effort, and desire) and strategies (basic writing, writing an essay, and reading) significantly influence the learners' proficiency?

The result of Research Question 2 is further explained since the model was significant (Table 7). Table 7 shows the F-value = 15.05 with *p* < 0.05, signifying that the analysed model is significant. Nevertheless, not all the dependent variables significantly contribute to the model, as displayed in Tables 8–10.

#### **Table 7.** ANOVA a.


a. Dependent Variable: Respondent's Self-Report CL Proficiency Level. b. Predictors: (Constant), Strategies.

#### **Table 8.** Model Summary.


a. Predictors: (Constant), Strategies.

#### **Table 9.** Coefficients a.


a. Dependent Variable: Respondent's Self-Report CL Proficiency Level.

**Table 10.** Excluded Variables a.


a. Dependent Variable: Respondent's Self-Report CL Proficiency Level. b. Predictors in the Model: (Constant), Strategies.

This analysis involved the dependent variables of six proficiency levels and the independent variables of 'motivation', measured from attitude, effort, and desire. The independent 'strategies' were measured from the items in basic writing, essay writing, and reading. A regression analysis was then employed to investigate the relationship among these three variables. The Stepwise method in the regression analysis (Table 8) shows that the model (with *p* < 0.05) is significant for the independent variable 'strategies' (Table 9) only. Hence, the variable 'motivation' (Table 10) was excluded from the analysis.

Table 9 shows that only the factor 'strategies' contributed to the model. 'Strategies' was the essay writing strategy.

Table 10 shows that the model in Table 9 will only be significant if 'motivation' is excluded from the analysis. In Table 8, the result indicates that only 16.3% (namely R2 = 0.16) variation in proficiency level is explained by 'strategies'. Hence, other factors might have to be considered in future research.

#### **5. Discussion**

The first finding indicated that only the 'writing an essay' strategy contributed to differentiating the two groups. It shows that just by looking into any student's essay writing skills, one can easily indicate the student's proficiency level as being 'low' or 'high'.

The second finding supported the first finding in the analysis of regression. The regression analysis indicated that 16.3% (namely, R2 = 0.163) variation in proficiency level was explained by the participants' writing strategies. Despite the low percentage of contributions to the proficiency level, the indicator provides some insight into the work required in essay writing to achieve proficiency by non-native CL speakers in learning the language.

These findings were in accordance with many other authors' findings that success in learning the CL requires certain writing talents [11,12]. Understanding vocabulary [11] is important, but so are the tactics and approaches to coordinate and integrate the CL characters. Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to use diverse characters in essays, such as combining the characters to bring new meanings. As a result, if a character is correctly specified, it will provide multiple inputs [17]. This situation was investigated in this study's literature review (Figure 1). The difficulties of handling characters in writing or any other form of communication have produced much uncertainty.

The acquisition of the CL characters has been the subject of investigation [18,19], which leads to the discovery that learners must be exposed to the larger workings of Chinese characters. This is particularly important in Malaysia as Malaysian tests emphasise writing rather than reading. Mindful that students thriving in the CL have a basic understanding of how to use the characters, therefore, in classrooms, the teaching and use of the characters should be enhanced. In this manner, the CL learners may be in a better position to gain a better overall mastery of the language if they concentrate on the written work.

#### **6. Conclusions**

In conclusion, knowing how to use the characters when writing essays is significant in helping non-native CL learners learn the language more effectively. In essence, the CL is naturally tough to master, which is compounded by the complexity of its characters. Achievement can only be enhanced by increasing the learners' writing ability using suitable or acceptable strategies, which, in this case, is the ability to combine and use the characters in essay writing. Although this study has a limited number of high proficiency achievers (17 learners) compared to low proficiency achievers (62 learners), it managed to increase the literature on the awareness of the role of the characters in language mastery. It was discovered that assisting CL teachers focus on improving students' abilities to express ideas in their essay writing is essential. Given these circumstances, non-native CL learners need to use relevant literature such as dictionaries and other resources to obtain acceptable knowledge and skills in handling CL characters to express their views.

On that front, discriminant analysis can only provide insights based on the limited data of high proficiency learners. Therefore, more research may be conducted on how to teach non-native CL learners to use proper characters to express their thoughts.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.H.T.; methodology, S.H.T.; software, S.H.T.; validation, S.H.T., B.C.H., Y.F.N., and J.Y.Y.T.; formal analysis, Y.F.N.; investigation, B.C.H. and Y.F.N.; resources, S.H.T.; data curation, S.H.T. and J.Y.Y.T.; writing—original draft preparation, S.H.T.; writing—review and editing, B.C.H. and Y.F.N.; visualization, S.H.T.; supervision, S.H.T.; project administration, B.C.H.; funding acquisition, B.C.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Grant Inisiatif APB (GIA), Universiti Teknologi MARA, grant number 600-TNCPI 5/3/DDF (APB) (001/2021).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Factors Affecting Innovative Behaviours among Students in Public Higher Learning in the Southern Region in Malaysia †**

**Khairunnisa Rahman 1, Mariam Setapa 2,\*, Nurdia Azlin Ghazali <sup>3</sup> , Norshahniza Sahari <sup>1</sup> and Nur Haslina Ramli <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The purpose of this study is to investigate how undergraduate students perceive leadership competencies and their impact on innovative behaviour. A quantitative research approach was applied in this investigation. The study's results were validated using quantitative analysis. SPSS software was used to conduct the data analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the respondent's information. The independent t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare the differences in the level of innovative behaviour based on demographic background. Besides, multiple linear regression was implemented to explore the relationship between students' leadership competency skills, cognitive development/critical analysis, interpersonal skills, and innovative behaviour. A total of 2156 students responded to an online survey; however, only 731 qualified. The respondents in this survey were undergraduate students who have held a position in any club or group on campus. The current study shows that cognitive development/critical analysis, interpersonal skills, and students' leadership competence skills all play a role in predicting student innovative behaviour. Student interpersonal skills are the most important factor influencing students' innovative behaviour. This study examined the effect of leadership skills on students' innovative behaviour. Additionally, this study examined undergraduate students who were active in any club or group on campus. This type of research has not been thoroughly studied, if at all, in academic circles.

**Keywords:** innovative behaviours; public higher learning students; cognitive development; interpersonal skills; leadership skill and competency

#### **1. Introduction**

As society and the workplace continually evolve, higher education institutions are under pressure to adapt to new expectations. Undergraduates must be prepared for future professions; future workers must be taught how to fulfil job duties; and, ideally, new ideas that lead to innovation must be generated. People's jobs and lifestyles have evolved as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. Students in higher education must set a higher standard for creativity to solve these problems because they are future employees and an organisation's major success is built on innovative people. Because technological advancements have led to substantial labour market shifts, the technology that emerges in Industrial 4.0 has the potential to replace staff functions. As a result, it is vital to encourage students to engage in innovative behaviour.

Education institutions in particular can be seen as a microcosm of the trend of global industrialisation [1]. Every educational establishment is responsible for ensuring that its

**Citation:** Rahman, K.; Setapa, M.; Ghazali, N.A.; Sahari, N.; Ramli, N.H. Factors Affecting Innovative Behaviours among Students in Public Higher Learning in the Southern Region in Malaysia. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082043

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 14 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

students are prepared and capable enough to compete in the workforce. A business must innovate in education if it wants to produce qualified human resources [2]. Businesses must innovate if they want to maintain a competitive advantage in the modern market. Afsar et al. [3] states that businesses can employ innovation to gain a competitive advantage and succeed as an organisation. Student creativity is linked to economic performance and is viewed as a crucial ability for the twenty-first century [4].

In business, industry, entrepreneurship, and higher education, innovative behaviour has been recognised as a critical factor in long-term success [4–6]. However, in higher education, it is uncommon to hear certain students' creative behaviour. Higher education institutions must generate a workforce that is both creative and prepared to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century [7,8]. Numerous studies show that, because of the importance of education in the development of human innovative skills, higher education institutions alone will not be able to achieve these expectations [9]. According to a study, students' ability to participate in novel activities is underappreciated [10]. Particularly in higher education, educational systems have come under fire for failing to develop these professional knowledge requirements. As a result, developing new potential abilities is one of higher education's main objectives, especially for students.

Even though innovative behaviour is one of the most essential techniques to achieving academic and professional goals, research among students in educational settings is still limited [11]. According to Ailing et al. [12], universities also lack the instruments necessary to create innovative undergraduate capabilities. Innovative characteristics, leadership abilities, and competency all play a role in innovative behaviour. This gap provides the framework for this study to examine innovative behaviour among students in higher learning institutions because graduates are the university's output. There is a need to investigate innovative student behaviour in the Malaysian educational system.

The primary goal of this research is to look into the innovative behaviour of students at a public higher learning institution in Malaysia's southern region. As a result, the specific research objective of this study is to see if there are any disparities in levels of innovative behaviour based on demographics. Secondly, the objective to investigate the impact of various elements on innovative behaviour (leadership skill and competency, cognitive development/critical analysis, and interpersonal skill).

#### **2. Literature Review and Hypotheses**

This section will cover the dependent variable of innovative behaviour, and independent variables of student leadership skills and competencies, interpersonal skills, and cognitive development or critical analysis. The ability and desire of students to be creative are related to their innovative behaviour in this study. Students who can adapt to unexpected situations and ideas, accept opposing viewpoints and mistakes, experiment freely and take measured risks, and be open to innovation exhibit creativity [13]. Students can also apply what they have learnt to create fresh solutions and ideas. However, there is a dearth of studies on innovative behaviour and demographic traits. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between innovative behaviour and demographic traits. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.

#### **Hypothesis 1.** *There are differences in innovative behaviour based on demographic factors.*

For students to self-identify as prospective innovators in their field, Cusson [14] contends that they must possess conceptual competency in innovative behaviour. In order to better understand how students from different backgrounds make decisions and seize chances, a number of studies involving students from such backgrounds have been conducted. According to Binnawas et al. [15], students who participated in a club or organisation at school showed more confidence and drive; nevertheless, few studies on this group have looked at their innovative behaviour. The following hypothesis comes as a result of this statement.

#### **Hypothesis 2.** *There is a significant influence between students' leadership competency skills and innovative behaviour.*

Many resources are required in higher education institutions, but human resources are a crucial resource for developing creative people. One action that can be taken with the aid of coaching, instruction, and training is interpersonal skills, which, according to Hogan and Warrenfelz, are competences and behaviours that entail direct communication, such as interacting with others and forming relationships [16]. According to Mariepazh [17], the range of interpersonal skills, which include a person's ability to begin, create and maintain compassionate connections as well as fruitful ones also determines one's capacity to do so. It is divided into four categories: "disclosing oneself and trusting others, accurately communicating with one another, resolving conflict and relationship issues in a healthy manner, and supporting and valuing variety".

One of the elements that significantly influence a student's innovative conduct in pursuing the goals of higher education is their interpersonal skills. According to the findings of research by Kanthasamy [16], their analysis revealed a positive association between interpersonal skills and behaviour, and according to Mahmudi [18], interpersonal skills, group integrity, and self-efficacy have direct beneficial influences on behaviour. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.

#### **Hypothesis 3.** *There is a significant influence between students' interpersonal skill influence and innovative behaviour.*

This paper discusses critical thinking as the fundamental cognitive skill. To make the most informed decisions possible about what to believe and what to do, critical thinking is a process that activates specific cognitive skills, such as conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information that has been gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, or communication [19]. By fusing its connections to adolescent development and its contributions to adolescents' learning, welfare, and positive development, Sun and Hui [20] study cognitive competence as a construct for outstanding youth growth. It demonstrates how critical thinking may be transformed into self-regulated cognitive abilities that teenagers can master and use to accomplish tasks more effectively, come up with accurate answers to issues, and arrive at the best judgments. It is thought that developing critical thinking skills in children helps them learn for life and develop holistically, as well as preparing them to lead society in the future and address societal issues and advance humankind. This statement leads to the following hypothesis.

**Hypothesis 4.** *There is a significant influence between students' cognitive development/critical analysis and innovative behaviour.*

The suggested conceptual framework for this inquiry is shown in Figure 1. Based on a detailed analysis of prior research, a conceptual framework is provided to recognise the linkages, as illustrated in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** Research Framework.

#### **3. Research Design**

In this exploratory investigation, data and information were gathered using a questionnaire as the survey instrument. This study also used cross-sectional analysis; a type of observational study that looks at data from a population or a representative sample during a specific time period.

#### *3.1. Sampling and Data Collection*

Simple random sampling was used in this study. Each person was chosen completely at random, with each population member had an equal chance of being chosen. This study was conducted at three (3) different UiTM campuses: Campus Johor, Campus Melaka, and Campus Negeri Sembilan. The only two branches that UiTM Campus Johor has were in Segamat and Pasir Gudang. UiTM Campus Melaka has three branches: Alor Gajah, Lendu, and Bandaraya Melaka. Furthermore, there were three (3) UiTM Campus Negeri Sembilan branches situated in Seremban, Rembau, and Kuala Pilah.

As the focus of this study is on college students who held a position in any club or group on campus, the total number of students from the three campuses was 2156. The size of the sample from each campus was calculated using G-Power software [21], with a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error to calculate the precise number of respondents chosen. In detail, a total of 151 students from Johor Campuses answered the survey. Meanwhile, Melaka campuses stated 580 as the population and 232 as the sample; however, the total responses received were 264. The same scenario existed with Negeri Sembilan campuses, where the numbers were 1440 for the total of population and 304 for the sample; however, the actual responses were 316.

This survey had 731 individuals and the respondents were given three (3) weeks to answer the questions on the Google Form sheet. After receiving approval from the Ethics Committee, the Google Form sheet questionnaire was carefully designed, and the link to it was then shared with the responders on these three (3) campuses. A leader from each branch was chosen to oversee the responses and guarantee that the respondents provided reliable cooperation for this study.

#### *3.2. Questionnaire Design*

There were three (3) components to the questionnaire. The respondents' profiles were discussed in Part A, which included seven (7) questions regarding the respondents' campus, gender, age, education, cumulative grade point average (CGPA), race, and status in clubs or organisations. Part B, on the other hand, focused on the independent variable, which included three (3) components: interpersonal skills, cognitive growth/critical analysis, and leadership skills and competencies. Additionally, the dependent variable of innovative behaviour was the focus in Part C. The Likert scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), was used in Parts B and C. The questionnaire utilised in this study was adapted by modifying the instrument to suit the study.

#### *3.3. Data Analysis*

This study used quantitative analysis to achieve the objectives. The data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26 software (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA). The descriptive statistics were analysed to summarise the information about the respondent. Next, a *t*-test and ANOVA test were carried out to compare the gender, campus, age, CGPA educational background, and position differences towards innovative behaviour. Multiple linear regression was implemented to explore the relationship between students' leadership competency skills, cognitive development/critical analysis, interpersonal skills, and innovative behaviour.

#### **4. Results**

#### *4.1. Demographic*

The results of descriptive statistics for 731 respondents are summarized in Table 1. About 316 respondents were from UiTM Negeri Sembilan (43.2%), 264 respondents were from UiTM Melaka (36.1%), and 151 respondents were from UiTM Johor (20.7%). The results show that 73.9% of the respondents were female and 26.1% were male. About 62.4% aged 18–20 years, 35.6% aged 21–23 years, and 2% were more than 23 years old. It can also be observed that 63.6% of the respondents had a diploma, while 36.5% had a degree. Looking at the CGPA, 47.3% of the respondents obtained a CGPA of 3.51 and above, and 44.5% obtained a CGPA of 3.01–3.50. For the position in the committee, 13.8% of the respondents were president, 7.5% were vice president, and 8.2% were secretary.


**Table 1.** Descriptive statistics of respondents' demographic background.

#### *4.2. Questionnaire Reliability*

Table 2 shows the Cronbach alpha coefficients as the reliability and internal consistency of Likert scale questions results for this study. It can be seen that all of the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were more than 0.7, which suggests that the questionnaire is reliable.

**Table 2.** Reliability statistic for the questionnaire.


#### *4.3. Differences in Innovative Behaviour Based on Demographic Background*

Table 3 summarizes the results based on the t-test and ANOVA test, respectively. The tests were conducted to assess the first hypothesis testing, which compared the significant difference between the demographic background of students (gender, campus, age, CGPA, educational background, and position) and innovative behaviour. The results show that there were no statistically significant differences between innovative behaviour and campus, age, and CGPA, as the *p*-value was more than 0.05. It can be said that innovative behaviours of students on the three campuses are generally the same. Moreover, the innovative behaviours of students on the different groups of age and CGPA are the same.


**Table 3.** Testing differences in innovative behaviour on demographic background using *t*-test and ANOVA.

Interestingly, there were statistically significant differences between innovative behaviour and gender (*p*-value = 0.030), as well as education level (0.041) and position (0.000). This implies that the innovative behaviours of male and female students are different. Besides that, the innovative behaviours of students are different if the students have different education levels and positions in a committee.

#### *4.4. Relationship between Innovative Behaviour and Independent Variables*

The strength of the association between creative behaviour and the four independent variables is determined by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Table 4 displays the Pearson correlation coefficient between independent variables and innovative behaviour. It is clear that there is a significant correlation between independent variables and innovative behaviour because all of the independent variables' *p*-values were less than 0.05. According to the correlation coefficient, there is a substantial association between interpersonal skill influence and innovative behaviour. One can also observe a moderate correlation between students' leadership skill and competency and cognitive factor development/critical analysis and dependent variable (innovative behaviour).


**Table 4.** Pearson's correlation coefficients of independents variables and innovative behaviour.

#### *4.5. Factors Influencing Innovative Behaviour*

From Table 5, 54.2% of the total variation in measuring the factors influencing innovative behaviour can be explained by students' leadership skill and competency, cognitive development/critical analysis, and interpersonal skill, while other factors explain 45.8%.

**Table 5.** Goodness of fit test results of the model.


Table 6 shows the ANOVA results; the F-statistic was 286.226 and the critical value for F3, 727 at a *p*-value of 0.05 was 2.60. Thus, this suggested that the three independent variables in the model are significantly predictive of the dependent variable.

**Table 6.** ANOVA test results for the significance of the model.


#### *4.6. Testing the Significance Factors Influencing Innovative Behaviour*

This study examines the impact of individual independent variables (students' leadership skill and competency, cognitive development/critical analysis, and interpersonal skill) on the dependent variable (innovative behaviour) in order to test the second, third, and fourth hypotheses. Table 7 shows the results of multiple linear regression. From the results, it can be concluded that all three factors significantly influenced creative behaviour as the *p*-value was less than 0.05. The absolute value of β indicates the order of importance of the independent variable. Looking at the coefficients of each independent variable, interpersonal skill influence was the most influential factor in students' innovative behaviour.

**Table 7.** Factors influencing innovative behaviour.


The regression equation of the model for this study can be written as follows:

$$\mathbf{y} = 5.173 + 0.275\mathbf{x}\_1 + 0.313\mathbf{x}\_2 + 0.361\mathbf{x}\_3\tag{1}$$

where y is the value of innovative behaviour, x1 is leadership competency skill, x2 is cognitive development/critical analysis, and x3 is interpersonal skill influence.

#### **5. Discussion**

The current study demonstrates that interpersonal skills, student leadership competence skills, and cognitive factor development/critical analysis strongly predict students' innovative behaviour. Students with strong interpersonal skills offer fresh perspectives on novel thoughts, opinions, and ideas to increase the potential for innovation. For students to adapt to the shifting demands of the labour market and to develop their leadership qualities, they must possess abilities such as teamwork, public speaking, problem-solving, decision-making, and other technical skills [22].

Ali [23] found that three personality traits of agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience are positively connected with phases of innovative behaviour in the formulation and advancement of ideas. The Big Five Personality result indicates that students with more competitive and positive interpersonal skills are welcomed in the job market. Although the majority of college students lack these skills, many businesses assert that interpersonal skills like oral communication are crucial when evaluating staff, especially potential new workers [24].

According to this study, a student's innovative behaviour differs depending on their gender, educational attainment, and position within a committee. The study's findings support the notion that a student's capacity for critical thought and factor development will have a favourable impact on their capacity for innovation. The influence of cognitive abilities in human learning activities will only be accurately portrayed in a learning environment by adding particular cognitive skills in the context of exploration, as learning activities entail a variety of unique abilities and operate together in unforeseen ways [25].

Student interpersonal relationships is the factor that has the biggest impact on students' innovative behaviour. The study's findings show that having strong interpersonal trust has a good effect on a student's innovative behaviour. More proactive and daring behaviour can be displayed by individuals (and organisations), which can encourage innovative behaviour [26,27].

#### **6. Conclusions**

This study investigated the relationship between student leadership competency and innovative behaviour through the construction and testing of a model. The undergraduate students at the centre of this study are those whose perceptions of their capacity for innovation influence those of their degree of competence. Before making generalisation about other groups, it is essential to understand and respect individual distinctions. The data were only gathered from Universiti Teknologi MARA in the southern region, because this study focused solely on undergraduate students there. To create a better generalisation, more research can be conducted to increase the sampling size across all sites. Additionally, this study advised that it is conducted in a variety of campuses, including research universities and private universities. To have a more comprehensive understanding of innovative behaviour, future studies should incorporate moderator or mediator variables. The focus of the current study was on students' innovative behaviour as it relates to leadership competencies. Finally, it is recommended that students be given access to a specific leadership development programme in order to enhance their leadership skills.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, K.R.; methodology, N.A.G.; software, N.A.G.; validation, N.A.G.; formal analysis, N.A.G.; investigation, K.R.; resources, K.R.; data curation, M.S.; writing original draft preparation, K.R., M.S., and N.H.R.; writing—review and editing, K.R. and M.S.; visualization, N.S.; project administration, M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** Special thanks go out to the Universiti Teknologi MARA students who served as the study's sample as well as to all the other people who provided direct or indirect support for its completion.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Secondary Students' Mental Well-Being after the Pandemic—An Analysis According to Location and Study Levels †**

**Joanne Sau-Ching Yim 1,\* , Puteri Rohani Megat Abdul Rahim <sup>2</sup> and Daljeet Singh Sedhu <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The study surveyed 1547 secondary school students' mental health when they resumed in-person classes by examining the prevalence of depressive symptoms with the abridged Beck Depression Inventory II. Chi-square test found a significant association between location and depression levels, with a higher proportion of rural students reporting a higher depression level. One-way ANOVA detected significant differences within levels of secondary classes, where post hoc analysis found higher depressive levels with final year students. As schools prepare to transit from the pandemic to endemic phase, the study highlighted the specific students who need attention to tailor specific programmes to targeted groups and enhance resources efficiency.

**Keywords:** secondary school students; post-COVID schooling; youth depression; rural-urban students; mental well-being; final year students' depression

**Citation:** Yim, J.S.-C.; Rahim, P.R.M.A.; Sedhu, D.S. Secondary Students' Mental Well-Being after the Pandemic—An Analysis According to Location and Study Levels. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 44. https://doi.org/10.3390/ proceedings2022082044

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 14 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **1. Introduction**

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis that has disrupted many aspects of our lives. This project aims to investigate the impact of the disrupted learning system on secondary students' current mental well-being. Due to the contagious nature of the virus, the prolonged closure of in-person classes in Malaysia had inevitably transformed traditional classrooms into online classes. The closure of schools has not only disrupted the acquiring of new knowledge, but also because students have forgotten what they had learnt earlier. In 2020, it was reported that 90 percent of the world's student population was affected by the pandemic [1]. In Malaysia, the estimated learning loss ranges from 0.45 to 0.95 as indicated by learning-adjusted years of schooling (LAYS). LAYS is a standard metric that captures the quantity and quality of education, measuring the number of years of schooling a child can expect to obtain by age 18, adjusted by a country's average student achievement. In other words, students in Malaysia lost about 45% of a learning-adjusted year of schooling in the best-case scenario, whereas in the worst-case, 95% [2]. Starting from 2021, schools underwent different types of class attendance based on the severity of the COVID-19 infection rates. In general, Malaysian schools were closed for more than 200 days in 2020 and 2021 [3].

Even though the nation is moving towards resumption of in-person classes, the impact of the different modes of class attendance has already occurred and may not be able to be reversed. There were reports by local studies that found students suffered from psychological effects brought about by different study modes [4,5]. However, more investigation is needed as a majority of research had focused on students in higher educational institutions, rather than school students [5]. Moreover, not all students were affected the same and this may contribute to developmental and achievement gaps later. As the COVID-19 pandemic

has entered its third year towards the endemic phase, it is important to examine the current state of students' well-being to better prepare for the recovery to normalcy. Specifically, this research aims to answer the following questions:


#### **2. Literature Review**

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted learning in a way no one could have predicted around the globe. The proliferation of online learning due to the pandemic and also the different modes of learning has sparked many studies that offer different perspectives. In India, a survey found that challenges faced by secondary level online learners include low motivation, lack of interest, and time management [6]. From Egypt, undergraduate students reported similar challenges in learning motivation, online technicalities, time management, self-discipline and regulation, as well as online communication [7]. Students reported difficulties in written communication, which is required by online learning, with only about 56% out of 450 respondents felt comfortable and competent in text communication. Such issues in online learning may be resolved once classes are conducted in-person. However, recent research has highlighted potential issues in well-being that were brought about by the transition to in-person classes. A recent Lithuanian study compared perceived differences between online and in-person classes in high schools, and found students' energy levels, sleep quality, and mental well-being to be worse than during online classes [8]. This is attributed to the fewer hours of sleep after school reopened, compared to lockdown where students had more hours of sleep.

From France, Lane [9] and her colleagues surveyed two independent samples of secondary students before and during the pandemic, and found that students reported more symptoms of generalized anxiety during the pandemic than the time before the pandemic. Evidence from the United Kingdom suggested that anxiety induced by examination significantly correlated with risk in developing emotional disorder and also school-related wellbeing [10]. There are many school factors that could affect students' well-being which they need to adapt to. One aspect of well-being that is deemed vital for students' development during the learning process is mental well-being. Chambel and Curral [11] describe mental well-being as associated with central outcomes, such as academic engagement, academic achievement, dropout, and educational aspirations. Students with positive mental health flourish in life as they have positive emotions, and they are able to function well psychologically and socially. However, students with incomplete mental health are languishing in life. These students would describe themselves as "empty" and "hollow". Subsequently, the students will be disengaged. They no longer have interest in studying. If this issue is not addressed appropriately, this will widen the learning disparity among students. Thus, it is imperative to prioritise students' well-being because it is an important platform that is necessary for post-COVID learning recovery and to enhance learning [12]. This was concluded from a case study of a school that fully opened after lockdown, where a recovery curriculum that prioritised well-being was implemented. The curriculum incorporated weekly well-being sessions, increased physical education classes, emphasised play-based education and experiential learning, as well as having competitions [12]. Such intervention improved students' work when compared against success measures.

A recent study investigated university students' well-being during the pandemic with an abridged version of Beck Depression Inventory II and measured well-being with items: sadness, pessimism, loss of pleasure, loss of interest, loss of energy, sleep, irritability, appetite, concentration, and fatigue [13]. It was found that a majority of students suffered from sadness, sleeping patterns, lack of concentration, loss of energy, and pessimism, with

females having high levels of depression compared to males. However, as schools are easing back to normal operations, updated evidence is needed as this study was conducted during home confinement. In Malaysia, research has found that students' psychological well-being is undermined by conflicts that arise from fulfilling responsibilities in academic work and family/personal lives [14]. Such role conflicts were prevalent especially during lockdown and brought about elevated stress, anxiety, depression, social dysfunction, and unhappiness among university students. Another Malaysian on student well-being found issues in sleep quality, stress-induced fatigue, inactivity, and poor eating habits to be affecting secondary school students [15]. The study recommended assistance from family, schools, and media to help students adapt to new norms. Local research had also suggested that location had given rise to learning disparity between urban and rural students due to limited Internet access or poor infrastructure [16]. The abrupt transition from in-person classes to online mode had caused students to be unprepared for such learning methods, and they doubted the effectiveness of virtual teaching mode [16]. The location of schools can act as stressors due to the disparity of technological advancement, and affect students' wellbeing. It is possible that the current situation may differ as students get acquainted with different learning modes. Previous study noted the difference in mental wellbeing of rural and urban students, and updated students' perspective would be helpful to inform good practices and improvements [17,18].

Building on the above research, the present study investigated students' mental wellbeing by assessing their depression levels. Further examination based on the demographic factors of location (rural/urban) and also different classes levels (Form 1 to Form 6) can provide better knowledge that is beneficial for schools' preparation shift from the pandemic to endemic phase.

#### **3. Research Methods**

#### *Participants*

Respondents consisted of 1547 secondary school students from Malaysian public schools in Selangor. Permissions to conduct research were sought from the Ministry of Education (MOE), relevant authorities in state and school districts, as well as from school principals. Due to safety considerations and to prevent face-to-face collection of questionnaires, the MOE only allowed distribution of questionnaires in electronic forms. Hence, the questionnaire was converted to Google Form. A list of all secondary schools with respective email addresses was obtained from the website of the MOE, and a link to the Google Form was given in the emails sent to principals seeking for permission to conduct research. Data were collected from February 2022 to May 2022.

#### -Research Instrument

To measure mental well-being, the study used an abridged version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) that included 10 items: sadness, pessimism, loss of pleasure, loss of interest, loss of energy, sleep, irritability, appetite, concentration, and fatigue [19]. The items are measured on a 4-point scale that ranged from 0 to 3, with higher summed scores indicating greater psychopathological impairment. The levels of depression are classified as: None (0–5), mild depression (6–8), moderate depression (9–12), severe depression (13 and above) [13]. As required by MOE, the questionnaire items were translated to Malay Language as it is the National Language and thus can be better understood by the school communities. The study employed a back-translation method where three subject matter experts reviewed the scales' content suitability to ensure the items represent the intended area of investigation and match the underlying concepts [20]. A pre-test and a pilot test were conducted to ensure the face validity and reliability of the instrument and quality of data collected. The internal consistency for both pilot test and actual study were 0.75 and 0.89, respectively. Data collected were analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics Software version 26 (Armonk, NY, USA).


The present study involved 1547 respondents with 953 (61.6%) females and 594 (38.4%) males. Respondents reported a mean age of 15.20 (SD = 1.43), with 63.9% residing in urban areas while 36.1% in rural areas. They are currently enrolled in Form 1 (11.40%), Form 2 (24.30%), Form 3 (27.50%), Form 4 (19.30%), Form 5 (14.10%), and Form 6 (3.40%) at secondary school level. A majority of them (42.2%) attended school on alternate days of the week, 35.2% attended school every day, 17.2% went to school based on the severity of COVID-19 infection rates, while 5.6% studied at home. To answer research question one, Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for depression levels. The sample reported a mean of 7.78 which is classified as mildly depressive based on the scoring method presented earlier. About 54.5% reported mild to severe depression levels.


**Table 1.** Descriptive statistics for Depression Level.

#### -Inferential Analysis

In answering research question two, a chi-square test is employed to test association between school location and depression levels. There was a significant association found, χ<sup>2</sup> (3, *n* = 1547) = 11.98, *p* = 0.007, with a higher proportion of students located in rural areas having a higher depression level. Research question three looked into the depression levels among students enrolled in different levels of study. A one-way ANOVA was employed to detect any significant difference among students from Form 1 to Form 6. As shown in Table 2, there was a statistically significant difference at *p* < 0.05 level in depression levels for the six levels of study: F (5, 1541) = 5.33, *p* = 0.001.

**Table 2.** One-Way ANOVA Depression level.


Note: Significance at *p* < 0.05.

As the F value indicated significant differences among the mean scores of the six groups of students, a post hoc test was carried out to ascertain where the significant differences lie. Tukey's HSD test for multiple comparisons found that the mean value of depression level was significantly different between the following groups:


#### **4. Discussion**

The current study surveyed the mental wellbeing of secondary school students with BDI—II. Among the items measured, "pessimism" and "loss of energy" recorded high means. Pessimism is directed at doubts about one's future, and this echoed with current literature that found students' confidence hampered by the pandemic due to interference in their academic tasks and plans [14]. "Loss of energy" refers to exertion of extra efforts in completing tasks, and this reflected existing evidence of students who returned to in-person classes reported lesser energy compared to online classes when they have better sleep quality [8]. Additionally, respondents reported mild depression on average, with 54.5% reported mild to severe depression levels. This is alarming as another study conducted in a Malaysian northern state before the pandemic only recorded 27.4% depression prevalence among secondary school students [21], whereas another study conducted during the pandemic recorded 37.3% prevalence [14]. This prevalence of poor mental health found requires attention or intervention to ensure well-being.

With regards to depression analysed according to study levels, Form 5 students had the highest level of depression. In Malaysian public schools, Form 5 is the final level of secondary school where students will sit for the Malaysian Certificate of Education to complete formal education. Thereafter, some would choose to proceed to Form 6 which is pre-university level to prepare for university entrance. A research had found final year students reported higher depression, attributed to lesser sleep, lesser outdoor activities, and lesser physical activities [8]. Similarly, it is possible the Form 5 students had devoted most of their time in preparing for their final examination and disregarded other activities. The prevalence of depression among final year secondary school students is also consistent with a longitudinal study done with an Australian sample, where stress and depression heightened towards the time for major [22]. The significant predictors of depression include anxiety, emotional self-efficacy, and connectedness with friends, and it was suggested that intervention can be directed at these areas to alleviate final year students' depression. Comparing the extent of depression of other levels, Form 1 students had lower depression than other forms. This is possible as the Form 1 students who transitioned from primary school did not undergo the Primary School Achievement Test—the major examination for students exiting primary level which was abolished in 2021 [23]. Hence, the Form 1 students did not experience this examination stressor. The present findings implied that higher form students reported higher depression, while lower form reported lower depression.

With regards to location, rural students reported a slightly higher depression prevalence than urban students. Looking at the extent of depression, both rural and urban students reported similar level categories of mild and moderate depression. However, rural students recorded a higher percentage of severe depression at 22.5%. This means at least 2 out of 10 students may be suffering from severe depression. Some research has shown that rural adolescents are more vulnerable to depression where their depressive symptoms are higher than the urban school students [17,18]. Local research had noted the challenges in implementing online learning in rural areas, in terms of poor internet connectivity and limited infrastructure, and rural students are disadvantaged in activities such as live discussion and group work [5,16]. These activities are important for interactions and the development of social skills, without which may give rise to disinterest, hamper confidence, and loss of focus—depressive symptoms measured in this study. It is possible that rural students returning for in-person classes have also experienced similar challenges.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Well-being is important for the recovery of post-COVID learning, as students' cognitive development and learning hinge on their emotional and mental well-being [12]. Schools are one of the crucial institutions that address students' mental health needs, it is important to roll-out well-being programmes for returning students. Besides receiving students who seek help from student counsellors, well-being programmes will be more inclusive to benefit the school population as a whole. As noted from success stories, physical activities can enhance students' well-being after schools' re-opening [12]. However, it must be noted that our sample reported having less energy, hence, activities may not be too strenuous. Alternatively, adjustments can be made to schooling duration, i.e., not to have too long extra-curricular activities after classes. Counselling departments in schools can also screen

students to identify those in need of support, which is more inclusive than getting referrals from teachers. It can be deduced that during and after the pandemic, exploring mental well-being among students is fundamental. The findings also show that rural students experience a higher depression level compared to their counterparts in the urban area. This shows that the location of the schools and where the students reside do affect the students' level of mental health. Therefore, this indicates that more scholarly as well as policy-level and attention is needed to understand the situation and assist the students in their transition from pandemic to endemic as they return to school.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.S.-C.Y.; methodology, J.S.-C.Y.; formal analysis, J.S.-C.Y.; investigation, J.S.-C.Y., P.R.M.A.R. and D.S.S.; data curation, J.S.-C.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, J.S.-C.Y.; review and editing, J.S.-C.Y., P.R.M.A.R. and D.S.S.; visualization, J.S.-C.Y., P.R.M.A.R. and D.S.S.; project administration, J.S.-C.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank the departments in the Malaysian Ministry of Education and the school principals for the co-operation given.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Mediating Effect of Goal Acquisition on the Relationship between Personal Factor and Self-Directed Learning †**

**Nursyamilah Annuar 1,\* , Dazmin Daud 2, Sabiroh Md Sabri <sup>1</sup> , Nurul Labanihuda Abdull Rahman 1, Sharifah Khairol Musairah <sup>1</sup> and Hasyeilla Abd Mutalib <sup>1</sup>**


**Abstract:** This study was conducted to examine the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning, the relationship between goal acquisition and self-directed learning, and the role of goal acquisition as a mediator in the relationship between personal and self-directed learning. Empirical studies are still lacking on the role of goal acquisition as a mediator, especially between personal relationships with self-directed learning. The study was conducted on a sample of 378 students in public universities. Hypothesis testing was performed using SEM-AMOS analysis. We found that emotion, family support, and goal acquisition have a positive and significant relationship with self-directed learning, and that goal acquisition has a significant role as a mediator between personal factors and self-directed learning. The results of this study prove that goal acquisition serves as a mediator in the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning. These findings also indicate the importance of personal elements in influencing student excellence in self-study.

#### **1. Introduction**

In this study, personal factors are defined as things that are dynamic and result from the individual self, consisting of psychological and physical systems that determine one's adaptation to the environment [1]. In this study, we used the Subjective Well-Being model initiated by [2]. According to [2], individuals react differently to the same situation and evaluate the situation based on previous expectations, assessments, and experiences. Subjective well-being encompasses emotional responses, domains of satisfaction, and life satisfaction [3,4]. The domain of satisfaction covers the dimensions of work, family, health, and emotions because these dimensions are seen to have a more impact on open and distance learning students. However, in this study, we tested the dimensions of family, health, and emotions only, because these dimensions are seen to have more impact. Based on the model of Subjective Well-Being, the family dimension involves an individual's ability to gain family support. Health, on the other hand, looks at the level of fear, anxiety and anger. As for the emotional dimension, it involves pleasant and unpleasant feelings. The mediating variable in this study is goal acquisition, referring to the management of human behavior, which includes what a person thinks and feels and behaviors that lead to goal achievement, such as self-reflection [5]. As for the dependent variables, this study takes into account the maturity of students in applying the process of self-directed learning. Self-directed learning is interpreted by [6] as a process in which an individual takes the initiative, with or without the help of others, to diagnose learning needs, formulate learning goals, identify resources for learning, select and implement learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes. Self-directed learning is an improvement in terms of the knowledge,

**Citation:** Annuar, N.; Daud, D.; Sabri, S.M.; Rahman, N.L.A.; Musairah, S.K.; Mutalib, H.A. Mediating Effect of Goal Acquisition on the Relationship between Personal Factor and Self-Directed Learning. *Proceedings* **2022**, *82*, 46. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/proceedings2022082046

Academic Editor: Mohamad Rahimi Mohamad Rosman

Published: 14 September 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

skills, achievement, or personal development of students who choose to use any method in any situation at any time [7–9].

Studies have found that students' self-directed learning is at a low level, especially involving students pursuing open and distance learning programs [10–13]. This is due to the burden of responsibilities that must be borne by students who work in addition to trying to achieve excellent academic performance. This lack of student maturity in this self-directed learning process invites significant losses for the student as well as the organization [14–16]. The burden that students face involves managing their time, family, and career to succeed in this self-directed learning process. From an organizational point of view, organizations suffer losses when students who are sponsored by tuition fees are unable to complete their studies within the stipulated period and are unable to contribute to organizational development [17–19]. Low self-directed learning skills will have an impact on a student's motivation [20,21], self-confidence [22], ability to control learning [23], and ability to take initiative [24] to achieve academically as well as professionally.

Studies have found that open and distance learning students have higher levels of work and study stress as compared to students of full-time learning [12]. In addition, there are also studies that have found that students experience stress not only as a result of work stress, but also due to family burdens, health problems, and an uncomfortable environment [25,26]. Students who experience high stress may fail to control their emotions [27], which in turn can involve injury as well as death [28]. There is evidence to suggest that students commit suicide as a result of academic stress [19].

Personal factors refer to a person's personality. Personality can be interpreted as behaviors that characterize a person [29]. The personal dimension is divided into five categories: work, emotions, family support, finance, and health [2]. Family and partner support, health, and emotions are the factors that determine students' behavior in self-directed learning [30–34]. Personality is also related to student emotions that influence student goal achievement [35–39]. Emotional stability helps students implement goal acquisition more effectively [21]. Students who are able to control their emotions are predicted to have high levels of goal achievement [40,41]. If students are having problems with their family or spouses, student performance in learning will be disrupted [42,43]. High family support for student learning is expected to influence student goal achievement [30–32]. Students with problems among family members have lower levels of goal achievement [42]. Similarly, good health can increase student goal achievement [30,32,33,43,44]. Physically healthy students are able to implement their goals well [16]. Conflict theory suggests that individuals with limited time and energy as well as additional roles experience stress in meeting their needs, causing even more role conflict [45,46].

Goal acquisition is considered to be a stable tendency to take personal initiative in a variety of activities and situations [47]. Goal acquisition has a positive relationship with students' self-directed learning [24,48]. Students with high goal achievement show a more self-directed attitude in their learning [49]. Students who implement goal acquisition regularly can improve their academic performance [15].

#### **2. The Role of Goal Acquisition as a Mediator**

The acquisition of goals helps individuals acquire knowledge, improve social quality, increase the onset of perseverance in performing activities, achieve better performance, and develop a sense of discipline. Goal acquisition is an incentive that forces an individual to act towards the achievement of some goal. As defined by [50], goal acquisition is interpreted as a solid target that is expected to be achieved in one's learning. Goal acquisition is a key factor in effective management of the learning process [51]. Goal acquisition also refers to the aspect of self-reflection [17].

Goal acquisition was chosen as a mediator because it is an aspect related to positive self-development outcomes and serves as a liaison for psychological aspects for a person related to external factors such as positive performance, commitment, and responsibility among students [52–54]. Studies have found that goal acquisition serves as a mediator between other variables (such as task factors) and academic excellence variables in general [55] and self-directed learning maturity in particular [52]. Based on the theory of Subjective Well-Being, students with high life satisfaction will be able to increase their appreciation for a completed task which can then positively and directly affect the level of goal achievement [56,57].

Based on the context of this study, life satisfaction is a personal factor that consists of satisfaction in terms of emotions, family support, and health, and will directly affect the level of achievement of student goals. Meanwhile, the goal acquisition relationship is able to influence the maturity of students' self-directed learning based on the self-directed learning model by [7], which emphasizes students' responsibility for learning. Research by [50] linked Goal Acquisition Theory in describing the role of goal acquisition as a mediator in the relationship between life satisfaction and positive outcomes through responsibility for learning. Responsibility for learning can promote goal acquisition and have a positive impact on work outcomes such as job performance [15,57,58]. Research by [59] also criticizes that students with goal acquisition are confident that persistent effort will lead to positive outcomes, and confidence in learning is based on this belief.

Past researchers have noted that emotional stability [60], family support [61], and health [24] can influence goal achievement. Meanwhile, the acquisition of goals has the result of responsibility for learning, such as maturity in self-directed learning. The relationship between these variables proves that goal acquisition can play a mediating role in the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning. However, there is still no specific study that examines the role of goal acquisition as a mediator in the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning, especially in the field of distance education. Nevertheless, there are still past studies that use goal acquisition as a mediator of the relationship between other variables. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

**Hypothesis 1 (H1).** *Goal acquisition has a mediating effect on the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning*.

**Hypothesis 1a (H1a).** *Goal acquisition has a mediating effect on the relationship between emotional dimensions and self-directed learning*.

**Hypothesis 1b (H1b).** *Goal acquisition has a mediating effect on the relationship between the dimensions of family support and self-directed learning*.

**Hypothesis 1c (H1c).** *Goal acquisition has a mediating effect on the relationship between health dimensions and self-directed learning*.

#### *Study Framework*

We attempted to integrate personal and self-directed learning factors in addition to moderating goal acquisition. We adapted different models, concepts, and theories and integrated them into the framework of the study. These include the Personal Responsibility Orientation (PRO) model, the Subjective Well-Being (SWB) model, the Theory of Multiple Perspectives, and Goal Acquisition Theory, illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows that goal acquisition mediates the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning. Personal factors refer to psychological and physical changes due to events that occur in the environment and affect the level of maturity of students. Individual personalities influence student behavior. The personal component refers to family support, health, and emotional support. These three factors are grounded in the Theory of Multiple Perspectives and the Subjective Well-Being model. Based on Brockett and Hiemstra's PRO model, students are responsible for their own learning and also take risks on the impact of each decision made. For students who are less satisfied with their lives, they still need to be responsible and accept the consequences of decisions made in self-directed learning. High life satisfaction in personal factors helps students to achieve a high level of self-directed learning [62]. In addition, goal acquisition mediates the relationship between personal factors and selfdirected learning. Goal acquisition is a strong target that is expected to be achieved in one's learning [50]. Goal setting helps students deal with challenges in learning. Increasing the level of maturity of students' skills to learn independently is the desired result that will change or improve the skills and behaviors of individuals to continue to progress and be enthusiastic to apply self-directed learning in school or their career. The framework of the study (Figure 1) shows the links between personal factors (family support, health, and emotional) and the maturity level of students' self-directed learning skills. Goal acquisition mediates the relationship between the two types of variables.

**Figure 1.** Conceptual framework.

#### **3. Research Methodology**

This study is a descriptive and quantitative deductive study, the conceptual framework of which is based on the conclusions made from the literature review. The sampling method used in this study is the Non-Probability Sampling method, which applies the purposive sampling technique, or judgmental sampling. Purposive sampling is a procedure in which a group of subjects with certain characteristics are selected as study respondents [63]. The respondents of this study consisted of students enrolled in a bachelor's degree program through online distance learning platforms in public universities in Malaysia.

Power analysis categorizes the ability of a study to obtain a meaningful effect to identify the sample size required in order to provide the necessary power for an effect on scientific interest [64]. Among the software built is STATISTICA, which is a comprehensive statistics package that offers the option to calculate sample size based on power analysis for the structural equation model. Therefore, this software was used to calculate the required sample size by emphasizing the values of RMSEA = 0.08, df = 27, power goal = 0.80, and error probability α = 0.05. As a result, the proposed minimum sample size is 275.

Instruments for self-directed learning, goal acquisition, and personal factors use a Likert scale with five answer choices scaled from 1 to 5, with 1 representing "strongly disagree" and 5 representing "strongly agree". As for the demographics of the study, the measurement item contained seven questions related to gender, age, race, academic qualification and marital status. Emotion and family support were measured using the Emotional Quotient Inventory, and health was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire. The measurement instruments evaluated emotions (11 questions), family (9 questions), and health (8 questions). We also used the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Skills questionnaire (25 questions). The reliability of the coefficients was as follows: emotion, α = 0.876; family, α = 0.742; health, α = 0.848; goal acquisition, α = 0.866; self-directed learning, α = 0.836. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.7 and above is considered a reliable measurement [65]. Therefore, the CR values for all instruments are at a suitable level.

#### **4. Findings**

The study respondents consisted of 378 people. Males (36%) represented 136 people and females (64%) represented 242 respondents. All study data for the three variables, namely, personal factors, goal acquisition, and self-directed learning, were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis using IBM SPSS AMOS version 2.1 software (Armonk, NY, USA). The measurement model was run first before implementing the structural equation model [65]. Table 1 shows the results of the measurement model regarding the reliability and validity of the study instruments. The recommended level is

>0.5 [65]. A total of 14 items were dropped due to a load value of less than 0.5. However, the reliability value is at the good category level where the composite reliability value is in the range of 0.742 to 0.876.

**Table 1.** Cronbach's alpha values.


The structural equation model used a bootstrapping procedure of 5000. The structural equation model is used to study the model and explain the direct relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning and the indirect relationship through goal acquisition intermediaries. The results of the study after evaluating the fit of the structural model show that the data are consistent with the model: χ<sup>2</sup> (677) = 2075.761, *p* = 0.000, χ2/df = 3.066, GFI = 0.786, CFI = 0.821, IFI = 0.822, TLI = 0.804, RMSEA = 0.074. The results show that the correspondence indices such as CFI, IFI, and TLI are very close to 0.9, which is the level of acceptance. GFI (0.786) and NFI (0.757) are also close to the acceptance criteria of 0.9. Chi-squared (χ2/df) is below the value of 5, which is an indicator value of the acceptance of the match between the hypothesis model and the data that have been collected. The value of RMSEA is 0.074, which is a value close to the match. The results show that the direct relationships are positive and significant, complying with the set value with a significance level of *p* < 0.01. However, health showed an insignificant value. Therefore, only three study hypotheses were accepted and supported.

The maximum likelihood estimation technique was used to predict the model. The results of the path analysis hypothesis for the model structure are presented in Table 2. As illustrated in Table 2, the results show that personal factors have a significant and positive relationship with self-directed learning skills (emotion (β = 0.306, CR = 5.230, *p* = 0.000); family (β = 0.076, CR = 1.536, *p* = 0.124); health (β = 0.098, CR = 1.850, *p* = 0.064)). Therefore, based on the structural model, our hypothesis is supported.



Note: If a *p*-value is less than 0.001, it is flagged with three stars (\*\*\*).

The results of the study in Table 2 show a positive and significant relationship between goal acquisition and self-directed learning, with β = 0.836, C.R. = 9.908, and *p* = 0.000. Thus, the hypothesis is supported.

Next, we examined the significant and positive intermediate effect of goal acquisition on the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning. The bootstrapping approach was used to this end. AMOS software can directly generate bootstrapped bias-corrected confidence intervals for indirect effects. Parallel to Multi-Model Analysis (AMM) to test the effect of intermediaries, the decision to test the intermediaries for each hypothesis was made by comparing the model directly opposite to the full intermediary model. The use of AMOS is also similar to Multi-Model Analysis (AMM) to test the effect of intermediaries, with structural models directly designed based on the hypothesis of a

direct relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning skills. The direct structural model is consistent with the data: χ<sup>2</sup> (683) = 2378.405, *p* = 0.000, χ2/df = 3.482, GFI = 0.771, CFI = 0.783, IFI = 0.784, TLI = 0.764, RMSEA = 0.081. The results show that all the appropriate model indices such as GFI, CFI, IFI, and TLI are close to the level of acceptance of 0.9. Moreover, the relative chi-squared value is below the value of acceptance of 5, and RMSEA is 0.081, which is close to appropriate.

The full intermediate structure model of the study is also consistent with data where χ<sup>2</sup> (677) = 2075.761, *p* = 0.000, χ2/df = 3.066, GFI = 0.786, CFI = 0.821, IFI = 0.822, TLI = 0.804, RMSEA = 0.074. The results of the study show that the full structure model explains 80% of the self-directed learning skills, while the direct structure model explains only 65% of the self-directed learning skills. This finding indicates that the intermediate variables proposed are added aspects to the diversity of self-directed learning skills.

The results in Table 3 show that the standardized indirect effect (SIE) for personalities with self-directed learning skills through goal acquisition was significant (emotions (β = 0.236, *p* = 0.000), family (β = 0.073, *p* = 0.033), health (β = 0.052, *p* = 0.139)). The results also show that the standardized regression weight (β) for the interpersonal hypothesis with self-directed learning skills in the intermediary model was decreased but significant in both the direct model and the intermediate structural model. In other words, the indirect effect of personal factors on self-directed learning skills through goal acquisition was not empty through 95% emotional bias-corrected (bias-corrected C1 = 0.154 to 0.343), family bias-corrected (bias-corrected C1 = 0.005 to 0.156), health bias-corrected (bias-corrected C1 = 0.018 to 0.132) confidence intervals. The findings of this study indicate that goal acquisition partially mediates the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning skills. Therefore, our hypotheses are supported by the data.


**Table 3.** Personal factors' indirect effects on self-directed learning, with goal acquisition as a mediator.

Note: BC = Bias-corrected confidence interval; 5000 bootstrap samples have been requested.

#### **5. Discussion**

From the results of the study, we found that all our hypotheses were supported, except for the relationship between health and self-directed learning through the mediation of goal acquisition. The findings of the study show that the two personal dimensions of emotions and family support have a positive and significant direct relationship with goal achievement. These results are in line with findings from studies [21,33,35,36] that found that emotional stability helps improve goal acquisition among ODL students. The findings suggest that emotions can influence students' reflection on learning through goal acquisition. Therefore, the working student organization and the university should give focus and attention to the emotions of ODL students. In addition, the results of this study are also in line with the findings of studies [10,30,41] that family support is a catalyst to goal achievement among ODL students. This means that family support has an impact on students' achievement of goals. The student's family must pay attention to the student's self-development by providing full support to the student achieve goals and subsequently

succeed academically and professional. However, the relationship between health and goal achievement shows an insignificant relationship despite past studies from [30,32,33] that showed significant findings. This may be due to cultural differences and the context of where this study was conducted in Malaysia, which consists of various races, and in the context of distance education.

As for the findings of the study on the relationship between goal acquisition and self-directed learning, the results are consistent with the studies by [15,57,59] which found that goal acquisition can influence the level of maturity of self-directed learning of ODL students. This indicates that when ODL students have a high level of goal achievement towards learning, it directly affects the increase in the level of maturity of learning independently. Thus, the relationships between personal aspects, goal acquisition, and self-directed learning are seen to be interrelated. These findings are also in line with the meaning of self-directed learning, which is closely related to self-development from emotional and physical aspects in order to help reduce stress due to the heavy burden of responsibility on students [26,30].

In addition, we also found an indirect relationship when the role of goal acquisition is mediated by the relationship between the three personal dimensions and self-directed learning. These findings support Goal Acquisition Theory, where goal acquisition exerts a mediating effect on the relationship between individual self-development and positive outcomes on learning [15,48,49]. Theoretically, this study shows the relationship between personal resources, namely, emotions, family support, and health, with goal acquisition and self-directed learning. The framework of this study is based on the theory of Subjective Well-Being through Goal Acquisition Theory by [50], which has been successfully tested and validated based on the findings obtained, although there are health dimensions that show an insignificant relationship due to contextual differences compared to previous studies. This indicates that family emotions and support with goal acquisition ultimately have a positive effect on the maturity of self-directed learning. This suggests that individual aspects such as emotions and seeking family support should not be set aside and become a necessity for work organizations and universities to ensure that stress due to commitment towards work and family and lack of maturity in self-directed learning among ODL students can be addressed. This is because work and study stress were found to have a relationship with the level of maturity of students' self-directed learning [19,20]. This study also proves the importance of the role of direct goal acquisition in improving self-directed learning as well as the mediating role of goal acquisition in the indirect relationship between emotional factors and family support with self-directed learning.

#### **6. Conclusions**

We found that two personal dimensions of emotion and family support have positive direct and significant relationships with self-directed learning, that goal acquisition has a positive and significant direct relationship with self-directed learning, and that goal acquisition has a significant role as a mediator in the relationship between the two dimensions of personal factors and self-directed learning. The results of this study prove that goal acquisition serves as a mediator in the relationship between personal factors and self-directed learning. These findings also indicate the importance of personal elements in influencing student excellence and maturity in self-study.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, N.A. and D.D.; methodology, S.K.M. and N.L.A.R.; validation, H.A.M. and S.M.S.; writing—original draft preparation, N.A. and S.M.S.; writing—review and editing, N.A. and D.D.; funding acquisition, N.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Research Management Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Perlis Kampus Arau, grant number 600-UiTMPs (PJIM&A/PI-DPPD 13). RMI File No 600-TNCPI 5/3/DDN (09) (002/2020).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors thank the Research Management Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Perlis Kampus Arau. This work was supported by an Internal Research Acculturation Grant awarded by Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Perlis, Kampus Arau (ref. no. 600-UiTMPs (PJIM&A/PI-DPPD 13)). RMI File No 600-TNCPI 5/3/DDN (09) (002/2020).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

