IIUM Journal of Educational Studies

Unveiling Education's Uncharted Realms in a Troubled World: Our Beacons of Hope for the Muslim Ummah

Tunku Badariah Tunku Ahmad — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Academic Performance and Academic Self-Efficacy among Pre-University Students in Malaysia

Talal Alzabidi, Mohamad Sahari Nordin, Reben Ramadhan Saleh — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This research investigated the relationship between academic performance and self-efficacy among pre-university students in Malaysia using cross-sectional survey data. The sample comprised 171 pre-university undergraduates, aged between 18 and 20, studying at a public university in Kuala Lumpur. They were derived from the population to form the sample using stratified random sampling. Two separate scales measuring academic self-efficacy and academic performance (i.e., the CEVEAPEU) were used to collect the survey data. The study used descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression to analyze the data. The results indicate that a majority of the students reported a high level of academic self-efficacy and established a strong positive relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance. No statistically significant gender differences were found in the respondents’ academic self-efficacy, but academic performance was significantly influenced by academic self-efficacy. The findings suggest the potential involvement of additional variables, such as CGPA, in shaping students’ academic performance, highlighting the need for further exploration of these variables in future studies.

Striving Towards Independent Living: The Trials and Tribulations of Institutionalised Adolescents in Malaysia

Nur Syuhada Mohd Munir, Haniza Rais — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This phenomenological study explores how five institutionalised Malay adolescents used adaptive strategies towards independent living upon being released from welfare institutions. Five 17-year-old Malay Muslim adolescents, three males and two females, were recruited via purposive sampling for a focus group discussion to gather insights into their plans and strategies to cope with life challenges after being released from their respective welfare institutions. Thematic analysis of the FGD data extracted six themes that portrayed the adolescents’ adaptive strategies for facing challenges in life. The themes include making personal preparations, acquiring personal strengths, setting a career direction, exploring the support of friends and outsiders, feeling of being complete, searching for personal necessities and having a sense of responsibility. The findings highlight the need for developing a comprehensive life skills intervention for institutionalised adolescents and psychoeducation counselling modules to alleviate the adolescents’ uncertainties in going through the adjustment phase outside welfare institutions.

School Leaders’ Leadership Practices and Their Influence on Crisis-Related Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: A Multi-Site Case Study

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This study explores how the leadership practices of school leaders influence their ability to solve problems and make decisions effectively in times of crisis. It employs a qualitative research design where a series of semi-structured interviews were carried out with six secondary school leaders, ages 55 to 59, from three different education district offices (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah or PPDs) in a northern Malaysian state. Each participant has at least 30 years of experience in education and has served in the position of school leader for at least three years. From the thematic analysis of the interview data, four leadership practices on problem-solving and decision-making during crises were identified, i.e., providing guidance and direction; inspiring and empowering; collaborative problem-solving and decision-making; and adopting a service-oriented approach, which is an eclectic approach to leadership. The findings highlight the critical importance of strategic problem-solving and decision-making in overcoming challenges faced by schools. It also highlights how effective leadership ensures the resilience and success of a school, its community, and relevant stakeholders by fostering a supportive and collaborative environment, promoting proactive problem-solving, and prioritising service to students and staff during crisis. This research provides valuable insights for school leaders and policymakers seeking to enhance leadership effectiveness in crisis management.

Exploring Indonesian Primary School Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence: Comparisons by Gender and Teaching Experience

Windasari, Yuliati Nur Rohmah, Denis Fidita Karya — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This study examined the level of emotional intelligence among private primary school teachers in selected Indonesian schools and differences in teachers’ EI by gender and teaching experience. Using a census survey, the study obtained emotional intelligence data from 107 Indonesian teachers—65 female and 42 male—from 19 private primary schools in Surabaya. The survey was administered using a Google Form containing 25 items on emotional intelligence adapted from Goleman (2011). The emotional intelligence items were divided into five subscales measuring self-awareness (four items), self-regulation (four items), motivation (six items), empathy (five items), and relationship management (six items). The EI data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to establish teachers’ EI levels and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine teacher differences in EI by gender and teaching experience. The results indicated that private primary school teachers in Surabaya reported high levels of EI in all five of its dimensions. Both male and female teachers demonstrated a consistent distribution of emotional intelligence scores and no statistically significant differences by gender and teaching experience were found among the sample in terms of emotional intelligence.

Exploring Digital Technology Usage among English Language Instructors at a Saudi Higher Education Institution and Validating a Hierarchical Structure of Usage Based on the SAMR Model

Majid Hussain Buledi, Tunku Badariah Tunku Ahmad — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This study examined the usage of digital technology among English language instructors at a public university in Saudi Arabia as perceived by their students and tested the notion that such usage could be ranked in hierarchical levels. The SAMR model, developed by Puentedura (2014), was employed to categorise and rank technology usage into four incremental levels, i.e., Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition, with Substitution being the most rudimentary level and Redefinition being the highest and most sophisticated usage. A 32-item questionnaire rated on a 5-point Likert scale measuring how frequently English language instructors used technology at the four SAMR levels was developed by the authors, content-validated by six instructional technology experts and pilot-tested with 63 students prior to its use in the actual survey. Data were gathered from a survey sample of 535 Saudi learners studying English in their foundation year programme and analysed using three statistical procedures, i.e., descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The descriptive results pointed to instructors' technology usage revolving around the Substitution level of the SAMR model, indicating a predominant tendency among instructors to merely replace traditional teaching tools with digital alternatives. The EFA procedure (via Principal Axis Factoring with Promax rotation) produced conflicting results. While the extracted factor structure supported only two levels of usage, the scree plot suggested the existence of four usage levels consistent with the SAMR model. This was addressed by the subsequent CFA procedure performed on the data that confirmed the four SAMR levels, with the fit statistics indicating a good-fitting technology usage model; χ2(98) = 268.73; χ2/df = 2.74; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .078, CI: .067, .090. Sixteen out of the 32 technology usage items were successfully extracted and confirmed as the indicators SAMR’s four levels. The results corroborated previous findings that technology utilisation among English instructors is pervasive but rudimentary. They also supported the theoretical notion that technology usage can be categorised, ranked, and understood in hierarchical levels as purported by the SAMR model.

Sibling Birth Order Among Undergraduate University Students and Its Influence on Personality Traits: Some Implications for Education

Chow Chiam Rong, Ismail Hussein Amzat — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

This cross-sectional survey explores the influence of sibling birth order on university students’ personality traits. The sample consisted of 184, predominantly Chinese, Malaysian undergraduates of a private university in Malaysia. The Big-Five personality questionnaire (John & Benet-Martinez, 1998) was used for data collection, while Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and path analysis from SEM were used to analyse the data. The CFA results show a significant interrelationship between the traits of extroversion and agreeableness but no significant direct effect of birth order on personality traits. The results are consistent with the previous studies in Malaysia and around the globe and suggest the likelihood of other factors (e.g., social culture and environment) possibly influencing student personality. Subsequent research that employs various Malaysian samples is needed to further test the applicability of Sulloway’s theory in explaining the influence or effect of sibling birth order in Malaysia.