Business Process Reengineering of Digital Learning Ecosystems

This study was conducted to investigate e-learning acceptance and factors influencing higher institution students in Brunei Darussalam. Among the factors involved in this study were perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, self-efficacy, technology availability, and usage and intention to use. Technology acceptance models (TAM) were used as a basis for the study and for hypothesizing the effects of such variables on the use of e-learning. The findings of this study found that there is significant influence of self-efficacy to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness while perceived ease of use has direct impact to perceived usefulness and perceived usefulness has influence on intention to use towards e-learning systems.

Development and Validation of Student’s MOOC-efficacy Scale: Exploratory Factor Analysis

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), the fast developing teaching and learning platforms of global interest, are the product of higher education's expanded usage of e-learning. MOOCs have been heralded as the potential educational breakthrough for the 21st century. A positive attitude toward self-efficacy is essential for successful MOOC implementation. However, only a few studies have been conducted to ascertain a student's MOOC efficacy level, and a very limited scale for assessing a student's MOOC efficacy has been identified in the context of Malaysia. This study aims to develop and validate a student’s MOOC-efficacy scale for higher institutions. In this study, students’ MOOC-efficacy was conceived in four ways (i.e. information searching, making queries, MOOC learning, and MOOC usability). A descriptive research design with a scale was employed to collect information from 289 students enrolled in higher institutions. The Educational and Psychological Testing Standards were adapted to develop a scale to gauge students’ MOOC-efficacy. The scale's appropriate items, as well as its validity and reliability, were determined using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Significant levels of validity and reliability for the developed scale were found. The scale comprised four dimensions, i.e., information searching (three items), making queries (seven items), MOOC learning (six items) and MOOC usability (seven items), amounting to a total of 23 items. This scale was then used to determine the efficacy of higher institution students in using MOOCs. The eigenvalues of the four MOOC efficacy dimensions were within the range of 1.39 to 8.49. The factor structures explained 63.9% of the total variance. The scores of reliability varied in the range of 0.822 to 0.890. This work produced a psychometrically sound scale to measure students’ MOOC efficacy. Students, educators, administrators, and other individuals may benefit from the application of the verified MOOC efficacy scale. The information generated from the scale can be utilized to determine the training needs of students, educators and MOOC developers. Keywords: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), student’s MOOC-efficacy, scale development, higher institutions.

CHURCH’S RESPONSE AS NOSTRUM TO THE CHALLENGES OF STUDENT ACTIVISM MOVEMENT IN NIGERIAN HIGHER INSTITUTION OF LEARNING

Students’ populace serves as a key stakeholder in education which cannot be disregarded in decision making. Also, education impacts students with knowledge, skills and empowerment to be active in developing the society, part of the educational structure in higher education is student activism movement. Students Activism movement in higher institution of learning performs these activities to the student’s populace and the society - Student Welfare, Academic development, Social Activities, Community Service, Infrastructural Development and others. Moreover, the benefits students derive in this movement are – Confidence booster, enables the student to get involved in reformation, building new connections, discovery of hidden talents and developing ability to move out of comfort zone. However, the movement is faced with diverse challenges that combat its original intention. Such challenges are – Cultism, Examination malpractice, Indiscipline, Insecurity, Frequent harassment and others. Furthermore, nostrum to the challenges of this movement is the intervention of the faith-based organization like the Church. The church is therefore, saddled with the responsibilities of constant enlightenment to the prospective students on the activity of the movement. The writer thus recommends the following to combat the challenges of student activism movement in the Nigerian higher Institution of learning - Student Activism movement should return to its original purpose of existence as enumerated by its founder, government should create enabling school climate for the students of higher institutions in Nigeria, the church should give proper enlightenment to the prospective students on the activities of student in the higher institution of learning. KEYWORDS: Student Activism, Church, Education.

Is It Important to Maintain Lecturers' Job Satisfaction in Higher Education?

In order to remain competitive while facing globalization and industrial revolution 4.0 many of universities have to made significant change to improve their quality of education services. Lecturers as the human capital played an important role to remain competitive. Lecturers' performance become the key success factor within education services. Lecturers may unable to reach their full potential due to several problem such as their organizational relationship issues, workload issues in which trigger job stress and job satisfaction. This research aimed to recommend the success factors optimize lecturers' performance. Keywords: Higher Institution, Job Satisfaction, Job Stress, Lecturers' Performance, Quality of Organizational Relationships.

LECTURER’S PERCEPTION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) APPROACH IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

Problem-based learning (PBL) was known as the student-centered pedagogy where it involves the student to experience solving complex real-world problems and the teacher acts as a facilitator in crafting trigger materials to promote the learning concepts. This study aims to investigate and identify the level of usefulness and challenges as well as the level of student achievement through the perception of academic staff’ on the implementation of PBL in classrooms in Malaysia. A quantitative study was conducted, and the data was collected through a survey questionnaire on 98 lecturers all over Malaysia. The findings from the analysis indicate that lectures in Malaysia have a high perception of PBL implementation in the classroom. Overall, the findings enhance the understanding of higher institution lecturers’ perception of PBL in terms of the usefulness of PBL as one dynamic and active approach that transforms dramatically the routine lecture-based learning. Findings also suggest that sufficient training to learners is required in implementing PBL effectively, thus indirectly facilitate the focus of students that lead to the achievement of course learning outcomes.

Students’ Responses to Multi-Modal Emergency Remote Learning During COVID-19 in a South African Higher Institution

COVID-19 pandemic forced several higher education institutions (HEI) to operate remotely. Emergency remote teaching, using synchronous and asynchronous instruction, was adopted by several HEIs. The experiences of students with remote teaching and learning in certain situations are not fully understood, thus need to be explored. This study explored the experiences of students with the emergency remote teaching and learning practices adopted at a selected HEI in South Africa. A cross-sectional and self-administered survey was used to gather data from 243 conveniently sampled returning students within the Department of Accounting and Finance. Descriptive statistics were used to make sense of the collected data. The study found that students preferred a face-to-face approach to learning to remote learning. The respondents underscored insufficient data, unstable network connection, unconducive home environments and loneliness as deterrents to effective remote learning. Despite these negative experiences, students appreciated the flexibility and convenience of recorded video lectures and acknowledged the compassion and support of lecturers during remote learning. An understanding of the experiences of students during remote learning provides a basis for future teaching plans, which would improve students' learning experiences. In its current format and students living in their home environments, remote learning greatly diminishes the chances of success for most students. Lecturers need to be compassionate and considerate of student’s struggles in their plans for remote teaching and learning as well as online learning.

Prevalence of substance misuse among students in a higher institution in the London, UK

Background: Although substance misuse pattern is of growing worldwide concern, European countries have not been left out as they are uniquely going through a dynamic phase of drug misuse pattern. It is perhaps appalling, that little or no attention has been given to university students in aspects of drug policy and adoption of potential interventions necessary to curb this act. Consequently, this study aims to study the prevalence of substance misuse among students at a post-92 university in London. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design using a convenience sampling technique was used. A sample of 150 students were required for the study. The recruitment process involved using a selfadministered questionnaire which was disseminated via email, classrooms and in the library. Results: The findings showed that majority of respondents were young people within the age group of 18-24 years and a higher proportion of respondents were female students. This study reveals the prevalence of substance use among students being 36 (24%), of the sample respondents who have taken drugs for non-medical purposes at least once. Cannabis and Cocaine remained the most commonly abused drugs in the university which is consistent with national evidence in the (United Kingdom) UK. Conclusion: It is therefore recommended that public health interventions targeted towards preventing substance misuse trends among students should be designed to raise awareness on its harmful implications thereby reducing its prevalence in younger generations. Keywords: prevalence; substance misuse; university; college; higher education.

Active Participation in the Student-to-Teacher Interaction in Online Synchronous Sessions in Higher Education

Mexican institutions promoted e-learning to conclude the school year 2019-2020. In the higher education institution where this study was conducted, teachers were not familiar with online teaching. In Spring 2020, teachers prepared themselves or with students’ assistance to teach online. In Summer 2020, the institution offered workshops to update teachers on Blackboard LMS, Microsoft Teams, and Moodle to work in Autumn 2020. After that training, teachers started videoconferences in online synchronous sessions (OSSs). However, they observed that students did not participate actively in OSSs. Given this contextual background, this qualitative exploratory study addressed a threefold objective: 1. To identify students’ perceptions of active participation in OSSs. 2. To explore the degree of participation in the student-teacher interaction in OSSs at a higher institution, and 3. To identify factors affecting student active participation while teachers are lecturing. Sixteen participants with ages ranging from 19 to 25 years old were interviewed. The results showed that most participants consider active participation essential in online synchronous sessions; the level of participation was high, moderate, and low. In addition, affective, cognitive, moral and technical factors affected students’ active participation. The results of this study are useful in shaping our understanding of the whole panorama that is taking place behind synchronous sessions.