Managerial decision making styles, decision making skills and organizational effectiveness amongst deans of public universities in Malaysia / Leele Susana Jamian

Decision making holds a fundamental function as it is pivotal in all organizations. Henceforth, quality of decision made often portray the effectiveness of leaders which subsequently affects the effectiveness of the whole organisation. In light of this, the current study aimed to explore the relationship of managerial decision making styles (DMS), decision making skills (DMSKILLS) and organizational effectiveness (OE) among deans of public universities in Malaysia. This study was guided by four research objectives and five research questions. A descriptive-correlational research design employing the mixedmethods approach was used to explore these relationships. Two groups of respondents were involved in the study namely: 54 deans and 716 subordinates from four randomly selected Malaysian public universities. Quantitative data were collected from respondents via survey while qualitative data were collected via open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. Findings indicated that a majority of deans rated themselves as Behavioural decision-makers and this was corroborated by their subordinates

Assessing UiTM TESL students’ knowledge of vocabulary / Leele Susana Jamian, Gurnam Kaur Sidhu and Muzaireen Muzafar

Learning the vocabulary of a language is vital in the process of acquiring the language because it serves several functions which assist learners to be good at the language, even though learning can be complicated and burdening for learners (Jiang, 2004; Cobb & Horst, 2004). The aim of the study was to investigate the English vocabulary levels of the TESL mainstream students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This research study also examined the differences in vocabulary levels between the male and female students. The study involved 90 respondents that were enrolled in the TESL programme at the Faculty of Education in UiTM, Shah Alam. The findings revealed that most of the UiTM TESL students scored an average of 15 correct answers in the 2,000 word-level, 12 for the 3,000 word-level, 8 for the 5,000 word-level, 10 for the University Word Level and 6 for the 10,000 word-level. The study also revealed that even though the students were highly engaged with listening, reading, speaking and writing activities, these involvements did not correlate with the mastery of vocabulary knowledge

A conceptual framework: the influence of school culture types and personality traits on psychological empowerment amongst secondary school teachers in Malaysia / Leele Susana Jamian, Badjie Xbietaquauallah Ibadallah and Chan Yuen Fook.

Educational reformers have considered teacher empowerment as one of the panaceas for school success. The concept of teacher empowerment has emerged as an important approach in promoting positive work behaviors with many researchers observing the link between the levels of teachers’ psychological empowerment and the extent to which they feel motivated, committed and satisfied with their job. Drawing from an ongoing doctoral research which looked at the relationships of school culture types and personality traits towards psychological empowerment amongst secondary school teachers in Malaysia, this article discusses the formulation of a conceptual framework. Although there have been numerous empirical researches on the structural and psychological constructs of teacher empowerment, previous studies mainly looked at these constructs in isolation. This current paper discusses the concept of empowerment and intends to model teacher empowerment as a holistic framework from multiple perspectives. The framework puts forward in this paper is based on both the literature and a study investigating the relationships of school culture types and personality traits towards psychological empowerment amongst teachers in the context of Malaysian secondary school. In addition, this paper also attempts to discuss the possible research issues that could justify the development of the conceptual framework of the topic

What Do ESL Learners Perceive as Effective 21st Century L2 Pedagogies?

Low proficiency in English, poor communication skills, problem-solving, and critical thinking cause unemployment among local graduates. This study explored learners’ perception of pedagogies that work effectively for language acquisition based on eight dimensions of 21st century L2 pedagogies. A descriptive research design combining quantitative and qualitative methods was utilised to extract data from 60 undergraduates. Findings revealed that TESL students had higher overall mean scores and preferences for Learner-centred Models compared to Mathematics students who chose Appropriate Tools and Promote Learning without Borders. Their preferences of pedagogies signify what works best for their mastery of L2. Keywords: 21st Century L2 (second language) pedagogies; ESL (L2) learners; dimensions; undergraduates eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI4.290

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING STYLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AMONG DEANS OF MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Scholars in the area of management agree that decision making is both central and fundamental to any organization. This is because the quality of decisions made would influence the effectiveness of the managers and consequently, affect the success of the whole organization. Indeed, this also happens in the educational management setting. Drawing from an ongoing doctoral research which looked at the relationship between managerial decision making styles and organizational effectiveness among deans of Malaysian public universities, this article discusses the formulation of a conceptual framework. The framework put forward in this paper is based on both literature and a study investigating the relationship between managerial decision making styles and organizational effectiveness among deans of Malaysian public universities. Second, the paper also attempts to discuss the possible research issues that could justify the development of the conceptual framework of the topic. Literature reveals that there are potential links pointing to the relationships between the variables. However, as to date there is little empirical scholarly research conducted in the educational management and leadership setting concerning the variables discussed in this study. Keywords: Decision making styles, decision making skills, organizational effectiveness, deans

Multitasking and Job Satisfaction amongst Secondary School Teachers at the District of Klang, Selangor Malaysia

The role of a teacher has always been challenging especially in the 21st century. Ranging from teaching, extra-curricular activities, sports, administrative, to non-academic matters, teachers teaching in the secondary schools tend to multitask their daily duties. Added with numerous responsibilities in the digital era, doing just one thing at a time seems to be very luxury yet awfully wasteful. Indeed, multitasking was considered essential in today’s work efficiency. Based on observation and empirical studies, multitasking tends to influence and contribute to teachers’ job satisfaction. Nonetheless, there are also gaps in the existing local literature pertaining to multitasking and job satisfaction amongst teachers in the Malaysian local school context. In view of this, the current study is conducted with the primary aim to investigate the relationship between multitasking and job satisfaction amongst the secondary school teachers in one of the districts of Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. A descriptive correlational research design using a mixed-methods approach was employed to explore the relationship between the two variables. Two instruments measuring multitasking by Woods, Boyd, Rand, Nardo and Boyd (2014) and Job Satisfaction survey by Spector (1997) were adapted to suit the local setting for data responded by 124 secondary school teachers. The quantitative findings revealed that there were significant, positive and moderate relationships between multitasking and job satisfaction. However, findings from the multiple regression indicated that only 11.3% of the variance in job satisfaction was contributed by multitasking. In addition, qualitative data tend to triangulate the quantitative findings. Besides positive responses, there were also voices that proposed otherwise. Consequently, all these findings lead to some important implications in terms of the corpus of knowledge and policy implication related to the two variables of educational management and leadership amongst the teachers cum instructional leaders in the academic setting

Institutional support for postgraduate study in Malaysia / Gurnam Kaur Sidhu … [et al.]

The twin forces of globalisation and internationalisation witnessed the global democratisation of higher education leading to the mushrooming of institutions of higher learning alongside with the rapid increase in student enrolments at all levels including postgraduate study. Despite the rapid developments in higher education, postgraduate study has been plagued with high attrition and low completion rates. Consequently, there is a need to look into delivery systems to ensure students are not short-changed and quality education and delivery systems are maintained at all times. This paper aims to investigate institutional support provided for postgraduate study in Malaysia. This descriptive study involved a total of 121 supervisors and 209 postgraduate students from two public universities in Malaysia. Data for the study were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students and supervisors were moderately satisfied with the information support provided by their respective institutions with regards to postgraduate study and courses. Nevertheless, students felt that institutional support was lacking in terms of facilities, professional development and opportunities for setting up learning communities. Supervisors too expressed the need for better postgraduate facilities, professional development and sought for more transparency in terms of grant and fellowship applications. Both groups also voiced concern regarding the knowledge, skills and attitude of administrators and clerical staff. These findings have implications for the need of quality delivery systems, especially institutional support for postgraduate study

Emotional intelligence of lecturers in a centre of foundation studies / Nurhamizah Ishak and Leele Susana Jamian

This study investigates the level of emotional intelligence amongst the lecturer in a centre of foundation studies owned by a public university in Selangor. It was found that the sample have high overall emotional intelligence level and also scored high emotional intelligence level in all four dimensions that were measured such as use of emotions, regulation of emotions, self-emotional appraisal and others emotional appraisal. Besides, there were significant differences between emotional intelligence and demographic variables such as age, academic qualifications and departments. As for the implications of this study, it contributes to the corpus of knowledge in the area of emotional intelligence in local context and provides empirical data to assist Ministry of Higher Education in conducting strategic planning to enhance emotional intelligence amongst lecturers in institutions of higher educations (IHE)

Assessing UiTM TESL Students’ Knowledge of Vocabulary

Learning the vocabulary of a language is vital in the process of acquiring the language because it serves several functions which assist learners to be good at the language, even though learning can be complicated and burdening for learners (Jiang, 2004; Cobb & Horst, 2004). The aim of the study was to investigate the English vocabulary levels of the TESL mainstream students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This research study also examined the differences in vocabulary levels between the male and female students. The study involved 90 respondents that were enrolled in the TESL programme at the Faculty of Education in UiTM, Shah Alam. The findings revealed that most of the UiTM TESL students scored an average of 15 correct answers in the 2,000 word-level, 12 for the 3,000 word-level, 8 for the 5,000 word-level, 10 for the University Word Level and 6 for the 10,000 word-level. The study also revealed that even though the students were highly engaged with listening, reading, speaking and writing activities, these involvements did not correlate with the mastery of vocabulary knowledge

Managerial Decision Styles of Deans: A Case Study of a Malaysian Public University

It is often said that decision making style (DMS) is reflective of leadership style. Numerous studies in the area of Management and Leadership indicate that DMS is a key factor that contributes to the success of both managers and their organizational performance. Using the Decision Making Styles Inventory (DMSI) developed by Rowe and Boulgarides (1992), this paper examines the managerial DMS ofdeans in one of the Malaysian public universities. The scores derived from the DMS were categorized into four decision styles, namely directive, behavioural, analytical and conceptual. The findings revealed that a majority of the deans adopted at least one very dominant or dominant DMS, i mainly behavioural DMS, along with one or two back-up decision styles. Nevertheless, the overall individual results further revealed that the deans possessed more than one style implying that they have considerable flexibility in their managerial DMS and are able to change their decision styles from one situation to another with little difficulty