A preliminary study on the effectiveness of new students’ adjustment to university / Normala Ismail and Mohamad Kamil Ariff Khalid

Adjustment among new students at the university plays an important role in determining their success at university. This study showed one of the reasons students fail to complete their study is due to adjustment problems. Students found to be unable to deal with the challenges and demands on campus and experience a variety of problems that some of them failed to proceed to the next semester. The population of the study consist of 143 First Semester Diploma students in the Faculty of Business and Management studies at Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang Raub Campus. The instrument used is questionnaires. There are four subscales designed to measure the effectiveness of student adjustment to university that are academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal (emotional) adjustment and institutional commitment. The study shows that adaptability on campus has a relationship with psychosocial abilities possessed by the students. Among the psychosocial abilities have a positive and significant impact on student adjustment is emotional intelligence, coping, and social support. All three of these psychosocial capabilities found to play an important role in helping students adjust at the university. Thus, the university must take proactive steps to develop emotional intelligence, coping and social support among new students to improve their adaptability

The relationship between cumulative grade point average achievement and time management skills among students at higher learning institution / Normala Ismail and Mohamad Kamil Ariff Khalid

Time management skills are one of the key learning skills that students can master in order to help them achieve excellence while studying at universities. However, a thorough study of the extent to which this skill is owned by students and the impact on their academic performance is rarely focused especially among Universiti Teknologi MARA students. Hence, this paper examines the issue based on a study of 200 diploma level students from three faculties in various programs studying at Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang Branch Raub Campus. Data were collected using a set of questionnaires and analyzed descriptively using t-test, ANOVA and Pearson’s Correlation. The findings show that in general, time management skills among students are moderate and these skills differ significantly between gender and program of study. This study also found a significant relationship between time management skills and the students Cumulative Grade Point Average

Tahap literasi komputer pelajar: satu tinjauan awal / Normala Ismail and Mohamad Kamil Ariff Khalid

Objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti tahap literasi komputer di kalangan pelajar. Kedua, kajian ini meneliti sama ada wujud hubungan di antara faktor demografi dengan tahap literasi komputer pelajar. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 34 pelajar bahagian 02 program pengajian Diploma Perbankan (DIB) dan Diploma Pentadbiran Awam (DPA) Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Kedah. Instrumen kajian ialah satu set borang soal selidik yang diedarkan kepada sampel kajian. Dapatan kajian secara langsung menunjukkan bahawa pelajar-pelajar bersikap positif di samping mempunyai kemahiran berkomputer yang tinggi dengan min skor melebihi 3.00. Dari aspek ujian pengetahuan kognitif pula, hasil kajian mendapati dimensi kesan kepada masyarakat mencapai min skor tertinggi berbanding dengan dimensidimensi lain. Hasil kajian turut menunjukkan bahawa tiada kaitan di antara tahap literasi komputer pelajar dengan faktor demografi, iaitu bahagian pengajian, Himpunan Purata Gred Keseluruhan (HPGK), jantina dan keahlian kelab komputer. Hasil Analisis Regresi Berganda pula menunjukkan wujud hubungan di antara tahap literasi komputer dengan kemahiran menggunakan komputer, sikap terhadap penggunaan komputer dan pengetahuan kognitif pelajar. Di antara ketiga-tiga faktor di atas, didapati kemahiran menggunakan komputer adalah paling dominan dalam mempengaruhi tahap literasi komputer pelajar. Dapatan kajian turut mencadangkan agar pihak universiti dapat mengadakan lebih banyak aktiviti yang dapat memberi pendedahan mengenai komputer kepada semua pelajar agar tahap literasi komputer mereka bertambah dari semasa ke semasa

Measuring customer satisfaction towards entertainment magazines of Utusan Karya Sendirian Berhad

Entertainment magazines are magazines that provide readers with consistently updated entertainment news locally and internationally. This research aimed to identify the factors that influenced customers’ satisfaction. The target population of this research was students of quasi-government polytechnic, Kolej Politeknik MARA in Bangi, Malaysia. A total of 317 questionnaires were distributed. Using SPSS, it was found that the front page was the most influencing factor that affected customer satisfaction. However, it was also found that respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with entertainment magazines. It is suggested that continuous efforts and new marketing plans need to be carried out in order to improve customer satisfaction of the entertainment magazines. Post-purchase product satisfaction need to be studied as a continuation of this study

Internal Motivation as a Mediating Factor in Determining the Competitiveness of Micro Entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurial motivation is a critical element in enhancing the competitiveness of micro entrepreneurs. The Malaysian government has taken several initiatives in providing motivational training through several federal and state agencies such as Gagasan Badan Ekonomi Melayu (GABEM), Yayasan Pembangunan Usahawan (YPU), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and Yayasan Pembangunan Keluarga (YPK) Terengganu. The issue remains whether the micro entrepreneurs are able to sustain their motivation in improving their business competitiveness that will help them penetrate new and bigger markets. In light of this issue, the authors postulate three entrepreneurial success factors and internal motivation as the mediating variable in determining the competitive level of the micro entrepreneurs. A total of 520 micro-entrepreneurs were selected from seven districts in Terengganu, Malaysia. The three steps regression analysis revealed that internal motivation partially mediates all three entrepreneurial success factors, effective management, personal quality and family support. These findings revealed that the combination of internal motivation with other entrepreneurial success factor would be critical in creating sustainable competitive advantage among micro entrepreneurs. The authorities responsible for the development of the entrepreneurs would therefore be wise to design better motivation programs that will sustain their competitiveness in the long run