The determinants of happiness in 12 developing Asia countries using panel data / Farah Liana Mohamad Shahari

This study investigates the determinants of happiness in 12 developing Asia countries. Determinants included in this research are unemployment rate, financial freedom index, competitiveness index, Internet subscribers per population and political stability index. This research focus on finding the significant relationship between happiness index and the determinants listed above. Panel Regression Analysis is employed and it is found that there is significant negative relationship between unemployment rate and happiness index. Internet subscribers per population, also found to be significant with happiness index. While political stability has a significant positive relationship with happiness index. Hypotheses testing were discussed and recommendations are highlighted at the end of this study

Mediating Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality and Trust Relationship in Malaysian Banking Industry

The aim of this study is to develop a mediating effect understanding of customer satisfaction on service quality and trust relationship in Malaysia commercial banking industry. The model was developed and later tested by adopting the partial Least Square (PLS) procedure on data collected from a survey that yielded 512 usable questionnaires. The findings showed that service quality boosts satisfaction in Malaysia commercial banking. It was also exposed that satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between service quality and trust. In future, more research needs to be carried out to explore the role of satisfaction in Malaysia banking industry. It is important to do the study utilizing experimental design by capturing longitudinal data in Malaysia banking industry using robust measures. The findings suggest that the relationship between satisfaction and profitability may reside in satisfaction’s influence on trust, and that satisfaction plays a crucial function within the Malaysia banking industry. This research is one of the first known attempts to use PLS to test a mediation effect. (Abstract by author

Challenges and Strategies in Engaging Adult Learners in the face-to-face facilitation in ODL

Engaging students in the classroom have become more crucial in education as the attention span of students remain the same despite the increase in learning hours. Many studies have been done on this especially at the primary and secondary level. However, there are less studies being done at the tertiary level of education. With the advancement of technology and the recent increase in distance learning and on-line learning, the number of hours dedicated to face-to-face teaching has been reduced. This means that learners have to absorb the same amount of knowledge in lesser number of hours. This study is a conceptual paper based on a literature review which focuses on how academicians can engage learners through various creative and innovative solutions. It identifies the challenges faced by academicians in teaching adult learners and explores avenues that can be pursued to engage these learners. At the end of the paper, strategies that have been successfully implemented in OUM Business School are documented as a basis for future research efforts. It was concluded that all tutors and facilitators should be committed to the development of innovation and creativity in the learning environment in order to engage learners in the classroom. This would ensure that quality in teaching and learning is achieved

Determinants of The Intention in Becoming an Online Enterpreneur Among Online Distance Learning Students in Malaysia

This study is aiming to evaluate of entrepreneurial education, self-efficacy and social influence on attitude and direct effect of attitude on intention to become online entrepreneur among students in online distance learning (ODL) higher institutions in Malaysia. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) technique was employed to analyse the casual relationships among entrepreneurial education, self-efficacy, social influence, attitude and intention. Partial Least Square (PLS) procedure was used to analyse the developed model by assessing the data obtained from a questionnaire survey that produced 272 usable questionnaires. The results showed that entrepreneurial education, selfefficacy and social influence have a positive and significant influence on attitude and attitude has a positive and significant influence on intention among students in Malaysian ODL tertiary institutions. The results suggest that ODL institutions should give greater emphasis on strengthening entrepreneurial education, self-efficacy, social influence, attitude to ensure their ODL students have strong intention to become online entrepreneur

Influence of Self-Efficacy as a Mediator on Time Management and Students’ Performance Relationship in Malaysian Online Distance Learning Institutions

Academic achievement is the main objective amongst students in tertiary education institutions. A tertiary education institution’s performance normally will be measured by its ability to retain its students and the students’ resultsStudents’ failure rate too high will give the higher education institution a negative image Not many have conducted studies on online distance learning students’ performance

Influence of Self-Efficacy as a Mediator on Time Management and Students’ Performance Relationship in Malaysian Online Distance Learning Institutions

The main purpose of this study is to develop a mediating effect understanding of self-efficacy on time management and students’ performance relationship in Malaysian online distance learning institutions. A model was developed and later tested by adopting the partial Least Square (PLS) procedure on data collected from a survey that yielded 210 usable questionnaires. The findings showed that time management enhanced self-efficacy in Malaysian online distance learning institutions. It was also revealed that self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between time management and students’ performance. In future, more research needs to be carried out to explore the role of self-efficacy in Malaysian online distance learning institutions. It is important to do the study utilizing experimental design by capturing longitudinal data in Malaysian online distance learning institutions using robust measures. The findings imply that the relationship between self-efficacy and attrition rate may reside in self-efficacy’s influence on students’ performance, and that self-efficacy plays a crucial function within the Malaysian online distance learning institutions. This study uses Smartpls 2.0 and SPSS 18.0 to test the hypothesis and analyze respondents’ profile respectively. (Abstract by authors

Enhancing students’ academic performance in Malaysian online distance learning institutions

The increasing number of learner failure rates are alarming in online distance learning. Previous studies have identified the factors that have contributed to online distance learning students’ failure as lack of time and lack of motivation. The purpose of this study is to develop a direct effect understanding of extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and time management on students’ academic performance in an online distance learning institution in Malaysia. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to analyse the casual relationships between independent variables and dependent variables. The model was developed and later tested by adopting the Partial Least Square (PLS) procedure on data collected from a survey that yielded 210 usable questionnaires. The findings showed that extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and time management have a significant and positive influence on students’ academic performance in an online distance learning institution. The findings imply that the relationship amongst extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and time management on a student’s academic performance in an online distance learning institution will lead to the online distance learning institution’s low attrition rate. This study uses SmartPLS 2.0 and SPSS 18.0 to test the hypothesis and analyse respondents’ profile, respectively

The Flipped Classroom – A Case in OUM Business School

The flipped classroom is a strategic direction for a new learning and teaching environment. It is a teaching method where traditional lectures and homework are reversed. This method provides online pre-recorded mlectures and exercises in class and has been widely practiced. The flipped classroom provides benefits to the learners in an active learning environment. It provides more responsibility to the learners in the learning process instead of lecturers. The flipped classroom improves the instructional delivery and enhances student performance where the learners are not only passively receiving one-dimensional information. The number of educational institutions using this flipped model in their courses is growing including OUM