Exploring the Theoretical Gap on Knowledge Work of Knowledge and Skilled Workers in TVET Practices: A Literature Review

This article presents a literature review on the theoretical gap of knowledge work between knowledge and skilled workers. There are two primary reasons for conducting this literature review namely the lack of literature on knowledge work for skilled workers and, the poor understanding of their knowledge requirements. Although the requirements for the Industry 4.0 skilled-workers, knowledge work, and innovation are widely discussed in the literature for white-collar jobs, there are scarcely mentioned for blue-collar jobs. Also, the theoretical gap of knowledge between skilled workers and knowledge workers has not been yet addressed, leading to poor public perception of the role of knowledge work in TVET skilled workers. The findings from this literature review may provide insights into the understanding of the theoretical gap and the role of knowledge work for skilled workers and knowledge workers. Seventy-seven articles were reviewed, and inductive thematic analysis was conducted with ATLAS.ti resulting in three major themes, namely, ‘qualification and employment requirement’, ‘management control’, and ‘theoretical and contextual perspectives. The findings indicate that there are differences in knowledge work identified in two groups of workers, nonetheless, support the conclusion that knowledge works are equally crucial for skilled workers to optimise their role. The findings of this study imply that the role of the two groups of workers could not be described interchangeably within a similar working-class and these findings could be used to create clear distinction in the definition and descriptions of work practices of knowledge and skilled workers within the TVET sectors

Implementation of Skilled Training Programs at Vocational College: A View of the Instructors’ Perspectives

The vocational colleges of Malaysia have been running several engineering related programs to certify their students with Malaysian Skills Certificate, Malaysian Vocational Diploma and Malaysian Vocational Certificate. The aim of these programs is to provide competent skilled and knowledge workers for the needs of the local industries in order to foster national development towards achieving developed nation status. To ensure the success of these programs, instructors are expected to be able to conduct training and master the engineering education process. This study was conducted to identify vocational college instructors’ views on the implementation of the skill training programs in the aspects of curriculum, infrastructure and industrial training. A total of 116 technical instructors in the fields of engineering skills namely Welding Technology, Automotive Technology, Electrical Technology, Refrigeration and Air conditioning, Electronic Technology, Industrial Machining and Construction Technology participated in this research. The data were analysed to determine the average mean score of the measured variables. Findings showed that the average mean score for curriculum and industrial training aspects were found to be at high level, while moderate level was obtained for the aspect of infrastructure. This finding implies that professional development programs are less crucial compared to facilities required to run the skill training programs. This issue needs to be addressed by the vocational colleges’ management and government to ensure successful implementation of these skilled training program at college level.

Inmates' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) and Entrepreneurship Training Program

: Issues on crime and unemployment among ex-inmates contribute to recidivism in the country even though they were given technical and vocational (TVET) and entrepreneurship trainings by the prison authority.  Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the perception of inmates in prison on the effectiveness of TVET and entrepreneurship training.  The design of the study used in this study was a method of review with a quantitative approach.  Data was collected using a set of questionnaires and analyzed using statistical package software for the Social Science (SPSS version 23.0). A total of 222 respondents, inmates who have undergone and are undergoing TVET were involved in the study. The reliability of instruments was at an excellent and effective level with the consistency level of 0.871 and 0.915.  Data analysis was done in the form of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Pearson correlation test (r). The findings of the study showed that perception of the effectiveness of TVET and entrepreneurship skills in prison was high which were the mean value of 4.18 and 4.28 respectively. In addition, the findings showed that there was a significant relationship between TVET effectiveness and entrepreneurship skills among the respondents, r=0.557 (P ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, the inmates perceived that TVET and entrepreneurship skills taught in prison are beneficial.  Apart from that, it could provide added value in their continuity of survival once released primarily in the field of employment and entrepreneurship activities

Employability Challenges Among Residivists: A Qualitative Study

Crime is a social phenomenon in almost every country. The increasing of crime incidents every now and then could instigate recurrence of crimes. The integration of prison inmates into society after release is a challenging phase to start anew outside the iron curtain. As such, this group might tend to return to prison. Therefore, this study aims to explore recidivism among recidivists towards employability. The design of this study is narrative by using a qualitative approach and aided by a semi-structured interview protocol to facilitate the data collection process. A total of 5 recidivists from a prison around the southern zone were selected as study participants. The interviews obtained were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study found that there are four recidivist factors returning to prison, namely difficulty in finding a job, unwillingness to change, family and community stigma, and the relaxation of conditions for participating in the Human Rehabilitation Program (PPI). In conclusion, apart from difficulties in securing employment, there are other reasons that cause recidivism to occur. Therefore, the researcher suggests that the PPI provided by the prison to be updated in line with the needs of recidivists from physical aspects, personality, skills and integration into society so that recidivism cases could be reduced

The role of knowledge, emotion, and intention in influencing students’ behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic

This study aims to investigate the influence of students’ knowledge, attitude, and behavioral intention on their behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey study was designed using an online questionnaire involving 653 respondents from the first to final-year students at a Malaysian university. A CACQ-COV instrument was designed based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) model, comprising 67 items in four constructs: students’ knowledge of the current pandemic, emotional engagement, behavioral intention, and behavioral action. The results show that the students learn most about the COVID-19 pandemic from the media and the internet platform; more than 50% of the students rated the television broadcast as the most trusted media. The mean scores of the students’ knowledge about COVID-19 facts and symptoms; emotion, intention, and action are at high levels. In addition, knowledge, emotion, and behavioral intention have significantly influenced the students’ behaviors and actions; it is noted that emotion has the greatest influence compared with knowledge and behavioral intention. The implication is that television broadcast should be the primary choice of media for carrying out future mass campaigns, in preference to social media, especially for announcing urgent matters and disseminating information related to the current issues

Cognitive Level through Creativity, Strategy and Belief in Problem Solving for Engineering Students

Cognitive is an important aspect of a student's success. Students with good cognitive levels have the potential to excel in academic achievement. This study involved the level of mastery of the cognitive elements of creativity, strategy and belief among engineering students at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). In the context of this study, creative elements refer to the application of thinking by engineering students based on discovery, understanding, analysis and applying knowledge in new situations to solve problems. Strategic elements refer to the problem-solving process that involves several phases: engaging, resolving problems, exploring, planning, executing and reviewing. While the belief element refers to the confidence that is embodied in the belief in the ability to solve the problem. The research method used was a quantitative approach through questionnaire to 200 respondents of engineering students at UTHM. For the determination of gender frequency, the degree of mastery of the cognitive elements obtained, was analyzed using descriptive statistics. As for inference statistics, the MANOVA test was used to detect differences in mastery of cognitive elements in engineering students. The findings indicate that the number of male students who choose engineering is higher than female students and the level of mastery of creative elements is higher in solving engineering learning problems at UTHM. There is a significant difference between mastery of the cognitive element in engineering students. In conclusion, there is a need to improve the level of mastery of strategy and belief elements to help engineering students excellent