The development of a LMS decision making model: Evaluating the importance of non-financial measures in LMS decision making at universities

This research examined how managers in universities incorporate non-financial measures in their Learning Management System (LMS) decision-making processes.A LMS decision-making model which includes six multi-dimensional perspectives, incorporating financial and non-financial criteria and indicators, was developed and evaluated.The outcome of this study is a LMS decision-making model developed as a tool to support a more effective evaluation of Information Technology (IT) alternatives.Results also indicate that there was substantial support for using a multi dimensional decision making model among IT decision makers at universities, and that they believed that non-financial measures are important and should be considered in a LMS decision making process

Employability Skills Development Approaches: An Application of Importance-Performance Analysis and Analytic Network Process

In the challenging economic world, employers are looking for employees who are able drive organizations to compete successfully in the market. Graduates should equip themselves with the relevant employability skills as needed by the employers. Therefore, higher education institutions must evaluate the effectiveness of employability skills development approaches on graduates’ employability skills. The main objectives of this study are to determine importance weights of Malaysian graduates’ employability skills and to identify the most effective employability skills development approaches. In general, the result of the analytical network process (ANP) shows that the employers placed “ability to speak fluently in English” has highest important weight, followed by “ability to write effectively in English” and. “ability to think critically”. Meanwhile, the results of limit supermatrix show that the most effective employability skills development approach is “work integrated learning”, with a percentage priority of 19.7. The next more effective approach is ‘stand-alone subject model” with 18.5 percent and then followed by academic support programme, embedded subject model, non-academic support programme and campus life activities

Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Openings Strengthened by Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) Wrap

This paper presents an experimental study of reinforced concrete beams with circular and square openings at the flexure zone. Selected beams were strengthened using Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) wraps. A total of six beam specimens measuring 250 mm (height) x 200 m (width) x 1700 mm (length) were cast using high strength concrete with a compressive strength of 64 N/mm2. The beams tested consisted of a solid control beam, unstrengthened concrete beams with openings and strengthened concrete beams with openings. The effect of circular and square openings on the flexure zone of concrete beams was investigated. All the beams were simply supported and tested up to failure under four-point loading. From the test results, it was found that the presence of openings at the flexure zone significantly reduces the strength and stiffness of the beams. The use of TRC wrap around the beam openings increases the ultimate capacity and stiffness of the beams. In addition, it also reduces excessive vertical cracks and deflection in beams considerably compared to unstrengthened concrete beams with openings

Enhancing graduates’employability skills: A Malaysian case

In an era of globalization and competitiveness, employers are looking for versatile graduates who are able to drive their organizations to compete successfully in the market. Now-a-days, obtaining a good degree is no longer sufficient for getting a job. Graduates should equip themselves, not only with technical skills, but more importantly with soft skills. The main objectives of this study are to identify Malaysian graduates’ employability skills, to identify the priority of each skill and to highlight the gap between the importance of graduates’ employability skills to employers and their satisfaction on that skill. In general, the results of the gap analysis showed that employers perceive graduates’ employability skills performance as being lower than the importance assigned to those skills. The widest gap was found in communication skills, especially the skill of the English language usage. Using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), 13 attributes fell into the improvement quadrant (concentrated here). This means that improvement efforts and corrective actions must be taken to improve employers’ overall satisfaction

Sexual Harassment In Academia: Economic And Legal Implications

Field of academia has faced allegations made by students, workers and educators with problem of sexual harassment. Most of the time the higher education institution have either ignored the problem or coping with it quietly (privately) or by quieting student victims of such harassment. Definition and attitudes towards sexual harassment is among the problem. Most of the definitions include the act of power over the victims, the unwanted behavior according to the victims, negative harms such as distress or interference with activities and many other different types of specific behavior. Some of the theoretical foundations related to sexual harassment include power relations, gender, environmental, organizational and individual influences. Conflict and role theory also closely related to understanding sexual harassment behavior. The types of sexual harassment commonly identified are; (a) sexist remarks or behavior: (b) inappropriate and offensive, but sanction-free sexual advances: (c) solicitation of sexual activity by promise of rewards: (d) coercion of sexual activity by threat of punishment; and (e) sexual crimes. Sexual harassment may contribute to an undetermined extent to many aspects of women's employment experience, including absenteeism, turnover, productivity rates and work motivation, job dissatisfaction, and unemployment. This paper intends to identify the legal definition, the forms and types of sexual harassment that took place in the academia, some of the coping strategies adopted by the victims, the study and work relate as well as the economic and legal implications that arise out of this victimization practiced by the perpetrators. On this basis, higher education institutions should clearly state their policies on the prohibition of sexual harassment, avenues of complaint, and sanctions for incidents, and suggests comprehensive sexual harassment law to be enacted to deal with sexual harassment that encroach in every sphere of life so that some kind of legal protection can be offered at any time

Development of linear regression model for tile waste generation in Malaysian construction industry / Siti Hafizan Hassan… [et al.]

The effect of unmanageable construction waste is an unstable land settlement and groundwater pollution. In addition to environmental pollution, construction waste could incur construction cost. The most construction waste is the material used at sites and tile is also a part of the waste generated in construction. The objectives of this study are to determine the tile waste generated in construction stages and linear regression analysis for the amount of tile waste generated. The method used in this study was the Linear Regression Model. The regression model established in the sample data reported an R2 value of 0.793; therefore, the model can predict approximately 79.3% of the factor (area) of tile waste generation. The linear regressions can be applied as tools to predict the tile waste generated at construction sites and help the contractor to track the sources of missing waste

Organization support for cloud computing implementation success in education system: scale development and validity in Delphi

Cloud computing (CC) support for learning systems has been viewed as one of the most discussed issues that promise to modernize computing by providing visualized resources as a service over the internet. To be stable in cloud computing acquisition requires an education institution to address many of the same concerns they face in implementing an Information System (IS) service. Currently, there is still lack of CC implementation standard and organizational support that impacted VLE system performance. Previous research has reported that the influence of the CC implementation decision depends on the impact of various factors studied. Nonetheless, organizational support is the least factor mentioned especially studies from Malaysia. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to develop a validated scale of organizational support in implementation decision activities towards CC implementation success. In this paper, the Delphi process adopted to measure consensus among nominal group technique (also known as the expert panel). Key methodological issues in using the methods are discussed, along with the distinct contribution of consensus methods as aids to decision making in education service development. The study has adapted stages of proses flow of scale development and validation of measurement items according to legitimate measures in the Delphi technique. The measurement scales formed are based on literature review and field studies conducted to increase the reliability and validity values. Organizational support constructs were divided into top management support, firm size, awareness, Technology Readiness and cost effectiveness. A total of 5 items have been successfully set up for further validatio

An integrated approach for sustainability in the application of industrialised building system (IBS)

Malaysia is committed to improve deliverables of construction industry especially in meeting the sustainable objectives. Lack of systematic tools and poor collaboration between key stakeholders have been identified as the main barriers to meet the objectives. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated approach that can be able to assist designers, who are at the forefront in decision making, to select the best strategies that have been shown to be effective in promoting sustainability for IBS application. Questionnaire survey and interviews of the local practitioners were conducted to identify critical factors and provide recommendations on how to enhance sustainability by holistically addressing the identified issues during IBS design. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis framework was used to help decision-makers maximise the opportunities by using available strengths, avoid weaknesses, and diagnose possible threats in the examined issues. From the statistical analysis, eighteen critical factors relevant to IBS sustainability have been ranked. The guidelines were formulated based on the results from interviews to local practitioners and may be used as part of the project briefing documents for IBS designers. Holistic design strategies expand "Triple Bottom Lines" considerations in achieving sustainability. This study fills a current gap by responding to IBS project scenarios in developing countries. It also provides a balanced view for designers to better understand sustainability potential and prioritize attentions to manage sustainability issues in IBS applications

Classification of Agarwood Oil Using an Electronic Nose

Presently, the quality assurance of agarwood oil is performed by sensory panels which has significant drawbacks in terms of objectivity and repeatability. In this paper, it is shown how an electronic nose (e-nose) may be successfully utilised for the classification of agarwood oil. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were used to classify different types of oil. The HCA produced a dendrogram showing the separation of e-nose data into three different groups of oils. The PCA scatter plot revealed a distinct separation between the three groups. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used for a better prediction of unknown samples