Browsing by Author "Latif, Latifah Abdol"

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    LIFELONG LEARNING AS THE CATALYST IN HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA
    (Widyatama International Seminar, 2014-02-14) Bahroom, Ramli; Latif, Latifah Abdol
    In Malaysia’s National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP): 2007-2020 with its emphasis on higher education excellence, lifelong learning is recognised as one of its seven strategic thrusts. In the ensuing National Higher Education Action Plan Phase 2: 2011-2015, lifelong learning is identified as one of its 23 Critical Agenda Projects (CAPs). Each CAP sets its direction, implements its plans, formulates its key performance indicators, measures and monitors its performance for benchmarking purposes. As for the Lifelong Learning CAP, a Blueprint for the Enculturation of Lifelong Learning in Malaysia: 2011-2020 was officially launched in November 2011. In the blueprint, the status of lifelong learning is elevated to be the Third Pillar of Malaysia’s Human Capital Development System alongside the First Pillar (School System) and the Second Pillar (Tertiary System). The Blueprint focuses on upgrading the productive segment of the society, aged between 15 to 65 years. This is in line with the national aspiration to be a developed and high income nation in the year 2020. To achieve this vision, among others, there is an urgent need to transform our nation’s workforce into knowledge workers. As the largest higher education lifelong learning provider of the country, Open University Malaysia (OUM) needs to play its role effectively in this national agenda. This paper will highlight the focus of the National Lifelong Learning Blueprint and the role of OUM in it.
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    QUALITY EDUCATION IN ODL: Evidence from the Tracer Study
    (Conference On Professional Development In Education (PDE2014), Widyatama University Indonesia, Open University Indonesia and Open University Malaysia, 2014-06-11) Bahroom, Ramli; Latif, Latifah Abdol; Awang, Ahmad Izanee
    The impact of the many initiatives undertaken by OUM to provide learning accessibilities through various aspects must be assessed from the perspective of its learners. Feedback through the tracer study conducted to learners who will be graduating is appropriate because they have gone through the entire cycle of learning. The feedback allows OUM to assess its performance in the provision of services to its learners. An online tracer study conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Malaysia, in collaboration with all local universities, colleges and polytechnics was carried out via a set of standard questionnaire is, in part, to evaluate the responses from Malaysian graduates on the performance of their alma maters. This paper presents the results of the study conducted on a total of 4911 respondents of the 2013 batch of OUM graduates. It is gratifying to note that 2013 OUM graduates are generally satisfied with the services provided by the university and that the level of satisfaction in almost all aspects have improved over the past five years. The aspects covered in this study include: curriculum, assessment system, career guidance, teaching and learning, facilities, and knowledge and skills. In another aspect, the results showed that OUM study programmes have had a high impact on the holistic development of graduates, in terms of self-readiness such as maturity, reliance and teamwork. On comparing the 2013 data with that of the 2008 data, the result showed that there are significant improvements in the graduates’ satisfaction on all aspects, except for the English language skills. This implies that the many initiatives that have been instituted over the last five years towards improving the quality of education has paid off as evidenced by the positive differences in satisfaction in the items covered in this tracer study.
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    RELATIONSHIP-BASED STUDENT LOYAL MODEL IN AN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING INSTITUTION
    (Universitas Widyatama, 2014-02-14) Latif, Latifah Abdol; Bahroom, Ramli
    The task of retaining students in an open and distance learning (ODL) higher education institutions (HEIs) represents a huge challenge. This has led to extensive research in this area. Several retention models have been explored and many intervention efforts have been attempted. The relationship quality-based student loyalty (RQSL) model, borrowed from marketing has been added to the repertoire of research approaches. It has been found to be appealing and well-suited for adoption by HEIs based on the premise that student relationship is the cornerstone of student loyalty. This study attempts to explore the use of this approach in a private ODL institution. A cross-sectional survey involving 2,300 student respondents was adopted and administered in September 2011. The results indicate that service quality, emotional commitment and students’ trust had positive impact on student loyalty. The step-wise regression analysis showed that the highest impact on student loyalty is due to emotional commitment, followed by service quality and trust. However, in terms of the total impact on student loyalty, the highest is due to service quality, followed by emotional commitment and trust. Based on the findings of this preliminary study, the institution can adopt three strategic approaches; service quality-based, an emotional commitment-based, and trust-based initiatives to increase the level of student loyalty. It is noted that student loyalty is not limited to the time that the student spends in the university; the advantages of student loyalty are probably greatest after they have graduated where they could contribute positively via financial support, word-ofmouth promotion and through some form of cooperation to the institution