Higher Education in Malaysia

The study "Connecting Classrooms: Empowering Higher Education in Malaysia Through Interactive Video Learning" investigates the transformative influence of interactive video learning on the Malaysian higher education scene. As technology continues to transform old educational paradigms, interactive video learning has emerged as a powerful change agent, fostering a dynamic and interconnected learning ecology. The goal of this study is to highlight the various benefits of interactive video learning, examining how it increases students' learning experiences and empowers instructors to reimagine their pedagogical techniques. This digital revolution, by bridging geographical obstacles, enables seamless knowledge-sharing, collaborative projects, and real-time interactions among students and educators, transcending space and time constraints. In this exploration, we share fascinating case studies and success stories of Malaysian educational institutions that have embraced interactive video learning, demonstrating its positive influence on student engagement, critical thinking, and inclusion. We look at the practicality of incorporating technology into the classroom, addressing potential issues and suggesting effective ways to ensure a smooth transition. This study perceives a bright future for higher education in Malaysia via the lens of interactive video learning. We address current trends and emphasise the significance of technology in developing flexible and forward-thinking graduates who are equipped to succeed in an interconnected society. Interactive video learning, through empowering both students and instructors, is a potent activator of collaborative and rewarding educational experiences in the Malaysian environment. Finally, "Connecting Classrooms: Empowering Higher Education in Malaysia through Interactive Video Learning" recognises technology's revolutionary potential in the educational arena. As we embrace this digital frontier, we usher in a new era of learning that will move Malaysian higher education towards greater inclusivity, connectedness, and academic success.

Purpose of the study: This paper aimed to assess the analysis of the role of human capital investment (HCI) determinants and its remarkable contribution towards the education institution's performance by adapting the Malcolm Baldridge Criteria for Performance Excellence.
 Methodology: This research adopted a quantitative study and a survey tool comprises of sixty items with seven Likert scale was utilized as an instrument to assemble data from 309 lecturers in UiTM Kelantan. Next to test the research hypothesis data were then analyzed using the Structural Equation Modelling approach on the SmartPLS3 platform.
 Main Findings: The analysis demonstrated the influences of HCI determinants towards the UiTM performance. The coefficient of determination (R2) value of 66.9% suggested that the variance of institution performance could moderately be explained by the observed variables, namely knowledge, skill, and training. The result also indicates the highest positive significant value for skill towards performance with β=0.283, t-value= 1.981 and p<0.005. It is proven that a persistent skill development significantly contributes to the performance.
 Applications of this study: The research finding is useful to help the Ministry of Higher Education (MOE) in Malaysia to identify the relevant determinants in improving human capital quality.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: There were a lot of studies that were conducted involving higher education in Malaysia. But the only limited number of studies was conducted by scholars in assessing the main contribution of human capital investment factors towards the institution's success.

Multiculturalism and higher education in Malaysia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide commentary on the challenges and impacts of the pandemic crisis to higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia. It also outlines mitigation plans, innovative strategies adopted and implications and recommendations to HEIs.Design/methodology/approachThe research study uses a discourse analysis to examine the higher education challenges and impacts of the pandemic in Malaysia.FindingsThe findings reveal that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the higher education sector in Malaysia significantly. Both lecturers and students in HEIs are faced with multiple challenges in teaching and learning. The effect was more severe in East Malaysia due to poor Internet connectivity for online learning. Nevertheless, COVID-19 also provides an opportunity to HEIs to reconstruct the education system and establish updated programmes and assessments. The success of online learning to mitigate the impacts is still unknown.Research limitations/implicationsThe review of the literature and news are not comprehensive as the current pandemic crisis is not over.Originality/valueThis paper is presumably representing a frontier review with more empirical research studies to be conducted to investigate the extent of the current crisis affecting teaching and learning in HEIs in Malaysia. Though there were some commentaries on how the pandemic affects education, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first commentary paper in higher education realm in Malaysia.

The Malaysian higher education system is ranked No.27 in the U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems 2020. However, Malaysia's performance in this system ranking has an interesting dimension concerning productivity. While Malaysia is ranked No.15 in terms of the resources allocated to higher education, it is ranked No.45 in terms of output. This pattern has been consistent in every instance of U21 system ranking and raises a pertinent question about productivity at the system and institutional levels. This chapter explores the productivity of Malaysian universities by first examining the underlying influence of neoliberalism and New Public Management and discussing previous studies conducted to measure the productivity of public universities. Having established the policy and historical dimension, the chapter examines institutional productivity across Malaysian universities by examining the different kinds of outputs relating to the trinity of roles of higher education. There was an exponential growth in the research productivity across Malaysian universities, and this is expected as advocated by the National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2007–2020 and the Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015–2025, but there was also evidence to indicate a substitution effect of various degrees across different types of public universities on the output of education in terms of a number of graduates. Thus, this suggests a careful reconsideration of taking a simplistic approach of measuring productivity that may distort the overall purpose and function of higher education in Malaysia.

This paper aims to present and briefly discuss policy documents focusing on the internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia and their implication on international student withdrawals. Numerous policies and guidelines have been developed by the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia to propel Malaysia as education hub in this region. However, the current statistic does not seem to support national goal to increase international student enrolment to 200,000 by 2020 or be an education hub of excellence. Existing literature indicates that there has never been any research that studies in detail on the issue of international student withdrawals from pursuing higher education in Malaysian education institutions. Therefore, an in-depth study is needed to investigate the current policy development process and their implication on the phenomenon of international student withdrawals from Malaysian higher institutions.

Leadership Development for Sustainability of E-Learning

The education process of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has played an important role in higher education internationalisation since the establishment of ASEM in Bangkok, Thailand in 1996. The ASEM Education Process (AEP) consists of 53 ASEM partners and more than 15 ASEM education stakeholders who meet regularly for discussions on policies and reform measures. There are four priority areas and two transversal themes introduced in the AEP for policy direction and strategy implementation in the field of higher education. Malaysia has participated in the AEP since 2008 and has led and organised various initiatives and meetings on the internationalisation of higher education and global recognition. This study aims to explore the implications of the AEP for the process of internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted with fifteen senior officers of the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and five Malaysian research universities. The data were analysed by employing the Qualitative Data Analysis software, the Nvivo version 11, to identify themes and categories. The findings reveal that the AEP can play a major role in internationalising Malaysian higher education through effective networking and strategic alliances. The four priority areas of the AEP has provided opportunities for Malaysia to work closely with European and Asian counterparts in the field of higher education. The findings can assist the Malaysian higher education stakeholder to participate actively in the inter-regional organisation to learn and share best practices and to formulate and revise policies on higher education internationalisation.

The use of technology in the context of higher education is not a novel idea as lecturers and students have used different types of technology such as smartphones, software, and social media. In recent years, social media like Twitter have been extensively used to decimate information about learning. However, there is a global disparity between the use of social media sites like Twitter for higher education; some countries use it extensively, while for some, its use is a rarity. This situation is evident in Malaysia, where there is a low percentage of students and lecturers using Twitter in teaching and learning. Furthermore, there are limited studies related to Twitter in the context of higher education in Malaysia. Based on this gap, this study aims to devise a strategy for using Twitter in Malaysia’s higher education context. This study discusses some of the strategies that can be implemented in conducting learning inside or outside the class. In addition, the study’s findings can benefit many education stakeholders by exploring ways to optimise the use of Twitter in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

During the sudden shift towards online learning in the COVID-19 pandemic issues of low student engagement and dropout became a major concern in the mainstream of digital higher education. However, open and distance education has a long history concerning dropout research and practice. In the digital transformation, the terminologies and concepts that have been long adopted are inevitably subject to change. To understand dropout in open, distance, and digital education (ODDE), it is important to take an evidence-based approach and examine the literature to learn from previous research and experiences and to inform current practices and policies in digital education. Therefore, this study applies a conceptual analysis of the corpus yielded through the steps of a systematic literature review. Thus, the concept maps of the relevant articles on dropout and research trends between 2010 and 2022 through content analysis via text mining were created. The results indicate that student dropout and retention declined in publication during the pandemic despite remaining one of the critical issues in higher education. The main concepts indicate that most of the dropout studies focus on comparisons between face-to-face and online modalities; the learning environment and student engagement; and student support, motivation and social capital. The study concludes with a summary of key findings from dropout research in ODDE and a consideration of research desiderata.

This paper proposes a leadership competency framework for higher education institutions in Malaysia. It presents a two-year development process on the leadership competency in order to address the issues in identifying competent leaders in higher education institutions in Malaysia. This study utilizes a qualitative approach to achieve the research objectives. Specifically, an exploratory case study of a small unit under the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia is the focus of this paper. The study demonstrates that the existing leadership framework in higher education institutions needs to be refined to accommodate the demand changes. The practical implication of this paper is to provide an understanding on possible alternatives to the existing leadership competency framework in promoting excellence in all spheres of higher education, and academic excellence in particular. This paper provides a refined leadership competency framework specifically for higher education institutions in Malaysia.

Some sociologists contend that the disadvantaged, the poor, and minorities do poorly in education largely because of the inequitable distribution of resources for education. Therefore, a formal compensatory public education policy can better serve these underprivileged groups. This is because entry into the more desirable and prestigious occupations in all modernizing economies is increasingly becoming closed to those who do not have the appropriate educational credentials, as there is a tightening bond between years of education, jobs, and income.' Thus, success in education, particularly in academic and professional education, will lead to improvement in life chances. In the long run, equitable educational opportunities and achievements can work toward a more equitable distribution of income, wealth, and status in admittedly unequal societies. This macrolevel theoretical contention has had and continues to have

Globally, blended learning (BL) technologies have been increasingly applied in a variety of fields, both public and private sectors. In recent years, universities, public and private businesses and organizations are among those employing blended learning methods and technologies in training and re-training of professionals in the workforce. In Malaysia, the increasing use of blended learning to enhance learning and enriching of soft skills among professionals and individuals in the work place is evident. The advancement of technology is an onset to many new avenues and tool for learning and teaching, and it is the coalescing of these various technologies with particular pedagogy or andragogy has helped to popularize BL. However, when an institution makes the critical choice of delivery methods, it is pertinent that the university needs to consider various success factors. One in particular is studentcentered approach that entails the need to understand the students as the beneficiary of learning, and the support system they need to help them learn. This qualitative study reports in detail the experience of a small group of students undertaking Executive Diplomas at Executive Development Centre (EDC), Universiti Utara Malaysia as they progress through their Executive program. This paper looks at learning experiences as described by the learners- it is their story, their experience, and their perspective. This study suggests that BL offered a comfortable middle ground, and has lots of potential in higher education in Malaysia. It is a pedagogical alternative that could play a significant role not only for teaching Business Communication, but has the potential to promote lifelong learning initiatives in Malaysia in a much meaningful and inviting way. Although this study shows that BL contributed a significant and meaningful learning particularly for adult learners, it needs more definitive studies. Such information can be used to guide policy makers and educators as they plan national, regional, state, and local trainings and higher education programs for working professionals in Malaysia.

The formation of student identity plays a crucial role in achieving Malaysia’s national aspiration of producing citizens who are patriotic, competitive, and progressive. Within this context, the implementation of General Studies courses (Mata Pelajaran Umum, MPU) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) serves as an important initiative to cultivate values, ethics, and a strong sense of national identity among students. Despite these intentions, MPU courses are often perceived by students as less relevant or unnecessarily burdensome, primarily due to the heavy academic workload and the prioritization of discipline-specific subjects. This study aims to explore the contribution of MPU courses to student identity formation and to analyze their relevance within the broader framework of higher education in Malaysia. Employing a document analysis approach, the study examines the official MPU guidelines issued by the Ministry of Higher Education as well as existing scholarly literature on identity development in higher education. The findings suggest that MPU courses have the potential to produce holistic graduates who possess a strong identity rooted in their religion, cultural heritage, moral values, and Malaysian national identity. Furthermore, these courses play a significant role in supporting the National Education Philosophy, which aspires to nurture balanced individuals across physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual dimensions (JERI). By embedding both universal and local values, MPU courses offer students an opportunity to develop a more integrated worldview that aligns with national priorities and global competencies. Therefore, the continuation and enhancement of MPU courses remain essential in ensuring that HEIs not only produce technically skilled graduates but also individuals with strong character, civic responsibility, and a sense of national belonging.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia are often governed as communities of practice. Often times, the modes of governance and the structures of management in higher education cultures in Malaysia represent masculine communities of practice. While women are far from being underrepresented in higher education in Malaysia, achieving a critical mass of women in senior leadership positions in higher education cultures is still a distant dream. Furthermore, the question of how senior academic leaders and management teams enact academic leadership and negotiate gendered leadership cultures is also of great significance. This chapter revisits the notion of gender and leadership in higher education cultures in Malaysia, examining the ways in which leadership cultures in Malaysian research universities can be seen as shaping gender identities, forcing both men and women leaders to negotiate leadership within a community of practices which is both gendered and gendering in turn.