Pandemic COVID-19 and Alternatives to Teaching and Learning
Kok Kean Hin1*
1 Jabatan Perancangan, Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi, IPG Kampus Pendidikan Islam, Bangi, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Accepted: 15 March 2021 | Published: 1 April 2021
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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the satisfaction of PPISMP Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake) teacher trainees towards teaching and learning of subject Kemahiran Belajar GKB1053 during the implementation period of COVID-19 Movement Control Order. There were 44 samples of PPISMP Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake) teacher trainees who took part in this study. The instrument used was GKBMCO-20 questionnaire. The descriptive data were presented with frequency, percentage and average mean score. The results showed that students’ satisfaction towards the preparation of teaching and learning of subject Kemahiran Belajar GKB1053 was high with average mean score 3.93.
Students preferred to learn face-to-face according to official schedule in the campus.
Keywords: Movement Control Order, online learning, pandemic COVID-19
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1. Introduction
There is much more that is unknown about SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
However, this virus spreads easily. Anyone can get infected with or without symptoms. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is spread primarily by close contact and respiratory droplets (Milton, 2020a). The virus can also be transferred to the surface of a fixed area or mobile telephone if shared. Social distancing which is staying 1 to 2 metre away from another person is intended to reduce the chances of contracting the virus. The Movement Control Order (MCO) is a rudimentary instrument that cannot eliminate the virus itself. The MCO is to suppress the rate of increase of the number of cases so that the country can buy time to prepare and increase the health system’s capacity in order to deal with the threat posed by the virus. The virus will continue to afflict humans till the vaccine is available, which is estimated to take at least 18 to 24 months (Milton, 2020a). These are the symptoms that most COVID-19 patients experience;
i) fever, ii) cough, iii) shortness of breath, iv) lose of smell and taste, v) fatigue, vi) muscle and joint pain, vii) loss of appetite, and viii) chest tightness (Milton, 2020b).
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, uses a receptor called neuropilin-1 to efficiently infect human cells. Neuropilin-1 is very abundant in many human tissues including the respiratory tract, blood vessels and neurons (Crop Biotech Update, 2020). Researchers discovered that a new hidden gene in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 may have contributed to its unique biology and pandemic potential (Nelson, Ardern, Goldberg, Meng, Kuo, Ludwig, Kolokotronis & Wei, 2020). SARS-CoV-2 only has about 15 genes and knowing more about this and other overlapping genes or “genes within genes” could have significant impact on fighting the virus. They found that ORF3d is shown to elicit a strong antibody response in COVID-19 patients, demonstrating that the new gene’s protein is produced during human infection. Overlapping genes may be one of an arsenal ways in which coronaviruses
have evolved to replicate efficiently, thwart host immunity, or get themselves transmitted.
Knowing that overlapping genes exists and how they function may reveal new avenues for coronavirus control, for example through antiviral drugs (Nelson, Ardern, Goldberg, Meng, Kuo, Ludwig, Kolokotronis & Wei, 2020).
The fight against the coronavirus may stretch on for several years. Until then, Malaysians must be patient and embrace changes (Jemilah Mahmood, personal communication, November 8, 2020). There is a chance that the current MCO for COVID-19 might go beyond year 2020. The worry is now for Selangor state as there is a lot of public movement. COVID-19 is transmitted through social interactions like eating together and close conversations. Having a MCO will cut down the spread (Yuen, 2020).
2. Literature Review
The Public Service Department of Malaysia had ordered all the government servants to work from home in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 disease. The necessary steps taken would reduce the mobility the workforce and reduce the close contact among staffs (Ketua Pengarah Perkhidmatan, 2020). In teacher education institute, the lecturers also being ordered to follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and work from home (Rektor Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia, 2020).
Schools were closed when the government of Malaysia decided to continue its Movement Control Order (MCO) throughout the whole Peninsular of Malaysia except Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan from 9 November to 6 December 2020. The schooling sessions for all the institutions and schools under the Ministry of Education (MOE) would continue their sessions with online learning. Students are encouraged to revise their lessons themselves at home from 9 November to 17 December 2020. After 17 December 2020, students would continue with their year-end holiday till next 19 January 2021. while all students begin their new session in 20 January 2021, the Form 2 and Form 3 students (14-15 years old) will only being their lessons from 8 March 2021. Their classes were used as the public examination halls. However, the Form 2 and Form 3 students still need to continue with their home-based learning (Mohd Radzi (b), 8 November 2020).
Following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put forward by the government, we can prevent second wave of Covid-19 cases. The new normal will see all students having their temperatures checked by teachers. Those temperatures exceed 37.5 degree Celsius are barred from schools. Students showing any Covid-19 symptoms are not allowed to enter the schools.
As for students who come to school via public transportation, they would be kept in an isolated room to wait for their parents to get them. Students need to follow a designated pathway to their classrooms and each table in classroom is maintained 1 metre between them. All co- curriculum activities requiring face-to-face or body contact activities and assemblies cancel.
Home-based learning would continue. Teachers could teach accordingly from their homes or schools (Lee, 2020).
When students learning from home, teachers should
i. use diverse teaching and learning methods such as online learning, TV Pendidikan (TV Okey, Tutor TV), radio and social media.
ii. take into account student’s internet access, device availability and student readiness to learn online
iii. use textbooks and workbooks or prepare worksheet for students without internet access
iv. conduct project-based learning with materials that can be easily obtained by students.
v. place assignments at school guard house for drop off and pick up at scheduled times vi. incorporate quizzes, exercises and others for classroom-based assessment delivered online
or by hand. Students who cannot be assessed this way will be assessed when they return to school (Rajendram, 2020a).
If schools continue to remain closed, Malaysia Ministry of Education (MOE) would have to consider homeschooling modules (Mak Chee Kin, personal communication, November 1, 2020). Students in the cities, such as Kota Kinabalu are bored of studying from home due to Movement Control Order (MCO) and hope to return to school (Stephanie Lee, personal communication, November 7, 2020). In school, there are lots of activities which made students physically fitter and more alert mentally. Classroom learning also helped students communicate better with their teachers. Studying with their peers is more fun and receive pocket money from parents.
While schools and other institution of education under the MOE closed, students are required to learn online from home. They should revise their lessons from 9 November till 31 December 2020. Students are expected to return to their schools and campuses on 17 January 2021 (Mohd Radzi, 2020b). The MOE also prepared “Teaching and Learning From Home “manual in October 2020. It was developed to help teachers implement home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) as an alternative in the new norm. The 20-page manual serves as a guide for teachers and also enables students to follow the PdPR optionally. PdPR is defined as the teaching and learning that is carried out at home, community centres or any other suitable location. It can be done either online, offline or off-site in a structured and planned manner (Rajaedram, 2020b).
While online learning is necessary, children need to engage in activities that do not involve electronic devices. A two-hour “Zoom” can be tiring and difficult to be focused. Leisure-based activities such as “Rummikub” for mathematics, monopoly, drawing and making arts should be recommended (Priscilla Ho, personal communication, November 1, 2020).
Online teaching has not improved despite Malaysia entering the third wave of the pandemic Covid-19 (Noor Azimah, personal communication, November 1, 2020). Most parents and students prefer having face-to-face learning in schools, especially that in examination classes (Mohd Radzi, 2020a). The difference in opinion of the best place to learn depended on the availability of devices and the internet. Some students prefer to be with their friends in the school environment. A mobile phone is not conducive for learning. It is too small and makes concentrating difficult (Rajaedram, 2020b). My grandchildren’ education is being badly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. For months now, they have not had proper schooling.
Their school in Ampang, Selangor is not equipped to deliver online classes. They get homework via “Whatsapp”. This arrangement does not deliver effective learning, causing much dissatisfaction among parents. Thus, we need to invest more in broadband (Ahmad Ibrahim, personal communication, November 21, 2020). The higher education sector has also been badly affected by poor quality broadband and lack of access. With the increasing demand to deliver teaching online, students with poor internet access, struggle to follow their lectures.
Those in rural areas are the worst affected. However, poor families in urban areas also have problems such as not having a conducive space at home to follow online classes (Ahmad Ibrahim, personal communication, November 21, 2020).
The main online learning issues highlighted by parents were slow and unstable internet connectivity especially in suburban and rural areas. Home-based is considered to be the only way to ensure the continuity of education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many students have
to share devices with their family members that result in scheduling clashes when they have online lessons (Rajaendram & Menon, 2020). Most of the schools have ill-equipped computer laboratories and limited internet access (Sri Murugan, personal communication, June 14, 2020).
Most of the time, you do not get full attendance during the online session (Chandrika Menon, personal communication, June 14, 2020).
A lot of parents voiced their worries about their children’ heath since the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO). Their children have to sit in front of the gadget screen for a long period of time daily. When the schools closed due to MCO, children have to learn through online with Zoom and Google Meet. This long learning processes affected their eye sights. The children have to wear glasses at their very young ages. Apparently, the parents could observe that their children were emotionally disturbed compared to the first phase of MCO in March 2020. Learning in front of computer screen is no more fun in long period of time. Children were found to be unhappy, worry and possible facing depression (Nur Hasliza, 2020).
3. Sample
The samples were 44 teacher trainees of Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake), Teacher Education Institute (Pendidikan Islam Campus). These sampels attended home-based learning during Movement Control Order (MCO) from 14 October 2020 to 6 December 2020. They learned through Google Classroom, Google Meet, e-mail and Media Social (Whatsapp and Telegram).
4. Research Objective
The research objective was to;
i. identify the satisfactory of PPISMP Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake) teacher trainees towards the teaching and learning of Kemahiran Belajar GKB1053 course conducted by lecturer S.
5. Research Question
The research question was;
i. What is the satisfactory level of PPISMP Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake) teacher trainees towards the teaching and learning of Kemahiran Belajar GKB1053 course conducted by lecturer S?
6. Limitation of the Study
This study only focused on the response of the teacher trainees’satisfactory level towards the teaching and learning of Kemahiran Belajar GKB1053 course conducted by lecturer S and not focused on the demographic factors such as sex and family background. This study also focused on the 44 teacher trainees of PPISMP Preparatory Programme (Jun 2020 intake). Thus, the result could not be generalized to all the population. This study was focused on the teaching and learning of lecturer S and could not be generalized to other lecturers who may teach the same course.
7. Method
The research method used was survey. Survey was conducted to describe the population under study.
8. Instrument
The instrument used was questionnaire GKBMCO-20. The instrument was modified from the questionnaires provided by the Staff Development Department, Malaysia Teacher Education Institute with permission. It was evaluated and validated by the experts from Teacher Education Institute (Pendidikan Islam Campus).
During the Movement Control Order (MCO), web-based questionnaire was the best option to deliver the questions to the student at home. However, web-based questionnaire was not that efficient when the internet coverage and internet speed in some point of time and in some locations that were disrupted frequently due to heavy internet traffic flow (Hin, K.K., personal communication, November 1, 2020). The researcher modified and sent the simplified questionnaire to the samples who faced internet disruptions through social media Whatsapp.
9. Data Analysis
Items in the GKBMCO-20 questionnaire were evaluated with Likert 5-point scale. The scales were arranged from scale 1: totally disagree to scale 5: totally agree. The data were analyzed descriptively with frequency and average mean score.
10. Result and Discussion
Table 1 showed the response of the teacher trainees’ satisfaction towards the teaching and learning during the Movement Control Order.
Table 1: The response of teacher trainees’ satisfaction towards the teaching and learning during Movement Control Order
No. Item Scale Average mean
score 1(f) 2(f) 3(f) 4(f) 5(f)
1 Appropriateness of the course 0 0 12 17 15 4.06
2 Duration of the course 0 0 12 24 8 3.91
3 Delivery of the course 0 0 8 19 17 4.20
4 Course materials used 0 0 12 20 12 4.00
5 My knowledge improve 0 0 13 12 19 4.14
6 My reading skills improve 0 0 12 25 7 3.43
7 Practical knowledge learned 0 0 16 20 8 3.81
8 Overall evaluation 0 0 8 31 5 3.93
Note: 1: total disagree, 2: disagree, 3: neutral, 4: agree, 5: total agree, f=frequency
Table 1 showed that the teacher trainees’ satisfaction towards the teaching and learning process carried out by the lecturer S during the Movement Control Order. The Overall evaluation of the the course was high (average mean score=3.93).
Table 2: Mean score interpretation Mean score Interpretation
1.00-2.33 Low
2.34-3.67 Moderate
3.68-5.00 High
Source: Mohd Huzairi (2017)
When the researcher further enquiring the samples, the samples preferred to study face-to-face in the campus following the official schedule. The reasons given were as below;
i. felt pressure when learning online at home for long period of time ii. need to meet their friends and lecturers for discussion
iii. lots of distractions at home
iv. left lots of personal items in the hostel
v. miss the social interactions with their classmates
vi. to help their parents doing home tasks beside their lessons
The researcher suggested two alternatives for teaching and learning, television education programme and teacher call centre. The television education programs have been carried out for many years in government sponsored television channels. However, the programs are often ignored by the students and teachers until recent outbreak of pandemic Covid-19. It was a perfect alternative for the students home-based learning especially those lacking of internet access and live in the rural areas. All of the 44 samples agreed that the usefulness of the television education program during this critical period of Covid-19.
Although the program does not benefit the teacher trainees directly, the program could serve as future references for those who will teach in front of television. They stated the strengths and weaknesses of the television education program.
Strength of the television program;
i. assist students to revise at home
ii. increase their interest with free television program iii. reduce their burden to subscribe internet access
iv. learn the new knowledge from different teachers with their own pace v. the contents were brief and concise
vi. exercises are given
vii. the program could be recorded and revise repeatedly
Weaknesses of the television program;
i. no questioning and answering session for students
ii. some students were not able to focus in front of the television
iii. few siblings may find it hard to focus on the program at the same time in front of a television
iv. not a good learning tool
The researcher also came across the initiative of Philippines government that introduced the teaching and learning call centre. The teachers were gathered in a temporary call centre a specific time with various modes available. Teachers tried to solve the students’ learning difficulties faced at home. As in Malaysia, the samples thought of this option differently. They gave their opinions as below;
The strength of the teacher call centre;
i. students could accumulate all the questions for all subjects and call their teachers in- waiting
ii. preferred for students who love to talk
iii. reduce the burden of teachers as students will call at the specific working time and not disturbing them any time
iv. reduce the health risk especially eye exposure to the computer screen in a long period of time
The weaknesses of the teacher call centre;
i. the constraints of location and space available ii. not appropriate for Malaysia students
iii. not suitable for subjects that need experiments and practical works iv. not suitable for weak students as they do not know what to ask about v. may be time consuming
vi. Malaysia education system is not very well-prepared for this pandemic Covid-19 compared to developed countries such as United States of America
We are not certain when the pandemic Covid-19 could be fully under controlled. The pandemic may last for another 1 to 2 years or even longer. There is a possibility that teacher trainees may need to learn at home longer. The researcher also conducted a brief survey of the need to return to the campus next semester 1 in January 2021. Table 3 showed the need to return to campus in January 2021. All the samples wanted to return to the campus to attend their lessons physically.
Table 3: Reasons to return to campus in January 2021
No. Item Scale Total
1 (%) 2(%) 3(%)
1 Poor internet access at home 63.6 0 36.4 100
2 Not conducive to learn at home 47.7 15.9 36.4 100
3 PPISMP Preparatory Program students just registered in the
campus in September 2020
50 20.5 29.5 100
4 To search information 4.6 15.9 79.5 100
Note: 1: agree, 2: neutral, 3: disagree
Results showed that teacher trainees preferred to return to the campus next semester in January 2021. They found that it was not conducive to study at home. They felt tired as they needed to perform home tasks in the family and learn online at the same time. Poor access of internet connectivity was another hindrance to learn at home. Kok (2020) also found that the previous group of teacher trainees also faced the issue of poor internet connectivity. The internet connectivity in the country was not equally distributed. Teacher trainees who live in suburban and rural areas were not able to connect to internet services efficiently. The samples were new teacher trainees registered in September 2020. They preferred to live in the campus to interact with their new friends and perform their tasks in groups using facilities provided by the college.
However, the teacher trainees were not eager to return to the library since they could search the related information from the internet or another various resources from home.
11. Conclusion
Teacher trainees preferred to learn face-to-face in the campus. They were very keen to socialize with their peers and lecturers. Poor internet access was among the main factors that affected their home-based learning. Nevertheless, teacher trainees still satisfied with the teaching and learning activities carried out by the lecturer with average mean score, 3.93. We are uncertain when the schools and institutions of higher learning could allow to operate fully due to the inconsistent of periodical outbreak of the Pandemic Covid-19. Home-based learning and self- directed learning are the most appropriate alternatives for present Malaysian students.
However, the Ministry of Education should provide a few options for our school children who faced multiple issues learning at home. When the current multiple issues could be solved, students could begin to learn at home happily and would not further lacking behind the other students.
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