Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijciet/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=9&IType=8 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316
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STUDENTS’ ACCEPTANCE OF THE TITAS MOOCS LEARNING MODULE IN UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA SABAH
Ros Aiza Mohd Mokhtar, Abd Hakim Mohad, Mashitah Sulaiman and Latifah Abdul Latiff
Centre for Core Studies & Faculty of Leadership & Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The Islamic Civilisation and Asian Civilisation course or more commonly known as Tamadun Islam and Tamadun Asia (TITAS) is a compulsory course for all students of institutions of higher learning in Malaysia and this includes University Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Therefore this course is among the courses that records a high enrolment of students every semester which has led to an increase in load for the lecturers of this course. Additionally, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has launched a blended learning approach in teaching and learning. Hence, in order to streamline the curriculum as well as to lessen the load of the TITAS lecturers, the MOHE has developed the TITAS MOOCs learning module that is spearheaded by University Putra Malaysia (UPM). This paper will analyse the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among the UMS students. The study shows that the reception of the UMS students towards the TITAS MOOCs module is positive and there is a high relation between the factors of acceptance, which consist of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Social Influence, with the acceptance of the UMS students which is seen as Voluntary Usage. This research is essential to evaluate the relevance of the TITAS MOOCs module as well as the UMS environment in order to realise this blended learning approach in the TITAS course.
Key words: TITAS MOOCs, Blended learning, UMS.
Cite this Article: Ros Aiza Mohd Mokhtar, Abd Hakim Mohad, Mashitah Sulaiman and Latifah Abdul Latiff, Students‟ Acceptance of the Titas Moocs Learning Module in University Malaysia Sabah. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(8), 2018, pp. 487-495.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=9&IType=8
1. INTRODUCTION
From the first semester in the academic session of 2014/2015, the compulsory university courses at the Public Universities (Universiti Awam - UA) began to undergo transformation and innovation in their Teaching and Learning (T&L) approach. The Open Learning platform managed to become the centre for information and knowledge. Massive Open Online Course
(MOOCs) for Public Universities or Malaysian MOOCs is a strategic agenda or flagship programme of the Ministry of Education (MOE) for all Public Universities (UA) in Malaysia.
MOOC was launched with the purpose of increasing the quality of T&L in Malaysia to save cost, place the courses offered by UA at the same ranks as other courses within the global arena and encourage life-long learning. In other words, it contains the elements of visibility, positioning and branding. There are four courses which are involved in this agenda which had been entrusted upon the four Public Universities. The courses and universities involved are TITAS (UPM), Ethnic Relations (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia- UKM), Entrepreneurship (Universiti Teknologi MARA- UiTM) and ICT Competency (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak- UNIMAS). Thus, this research is conducted to observe the receptivity of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among the students of University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) which is one of the public universities located in East Malaysia. It is important to disseminate the input of this research especially to others who share the responsibility of developing the TITAS MOOCs.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
TITAS course was introduced at higher learning institution since 1999 for the nation building purpose. From 2006, the purpose of the course was extended to enhance students‟ soft skills [1]. Later in 2014, the course was developed in MOOC platform. TITAS MOOCs is a new millennium learning model which is inspired from the Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Game (MMOPRG) [2]. The definition of „massive‟ and „open‟ specifically refers to the nature of the courses which are offered in an open manner with learning is conducted online and with and an unlimited number of students. The MOOCs medium is an alternative method of learning, collaborative in nature and more interactive when there is discussion among students from various institutions, with assignments, forums, quizzes and other interactive learning activities which are web-based or social media based like videos, Youtube [2].
Referring to the implementation of TITAS MOOCs, it involves the role and responsibility of the lecturer which among them are providing early announcements about the implementation of T&L using the Open Learning platform, preparing the course plan as well as administering assessments and tests. As stated earlier, TITAS MOOCs is an alternative method of learning, thus, it is not fully used as a T&L medium. In contrary, the T&L proposed is blended learning which is a combination of learning and e-learning in managing the course. This matter is in line with a research by Cavanagh [3] which reports that the US Department of Education found students who use blended learning have higher achievement compared to students who merely study face-to-face (FTF) or even compared with students who take full online courses. Norhafizah Ismail, et.al [4] in her research on Polytechnic students in Malaysia also showed a similar result that is the achievement of students through the blended learning mode is better than the traditional mode that is fully FTF or fully e- learning. Consequently, blended learning became the best alternative learning approach after the usage of fully e-learning raised several issues including the issue of students feeling isolated and lacking skills [5]. Therefore, the usage of TITAS MOOCs and other e-learning platforms is important to realise the implementation of blended learning proposed by the MOHE.
In the Malaysian context, many institutions of higher learning have implemented e- learning because of its effectiveness as an alternative learning approach [6]. However, research done by Haryani Haron, et. al. [7] showed the adoption rate of blended learning among Malaysian academicians is low, where only 13 percent of the academicians adopted the learning approach. Among the factors which influenced the adoption of blended learning are perceived usefulness of the system, learning goals and educational technology preference.
Research on the acceptance of the TITAS module in e-learning platforms was also conducted by Norhapizah Mohd Burhan, et. al. [8]. She studied the acceptance of TITAS e-CITAC that is a blended learning Digital-based Learning Module developed by UiTM for UiTM students.
Her findings indicate positive acceptance of the module among UiTM students. Nurasyikin Osman and Mohd Isa Hamzah [5], however, discovered the difference in male and female students‟ preparedness, and that the usage of various programmes for blended learning is not significant.
This research focuses on the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module which is developed by the MOHE under the supervision of UPM for the usage of all public university students where UMS students are among them. Among the aspects of acceptance, according to Venkatesh, et. al [9], using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) are Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Voluntary Usage and Behavioral Intention. While Davis [10] who introduced the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explicated the factors that can influence the acceptance of a technology is the Perceived Ease of Use and the Perceived Usefulness. Hence, the theoretical framework of this research is built based on the suitable variables from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and the Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as shown in Diagram 1:
Figure 1 Theoretical Framework
Based on the theoretical framework above, the construct of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Social Influence are determined as factors that can influence the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students, while the voluntary usage construct is used as an indicator of the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students. These variables from UTAUT and TAM are chosen due to their feasibility in measuring the acceptance of information technology and the TITAS MOOCs learning module is seen as an IT innovation in education.
3. METHODOLOGY
This research used the survey method. The instrument used was a questionnaire for gathering input from a large sample so that the researcher‟s understanding of the subject matter could be easily generalised. The instrument was a self-constructed questionnaire developed and modified from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Two variables from UTAUT are used which are Social Influence and Voluntary Usage, while another two variables are from TAM which are Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness. Based on the theoretical framework, the indicator for the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students which is Voluntary Usage could be influenced by three factors which are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and social influence. Hence, the framework yielded the following hypotheses:
H1: There is no difference in the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students from different genders.
H2: There is a difference in the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students from different streams of study.
H3: There is a high relation between the factors and acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students.
Guided by the UTAUT and TAM, the researcher constructed a questionnaire consisting of five parts, which consist of respondents‟ profile Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Social Influence and Voluntary Usage. Each section begins with a clear instruction of what is expected of the respondent. To determine the level of relevance of a particular item, a 5-point scale is used. The lowest point of the scale represents “strongly disagree” while the highest point of the scale represents “strongly agree”. All four variables were measured through 5 items.
Copies of the questionnaire were distributed to 420 first-year students of University Malaysia Sabah which consisted of two streams of study which are the Science and the Arts streams. A total of 400 (95.2%) questionnaires were returned to the researcher and were analysed. A stratified sampling procedure was used in this research by random sampling through the selection of 210 students from the Science stream and 210 from the Arts stream.
A reliability test was carried out to test the internal consistency of the respective scales. The Alpha Cronbach value for this questionnaire is as shown in Table 1:
Table 1 Reliability of the Research Instrument Category of Construct Number of
Items
Number of Respondents
Alpha Value
Perceived Usefulness 5 400 .826
Perceived Ease of Use 5 400 .824
Social Influence 5 400 .830
Voluntary Usage 5 400 .876
Based on the analysis which was conducted, the alpha value is .826 for the construct on Perceived Usefulness, .824 for the construct on Perceived Ease of Use, .830 for the construct on Social Influence and .876 for the construct on Voluntary Usage. The scales for all the variables were found to be very reliable as all the Cronbach‟s alpha values exceeded 0.8 [11].
The data were statistically analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). T-test and Pearson correlation test were carried out to test the consistency of the hypothesis.
4. RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.1. Respondents’ ProfileThe research conducted involved 400 first-year UMS undergraduates who took the TITAS course during their first semester of 2016/2017 and the second semester of 2016/2017. Details of the demographic information of the respondents in this study is summarised in Table 2 below:
Table 2 Profile of the Respondents
Item Details Number (n) Percentage (%)
Gender Male 111 28
Female 289 72
Stream Science 200 50
Arts 200 50
Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FKI) 28 7
Faculty of Engineering (FKJ) 28 7
Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition (FSMP)
45 11
Faculty Faculty of Science and Natural Resources (FSSA)
99 25
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW)
130 33
Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FPEP)
33 8
Faculty of Psychology and Education (FPP) 37 9
Muslim 269 67
Religion Christian Buddhist Hindu
91 32 8
23 8 2
Malay 127 32
Chinese 49 12
Ethnicity Indian
Indigenous ethnic groups of Sabah
12 198
3 49
Indigenous ethnic groups of Sarawak 14 4
Based on Table 2, it can be surmised that the respondents of this study are suitable and balanced in terms of the number of respondents from each stream that is the science stream and arts streams, while the lack of balance in terms of the gender, religion and ethnicity is based on the imbalance in population count.
4.2. Descriptive Statistics
Table 3 shows that Perceived Usefulness as one of the factors which influences the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning modules among UMS students. On the whole, the mean for this construct is high that is from 3.692 to 4.085. The highest mean is for the item
“The TITAS MOOCs module has helped me increase my understanding on a particular title”, while the lowest mean is for the item “The TITAS MOOCs module provided the opportunity for me to interact with friends from various backgrounds”.
Table 3 Perceived Usefulness
Perceived Usefulness Mean Std. Deviation The TITAS MOOCs module is very beneficial. 4.070 0.875 The TITAS MOOCs module helped increase my
understanding about a particualr topic.
4.085 0.857 The TITAS MOOCs module provided the opportunity for
me to think critically.
4.007 0.845 The TITAS MOOCs module provided the opportunity for
me to interact with friends from various backgrounds.
3.692 1.046 The TITAS MOOCs module improved my ICT skills. 3.945 0.929
Table 4 showed the Perceived Ease of Use as one of the factors which influences the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students. Overall, the mean for this construct is high which is from 3.725 to 4.210. The highest mean is for the item “The
TITAS MOOCs module allows learning to take place anytime at the convenience of the student”, while the lowest mean is for the item “UMS facilities assist me in having easy and fast access to the TITAS MOOCs module”.
Table 4 Perceived Ease of Use
Perceived Ease of Use Mean Std. Deviation The TITAS MOOCs module is user friendly. 3.787 0.868 The TITAS MOOCs has clear instructions for the various
learning activities.
3.900 0.906 The TITAS MOOCs module allows learning to take place
outside of a fixed class location.
4.085 0.865 The TITAS MOOCs module allows learning to take place
anytime at the convenience of the student.
4.210 0.832 UMS facilities assist me in having easy and fast access to the
TITAS MOOCs module.
3.725 1.030
Table 5 shows that Social Influence is one of the factors that influences the acceptance of TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students. On the whole, the mean with the highest construct is from 3.607 to 4.265. The item with the highest mean is “My lecturer uses the TITAS MOOCs module as an additional activity”, while the lowest mean is for the item
“My friends support my usage of the TITAS MOOCs module”.
Table 5 Social Influence
Social Influence Mean Std. Deviation My lecturer encourages me to use the TITAS MOOCs
module.
4.217 0.801 My lecturer uses the TITAS MOOCs module as an
additional activity.
4.265 0.768 My friends use the TITAS MOOCs module. 3.990 0.925 My classmates help me through the use of the TITAS
MOOCs module.
3.695 1.048 My friends support my usage of the TITAS MOOCs
module.
3.607 1.022
Table 6 shows the acceptance of TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS student is positive where the Voluntary Usage indicator is concerned with a mean reading from 3.275 to 3.807. The highest mean is for the item “I encourage my friends to take the TITAS course using the TITAS MOOCs module”, while the lowest mean is for the item “I complete the activities in the TITAS MOOCs module even without the lecturer‟s instruction”.
Table 6 Voluntary Usage
Voluntary Usage Mean Std. Deviation
I like studying using the TITAS MOOCs module. 3.690 0.970 I study using the TITAS MOOCs module even though it is
not compulsory.
3.382 1.064 I complete the activities in the TITAS MOOCs module even
without the lecturer‟s instruction. 3.275 2.299
I like to interact or read comments/views of friends who take the TITAS course on the TITAS MOOCs platform.
3.515 1.101 I encourage my friends to take the TITAS course using the
TITAS MOOCs module.
3.807 1.059
4.3. Hypotheses Testing
Two hypotheses were tested using the T-test, the results of which are presented in Table 7 and Table 8. Table 7 shows the min score for both categories of gender, that is (3.616) for males and (3.502) for females. The difference reflected between the two is not significant with the p- value of 0.442. This is due to the fact that a significant p-value is p < .05. The results of the test is summarised below in Table 7:
Table 7 Difference in the Acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs Learning Modules in terms of Different Genders
Gender Sample Mean Score Statistic t p-value
Male 111 3.616 .769 .442
Female 289 3.502
Table 8 shows the min score for both categories of streams that is (3.411) for the Science stream, while (3.657) is shown for the Arts stream. There is significant difference that is the p-value is 0.012. This is because a significant difference is when the p-value is p < .05. The results of the test is summarised as follows in Table 8:
Table 8 Difference in the Acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs Learning Modules in terms of Different Streams
Streams Sample Mean Score Statistic t p-value
Science Stream 200 3.411 -2.535 0.012
Arts Stream 200 3.657
The third hypothesis was tested using the Pearson correlation test. The result of the test showed that there is a high relation between Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Social Influence and Voluntary Usage with a reading from .602 to .721. The highest relationship is between Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use with a reading of .721. The relationship which involves the factor and acceptance is also high that is .602 for Perceived Ease of Use and Voluntary Usage, .606 for Social Influence and Voluntary Usage as well as .618 for Perceived Usefulness and Voluntary Usage. The results of the test is summarised below in Table 9:
Table 9 Relationship between Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Social Influence as well as Voluntary Usage
Mean_
Perceived Usefulness
Mean_
Perceived Ease of Use
Mean_
Social Influence
Mean_
Voluntary Usage Mean_
Perceived Usefulness
Pearson Correlation Sig.
(2-tailed) N
1 . 400
.721**
.000 400
.673**
.000 400
.618**
.000 400 Mean_
Perceived Ease of Use
Pearson Correlation Sig.
(2-tailed) N
.721**
.000 400
1 . 400
.713**
.000 400
.602**
.000 400 Mean_
Social Influence
Pearson Correlation Sig.
(2-tailed) N
.673**
.000 400
.713**
.000 400
1 . 400
.606**
.000 400 Mean_
Voluntary Usage
Pearson Correlation Sig.
(2-tailed) N
.618**
.000 400
.602**
.000 400
.606**
.000 400
1 . 400
This test result supports the researcher‟s view that states that Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Social Influence also influence the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students.
5. DISCUSSIONS
This study shows that the acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students is positive by referring to the Voluntary Usage mean that is from 3.275 and 3.807.
This matter is in line with the previous study conducted by Norhapizah Mohd Burhan, et. al.
[8] on UiTM students‟ acceptance of the TITAS e-learning module which is known as the e- CITAC TITAS, developed by UiTM. This inadvertently supports the view that states the achievement of students who take courses with a blended learning mode is better than those who take the traditional mode of study which is fullly FTF [3], [4] and is seen as effective [6].
Furthermore, this study shows that there is no significant difference between male and female students in relation to their acceptance of the TITAS MOOCs learning module. Both genders have good acceptance levels towards the TITAS MOOCs learning module. This view is also in line with the research results by Nurasyikin Osman and Mohd Isa Hamzah [5] who found the preparedness of male and female students, who experienced the blended learning module when they took on the International Arabic Language course in UniSZA, was not significant.
Moreover, this research shows that there is a significant difference between Science stream students and Arts stream students in terms of their acceptance of TITAS MOOCs learning module that is with the p-value of 0.012. This findings show that the Arts stream have a greater tendency of accepting the TITAS MOOCs learning module with the min score of 3.657 compared to the Science stream with a min score of 3.411. However, this matter is is not in agreement with the findings by Nurasyikin Osman and Mohd Isa Hamzah [5] which found that there is no significant difference between Science and Arts streams from various programmes in terms of their preparedness to follow the International Arabic Language blended learning course in UniSZA. Therefore, the difference between Science and Arts streams in UMS may be specific to the TITAS course alone.
Next, the research shows the three factors which are Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Social Influence have high relation with the acceptance of TITAS MOOCs learning module among UMS students. This is parallel with the research by Haryani Haron, et. al. [7]
which showed that perceived usefulness is one of the important constructs that influenced the adoption of blended learning among academicians in Malaysian public institution of higher learning which implement blended learning. According to her, academicians adopted blended learning because they viewed the technology as beneficial to the process of teaching and learning. Moreover, the findings of Norhapizah Mohd Burhan, et. al. [8] also showed that Social Influence determines the acceptance of the e-CITAC TITAS model among UiTM students.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this study indicates that the acceptance of UMS students on the TITAS MOOCs learning module is positive due to three main factors, namely the Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and Social Influence. At the same time, the research shows that Arts stream students have a higher inclination to accept the TITAS MOOCs learning module compared with the Science stream students. This finding is important and beneficial for the relevant parties to ensure the pertinence of the TITAS MOOCs learning module for all IPTA students which is in line with the aspiration of the MOHE in developing this learning module.
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