The noble Malaysian Qualification Framework (MQF) has been established by the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) to emphasise the obligation to apply Outcome-Based Education (OBE) for higher education in Malaysia, with the revised version of MQF introduced in the year 2019 to assure the quality of higher education continues to be on par with the current global demand. A year after the launching of the revised edition, the momentum of OBE implementation was interrupted by the unforeseen pandemic crisis, resulting in major disruptions for all higher education institutions. This study intended to explore how OBE has been implemented in a Higher Education Provider (HEP) that offers Open Distance Learning (ODL), as well as its challenges and quality improvement approaches when the implementation was impacted by the unprecedented event. The study applied a qualitative research design and adopted a purposive sampling method to select four participants to join a one-to-one semi-structured interview. Data collected were transcribed and analysed via ATLAS.ti software by using a thematic approach. The finding revealed that the ODL-HEP well-applied the updated version of the framework to achieve the ultimate goal of OBE. However, there were both positive and negative perspectives about OBE in higher education. In addition, four themes namely psychomotor domain, alternative assessment, learning outcomes achievement, and dropout of students were discovered in the OBE implementation challenges amidst the pandemic. The results for the continual quality improvement aspect also revealed five important themes to illustrate how the HEP responded to the challenges and change.
The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly led to unprecedented curriculum change in the higher education institutions in Malaysia. For institutions that were not used to applying online teaching and learning by its nature, the pandemic crisis has imposed a forceful demand for all to shift the existing curricula to online mode overnight, which created a huge challenge for the academic leaders. Hence, this study intended to study and contrast the curriculum change management by academic leaders resulting from the pandemic crisis, as well as the successful leadership styles in handling the crisis-driven change. The study adopted a qualitative research method via a one-to-one semi-structured online interview. Two academic leaders who managed the quantity surveying program in the higher education institutions in Sarawak and Selangor were purposely selected by the researcher to participate in this study, aided by some predefined criteria in the respondent selection. The qualitative data were analysed and deduced using thematic coding through ATLAS.ti software. The findings showed that Kotter’s 8-step framework was useful and supported curriculum change management well in the academic context during the pandemic crisis. In addition, the academic leaders were discovered to adopt a transformational leadership style in successfully handling disruptions and managing the curriculum change due to the pandemic crisis.
The education model in the 21st century shall be learner-centered. Learners are expected to be independent to engage in self-directed learning with the integration of technological tools in developing necessary 21st century skills. However, the foundation of this education model shall not be neglected as positive emotion and motivation are the determinants of achieving the desired outcomes. The researcher applied a comparative review method to contrast the three learning theories, namely (1) humanistic theory (2) social constructivism theory, and (3) self-determination theory which are significant in the self-directed learning context. The inference of these theories on personal and social development, emotional stability, as well as the motivation of learners in the 21st century was also examined in this paper. The outcomes of this review paper benefit educators in the curriculum and pedagogy design, as well as aid researchers in understanding phenomena and formulating appropriate research frameworks for future studies. For understanding emotional stability and motivation among the 21st century learners, the researcher concluded that the humanistic aspect of learning shall not be compromised. Furthermore, the cause-and-effect of the emotion and motivation constructs deserves a more detailed empirical investigation.
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