Epistemological Beliefs and Self-Directed Learning

Vol.5 No.
June 2009
ISSN 1823-7797
Editorial Team
1. Personalized Rankings: A New Ranking System for

Taiwanese Universities
Angela Yung-chi Hou
2. Epistemological Beliefs and Self-directed Learning

Readiness of Hospitality Students: The Necessary
Precursor to Academic Performance
25
Rahmat Hashim
Artinah Zainal
Ahmad Nizan Zali
Shahariah Ibrahim
3. Writing Web Logs in the ESL Classroom: A Study of

Student Perceptions and the Technology
Acceptance Model
47
Mah Boon Yih

Er Ann Nah
4. Integrating Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) into University Teaching and Learning:
A Case Study
Chan Yuen Fook
Gurnam Kaur Sidhu
71
5. Variation in First Year College Students Understanding

on Their Conceptions of and Approaches to Solving
Mathematical Problems
95
Parmjit Singh
6. Selecting Future Teachers: The Predictive Validity of

Communication Skills, Personality and Academic
Achievement in the Admission Process at an
Asian University
Richard J. Holmes
Marina Mohamed Arif
Lee Lai Fong
iv
119
Personalized Rankings:
A New Ranking System for
Taiwanese Universities
Angela Yung-chi Hou
Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation
Council of Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Because traditional college rankings had many methodological

problems a new type of user-based ranking, called personalized
college ranking was developed in many nations in the late 1990s.
The main objective of this paper, therefore, is to explore what
challenges are involved in the development of current college
rankings nationally and globally and how to establish a new type
of ranking system. The paper starts by attempting to understand
the pitfalls and criticisms of college rankings. Based on the analysis
of five major personalized rankings, it outlines strategies and
pathways for establishing personalized college rankings in Taiwan.
Keywords: Higher education, personalized college ranking, Berlin
principles
Introduction
Among all college rankings currently used around the world, an annual
ranking of American universities published since 1983 by the magazine
U.S. News and World Report has been recognized as the most influential.
Since then many countries have followed and have published national
college rankings, such as Canadas Macleans, Britains The Times Good
Asian Journal of University Education
Universities Guide, Japans Asahi Shimbun, and Germanys The Center

for Higher Education Development.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the development of college
rankings has become internationalized. Shanghai Jiao Tong University in
Mainland China published the first global ranking of universities in June
2003, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). This
ranking uses internationally recognized academic performance and
achievements as major indicators in rating 1,000 universities worldwide.
Indeed, the release of this ranking caused widespread discussion in the
international community and the indicators have also become a major
concern for national governments that seek to create world-class
universities. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings triggered intense
global academic competition throughout the world, and shortly after the
release, Britains Times Higher Education Supplement (now Times
Higher Education) came out with its own World University Rankings
covering 200 universities in 2004. Another World ranking titled
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities was published by
Cybermetrics Lab, CINDOC-CSIC in Spain in the same year (Hou,
2007).
Before the 1990s, most college rankings or league tables in Taiwan
were published by the mass media and did not draw public attention due
to a lack of validity and credibility in methodology. Driven by the
globalization of higher education, universities and government agencies
started to develop rankings as a tool to encourage institutions to strive
for excellence. At present, there are three major types of college rankings
in Taiwan. Each has its own distinctive characteristics. There is a national
ranking by Tamkang University, a global ranking by the Higher Education
Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) and a
personalized ranking called College Navigator in Taiwan also developed
by HEEACT.
The main objective of this paper is to explore the challenges involved
in the development of current college rankings nationally and globally
and the improvements that are expected from a new type of ranking
system. The paper starts by attempting to understand the pitfalls and
criticisms of college rankings. Based on the analysis of five personalized
rankings, it outlines the strategies and pathways for establishing
personalized college rankings in Taiwan.
Personalized Rankings
The Rationale for College Rankings

With the rapid expansion of higher education and a surge in the number
of universities the era of marketization has officially begun. Universities
are beginning to be accountable towards stakeholders as business
enterprises are. As higher education institutions continue to marketize,
they are expected to be more responsible to their stakeholders by disclosing
assessment outcomes in public. Zumeat (cited in Schmidtlein & Berdahl,
2005, 74). indicated that colleges and universities face unprecedented
external demands and this shift in states expectations and relations with
colleges and universities is significant not only for academes own interests
but for important societal values.
Academic rankings and league tables that create data transparency
are regarded as an important instrument for the evaluation of quality in
higher education institutions (Muller-Boling & Federkeil, 2007). Hence,
Rankings are inevitable in the era of massification, those who finance
higher education and the public want to know which academic institutions
are the best (Altbach, 2006). According to Sadlak (2006), the former
Director of UNESCO-European Centre for Higher Education, ranking,
which can be defined as an established approach, with corresponding
methodology and procedures, for displaying the comparative standing of
whole institutions or certain domains of its performance, is now fast
becoming a world wide phenomenon (p.3). It is being done for a variety
of reasons, such as providing the general public with information, fostering
healthy competition among higher education institutions, stimulating the
evolution of centers of excellence, and offering an additional rationale
for allocation of state funds (Sadlak, 2006). It is now an accepted
component of an external tool for quality assurance.
Therefore, because of marketization and accountability in higher
education, ranking systems are clearly here to stay, as Merisotis (2002)
has clearly noted, whether or not colleges and universities agree with
them and whatever their outcomes.
College rankings have become a way for universities to prove to the
public and prospective students that their products and services are worth
investing in, and this inevitably leads to severe competition among
universities (Stella & Woodhouse, 2008). Thus, the increasing number
of college and university rankings published by commercial magazines,
academic institutions, or government agencies has become a manifestation
of the new competitive higher education environment and a driver of
change.
3
Pitfalls and Criticism

Yet, rankings continue to have a controversial role and arouse fierce
debates among rankers, institutions and users though they have gained
legitimacy from society, government and students. In fact, there are
several problems and pitfalls in current global and national college
rankings, including the arbitrary selection of indicators and weightings,
undefined users and simplistic presentation (Aguillo, Ortega, & Fernadez,
2007). To analyze the methodologies of the current global and national
rankings, there are four kinds of problem (Hou, 2008).
1. Criteria are heterogeneous: Usher & Savino (2006) divided indicators
of quality into seven categories, including reputation, research output,
learning input (staff & resource), learning output, final outcome and
student quality. In fact, most rankings only include learning input and
research output without considering learning output or final outcome.
2. The distribution of indicator weightings is too arbitrary: Except for
the CHE ranking, the weight proportion is determined arbitrarily by
rankers. They do not even explain how the criteria are weighted.
For example, THE-QS has no explanation for the use of 10 % for
international outlook in its methodology. Also, the U.S News and
World Report and Maclbeans adopt the indicator of student/ faculty
ratio but with 5% and 10% weightings respectively.
3. Sources of data are not credible. Basically, there are three sources
of data on institutions, survey data, independent third parties and
university sources (Usher & Savino, 2006). However, the use of
these data sources has its problems. Survey data may be too
subjective and university data can be manipulated. As for public
databases, the problem is that they are established for their own
specific purposes and may not have the data needed by ranking
organizations.
4. Outcome presentation is too simplistic. It seems easy and simple for
users to differentiate good from bad by numerical order but this may
not be the best way. Users neither realize the content and context of
an institution nor get the relevant information they really need if
ranking outcomes are presented simplistically.
In order to maintain the quality of rankings, the International Ranking
Expert Group (IREG) founded in 2004 by the UNESCO European Centre
for Higher Education (UNESCO-CEPES) and the Institute for Higher
Education Policy have come up with the Berlin Principles on Ranking of
4
Higher Education Institutions which consist of 16 descriptive principles

for the good practice of college ranking regarding four aspects: purpose
and goal of rankings, design and weighting of indicators, collection and
processing of data, and presentation of ranking results (The 2nd IREG,
2006). It is expected that any desired ranking will assess the quality in its
own data collection, methodology, and dissemination based on these
principles.
According to the 2nd IREG conference, it was expected that the
Berlin Principles would set a framework for the elaboration and
dissemination of rankingswhether they are national, regional, or global
in scopethat ultimately will lead to a system of continuous improvement
and refinement of the methodologies used to conduct these rankings
(The 2nd IREG, 2006). Generally speaking, these principles aim at the
improvement and self-evaluation of rankings of higher education
institutions. They have begun to have an impact on rankers and scholars.
At the 3rd meeting of IREG, some researchers started to use the Berlin
Principles to assess the quality of a variety of current evaluation and
ranking systems. In 2009, IREG 4 in Astana, Kazakhstan, decided to
accredit college ranking systems based on the Berlin Principles.
Internationalization in Higher Education and

Personalized College Rankings
Major changes are taking place in higher education all over the world. Rising
competition has prompted higher education institutions to increase their
attractiveness in the market and profile by themselves. In order to become
strong players in the global knowledge-based society, colleges and universities
are taking advantage of rankings to establish the benchmarks that will help
them develop strategies to achieve these goals. Hence, performance
indicators and benchmarks in rankings are needed by university leaders to
make informed choices for strategic development and to enhance their
international competitiveness (CHE and CHEPS, 2008).
Foreign students are a key element of internationalism. About two
million students study outside their home countries and it is estimated
that this number may grow to eight million by 2025 (Altbach, 2004).
Hence, a reliable national or international college ranking system with
comparable information about higher education institutions worldwide
has become important for international students in order for them to
make well-informed choices
5
However, as mentioned above, owing to methodological problems

and a lack of relevance to the need of domestic and international students
in many of the league tables or rankings, some groups have launched a
non-traditional, student-oriented ranking system called personalized college
rankings that can provide information about universities for students
without a well-defined ranking outcome presentation. Generally speaking,
personalized college rankings target students as major users, which
current league tables do not. They respect users needs in the selection
of indicators and weightings through web-based platforms. The goal of
the information system is to lead to a match between the students and
the institution or program in which they are most interested. Hence,
some have suggested that, instead of the term ranking, an appropriate
term for this student information service system would be matching
(Stichting SURF, 2008).
Five Major Personalized College Rankings
Personalized college rankings started to develop in the late 1990s. Up to
now, there are four major personalized college ranking systems established
either nationally or regionally. The first personalized college ranking
system called University Ranking was published by the Centre for
Higher Education Development in Germany in 1998. The other three
new ones published after 2000 are the Canadian Macleans Personalized
Ranking Tool in 2006 and the Dutch Studychoice.nl and the British
Times Push in 2007.
In the CHE University ranking, since 1998, 290 German universities
have been included, with more than 300,000 students and around 31,000
professors taking part in the surveys. Programs from universities and
from universities of applied sciences are presented separately (German
Academic Exchange Service [DAAD], 2007). There are three central
methodological principles of the CHE-ranking that distinguish it from
traditional ranking approaches. First, it focuses on the purported value of
a specific subject or program at a university rather than that for the
university as a whole. Instead of calculating an overall value out of single
(weighted) indicators, it provides a multi-dimensional ranking in which each
indicator is presented separately. In addition, universities are ranked in
three groups top, middle and lower (Muller-Boling & Federkeil, 2007).
Macleans Personalized Tool is an instrument that offers students
the ability to select seven indicators drawn from the most recent edition
of the Macleans University Ranking, and then weight them according
6
to their own preference (Macleans, 2008). How many institutions users

select to rank depends on their need. It means users can choose all
universities, or select some of them by region, such as universities in the
West, Ontario, Quebec or the Atlantic region only. After these three
steps, the program will come up with an individual ranking across all of
the schools that users select.
The Dutch studychoice 123 is a college selecting tool created under
the auspices of the Studiekeuze123 partnership that includes the higher
education institutions (HBO-Raad, VSNU and PAEPON) and the
students organizations (LSVb and ISO). The Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science of the Netherlands is, however, the major financial
sponsor for the project. In studychoice 123, users can compare higher
education study programs on the basis of 90 criteria, ranging from student
views about teachers, contents of the programs, starting salary on
graduation to average room rent or number of pubs and bars in the
various university cities. Users may choose to separate them or put
them together, to consider their choice of programs across the sectors of
the higher education system. There are also three steps in making choices
for users as Macleans does (Stichting SURF, 2008). For the result
presentation of each criterion, like CHE, the selected study program is
placed in three groups- highest score (green), average score (yellow),
and lowest score (red).
The Times Push is also a new but powerful tool to help students
find their ideal university. Through the website, Push, as a university
guide with 132 universities, is designed to help students narrow down the
choice to a shortlist and put it in their own order of preference by using
over 200 criteria (Push, 2008).
The most recent one is Forbes Do it yourself ranking just published
in 2009. Like other personalized rankings, it customizes the process,
allowing users to construct their own list according to personal tastes
and preferences (Forbes, 2009) . First, users can choose the region and
institutional size that suit them, then 12 relative importance of different
criteria provided will help users find the best school for them. In addition,
general information of the ranked institution will be listed as reference
on the result and be sent to users as they requested.
While examining these five rankings according to the Berlin Principles,
they all clearly state their purposes and target groups provided with the
relevant data, which is consistent with the Berlin Principles 1, 2, 12 and
15. Besides, these four rankings empower users to select or weigh criteria,
corresponding to the Berlin Principles 7 and 9 as well. In addition, with
7
Source: author
Presentation
Method
Goal
Basic
facts
none
Peer assessment
and student
institution
weighting
source
websites
22
subject
indicators
selection
target
groups
University
selection
students
users
choice
Peer assessment /
database
14
institution
University
selection
students
3 years
(since 2006)
11 years
(since 1998)
purpose
mass media
government
ranking
group
history
Personalized
Tool
University
Ranking
Macleans
Name
Centre for
Higher
Education
Development
Student survey/
database
90
program/
subject
none
University
selection
students
2 years
(since 2007)
government
Studychoice.nl
Studiekeuze123
Partnership
Student survey/
database
none
200
institution
University
selection
students
2 years
(since 2007)
Push
University
ranking
mass media
Push
Table 1: Comparison Among 5 Major Personalized College Ranking
Student survey/
database
none
12
institution
University
selection
students
1 year
(since 2009)
Do it
yourself
ranking
mass media
Forbes
web-based data, they can correct the errors and faults and update the
data quickly. Yet, in the absence of a true audit process, the major concern
in these four rankings is still with the quality and consistency of data.
The Developmental Framework of the Taiwan

Personalized College Rankings
Rapid Expansion in Taiwan Higher Education
With the number of higher education institutions growing dramatically in
the 1990s, Taiwanese higher education gradually transformed from an
elite type into a universal one. Following this rapid expansion, colleges
and universities in Taiwan have been given more administrative autonomy
and academic freedom in order to take account of pluralistic needs.
In overall terms, the development of higher education in Taiwan can
be separated into five stages: germination (1919 to 1945, the Japanese
Colonial Era), development (1945 to 1970), consolidation, (1971 to 1985),
expansion (1985 to 2000), and saturation (2000 to present) (Department
of Higher Education, 2006).
In the Japanese Colonial Era, the university, employing seminars
and lectures as its model of instruction, was highly elitist and most students
were Japanese. By the 1960s, because of the rise in labor intensive
industries and other factors, higher education (especially junior colleges)
expanded rapidly. The number of higher education institutions increased
from 7 in 1950 to 92 in 1970. The number of students also increased
from approximately 7,000 to more than 200,000, a 30-fold increase.
Amid flourishing economic development, social liberalization, and
democratization in the 1990s, universities began to seek autonomy. In
1996, in order to create unimpeded access to vocational education, junior
colleges were encouraged to upgrade to colleges and universities of
technology. The number of higher education institutions increased from
105 to 150, and the number of students also swelled from around 430,000
to 1,192,139, soaring by more than 2.5 times. By 2008, the number had
gone up to 163 largely due to the upgrade of junior colleges to 4- year
universities. From 2002 to 2008, the number of undergraduate students
soared by 25.38%; the number of students taking master, programs
increased by 58.17%; and the number of candidates for doctoral degrees
increased by 59.52% (Department of Higher Education, 2008).

Table 2: Number of Colleges and Universities from 1986 to 2008
Universities
Year
Colleges
National Public Private Total National Public

1986
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
9
13
13
13
15
16
16
20
21
21
25
27
27
30
34
40
40
41
41
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
7
8
8
8
8
8
8
18
18
23
28
30
34
37
41
48
53
58
60
16
21
21
21
23
24
24
38
39
44
53
57
61
67
75
89
94
100
102
6
14
14
14
16
17
19
19
20
23
22
21
21
19
15
9
10
9
7
0
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
Sum
Private
Total
6
14
14
15
18
18
22
19
23
36
50
55
55
54
53
46
42
39
37
12
29
29
30
35
36
43
40
45
61
74
78
78
75
70
56
53
49
45
28
50
50
51
58
60
67
78
84
105
127
135
139
142
145
145
147
149
147
Source: Department of Higher Education. (2008b). Introduction to higher education in

Taiwan Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://www.edu.tw/high/download.aspx?
download_sn =87&pages=3
Internationalization in Taiwanese Higher Education

In order to strengthen the international outlook of Taiwanese higher
education, colleges and universities are encouraged by the government
to enhance various types of cross-campus academic cooperation and
activities with foreign universities. To attract more international students
studying in Taiwan is one of the initiatives. In August 2003, under the
guidance of the Executive Yuan, the expansion of overseas student
recruitment was incorporated into Taiwans National Development Plan,
prompting all universities to make inroads into international education
markets and recruit international students. Currently, the total number of
international students, including degree-level, exchange, and language
study students, has reached 17,742. The number of degree-seeking
international students in Taiwan higher education institutions increased
approximately from 3,935 in 2006 to more than 5,259 in 2007 (Department
of Higher Education, 2008a). In the academic year of 2008, as Table 3
10
shows, the top five institutions by the proportion of international students

are National Taiwan Chi Nan University, National Chengchi University,
National Taiwan University, National Chen Kung University and
Kaohsiung Medical University. In addition, Taiwan National University
and National Cheng Kung University have a total enrollment of more
than 1,000, international students.
Table 3: International Students Top 5 Universities
Institutions
National Chi Nan University

National Chengchi University
National Taiwan University
National Chen Kung University
Kaohsiung Medical University
Proportion of Number of
International International
Student (%)
Students
7.18
5.59
5.5
4.74
4.29
353
860
1801
1020
317
Total
Rank
enrollment
4951
15391
32761
21521
7395
1
2
3
4
5
Source: Education Statistics (2008). The number of foreign students studying in Taiwan
exceeds 17,500 in 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://english.moe.gov.tw/
ct.asp?xItem=8798&ctNode=1184&mp=1
The Role of the Higher Education Evaluation and

Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) in Developing
the Personalized College Ranking System in Taiwan
As higher education has expanded rapidly in quantitative terms, how to
maintain quantity and quality while also preserving or raising university
academic performance, has become a key focus of Taiwanese higher
education. In 2005, a professional organization to assess colleges and
universities, Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of
Taiwan (HEEACT) was established to oversee current assessment
mechanisms, enhance teaching assessment, maintain teaching quality
and periodically conduct administrative assessments. One of the major
functions of HEEACT is to conduct evaluation projects on 76 four year
universities and colleges in Taiwan, with the aim of assisting the institutions
to identify their own strengths and features and enable sustainable self improvement mechanisms. In addition, HEEACT is also dedicated to
developing professional and objective assessment criteria, cultivating
evaluation experts and reviewers and establishing a database of
assessment talent and information to ensure objectivity and credibility
(HEEACT, 2005).
11
In order to improve the quality of Taiwan higher education quickly ,

HEEACT has also conducted several performance based ranking projects
such as qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis of scientific journal
papers, patent ranking of university and industry collaborations,
performance ranking of scientific papers of world class universities and
recruiter satisfaction survey. In addition to the evaluations and rankings
above, HEEACT also plans to establish a consumer-oriented ranking
service system to provide more transparent university information for
prospective students locally and internationally. In April, 2008, the board
of HEEACT launched a new initiative, College Navigator in Taiwan.
Framework of the Taiwan Personalized College

Ranking
The ideas underlying the pilot project College Navigator in Taiwan
launched by HEEACT is based on the evolution of higher education
expansion and internationalization. As a quality assurance agency,
HEEACT plays the role of publishing transparent information about more
than 160 colleges and universities in Taiwan so that students may make
well-informed choices in selecting where to go to study. Though many
of the current national or global rankings present university data, they
neither cover all universities in Taiwan nor provide the teaching quality
information that local and international students urgently need.
Based on the five major personalized rankings, the initial phase of
Taiwan personalized college ranking was developed and published in
2009. The concept, method and application of the Berlin Principles in
Taiwan personalized college ranking are stated as follows: (http://
140.136.131.76:83/index2.asp.)
Target Groups
In order to differentiate itself from other rankings with undefined users,
the target groups of College Navigator in Taiwan are mainly university
entrants, including high school graduates, working students looking for a
post-secondary degree and transfer students both local and international.
They are all secondary school graduates seeking a suitable university in
their field of interest.
12
Selection of Institutions and Programs

Muller-Boling and Frederkel (2007) have indicated that the information,
that a specific university ranked in the middle, which inevitably will be
the result of the whole university, would not have any relevance for a
freshman in field (p.193). It means programs or subjects would be
preferred by target groups rather than whole institutions. However,
College Navigator in Taiwan, at the initial stage, just ranked the
institutions as Macleans did.
The selection of institutions starts with 69 four year colleges and
universities evaluated by HEEACT from 2006 to 2010. In addition, the
related general information is listed in the results for the users reference.
Criteria and Indicators
The choice of criteria and indicators will determine the quality of the
rankings. Users can decide if the rankings are suitable for them according
to the number and content of criteria and indicators. Because students
are the target groups, the criteria and indicators will respond to what
they are concerned with, including information on teaching and research
performance as well as facilities and support for students.
After studying the major personalized college rankings and other
influential league tables published by U.S. News and World Report,
Shanghai Jiaotong University and Times Higher Education, the
preliminary criteria model included academic survey, student selectivity,
faculty, library, research output, teaching quality and international outlook
and so on. The number and content of the indicators were determined
and focus groups were held in July and August, 2008. Users were given
a certain amount of autonomy over selection of indicators and weightings.
This means that they are able to select the indicators within criteria and
weight each one themselves. In addition, users can rank the institutions
that they are interested in by region, type, size and program. More detailed
information on universities such as founding year, mission, and total
enrollment, number of programs, and website, room and board, tuition, is
listed for users reference on the ranking outcomes. There are 11 criteria,
24 indicators, 5 preferences and 16 items of general information. The
following Table 4 is the model of criteria. (Futher information is shown in
Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6).
13

Table 4: Model of Criteria
Tier
Content
Criteria
academic survey, student selectivity, student demographics,

faculty, library acquisitions, research output, teaching
quality, international outlook, graduation rate etc.
Number
11
Indicator
enrollment rate, proportion of graduate students, graduation

rate, proportion of faculty members above assistant
professors, proportion of professors with a highest degree,
proportion of full-time faculty, faculty-student ratio, total
expenditure per student, number of articles published in
SCI/ SSCI/ AHCI per faculty, National Science Foundation
grants per faculty, proportion of international students,
proportion of international faculty, library expenditure per
student, etc.
24
Preference
location, size, type, program/ discipline, etc.
General
history, enrollment, number of programs, and website,
information room and board, student service, scholarship, tuition etc.
5
16
Source: author
Table 5: Definition of Criteria and Indicators

Criteria
Indicators
Definition
Academic survey
Opinions of college presidents, vice

presidents and deans to judge a
schools academic performance.
Peer assessment
Enrollment rate
Student selectivity
Number of freshmen enrolled at the

school/number of freshmen
approved by ministry of education
for that school
Number of national academic Number of students who participated
awards earned by students
in NSC projects and number of
within last 3 years
research awards to students by NSC
Student
demographics
Proportion of graduate
students enrolled
Number of graduate students

enrolled/total enrollment
Teaching quality
Faculty-student ratio
Number of full-time equivalent

faculty/number of FTE students
Proportion of full-time
faculty
Number of full-time faculty/number

of full-time and part-time equivalent
faculty
Number of full-time faculty with
Ph.Ds/number of full-time faculty
Number of assistant professors,
associate professors, and professors/
full-time faculty
Faculty resources
Proportion of professors
with Ph.Ds
Proportion of faculty
members above assistant
professor
14
Criteria
Research output
Research grants
Indicators
Definition
National Academy
membership
Number of NSC distinguished

scholars, Academicians of Academia
Sinica and National lectures in
the schools faculty
Number of articles published Number of articles published in SCI/

in SCI/ SSCI/ AHCI per faculty SSCI/ AHCI/number of full-time
equivalent faculty
Number of articles published
Number of articles published in SSCI/
in SSCI/per faculty
number of full-time equivalent
faculty
Number of articles published in SCI/
in SCI/per faculty
faculty
Number of articles published in
in AHCI per faculty
AHCI/number of full-time equivalent
faculty
Citations in SCI/SSCI/AH&CI
per faculty
Total number of National
Science Council grants by
faculty
Total amount of National
Science Council grants in
sciences
Total Amount of National
Science Council grants in
social sciences and
humanities
Number of National Science
Council projects per faculty
Council projects in sciences
per faculty
Library
Library
Number of citations/number of
full-time equivalent faculty
Amount of NSC grants received by
full-time equivalent faculty
Amount of NSC grants received
in sciences and medicine fields by fulltime equivalent faculty
Amount of NSC received in social
sciences and humanities fields by fulltime equivalent faculty
Total number of NSC projects/
number of full-time-equivalent
faculty
Number of NSC projects in sciences
and medicine fields/number of fulltime-equivalent faculty

Council projects in social
sciences and humanities per
faculty
Number of NSC projects in social

sciences and humanities/number of
full-time-equivalent faculty
Number of library holdings

per full-time-equivalent
student
Total library holdings/number of fulltime-equivalent students
Educational expenditures per

Financial resources student
Internationalization Proportion of international
students
Total education expenses/total fulltime equivalent enrollment

Number of international students/
number of full-time-equivalent
students
Graduation rate
Number of international faculty/

faculty
Proportion of international
faculty
Source: author
15

Table 6: Preference and General Information of the Ranking
Preference
Location
Size
Type
Field /Program
History
Address
Website
Application
Evaluation &
accreditation
Student
General
enrollment
information Programs and
disciplines
Room and Board
Student club
Scholarship
Tuition
Alumni
north/central/south/east
above 15000/ 10000~14999/ 5000~9999/ below 4999
public / private
Comprehensive (Medical School)
Humanities & social sciences
Sciences
Biomedicine
Engineering & IT
Establishing year
Map and address
Website
Procedures for school application
Accredited status / MOE Research Project / MOE
Teaching Excellence Project
Undergraduate programs / graduate programs and
Doctoral programs
Number of undergraduate programs / graduate
programs and doctoral programs
Number of beds and price
Type and number
Scholarship / total education expenses
Information about programs
Number of Outstanding Alumni
Source: author
Data Sources
The ranking group collected data in three ways: academic survey,
databases and institutions. A student survey was planned for the second
stage.
1. Academic survey
This is a kind of peer assessment; the object of which is to understand
the views and attitudes of academics from universities and colleges
in Taiwan. The respondents include presidents, vice presidents and
deans of academic affairs, general affairs, student affairs and R&
D, and dean of colleges of education. The institutions were evaluated
on a 5-point scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). A total of
422 questionnaires were distributed of which 316 were returned by
November, 2008. The overall response rate was 74.88%.
16
2. Universities
This focuses on the data collection of general information from 69
universities. The information on qualitative description of features
and strengths, tuition, student support and services, accommodation
and so on, is collected through the institution itself and institutional
websites.
3. Independent third parties
According to Usher and Savino (2006), a third party source is
generally considered the gold standard of comparative data since
it is, at least theoretically, both accurate and impartial (p.10). The
ranking group tries to collect data from independent databases
including the Ministry of Education, the 2009 Tamkang ranking report,
the National Science Foundation, ISI and Scopus.
Presentation of Results
Many current rankings provide a single integrated score that allows an
ordinal fixed ranking of entire institutions. But it is not the case with a
personalized college ranking system which emphasizes the abandonment
of well-defined indicators and weighting to avoid a one-size-fits-all
approach.
In College Navigator in Taiwan, all data with comparative and
basic information on universities is published and updated annually on
the HEEACT website so that users can interactively make their own
league tables by selecting and weighting indicators according to their
preference. To facilitate users understanding of ranking results, each
indicator is grouped into 4 categories;
1. Top Group (green upward arrow, the indicator is in the top 30% of
all institutions).
2. Middle Group (yellow sideward arrow, the indicator is between 31%
and 69% of all institutions).
3. Final Group (pink downward arrow, the indicator is in the bottom
30% of all institutions).
4. Unranked Group (data is not found in the independent database).
Language
In the context of globalization, the mobility of students in different nations
is growing faster and faster. In order to attract more international students
17
for colleges and universities in Taiwan, HEEACTs website is published

in Chinese and English. However, slightly different contents are provided
in both versions due to the needs of the two types of students. Information
such as applications, study in Taiwan and so on is especially for
international students.
Applicability of the Berlin Principles to College

Navigator in Taiwan
The framework of College Navigator in Taiwan is developed according
to the Berlin Principles.
1. User and goal:
According to the Berlin Principles, the rankings should be clear about
their purposes and their target groups. In College Navigator in
Taiwan, students who are seeking a university degree are the target
groups including high school graduates, working students, international
students and all school leavers. The goal of College Navigator in
Taiwan is to provide information for students on university selection.
2. Criteria and weighting
Transparency and relevance of indicators regarding the methodology
are emphasized in the Berlin Principles. All criteria and indicators in
College Navigator in Taiwan were finalized after discussions with
experts and focus groups. In addition, users are able to weigh the
indicators they select, which will lead to a quite personalized ranking
outcome according to their preference.
3. Data collection
In the Berlin Principles, the range of information sources is very
important, and the data should be collected with proper procedures
for scientific data collection. College Navigator in Taiwan adopted
two major scientific methods for data collection, including independent
databases and surveys.
4. Result presentation
As to the presentation of ranking results, the Berlin Principles noted
that users should be provided with a clear understanding of all factors
and should have a choice in how rankings are displayed. In addition,
the rankings should be organized and published in a way that errors
and faults can be corrected. Users of College Navigator in Taiwan
18
are empowered to rank the institutions according to their preference,

corresponding to the concept of respect for users choice. In addition,
the data will be updated annually through the use of the IT system.
Statistical Analysis of Users Attitude Toward Criteria

and Function of the System
To get a good sense of users attitude toward the whole system the ranking
group conducted ten focus group sessions to hear their opinions and to see
how the system could be developed and improved in the initial phase.
The focus group sessions were held from September to December
of 2008. Ten senior high schools in various areas around the nation were
selected randomly, including five public schools and five private ones. A
total of 168 students participated in the focus sessions and filled out
questionnaires to express their attitude toward the quality of the indicators
and the functions of the system. The results showed that the mean score
of 20 indicators is above 3.0, in addition to the number of SSCI and SCI
papers (Table 7). Most participants agreed on the indicators, but did not
completely understand the content of all indicators. They expected to
get more detail about the description of the indicators (Table 8).
Table 7: Top 10 Indicators that Senior High School Students
Feel are Very Important
Indicators
Importance
Number
Mean
Standard Deviation
162
3.65
0.58
164
121
165
3.61
3.55
3.49
0.64
0.64
0.67
166
3.46
0.65
165
163
3.44
3.43
0.73
0.72
164
163
165
3.42
3.40
3.38
0.71
0.66
0.70
Equipment expenses per full-timeequivalent student

Expenditure per student
Proportion of students abroad
Number of volumes and volume
equivalents per full-time-equivalent
student
Library expenditure per full-timeequivalent student
Graduation Rate
Total amount of National Science
Foundation grants per faculty
Total number of English taught courses
Academic survey
Source: author
19

Table 8: Top 10 Indicators that Senior High School Students
Find Understandable
Indicators
Understanding
Number
Mean
Standard Deviation
120
166
165
167
3.30
3.29
3.27
3.22
0.72
0.70
0.72
0.75
165
165
3.20
3.19
0.75
0.75
165
166
166
165
3.18
3.16
3.16
3.15
0.73
0.77
0.82
0.78
Proportion of students abroad

Graduation Rate
Pass rate of English proficiency test
Equipment expenses per full-timeequivalent student
Total number of English taught courses
Number of volumes and volume
equivalents per full-time-equivalent
student
Proportion of international faculty
Proportion of full-time faculty with Ph.Ds
Proportion of international students
Source: author
In order to get more suggestions from users, the ranking group

conducted another survey after the establishment of the ranking system.
There were 11 questions regarding the quality of the indicators and the
functions of the web-based system. The mean scores ranged from 3.63
to 4.23. The results showed that users were well satisfied with the quality
Table 9: Mean Scores for Users Attitude toward the Function of the Ranking
Questionnaires
Q1.
Q2.
Q3.
Q4.
Q5.
Q6.
Q7.
Q8.
Q9.
Q10.
Q11.
Mean score
Definitions of indicators are clearly stated.

Selection of indicator number is reasonable. (between 5-10)
Presentation of ranking outcome is clear and understandable.
Presentation of basic information for each institution is clear
and understandable
Information provided is useful for me to select a school to study
It is convenient for me to operate this ranking tool.
Speed of this system is moderate and does not take me too
much time.
Functions in the system are highly stable.
Web pages are presented clearly.
Contrast of color is nice and comfortable
Information on the web-pages is easily read.
Source: author
20
3.73
3.63
3.66
3.69
3.76
4.06
4.23
3.91
4.16
3.81
3.93
of the speed, the convenience, and the web pages of the system. On the
other hand, they were dissatisfied with three items: selection of indicator
number, presentation of ranking outcome and presentation of general
information for each institution. To conclude, users agreed on the role
of the system as an information provider but expected to have more
autonomy over the selection of indictor number and to have more
transparent data about higher education institutions.
Conclusion
As Altbach (2006) has noted, rankings are inevitable and probably
necessary in the competitive and market-oriented academic world of
the 21st century. They focus attention on key aspects of academic
achievement which may influence policymakers in higher education and
student choices of universities. Yet, current rankings often measure some
parts of higher education using flawed metrics. They also ignore key
academic roles such as teaching and do not look at all at what students
need.
But no matter how many problems exist in the rankings, the social
demand for data transparency through different mechanisms of quality
assurance is growing rapidly. With no attempt to weight the indicator
and assign ordinal ranks arbitrarily, the development of College Navigator
in Taiwan has responded to the trend of internationalization in higher
education and respects the personal needs of each user according to the
Berlin Principles. However, like the classic rankings, the big challenge
for all personalized college rankings in the future is to ensure that they
can provide accurate and relevant assessment and measure the right
things for target groups. Generally speaking, College Navigator in
Taiwan, as a driving force has increasingly inspired Taiwan colleges and
universities to think how to respond to students needs and to promote
their quality and international visibility in global higher education.
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24
Epistemological Beliefs and

Self-directed Learning Readiness of
Hospitality Students: The Necessary
Precursor to Academic Performance
Rahmat Hashim
Artinah Zainal
Ahmad Nizan Zali
Shahariah Ibrahim
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam
ABSTRACT
Throughout the philosophical literature, studies on epistemological

beliefs have been well documented. However, within the educational
context, this philosophical construct is a recent phenomenon. The
purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the
conception of knowledge (epistemological beliefs) as measured by
Schommers Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ), learner
perception of self-directedness as measured by Guglielminos SelfDirected Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and academic
achievement. The value of CMIN/DF was 2.22, below the
recommended value of 3.0 (Kline, 1998). In this case, the U^sup 2^/
df of 2.22 and CFI of .926 indicate an adequate fit between the
hypothetical model and the sample data. The RMSEA for the
measurement model was .077 (adequate fit). Other fit indices also
point to an acceptable model fit between the model and the data
(GFI = .921, AGFI = .879, CFI =.926). The entire model had an R2
of .064 and was not significant F(12, 210)=1.112, p > .05. The
mediating effect of self-directed learning on GPA, falls short of
statistical significance, b = .133, p = .074. However, when reviewing
the effects of each of the regression coefficients, only 5 predictor
variables (innate, simple, self assessment, goal setter, self control)

were found to be of practical significance. MANOVA shows that
there was no significant difference in epistemological beliefs, selfregulated learning and gender at .05 level across GPA (Wilks lambda
= .94, F = 1.153 df = 5, p > .05).
Keywords: Education, epistemology, beliefs, philosophy, education,
hospitality, self-directed learning readiness.
Introduction
In todays business environment, hospitality programs are expected to
develop the necessary competences in order to meet the needs of working
life and society. Increasing complexity in all facets of work coupled with
persistent calls for educational relevancy present numerous challenges
to higher educational institutions, particularly higher vocational programs.
At the same time, the nature of hospitality work and management
expectations, workers are expected to shoulder greater responsibility
over their own action and performance. It is an imperative for educational
institution to provide the opportunity and equip students with the right
competences and attitude to find direction and purpose in their world of
work. The need to revise or eliminate outdated curriculum and develop
new programs to meet emerging work requirements is a seemingly
endless discourse and occurrence not to mention the ineffectiveness of
the education system. In the midst of finding the right formula, however,
we sometimes overlook the most crucial element in students learning
experiences; our own educational culture of learning. Apparently,
understanding students learning behavior has been recognized as one of
the fundamental issues that need special consideration when developing
educational contents. Within the curriculum context, issues such as
curriculum structure, course contents, learning behavior have been given
great consideration.
Since the hospitality industry has grown and become more global,
traditional learning approaches have been found to be inefficient and
lacking in effectiveness. Haywood (1992) stressed that learning involves
the individual and the environment around him or her.
When a person and his environment interact, the individual will be
stimulated and become responsible for the learning of any knowledge
(Tessmer, Wilson, & Driscoll, 1990). Reigeluth (1996) argued that the
26
Epistemological Beliefs and Self-directed Learning Readiness
current paradigm of education should focus on customization instead of

standardization. Any learning program that is based on conformity and
compliance where the learners listen and obey the instructors need to be
replaced with self-initiated learners who will solve problems and bring
diversity in terms of perspectives to the workplace. It is imperative for
educational institution to understand this predicament if higher education
institution is to continue its relevancy in preparing future workforce that
is capable of facing local and global challenges.
In our efforts to understand the ways students learn, their motivation
for learning, and the factors that can affect learning, we must recognize
the concept of multidimensionality. In any individual learners experience,
there are many factors that can affect learning (Kardash & Scholes,
1996). Students need to understand that the way they see things depend
on their epistemological beliefs. The more they have been exposed to
relevant knowledge, the more they tend to see things from a dualistic
approach to a more relativistic approach (Schommer, 1990). Hence,
studentsepistemological beliefs dictate their attitude towards learning.
At the same time, understanding individuals epistemological beliefs
enables educators to define the learning environment and deploy effective
instructional approaches (Anders and Evan,1994).
Problem Statement
The industry has lamented that todays graduates lack certain critical
abilities to perform effectively in the workplace. Apparently, there is a
growing concern about the quality of todays hospitality management
graduates. Despite the criticism, there has also been no initiative or
concerted efforts taken by hospitality schools to understand the
multidimensionality of the issue. Many of the initiatives taken to correct
or respond to this allegation have concentrated on the curriculum itself
and neglected the students role in the learning process.
To date, no attempt has been made (within the hospitality domain) to
analyze the interrelationships between epistemological beliefs and selfregulated learning to explain students achievement. The study of the
relationship between epistemological beliefs, self-regulated learning
behavior and achievement is essential to the understanding of students
learning processes.
Lord and Emrich (2001) state that changes in learning behavior
require changes in meta-cognitive processes (emphasis added). Students
27
epistemological beliefs influence their conception about learning and goals.

Accordingly, epistemological beliefs have a direct influence or act as
stimulant on the individuals learning behavior (Russell, 2001).
Therefore, a fuller understanding of epistemological beliefs and selfregulated learning behavior held by students would be of much value to
students and educators in promoting better classroom learning experience.
The beliefs and learning behavior students hold will eventually influence
their professional practices (Russell, 2001).
Relationships between the constructs need to be studied and
understood well. The preliminary findings from this study would be able
to inform hospitality schools of its existence (epistemological beliefs) in
influencing students learning behavior and raising the awareness of the
issue on factors affecting academic achievement.
The first objective of this study is to explore the relationship between
epistemological beliefs, self-regulation and student academic
achievement. The second is to compare epistemological beliefs and selfdirected learning behavior according to gender. The studys research
questions are as follows:
1. Do the students epistemological beliefs and self-regulated learning
behavior influence academic achievement?
2. Is there a statistically significant relationship between learners
perceptions of self-regulated behavior and learner epistemological
beliefs across gender?
Literature Review
Teaching and Learning in Hospitality Education
The teaching and learning styles in Malaysia, whether they are academic
or industry based, follow the objectivist education model. This theory
purports that an objective reality can be delivered to the learner or trainee
who will, in turn, modify his or her behavior accordingly. A teacher or
trainer, as an expert, transfers the knowledge in an environment where
the trainee or learner accepts the reality as it is. This didactic approach,
which is widely used in schools and institutions of higher learning, is also
applied in the training situation. Most hospitality programs have been
conducted in the traditional teacher-centered or lecture-based learning
methods. A student-centered learning environment requires, students
total engagement in their learning activities and hold students responsible
28
for their own learning. Therefore, if a person wishes to be successful, he

or she will need considerable self-regulatory competencies. In education,
personal epistemology is an important dimension. This is related to how
someone conceptualizes knowledge which will eventually affect his or
her learning behavior.
Epistemological Beliefs
According to Schommer (1990), epistemology is a system of belief
constructs, comprised of multiple dimensions rather than as a general
construct. Epistemological beliefs refer to individuals beliefs about the
nature and structure of knowledge (Schommer, 1998; Buehl, Alexander
& Murphy, 2002). Throughout the philosophical literature, studies on
epistemological beliefs have been well documented. However, within
the educational context, this philosophical construct is a recent
phenomenon.
Recent educational research has begun to focus on the importance
of linking students epistemological beliefs and achievement motivation
constructs (Buehl, Alexander & Murphy, 2002). According to Ryan (1984),
students beliefs about knowledge are either dualistic or relativistic. Ryan
also found that those with relativistic epistemological beliefs said they
achieved understanding when they could apply the information to new
situations and when they could see connections between ideas. On the
other hand, those with dualistic beliefs tend to focus only on fact finding
and develop concepts loosely.
Perry (1970) was known to be the pioneer in investigating how college
students relate knowledge, learning and the environment. Using an
interactionist model, he attempts to interpret students epistemological
responses to the college learning environment. Perry observes that
students would start their studies thinking in a dualistic (Yes or No,
True or false) manner and gradually shift to a more relativistic approach
(absolutes are no longer the norm, but the exception) to understand the
world. Starting from Perrys research on beliefs, several authors have
adopted the model and developed further different lines of thought. Two
perspectives of research have received much attention over the past
decades; the meta-cognitive perspective (Purdie, Hattie & Douglas, 1996)
and phenomenographic (Gregorc, 1984). The meta-cognitive perspective
is said to focus on the analysis of students beliefs about knowledge and
learning (Ryan, 1984; Schommer, 1993). Activities such as planning how
to approach a given learning task, comprehension, and progress toward
29
the completion of a task are meta-cognitive in nature. It is argued that

meta-cognitive activities play a critical role in determining how well
learners apply their cognitive resources (Borkowski, Carr & Pressely,
1987).
On the other hand, the phenomenographic perspective does not depict
learning in terms of mental models (for example, the cognitive
perspective). In the educational setting, the term basically refers to
relationship between the learner and the phenomenon (Marton, 1986).
According to Schommer (1990), epistemology is a system of belief
constructs, comprised of multiple dimensions rather than as a general
construct. This refutes Perrys unidimensionality scheme of
epistemological beliefs construct. Epistemological beliefs refer to
individuals beliefs about the nature and structure of knowledge
(Schommer, 1998; Buehl, Alexander & Murphy, 2002). Schommer (1990)
realizes that an individuals epistemological worldview is best explained
as a system of more or less independent beliefs. This leads to the
development of five distinct dimensions (simple knowledge, certainty of
knowledge, omniscient authority, learning is innate and learning is quick
or not at all) that can be measured independently.
Recent educational research has begun to focus on the importance
of linking studentsepistemological beliefs and achievement motivation
constructs (Buehl, Alexander & Murphy, 2002). Schommer (1993a) also
postulates that epistemological beliefs predict academic achievement.
Later, she advances this initial hypothesis to include the epistemological
beliefs effects on learning strategies and comprehension. According to
Schommer (1993b), gender plays an important role in conceptualizing
knowledge. Female students believe to a greater extent than boys that
learning takes place gradually, which may give them a slight
epistemological advantage in their efforts at comprehension and this would
enable girls to perform better in examinations. This aspect is related to
different ways of studying, or approaches to learning. Hence, a person
holding nave epistemology generally believes that knowledge is simple
and clear, knowledge resides in authorities, concepts are learned quickly
or not at all, and learning is innate - a transmissive approach. On the
other hand, if a person holds a sophisticated (relativistic) epistemological
beliefs, he or she tends to view knowledge as complex, knowledge can
be learned, and knowledge can be developed accordingly by the learner
a constructivist approach (Schommer 1990; Qian & Alvermann, 1995;
Brownlee, 2001).
30
Self-directed Learning
Merriam and Caffarella (1999) stated that from a learning theory
perspective, humanism emphasizes that perceptions are centered in
experience, freedom and responsibility to become what one is capable
of becoming. These tenets underlie much of adult learning theory that
stresses the selfdirectness of adults and the value of experience in the
learning process.
Self-directed learning (SDL) or sometimes known as LearnerControlled Instruction (LCI) is defined as a process in which learners or
individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in
diagnosing their learning needs, formulating relevant learning goals,
identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and
implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning
outcomes (Knowles, 1975). Knowless process model recommends a
shift in the distribution of power and control over instructional functions
and task. Learners together with teachers should engage in a collaborative
environment of planning, managing and evaluating. The responsibility
for learning shifts from teacher-controlled to learner-controlled in
constructivist-oriented instructional design such as SDL and pedagogy.
Therefore, the primary thrust and difference between the Pedagogical
Process Model and the generic Instructional System Design (ISD) model
is its foundation in constructivism and learners self-concept, experience,
readiness to learn, problem-centered focus and internal motivation.
Self-directed Learning Readiness (SDLR)
The concept of self-directed learning is open to a range of interpretations.
At one end of the spectrum, it is characterized by the skills, techniques,
and procedures by which learning goals and objectives are determined,
resources are located, strategies are planned, and outcomes evaluated
(Knowles, 1990). At the other end of the spectrum, self-directed learning
incorporates the notion of critical awareness as the capacity to identify
and challenge assumptions previously taken for granted. Zimmerman
(1990) defines self-regulated behavior as self-regulated thoughts and
actions that are intended to systematically regulate ones learning. The
philosophical assumptions underlying self-directed learning (SDL) are
humanistic and constructivist orientations (Caffarella, 1993). Humanistic
theories consider learning from the perspective of the human potential
for growth. Thus, the focus of learning is on self-development. Learners
31
are expected to assume primary responsibility for learning which leads

to the process of learner centered learning. Self-regulated learning
behavior is said to have a mediating effect on learning outcomes (Pintrich,
1995; Zimmerman, 1994).
Guglielmino (1992) highlighted issues engulfing empowerment and
self-direction in learners. She found that not all students are equally
prepared for self-directed learning, and that some factors are involved in
promoting self- directed learning behavior. This includes: academic policies,
curricular requirements, traditional educational concepts and educators
capabilities. See Figure 1 for the conceptual framework of the study.
Based on these assertions regarding students knowledge
conceptualization and their learning experiences, the following hypotheses
were formulated:
H1:
H2:
Students knowledge conceptualization mediated by their learning

behavior will affect their academic achievement (GPA).
There is significant difference in epistemological beliefs and selfregulated learning behavior between male and female.
Methodology
The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of epistemological
beliefs on learning behavior amongst hospitality management students
enrolled in the Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, UiTM, Malaysia.
Accordingly, it is also important to recognize the fact that data and methods
of capturing data are inextricably interdependent (Leedy 1980, p. 75). In
order to understand the scope of the study, a thorough knowledge of the
subject matter and figuring out the way respondents react to the questions
are vital. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, the initial construct list was
adapted from Schommer (1998) and Guglielmino (1989). The study
sample was derived from a large public university offering hotel and
tourism management, which is predominantly dominated by one particular
ethnic group. In order to secure responses, the questionnaire was
administered during class sessions. The context of this study, a large
public university, limits the extent to which the findings can be generalized
to other institutions of higher learning.
32
IHL
TEACHING & LEARNING
HOTEL INDUSTRY
TRAINING
Few Hotels
SDL
Many
Hotels
TDL
Key:
IHL - Institutions of Higher Learning
SDL - Self-directed learning
T D L- Teacher-directed learning
SDL/
LCI
TDT
LCI - Learner-controlled instruction

T D T - Trainer-directed training
Direction of current teaching & learning to training
Figure 1: Current Hospitality Teaching, Learning and Training

Situation In Malaysia
Sampling
The sample frame/or population and the size were drawn from the facultys
students registration database (convenience sampling). The size of the
sample was 210 students.
Among the 210 respondents (final year students), approximately 57.6
% were female and 42.4 % were male. This distribution is considered
normal for the faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management in which the
student population is dominated by female students. Bentler and Chou
(1987) recommend that 5 to 10 participants per estimated parameter
rule for computing sample size. Sample size is an important consideration
in SEM analysis, as low sample size has several consequences of low
power to detect significant path coefficients and variances and decrease
of fit indices (sampling error).
In total, there are 53 parameters, 28 of which are to be estimated.
Using Bentlers and Chous (1987) rule of thumb for calculating sample
size, the upper bound will be 10 28 = 280, and the lower bound will be
5 28 = 140; the sample size for this study is 210, indicating moderately
statistical power. See Table 1 for the parameter summary.
33

Table 1: Parameter Summary
Weights
Covariances
Variances
Means Intercepts Total
Fixed
Labeled
Unlabeled
16
0
12
0
0
10
0
0
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
16
0
37
Total
28
10
15
53
Research Instrument and Data Collection

A cross-sectional study was designed and executed through a survey.
The instruments used in this study were a self- administered form of
Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and Epistemological
Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ). The questionnaire survey comprised of
three sections. The first section solicited descriptive data on the
respondents, which enable this study to have a comprehensive profile
such as program, including grade point average (GPA).
The second section requested the respondents to provide their opinion
about statement related to the SDLRS ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree). These ratings are measures of an individuals current
level of readiness to engage in self-directed learning. The final section
on EBQ asked respondents to rate their level of agreement for each
item on a five-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree).
The 44 items of Self-Directed Readiness Scale (SDLRS) comprised
of 8 factors namely; (1) openness to learning opportunities; (2) selfconcept as an effective learner; (3) initiative and independence in learning;
(4) informed acceptance or responsibility for ones own learning; (5)
love of learning; (6) creativity; (7) future orientation; and (8) ability to
use basic study skills and problem solving skills. The Epistemological
Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) comprised of 4 factors scores of
epistemological beliefs, namely; (1) knowledge is certain, (2) learning is
innate, (3) structure of knowledge is simple, and (4) speed of learning
(quick), which made up a total of 63 items. This 63-item Epistemological
Beliefs Questionnaire by Schommer (1994) is one of the most widely
used instruments available for the examination of college students
epistemological beliefs as multidimensional constructs. A number of
empirical studies have documented the statistical rigor and theoretical
34
soundness of this instrument as well as the sufficiency of the four-factor

structure for a set of epistemological beliefs.
Data Analysis and Discussion

Since the study took place in a different cultural context, exploratory
factor analysis was used as an attempt to identify the multidimensionality
of the constructs. As in Schommers experience, the 63 items
(epistemological beliefs) did not produce a sensible result. Factor analysis
using the 12 subset items were used and produced a much more
parsimonious result than using each single item (Schommer, 1998). This
approach is said to reduce the problem of multicollinearity between the
endogenous variables (Cohen and Cohen, 1983). Subscales were
considered to load on a factor if its loading was equal to or greater than
.40. Principal factoring extraction with varimax rotation was used and
produced four factors, which accounted for approximately 65% of the
variance. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy is .89. The adapted
EBQ questionnaire yielded factors of similar beliefs and the original labels
are maintained - knowledge is certain, knowledge is simple (discrete),
ability to learn is innate and learning is quick. The SDLRS yielded eight
factors labeled as: willingness to learn, self assessment, self confidence,
systematic learning, goal setter, enthusiasm, self control and critical thinker.
The coefficient alpha of each factor assesses the overall reliability of
the scales along with the item-to-total correlation for each item. To
improve the reliability, items with correlations below .3 were deleted
from the scale (Nunnally, 1978). The final reliability of the scales (EBQ)
alpha ranged from .80 to .95. and the SDLRS alpha ranged from .75 to
.91. Students GPA ranged from 2.03 to 3.92, with a mean of 2.95 (SD=
.366). See Table 2 and Figure 2.
In order to test the studys hypotheses, Confirmatory Factor Analysis
(CFA) test was used. CFA is a statistical technique that enables a researcher
to assess relationships among both manifest (i.e., observed) and latent
variables for the purpose of testing a theoretical model or confirming the
factor structure of a research instrument (Tomarken & Waller, 2005). The
chi-square value of 109.7 is significant at the p < .001 level.
Given the sensitivity of sample size affecting chi square test in CFA
(SEM), it is more meaningful to use other indices. The results from the
CFA indicate a good fit of the 12 dimensions. The value of CMIN/DF
was 2.22, below the recommended value of 3.0 (Kline, 1998). In this
35

Table 2 : Frequency Distributions of Grade Point Average
Across the Sample
Frequency
Percent
9
43
107
34
17
4.3
20.5
51
16.2
8
3.6 and above

3.2-3.5
2.8-3.1
2.4-2.7
2.3 or below
SelfRegulated
Academic
PerformanceGPA
Epistemological
Beliefs
Figure 2: Research Model
case, the _^sup 2^/df of 2.22 and CFI of .926 indicated an adequate fit
between the hypothetical model and the sample data. The RMSEA for
the measurement model was .077. By convention (Schumacker & Lomax,
2004), there is good model fit if RMSEA is less than or equal to .05 or
adequate fit if RMSEA is less than or equal to .08. Other fit indices also
point to an acceptable model fit between the model and the data (GFI =
.921, AGFI = .889, CFI =.926). Figure 3 depicts the structural model.
Following the factor analyses used to determine the fit of the factor
structure to the conceptual model, multiple regression was conducted to
determine the amount of variability in predicting students academic
achievement. The entire model had an R2 of .064 and was not significant
F(12, 210) = 1.112, p > .05. The mediating effect of self-directed learning
on GPA falls short of statistical significance, b = .133, p = .074. In this
case, H1 is rejected. However, when reviewing the effects of each of
the regression coefficients (Table 3), only five predictor variables (innate,
simple, self assessment, goal setter, self control) were found to be of
practical significance. This is based upon the recommendation by Tate
(1998). She recommended that a standardized coefficient of approximately
0.1 is at the threshold of practical importance.
36

Histogram
Dependent Variable: GPA

40
Frequency
30
20
10
Mean = -1.9E-15
Std. Dev. = 0.968
N = 210
0
-3
-2
-1
Regression Standardized Residual
Figure 3: GPA distribution
Chi-square= 120.1, df=54

CMIN/DF=2.22
err4
1
err51
err6 1
F4systematic
F3selfconfide
F5goalsetter
F6enthusiatic
err7
err8
Certain
err9
1
err10
err11
err12
F1willnglearn 1 err1
1
Self-directed
learning
readiness
Quick
Epistemological belief
1
err2
1
F2selfassess
1
F7selfcontrol
F8critical
err3
1
GPA
er13
Innate
er14
1 Simple
Figure 4: Structural Model
No significant Levenes Tests for Equality of Variance (p = .666)

were produced for the cells used in the study implying that the
homogeneity of covariance assumption is met. MANOVA shows that
there was no significant difference in epistemological beliefs, selfregulated learning and gender at .05 level across GPA (Wilks lambda =
.94, F = 1.153, df = 5, p > .05). With regard to epistemological beliefs
and self-regulated behavior against gender, no significant difference was
recorded ((Wilks lambda = .920, F = 1.42 df = 12, p = .158). The data
37

Table 3: Coefficients(a)
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Certain
Quick
Innate
Simple
Willing to learn
Self assessment
Self confidence
Systematic
Goal-setter
Enthusiastic
Self control
Critical
Standardized
Coefficients
Std.
Error
Beta
- .019
.037
.088
.139
-.001
.093
-.004
-.024
-.097
.008
.111
- .017
.140
.063
.058
.092
.064
.071
.065
.063
.062
.058
.069
.054
-.011
.043
.108
.122
-.001
.137
-.007
-.039
-.166
.013
.157
-.031
Sig.
-.132
.583
1.4991
508
-.009
1.299
-.063
.388
1.559
.131
1.607
-.320
.895
.561
.135
.133
.993
.196
-.950
-.699
.121
.896
.110
.749
a Dependent Variable: GPA
was unable to detect any influence of gender on the dependent variables.

The result therefore fails to accept H2.
Conclusion
This study was carried out to explore the predictive value of the
epistemological variables (certain, innate, quick and simple) and the values
of self-regulated learning readiness (willing to learn, self-assessment,
self-confidence, systematic learning, goal setter, enthusiastic, self-control
and self-critical) on students academic achievement (GPA). The findings,
however, did not yield a clear explanation. In the post hoc analysis of the
model, there is a positive but not significant relationship. The causal
steps approach does not, here, provide strong evidence of mediation,
given the lack of significance of the partial effect of academic
achievement. However, there are several items that appear more
promising as a measurement variable for epistemological beliefs and
self-regulated learning predicting academic achievement. If sample size
were greater, however, the critical effect would, of course, be statistically
more significant.
38
Statistically, the hypotheses indicated no significant result that could

support their acceptance. This could be due to the fact that situational
demands (tests and exam formats) and the traditional dominant
perspective on teaching and learning may also influence how students
conceptualize knowledge and the adoption of the learning behavior. While
there may be several possible explanations for this phenomenon, it is
clear that epistemological beliefs do not translate directly into
constructivist learning styles in this present study. Nevertheless, the
findings could provide some basis to explain why some students were
unable to connect or integrate knowledge. If students are able to
conceptualize their knowledge, it will positively assist them in controlling
their learning process, thus, leading to better academic performance.
This will be consistent with Hammond and Collins (1991) who describes
learners take the initiative for increasing self awareness with the support
and collaboration of others. The learners critically analyze and reflect on
their situations and diagnose their learning needs with specific reference
to competences they have helped identify.
Why students knowledge conceptualization and learning behavior
(self-directed learning readiness) did not directly influence their academic
achievement (GPA)? In considering self-directed learning in hospitality,
one must account for the current conditions that influence the performance
of self-directed learning. This may arise when there is a mismatch
between the role and style of the educators and the learning stage of the
learners. This may be due to the fact that students are not accustomed
to SDL as a teaching strategy in the faculty, where the teaching or learning
process addresses realistic, relevant problems and situations and the
students are immediately stimulated to become actively involved and to
develop analytical thinking, which is required by the real-life workplace.
The role of cognition in making practice changes the work environment,
the importance of peers, and accountability schemes. Students are not
being asked merely to take on new skills or to adjust their attitudes toward
learning but also to rethink the way they see themselves, their work and
their on-going academic and professional development.
What can we conclude from this present study of EBQ and SDLRS?
More study is needed to examine the relationships between the
multidimensionality of personal epistemological beliefs, self-regulated
learning behavior and academic achievement. In particular, the question
of how differences in instructional contexts may relate to differences in
epistemological beliefs, self-regulated learning readiness, cultural contexts
39
and academic performance should be locked into. Examining the EBQ

and the SDLRS factors bring awareness of how important epistemological
beliefs and self directed learning readiness can explicitly or implicitly
affect students academic achievement (GPA).
The subsequent modification may lay the path for teaching
improvement. The close relationships of epistemological beliefs and
teaching and learning conceptions would also mean that educators have
to take their students prior beliefs and conceptions into consideration
when designing appropriate curriculum and instruction that facilitates
their students learning and advancement. If the educators start their
education with relatively unsophisticated epistemological beliefs that
predispose them to traditional teaching conception, educators could help
incubate the constructivist teaching conception by providing students
with classroom experience that may increase the sophistication of their
epistemological beliefs.
Therefore, to help students develop more sophisticated (and relational)
epistemological beliefs that connect self and knowledge, it is imperative
for educators to consider how the facilitating conditions can help students
learn better. Subsequently, to develop an effective instruction and delivery
system, educators could adopt instructional practices that encourage
collaboration among students and enhance critical thinking, which may
lead to the achievement of better grades. Understanding students beliefs
and learning motivation in relation to their learning environment is vital.
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45
Writing Web Logs in the ESL

Classroom: A Study of Student
Perceptions and the Technology
Acceptance Model
Mah Boon Yih
Er Ann Nah
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The web log is an exceptionally valuable tool for the teaching of

second language writing, particularly written communication skills
(Johnson, 2004; Wu, 2005). More and more international educators
have applied this easy-to-use technology to classroom instruction
and language learning (Campbell, 2003; Johnson, 2004). However,
what is largely unknown is Malaysian students reaction to writing
web logs in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms.
Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perception of writing
web logs among Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) HM115 diploma
students who took the BEL311 English course in their third semester
based on the three Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) variables.
Specifically, the study sought to identify whether the two TAM
determinants,Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived
Usefulness (PU), affected the students behavioural intention (BI)
to use web logs for specific writing tasks. This study employed Daviss
TAM (1989) and its questionnaire-based measurement instrument
and three hypotheses were formulated based on the objectives of
the study. The pilot tests result confirmed the reliability of the
modified TAM-based questionnaire. The findings showed that
students accept writing web logs as a classroom activity since they
perceived online journals to be more useful rather than easy to use.
Additionally, the findings revealed that TAM can be used to diagnose

and interpret the attitude of new technology users and most
importantly, PEOU, PU, and BI were positively and highly correlated
at a significant level. These results did not reject the three proposed
hypotheses.
Keywords: web log, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Perceived
Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PU)
Introduction
In recent years, the use of electronic journals in education has been on
the rise, especially in the United States (Johnson, 2004). More and more
foreign educators have applied this user-friendly technology to classroom
instruction and language learning (Campbell, 2003; Johnson, 2004).
According to Kennedy (2003), publishing student writing has gained
widespread adoption in middle and high school English classes. Although
not originally intended for use in education, web logs have an important
impact on education (Schroeder, 2003) and possess immense potential
as a valuable tool for the teaching of second language writing, especially
in written communication skills (Johnson, 2004; Wu, 2005). According to
Lever-Duffy, McDonald and Mizell (2005), web logs have been used
successfully to give students an opportunity to publicly post daily journal
entries.
Problem Statement
The Development of Education National Report Malaysia (n.d., p. 50)
states that educator attitude is another constraint to effective curriculum
implementation. It seems that most educators are not keen to exploit
new methods of teaching. In a traditional classroom setting, educators
feel confident and contented. However, when they are requested to
teach in a computer setting, there is much fear that technical knowledge
will become more primary than rhetorical knowledge. One common
expression that may arise is that they will not know how to help students
with computer glitches, and may experience anxiety about losing face
in front of students (Palmquist et al., 1998). The application of new
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in English
Language Teaching (ELT) is actually decided by the educators based on
48
Writing Web Logs in the ESL Classroom
its appropriateness in the teaching and learning context. One of the

decisive factors for an educator before adopting ICT as part of the ELT
materials is evaluating its acceptance among students. Since web logs
are a new form of technology and users are doubtful about its successful
adaptation, the attitudes and intentions of writing web logs are shaped
before initiating efforts begin.
Furthermore, according to Mat Daud, Mat Daud and Abu Kassim
(2005), the students writing performance is related to anxiety as a result
of their lack of writing skills. This may be due to students being generally
passive learners who consider that their role is to absorb knowledge as it
is presented to them in the traditional classroom. However, this issue
can be overcome through the use of web logs. Activities through the
World Wide Web (WWW) can potentially change the students roles
from passive observers to interactive participants in a larger context that
extends well beyond the writing classroom (Helford & Lei, 2001; Report
of the Web Based Commission, 2000; Tryon, 2006). Presently what
remains largely unknown are students reactions to web logs in English
as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. To study whether students
intend to adopt a new technology, Lee, Kozar, & Larsen (2003) claimed
that Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) conceptualised usefulness
and ease of use as important perceptions that must be examined.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are as follows:
1. To identify whether there is a positive and significant relationship
between Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness
(PU) of writing web logs in an ESL classroom;
between PU and Behavioural Intention (BI) to write web logs in an
ESL classroom; and
between PEOU and BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
Research Questions
The three research questions addressed in the study are as follows:
RQ1. Is there a positive and significant relationship between PEOU
and PU of writing web logs in an ESL classroom?
49
RQ2. Is there a positive and significant relationship between PU and

BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom?
RQ3. Is there a positive and significant relationship between PEOU
and BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom?
Literature Review
Computer-Mediated Communication Application
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) encompasses all computer
technologies that facilitate or enable communication between two or
more people using social software (Information Technology Services,
2006). Levy (2006) stated that under the umbrella of CMC, modern
computer tools include application programs and communication tools.
Under its broad heading, the mechanism for interaction includes email,
bulletin boards and discussion lists, Instant Messaging (IM), Internet
Relay Chat (IRC), and computer conferencing systems. In line with the
development of new technology, the situation is rapidly developing with
the latest form of technology, the web log, a popular form of CMC
(Huffaker, 2005; University of Minnesota, 2006). Web logs have gained
fame since they enable writers to become publishers of their own works.
In general, web logs are CMC tools that serve as a means to transmit
messages. Specifically, they serve many purposes from online newsletters
to personal journals to rating and raving (TechEncyclopedia, n.d.).
Thus, the first thing about web logging is that the blogger must have
something to express (Schultz, 2005). As stated by Jensen (2003), people
can post anything from daily minutiae to manifestoes to sophisticated
political and cultural commentary. However, according to Jensen (2003),
the explosion of web logging tools is because people like to peek into
others lives. Reading a web log provides a voyeuristic thrill of flipping
through someones journal, no matter how mundane the content (para.
5). According to Huffaker (2005), these characteristics of web logs have
created an excellent CMC context for individual expression.
In recent years, the link between CMC and education (Jones, 1995)
is due to schools now having accessibility to the Internet. According to
Thurlow, Lengel and Tomic (2004), studying and using CMC means that
the process of learning is shifting across many different disciplines. In
higher education, the effectiveness of CMC is apparent since successive
generations of incoming students are increasingly technology savvy
(Information Technology Services, 2006). In addition, Jolliffe, Ritter and
50
Stevens (2001) claim that CMC is an important component of web-based

learning that allows for both communication and collaborative learning
and, in turn, a deeper processing of information and a sense of learning
community. Thus, the Internet has the elements of effective learning in
that it is active and individually-tailored, involves others where specialized
strategies are required and is contextualized (Ryder & Hughes, 1997).
Web Logthe Newest of CMC Application
The web log, the latest technology in CMC, is commonly known as a
blog. The word blog, a contraction of the coined word Weblog or Web
log (Internet Marketing Reference, n.d.; Risdahl, 2006), is both a noun
and a verb (Bartlett-Bragg, 2003). The term Weblog was first coined in
December 1997 by John Barger (www.robotwiSDom.com/) referring
to a web page containing a list or log with links to other web pages that
the blogger found interesting (Martindale, & Wiley, 2005; McBride &
Cason, 2006; Risdahl, 2006). Blog was declared by Merriam-Webster to
be the word of the year in 2004 before it became the buzzword for 2004
(Lindroth, 2006). The rise in popularity has resulted in new words being
added to the English language, such as: blog, blogging, bloggers, and
blogosphere (Ross, 2002). Web log has been defined as a website that
contains dated text entries in reverse chronological order (most recent
first) about a particular topic (TechEncyclopedia, n.d., para. 1).
Furthermore, it has been defined as a web publishing program that is
specifically designed to enable an individual to publish a daily commentary
(Websters New World Computer Dictionary, 2003, para. 1).
Web log is arguably the first form native to the web (Blood, 2003)
that allows the blogger, a person who writes web logs (TechEncyclopedia,
n.d.), to create online journals and keep records of nis or her writing on
a website without the need of any programming experience or Hypertext
Mark-up Language (HTML) knowledge (Bartlett-Bragg, 2003). This
makes it simple for almost anyone to publish his or her work to a worldwide
forum (Wells, 2006). According to McBride & Cason (2006), there were
no recognised web logs in 1996. However, web logs have actually existed
since the early days of the Internet (Jensen, 2003). In July 1999, a
programmer named Andrew Smales in Toronto launched Pitas.com, the
first do-it-yourself web log tool. In the same year, Pitas.com, GrokSoup,
and Pyra were released as the first online web log-publishing tools helping
people to build web logs, eventually changing its name to Blogger.com
(Risdahl, 2006; TechEncyclopedia, n.d.). Blogger.com was launched in
51
August 1999 by Evan Williams, Paul Bausch, and Meg Hourihan and
has become the largest and best-known of its kind (Jensen, 2003).
Generally, there are two components to web logs, the software that
runs on a web server and generates the pages of a web log and the
posting tool that sends comments to the software. Most services like
Blogger.com let the user post contents through a web form, so that
updating the site is easily done from any computer with Internet access.
However, the drawback is that some web forms are less than ideal for
editing text and this has caused some developers to come up with the
desktop software (Hacker, 2003). Later when web experts like Justin
Hall and Adam Greenfield used Moblog or MoBlog for the first time, a
contraction of mobile web log, it symbolized a further dimension in the
development of web logs. In 2003, the first International Moblogging
Conference (1IMC) in Tokyo was organised (Dring & Gundolf, 2006).
The only difference between moblogs and web logs is the ability to upload
by using mobile technology.
Conceptual Framework: Technology Acceptance Model
TAM was originally proposed by Fred Davis in 1989 as one of the most
influential extensions of Ajzen and Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action
(see Figure 1). Developed by Fred Davis and Richard Bagozzi (Davis,
1989), it models how users come to accept and use a technology.
According to Landry et al. (2006, p. 89), TAM can be interpreted as
ones behaviour and the intent to behave is a function of ones attitude
toward the behaviour and their perceptions about the behaviour. The
Perceived
Usefulness
(PU)
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
External
Variable
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
Source: Davis et al. (1989)
Figure 1: Original Daviss Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

52
model proposes that when users are presented with a new system,
technology or software package, a number of factors affect their decision
about how and when they will use it. TRA and TAM, both of which have
strong behavioural elements, assume that when someone forms an
intention to act, they will be free to act without limitation. Figure 1 shows
the original TAM proposed by Fred Davis.
The goal of this model is to provide an explanation of the determinants
of technology acceptance. TAM replaces many of TRAs attitude
measures with the two technology acceptance determinants Perceived
Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness and assumes that an individuals
information systems acceptance is determined by these two major
variables. Davis defined PEOU as the degree to which a person believes
that using a particular system would be free from effort (Davis, 1989,
p. 320). PU was defined by Fred Davis as the degree to which a person
believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job
performance (Davis, 1989, p. 320). Behavioural intention is a measure
of the strength of ones intention to perform a specified behaviour
(Gardner & Amoroso, 2004). Based on the original TAM in Figure 1, the
conceptual framework of the study is formed and depicted in Figure 2.
Based on the conceptual framework in Figure 2, BI is determined
by PEOU and PU (BI = PEOU + PU) (Venkatesh, 1999). Davis et al.
(1989) had claimed that BI may be based on its anticipated impact on
work performance regardless of the individuals overall attitude toward
that system. In other words, attitude may not be an important determinant
of intention and usage in a workplace setting taking into account the
usefulness factor. For this reason and to keep the model as simple as
Determinants
(Independent
and Dependent
Variable)
Dependent Variable
Perceived
Usefulness (PU)
H2
Behavioural
Intention (BI)
H1
(Independent
Variable)
Perceived Ease
of Use (PEOU)
H3
Note:
H
Hypothesis
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework of the Study Based on the TAM

53
possible, the variable attitude toward using was not employed in the
conceptual framework. According to Lee et al. (2003), the four major
variables of TAM are PEOU, PU, Behavioural Intention (BI), and
Behaviour (B). As noted by Davis et al. (1989) and Taylor and Todd
(1995b), BI is the major determinant of actual system use postulated by
TAM. B is a direct function of BI (Taylor & Todd, 1995a) and BI was
said to have a direct effect on user acceptance (Wagner & Flannery,
2004). Horton, et al., (2001) also stated that TAM may not be useful for
explaining actual system usage. Since literature had consistently shown
that BI is the strongest predictor of actual system use, actual system
use was excluded in the framework.
Based on the conceptual framework used in the study, three
hypotheses were formulated as follows:
H1. There is a positive and significant relationship between PEOU and
PU of writing web logs in an ESL classroom.
H2. There is a positive and significant relationship between PU and BI
to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
TAM has been widely used in the IS research to gather user reactions
to information systems (Landry et al., 2006). Lee et al. (2003) noted
that:
Of all the theories, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is
considered the most influential and commonly employed theory
for describing an individuals acceptance of information systems.
(p. 752)
Further supporting the notion of TAMs popularity, Lee et al. (2003)
had found 698 journal citations of TAM by 2003 where its robustness in
application had been extended to different technologies with different
control factors and different subjects. According to Sarriera, Qayyum,
and Nieves (n.d.), there are 424 citations of TAM in the original articles
based on the Institude of Scientific Informations Social Science Citation
Index, which proves that TAM is a well-established, powerful and
parsimonious model for predicting user acceptance. Many researchers
such as Adams et al. (1992), Hendrickson, Massey and Cronan (1993)
and Szajna (1994) have replicated Daviss original study (Davis et al.
1989). Adam et al. (1992) found the measurement for PU and PEOU in
diverse settings and different information systems to be both valid and
54
reliable. Hendrickson et al. (1993) found Daviss instrument to be reliable

and valid through test-retest analysis. Szajna (1994) revealed that Daviss
instrument possessed high predictive validity for intention to use, selfreported usage, and attitude toward use. To conclude, TAM has been
investigated extensively and found to be powerful, consistent, reliable
and valid (Lee et al., 2003).
Methodology
Population and Sample
The population of subjects in the study consisted of 918 UiTM third
semester diploma students who were taking the BEL311 course offered
by the Academy of Language Studies (APB). The study employed the
cluster sampling method, a common application used with intact
classrooms as clusters, where all members from the selected clusters or
groups were involved in the study (Ary et al., 2002; Parmjit, Chan, &
Gurnam, 2006). To ensure the availability of the minimum number of
respondents (n = 30) for a sample, a group of third semester diploma
students (n = 37) was chosen randomly to participate in the pilot test.
Since the study was based on correlational research, a moderate sample
size (n = 50 to 100) as recommended by Ary et al. (2002) was used.
Hence, all third semester HM115 diploma students who had registered
for BEL 311 course (n = 58) were selected as the target sample.
Instrumentation
The study used a modified version of the TAM-based questionnaire
adapted from Gardner and Amoroso (2004), Laitenberger and Dreyer
(1998) and Malhotra and Galletta (1999). TAM is an established model
of computer usage and its scales of measurement have been validated
through a number of technologies (Adams et al., 1992; Davis et al.,
1989, Gardner & Amoroso, 2004; Hendrickson et al., 1993; Landry et
al., 2006; Ma, Andersson & Streith, 2005; Szajna, 1994). By making use
of the three TAM major variables (PEOU, PU, and BI), a questionnaire
with 15 items, five items on each variable, was given to the respondents
in the pilot test.
A classical measure of reliability, Cronbach alpha (), was used to
measure the internal consistency reliability for the items within each
55
variable. After confirming the reliability of the TAM based questionnaire,

it was administered in the actual study. PEOU, PU, and BI were
measured by five items respectively (see Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3).
All the items used a 7-point Likert scale that is widely used to measure
the strength of an attitude or an opinion (Ary et al. 2002; Parmjit et al.,
2006). According to Brown and Rodgers (2002), a Likert scale is generally
useful for getting respondents judgements or opinions about almost any
aspect of language learning.
Table 1: Items of Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) Determinant
No.
PEOU items
1.
Learning to use web logs in journal writing is easy for me.
2.
I find it easy to get web logs to do what I want it to do in journal writing.
3.
I do not face problems in interacting with web logs for journal writing.
4.
I find web logs flexible enough to interact with journal writing.
5.
It is easy for me to become skilful at using web logs for journal writing.
Table 2: Items of Perceived Usefulness (PU) Determinant

No.
1.
PU Items
Using web logs can improve my journal writing performance.
2.
Using web logs can make it easier for me to do journal writing.
3.
Using web logs for journal writing can increase my productivity.
4.
Using web logs can improve the quality of journal writing.
5.
I find web logs useful in journal writing.

Table 3 : Items of Behavioural Intention (BI) Variable
No.
BI Items
1.
I always try to use web logs to do journal writing whenever it has a feature
to help me write the journal.
2.
I always try to use web logs in journal writing on as many occasions

as possible.
3.
I plan to use web logs for journal writing in the future.
4.
I intend to continue using web logs for journal writing in the future.
5.
I expect my use of web logs for journal writing to continue in the future.
56
Data Collection Procedures

During the first class, respondents were informed about the objectives
and procedures of the study. Then, a consent form adapted from
Melbourne Research Office Human Ethics, The University of
Melbourne (2006) was given to each student to be signed in order to
fulfil the ethical requirements of the study. Later, respondents were
provided with a writing task together with detailed handouts that
demonstrate a step-by-step procedure of using Blogger.com to create
an individual web log. A simple and brief explanation about the writing
task was given to the respondents. They were provided with almost no
guidance about blogging so as to allow them to figure it out on their own
in order to prevent prescriptive instruction and restriction of use. They
were given one week to complete the task.
In the last lesson when the respondents had finished the writing
task, the questionnaire was administered. The respondents were given
the same 15-item questionnaire to rate the actual usefulness, ease of use
and behavioural intention in writing web logs. They were asked to recall
and think about the blogging activities they had performed. They needed
to circle one of the seven numbers arranged from strongly agree to
strongly disagree. A score was assigned to each response and the scores
belonging to a particular variable were summed up, so that respondents
with the most favourable perceptions would have the highest score while
the lowest score would belong to the respondents with the least favourable
perceptions. Lastly, they were given a form to register their names, web
log titles, web log addresses, and dates of their published work to ensure
that they had completed the tasks.
After administering the pilot test and questionnaire, a reliability analysis
was conducted. Cronbachs alpha or coefficient alpha () was computed
as the index of reliability that indicates how well the items in a variable
set are positively correlated to one another (Sekaran, 2003). It was also
used because the TAM items use attitude scales that are not scored
simply as right or wrong (Ary et al., 2002). According to Coakes (2005),
it is one of the most commonly used reliability coefficients for
homogeneity measurement as well as consistency and stability testing.
Thus, the value will determine which items should be eliminated to
increase the reliability of the instrument. The closer is to 1, the higher
is the internal consistency reliability.
Before collecting the real data, the materials, research tools, and
procedures were pilot-tested. The pilot groups consisted of one group of
57
UiTM third semester diploma students who registered for the BEL311
course (n = 32) but were not part of the sample. The values of for the
TAM variables were obtained from the pilot test as shown in Table 4.
PEOU consisted of 5 items and achieved = .907 while PU consisted
of 5 items and yielded = 0.956. Besides, BI consisted of 5 items and
reached = 0.919. Reliabilities less than .60 are considered to be poor;
those in the .70 range are acceptable; and those over 0.8 are good in
most Social Science research situations (Sekaran, 2003; Tuckman, 1972;
UCLA Academic Technology Services, n.d.). Since all the internal
consistency indexes of PEOU, PU, and BI are more than 0.8, which is
considered good, all items from each construct were maintained.
Table 4: Reliability Coefficients for the Major Variables
Variable
Number of items
Cronbachs alpha ()
Perceived Ease Of Use (PEOU)
.907
Perceived Usefulness (PU)
.956
Behavioural Intention (BI)
.919
Data Analysis and Findings

Hypothesis Testing
The correlation coefficients between PEOU, PU, and BI in the
questionnaire are indicated in Table 5. In the questionnaire, the relationship
between PEOU and PU was explored using Pearson product moment
correlation. There was a high positive and significant correlation (r =
0.829, p < .01) between PEOU and PU. This result suggests that a real
association exists between the two variables, PEOU and PU of writing
web logs in an ESL classroom. As shown in Table 5, PU is positively and
significantly correlated with BI (r = 0.834, p < .01). The high association
between PU and BI suggests that the respondents had discovered the
usefulness of writing web logs and this directly influenced their intention
to use them. There is a strong positive and significant correlation between
PEOU and BI (r = 0.825, p < .01). The result shows that the respondents
believed that writing web logs was easy and this directly influenced their
intention to use them and the genuine relationship between PEOU and
BI was strengthened.
58

Table 5: Correlation between PEOU, PU, and BI in the Questionnaires
Hypotheses
Correlation
coefficient (r)
There is a positive and significant relationship between

Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness
(PU) of writing web logs in an ESL classroom.
.829**

Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Behavioural Intention
(BI) to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
.834**

Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Behavioural Intention
(BI) to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
.825**
Note: *p < .05, **p < .01 (1-tailed)

PU of writing web logs in an ESL classroom.
H2. There is a positive and significant relationship between PU and BI
to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
Hypothesis 1
There is a positive and significant relationship between PEOU
and PU of writing web logs in an ESL classroom.
Figure 3 displays the results obtained from Table 5 regarding the correlation
between PEOU, PU, and BI in the questionnaire. Apparently, there is a
high positive relationship between PEOU and PU in the questionnaire.
According to Holmes et al. (2005), the relationship between PEOU and
PU in the post-questionnaire is considered high. This is further supported
by Creswell (2005) that correlation in this range would be considered
very good and a good prediction can result from one variable to the
other. As pointed out by Lee et al. (2003), PEOU is a significant antecedent
of PU where PU is predicted by PEOU.
In addition, from the TAM theoretical perspective, PEOU influences
PU but it does not hold for converse relationship (PU influence PEOU)
(Dillon & Morris, 1996). For example, it was claimed that Blogger.com
was extremely easy to use (Krause, n.d.) and free because setting up a
59
web log takes only less than five minutes (Kajder & Bull, 2003). According
to Oravec (2002), it has been described as Push-Button Publishing for the
People and he declares Blogger offers you instant communication power
by letting you post your thoughts to the web whenever the urge strikes (p.
2). Thus, it is known as one of the most reliable and useful blogging tools for
students (Stanley, 2005) and many educators and students favour having
their web logs hosted there (Oravec, 2002). Since a positive and significant
relationship exists between PEOU and PU, the first hypothesis was not
rejected There is a positive and significant relationship between PEOU
and PU of writing web logs in an ESL classroom.
Determinants
(Independent
and Dependent
Variable)
Dependent Variable
Perceived
Usefulness (PU)
H2
r = .834**
Behavioural
Intention (BI)
H1
r = .829**
(Independent
Variable)
Perceived Ease
of Use (PEOU)
H3
r = 0.825*
Note:
H
Hypothesis
r
Pearson product moment correlation coefficient
* * Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed).
*
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (1-tailed).
Figure 3: Results of Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis 2
There is a positive and significant relationship between PU and
Figure 3 depicts the high positive relationship between PU and BI based
on Table 5. PU is treated both as a dependent and independent variable
because it is predicted by PEOU and it predicts BI at the same time. If
compared to the relationship between PEOU and BI, the association
between PU and BI is stronger. This shows that PU was the stronger
predictor of behavioural intention to use a newly implemented technology,
which is supported by Eagly and Chaiken (1993), Fazio and Zanna (1978),
Regan and Fazio (1977), as cited in Taylor and Todd (1995a).
60
Based on the results, usefulness was more strongly linked to

behavioural intention rather than ease of use. The result corresponds
with the claims of Lee et al. (2003) that PU was a stronger determinant
of BI compared to PEOU because users willingly use the technology
that has a critically useful functionality. Web logs provide individuals
with their own virtual online web spaces which enable bloggers to post
their personal views or commentaries on any topic. Others may respond
to these ideas by using the links and comments, either in comments to
the posting or in other web logs with a link back to the original posting
(Lever-Duffy et al., 2005). Besides, links can be added in their own
commentaries to connect to other web resources or backtrack to other
web logs. Bloggers also can post commentaries about other web logs on
their own web logs (Lever-Duffy et al., 2005). Based on the positive
and significant relationship existing between PU and BI, the second
hypothesis was not rejected There is a positive and significant
relationship between PU and BI to write web logs in an ESL
classroom.
Hypothesis 3
There is a positive and significant relationship between PEOU
and BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
Based on Figure 3, PEOU was positively and significantly correlated
with BI. This shows that PEOU is a secondary determinant of intention
to use a technology, which corresponds to the study of Davis (1989) and
Davis and Bostrom (1993) since the relationship between PEOU and BI
is largely mediated by PU. Taylor and Todd (1995a) also added that
inexperienced users may have a stronger perceived ease of use attitude
while a perceived usefulness attitude will be stronger for experienced
users. The rationale is that inexperienced users may focus primarily on
PEOU while experienced users have most probably overcome concerns
about PEOU and may focus on PU. These claims concur with the findings
of this study where the users had a weaker PEOU and BI relationship
compared to PU and BI relationship after completing the writing task.
Moreover, the lack of ease of use for users may be due to computer
access difficulties, hardware disabilities, program failure, server down
and low Internet connection. Lee et al. (2003) also added that PEOU is
an unstable measure in predicting BI. Adams et al. (1992) also claimed
PEOU was less important overall in determining use or behaviour but
61
PEOU might influence the initial decision to adopt a system. According

to Wolski and Jackson (1999) and Hackbarth, Grover and Yi. (2003),
PEOU played a critical role in predicting and determining a users
technology acceptance behaviour. However, the result obtained by
Agarwal and Prasad (1999) indicated that PU and PEOU had a roughly
equivalent influence on BI. Hence, based on the positive and significant
relationship found between PEOU and BI, the third hypothesis was not
rejected There is a positive and significant relationship between
PEOU and BI to write web logs in an ESL classroom.
Conclusion
This study has therefore validated the three proposed hypotheses. There
are positive and significant relationships between PEOU, PU, and BI in
web log users. The modified PEOU, PU and BI items were found to
have strong psychometric properties in the study. Based on the subjects
responses in the study, web logs were perceived to be more useful rather
than easy to use in an ESL classroom. The study therefore strongly
supports the practice of using web logs in ESL classroom. In addition,
the study found that the UiTM HM115 diploma students taking BEL311
English course in the third semester perceived the usefulness of writing
web logs, which directly and significantly influenced their intention to
write web logs. It showed that students perceived ease of use was fully
mediated by their perceived usefulness, which had considerable indirect
effects on their intention to write web logs. Furthermore, sustained by
previous empirical studies, the TAM questionnaire based instrument has
proven to be a reliable tool not only for Information systems (IS) but also
in educational contexts that discriminated the perceived ease of use and
perceived usefulness as two key factors to behaviour acceptance.
The acceptance of writing web logs in an ESL classroom as examined
in this study can be an imperative foundation to promote a variety of
CMC applications in English Language Teaching (ELT). Therefore, this
study has shown a preliminary finding about how far UiTM HM115
diploma students favoured using the online method instead of paper and
pen to do writing tasks. With well organised instructional design efforts,
web logs can be implemented in classrooms to replace traditional chalkand-talk activities since writing web logs was found indeed useful and
easy-to-use. This study has also highlighted that it is essential to verify
students acceptance of the new technology with the learning objectives
62
and process when bringing a new technology into ESL classrooms. By

utilising TAM, more extensive studies can be conducted to predict or
evaluate the use of web logs as a medium for different language skills.
Finally, educators should be reminded that the objective of ICT
implementation is to teach writing, not blogging.
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Integrating Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) into
University Teaching and Learning:
A Case Study
Chan Yuen Fook
Gurnam Kaur Sidhu
ABSTRACT
Over the past decade the push for academics to develop competencies
in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in
teaching and learning has increased. Within the Malaysian context
unfortunately, until now there has not been a holistic and conclusive
study on the integration of ICT in higher education. This exploratory
study examined the integration of ICT among academics for the
enhancement of university teaching and learning. A descriptivecorrelational research methodology that employed a survey
questionnaire was used in this case study. The data was analyzed
using means, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation.
The findings indicated that the ICT facilities in the higher instituion
left much to be desired and the usage of ICT in teaching among the
academics was not at a satisfactory level. Even though a majority
of the acdemics are aware of the many benefits of ICT there still
exists academics who hold firm to the importance of face-to-face
interaction and the didactic role of the instructors. The findings
also revealed that the integration of ICT into the classroom focuses
mainly on teaching and learning rather than the technical knowhow about computers themselves and how this technology helps
support users to participate in the integration of ICT into teaching
and learning. However, most of the respondents have shown a keen
willingness to adopt ICT in their future teaching and learning

processes once proper training and relevant technical support are
provided. The findings, in general, can help lecturers, IT staff and
university management to manage the integration of ICT in university
teaching and learning in a more organized manner. The findings
also would enable the faculty to be more responsive to the needs of
staff and students to effectively address the critical problems related
to the integration of technology into university teaching and learning
in ways that are both contextualized and authentic.
Keywords: Information and Communication technology (ICT), ICT
readiness, higher education, improving university teaching and
learning
Introduction
Information and communications technology (ICT) are the computing
and communications facilities and features that variously support teaching,
learning and a range of activities in education (Kent ICT, 2009). According
to Wikibooks (2009), ICT stands for information and communication
technologies and are defined, for the purposes of this primer, as a diverse
set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to
create, disseminate, store, and manage information. These technologies
include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and
television), and telephony (Wikibooks, 2009).
The purpose of ICT in education is generally to familiarize students
with the use and workings of computers, and related social and ethical
issues (Wikipedia, 2009). ICT has also enabled learning through multiple
intelligences as ICT has introduced learning through simulation games;
this enables active learning through all senses. Hence, the integration of
ICT helps learning institutions to be more innovative and this gives them
the edge to stay highly competitive in the current global shift in education.
In recent years there has been a groundswell of interest in how computers
and the Internet can best be harnessed to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of education at all levels and in both formal and non-formal
settings (Wikibooks, 2009).
Today ICT is seen as the tool for knowledge acquisition and
knowledge dissemination and sharing which can help improve the quality
of courses, curricula, and students learning. Many ICT experts (Smaldino,
72
Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Lowther & Russell, 2007; Shelly et al., 2008; Fillion et al., 2006; Sharp,
2005) have pointed out the importance and efficacy of the integration of
ICT into teaching and learning. According to them, online learning
technologies can transform and extend students learning experiences
by a significant improvement in student/student, student/lecturers, and
student/material interactions. Newhouse (2002a; 2002b) further
strengthen his assertion that ICT has a significant impact on students,
their learning environments, teachers and pedagogy, schools provision of
ICT capacity, school and system organization, and policy and practice.
Integration of ICT into Education

In recent times, the integration of ICT in teacher education programs has
become a topic of much debate (Larose et al., 1999). Ololube (2006)
notes that teacher education programs have come under increased pressure
to integrate ICT in their teaching and learning in a move to equip the new
generation of teachers with the knowledge and skills required by global
citizens for the 21st century. Newhouse (2002a; 2002b) notes that ICT
literacy has not only enabled opportunities for individualized instruction but
has also enhanced classroom teaching and learning via a dynamic,
interactive, and engaging content that can promote experimentation,
innovation and best practices. Furthermore, UNESCOs strategic objectives
in education highlight that information and communication technologies
(ICTs) should be the key tools to bring about a revolutionary impact on
the quality of education through the diversification of contents and teaching
methods (UNESCO, 2002; UNESCO, 2005).
It is also pertinent to note that teachers and lecturers today are
educating students who will most probably spend a large portion of their
adult lives in a technology-rich society. Realizing this critical need,
Malaysia, under the ICT Master Plan in 2001, outlined various initiatives
to facilitate the integration of ICT in education and training programmes.
The main aim of the ICT Master Plan is the preparation of a
technologically literate and thinking workforce that will enable Malaysians
to function as keen and competitive global players of the 21st century. As
such the Ministry of Education (MOE) stressed that integration of ICT
should not only be viewed as a tool to enhance teaching pedagogies and
revolutionize student learning but more importantly to produce richer
curricula leading to more effective organizational structures in schools
(Tian, 2004).
73
To further help schools and universities to better educate students,

the Malaysian government at all levels (federal, state and district) is
spearheading massive funding efforts to equip classrooms with computers,
connectivity to networks, and access to the Internet and the World Wide
Web. The Malaysian MOE has earmarked 30 per cent of its annual
budget (approximately MYR 4.2 billion) to connect a number of rural
schools to the Internet and putting in place PSTN lines, and VSAT
connections (ITU, 2002; 2004). More recent data from the MOE reveals
that improvement in ICT use has exceeded the 2000 figures and in early
2003, almost all educational institutions had at least one computer
laboratory equipped with Pentium class PCs. The UNESCO Meta-survey
on the use of technologies in education in Malaysia indicated between
75 and 90 per cent of schools and 100 per cent of all universities had
access to the Internet and these facilities would without doubt increase
the integration of ICT in teaching and learning as well as in education
management (Tian, 2004).
Furthermore, the vision and mission of teacher education in Malaysia
is to develop a system of education that is on par with world standards in
producing teachers who are constantly striving to achieve excellence
and who are willing to work diligently towards fulfilling the aspirations of
the nation (Teacher Education Division, 1999). Both Macchiusi, and
Trinidad (2000) and Shelly et al., (2008) stress that educators in todays
ICT era must be prepared to utilize both current and emerging computer
technologies. In an effort to increase ICT use within classrooms, the
Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) requires all teachers to undergo
basic informatics courses at both teachers training college and university.
Besides that, MOE also provides intensive and continuous ICT training
for all teachers. The UNESCO Meta-survey on the Use of Technologies
in Education in Malaysia reveals that between 19962000, close to 30
per cent of the teachers received some form of ICT training (Tian,
2004).
Despite the many efforts to integrate ICT in teaching and learning,
the full potential of ICT in many learning organizations leaves much to
be desired. For example, the UNESCO Meta-survey on the Use of
Technologies in Education in Malaysia reveals that though technological
inputs such as personal computers have been in Malaysian schools since
the late 1980s, the full capabilities of these technologies have not been
fully utilised in the school (Tian, 2004). In many cases the computers
have been used mainly as audio-visual aids and as supplements to
traditional practices. Furthermore, another study conducted in Malaysia
74
earlier (Teacher Education Division, 1999), exhibited that the computers

were more often than not placed in a special room and used mainly for
teaching computer literacy or in some cases for remedial and enrichment
activities. As such, it was hardly ever integrated in everyday classroom
instruction. Moreover, teachers remained virtually the sole providers of
knowledge and skills, leaving technology at the periphery of mainstream
teaching and learning. These findings further emphasized that teachers
failed to maximize the full potential of technology in the teaching and
learning classroom.
It is also interesting to note that ICT experts like Smaldino, Lowther
and Russell (2007); Marshall and Taylor (2005), and Shelly et al. (2008)
highlight that despite the rapid growth of technology; educationists have
been slow in adopting this technology. They are of the opinion that though
educationists are aware of the many benefits of computer technology to
effect significant change in the learning classroom, computer technology
is not only under-utilized but it is also not used in creative and effective
ways. Mumtaz (2000) feels that the slow uptake of ICT could be due to
reasons such as a lack of teaching experience and a lack of financial
support provided to teachers who utilize computers in their teaching.
Besides that, other hindering factors include the lack of teachers ability
to integrate ICT-related skills they have learned into their teaching
activities. Both the UNESCO Meta-Survey (Tian, 2004) and the report
of UNESCO (2003a; 2003b) also indicate other obstacles including the
cost of Internet access and hardware.
The many challenges faced by educationists in integrating ICT and
embracing the emergence of new technologies call for a need to assess
the readiness of teachers / lecturers to integrate ICT into teaching and
learning and what implications it holds for teacher education. Only then
can relevant measures be taken to provide suitable training to develop
and access ICT learning situations that complement face-to-face
environments. What educationists need most is to adapt and change
with the times and include relevant ICT tools into their everyday teaching
and learning. More importantly, educationists must also plan and manage
the learning setting to ensure that their students are both challenged and
successful. Therefore this paper discusses the findings of a case study
that was carried out to examine the extent of the use of ICT in a university
setting.
75
The Method
The study employed a descriptive-correlation approach where a survey
questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted in the data
collection process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the
integration of ICT in a faculty located in a public university in the state of
Selangor in Malaysia. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to
examine the readiness for integrating ICT into the teaching and learning
process and it included aspects such as learner readiness, student
readiness, management readiness, content readiness, and cultural
readiness. This study endeavored to answer the following research
questions:
1. What is the level of ICT integration in university teaching and learning
in terms of:
! Lecturers readiness
! Students readiness
! Management readiness
! Content readiness
! Cultural readiness
2. Are there any significant relationships between the variables of
readiness?
3. Is there any significant difference between gender and academic
qualification in terms of ICT readiness?
4. What are the challenges faced by academics in integrating ICT into
university teaching and learning?
5. How can the integration of ICT into university teaching and learning
be further enhanced?
The instrument involved a search of the demographic data and
readiness of respondents toward ICT in education - an instrument
specifically designed to establish baseline data about teaching staff at a
Faculty of Education in a public university in Malaysia with regard to the
use of ICT in their teaching. The relationships of these variables were
also tested. In addition, the study also looked into some demographic
variables that may be related to ICT readiness. Besides that,
lecturersopinions, perceptions and suggestions relating to integrating ICT
into university teaching and learning were also sought.
Data was obtained through the use of a questionnaire, which was
administered once. The survey questionnaire was administered to 40
full-time academic teaching staff at the chosen faculty during the period
76
of two weeks with a return rate of 34 questionnaires (85%). Data was

obtained through the use of a questionnaire, which was administered
once. In the questionnaire, items on the readiness of the academics in
integrating ICT were based on the following 4-point Likert Scale: 1 =
strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree. In this
study, an average mean of above 2.5 indicates a positive perception
from respondents. The SPSS version 11.5 WIN was used to statistically
analyze the collected information. This method of analysis included
descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Frequencies and descriptive
procedures were performed in examining the accuracy of the raw data
as the initial step. Descriptive statistics employing measures of central
tendency: the mean and measure of dispersion or standard deviation
were used to obtain an accurate measurement of ICT readiness.
However, t-test and ANOVA were conducted to identify the
differences between/among the readiness variables with some of the
demographic factors. Correlation analysis was also conducted to identify
the association among the readiness variables. The data obtained may
help identify variables for future studies that could lead to the uncovering
of the readiness of lecturers towards the integration of ICT in university
teaching and learning. Before a t-test and ANOVA can be conducted,
there are three assumptions that need to be met: interval or ratio data;
normally distributed data and; homogeneity of variance (Coakes, Steed
& Dzidic, 2006). The first assumption was met as the data of the study
are in the form of interval. The study used a normal probability plot to
test the second assumption graphically. The result displayed a normal
probability plot of the data of the study. The data were normally distributed
as the significance level of all independent variables were bigger than
0.05. All the normality plots confirmed the normal distribution of the
data. The third assumption is homogeneity of variance. Levenes test
for equality of variance in SPSS was used to check whether the different
groups came from population with equal variances. Results show that all
the variables of different groups are not significant (P > .05). In other
words, the variances are homogeneous; hence, the third assumption is
fulfilled.
Furthermore, a semi structured interview schedule was also
administered to allow the researcher to gain an insight into the awareness
of the ICT culture among the respondents. The interview schedule was
carefully linked to the individual responses from the survey database,
which allowed the researcher to personalize each individual interview.
This enabled the researcher to clarify and consolidate certain survey
77
responses made by the respondents. The following key issues were

addressed in the interview:
!
!
!
!
!
Understanding of ICT
Awareness of ICT in education
Use of ICT in university teaching and learning
Challenges in integrating ICT into university teaching and learning
Suggestions to improve the integration of ICT into university teaching
and learning
The interviews were conducted by the researchers over a period of

two weeks with seven lecturers. Each interview ranged between 30 to
45 minutes.
Findings
An analysis of the 34 samples of this study indicated that 19 of the
respondents were females (56%) as contrasted to 15 males who
accounted for about 44% of the sample. Regarding the age groups, the
results indicated that 15 of the respondents (44%) were in the age group
of 41-50 whereas 12 of the respondents (35%) were in the age group of
31 to 40. On the other hand, five of the respondents (15%) were above
51 whereas only two of them (6%) were below the age of 30. Looking
into the ethnicity of the sample, a total of 26 of the respondents (76%)
were Malays, followed by five Indians (14.7%) and two Chinese
respondents who accounted for 5.9%. The remainding one respondent
was a Sikh (2.9 %). In terms of academic qualifications, almost all
respondents have a postgraduate degree. A majority of the 25 lecturers,
accounting for 73.5% of the sample possess a master degree while the
remainding seven lecturers (20%) have a doctorate degree and only two
lecturers (6.5%) possess a bachelor degree.
Descriptive Analysis of ICT Readiness
One aspect investigated in this study was the lecturers reasons for using
a computer. Results indicated that the following were some of the main
reasons for using ICT: information (91%), research (88%), email (82%),
application software (74%), on-line shopping/reservation/banking (47%)
and for downloading software (44%). Other than that, more than onethird (38%) of the respondents used a computer for listserv/newsgroup
78
and e-discussion/e-forum while another one-third (32%) used it for

chatting or instant messaging and e-library. Surprisingly, only a small
proportion of the respondents (24%) used the computer for file-sharing.
Only a minority (6%) indicated using the computer for network games.
Interview sessions also indicated that the poor response to the use
of computers for file-sharing was due to the poor and unreliable Internet
connection at the faculty. Other on-line facilities such as shopping,
banking and making reservations could be conducted elsewhere.
However, three of the seven respondents interviewed indicated that they
did not trust making such transactions on the net as there was always a
fear of computer hacking and they did not feel safe keying in personal
information into the computer as it could fall into the wrong hands. Two
respondents interviewed admitted to limited technical know-how to
operate certain ICT facilities. One has to realise that to improve the ICT
readiness among respondents more activities should be planned to
encourage the use of computer and ICT in their teaching process.
The survey instrument also looked into the kind of computer programs
that lecturers used in their every day teaching. Results revealed that 25 of
the respondents (76%) integrated Microsoft PowerPoint while 22 of the
respondents (65%) integrated Microsoft Word in their teaching. A total of
12-13 respondents integrated the use of Microsoft Excel (38%) and World
Wide Web (32%) while less than one-fifth integrated Microsoft Publisher
(21%), Educational Portal (21%), Newsgroup (15%), and email (15%)
into their teaching. Only one respondent integrated Microsoft Access/
DBMS (3%), e-discussion (3%), and other programs into their teaching.
Table 1 shows the mean and standard deviations of lecturer readiness
sub-scales for respondents at the faculty. The results indicated the positive
effect of ICT (mean = 3.35, SD = .77) and commitment to ICT (mean =
2.94, SD = .81). The result also indicated lecturers low commitment to
integrating ICT into their teaching (mean = 2.28, SD = .72) and they
hardly use computers on a regular basis in their teaching practice (mean
= 2.59, SD = .99). Besides that, the result indicated that not many
respondents (mean = 2.28, SD = .72) had incorporated ICT in their
teaching. Interview sessions indicated that this was mainly due to the
unreliability of Internet connection and lack of expertise in ICT. The
findings show that respondents were unable (mean = 2.35, SD = .78) to
provide technical help to their students or overcome technical problems
themselves. Interview sessions showed that respondents being academics
did not see this as a necessary skill to acquire or as a prerequisite for
their current job description.
79

Table 1: Lecturer Readiness (n = 34)
Items
Mean
SD
I believe ICT will have a better effect on university teaching and

learning
3.35
.77
I am willing to spend my time, energy and money on searching

Internet material for my teaching
3.06
.74
I am committed to ICT
2.94
.81
I use computer in my teaching very frequently
2.59
.99
I can overcome most of the technical problems myself
2.53
.99
I am willing to invest my time, energy and money in developing

ICT material
2.48
.84
I use the Internet in my teaching very frequently
2.47
.99
I am able to provide technical help to my students
2.35
.78
I like to integrate ICT into my teaching
2.28
.72
I am able to construct my own Web pages for teaching and learning
2.21
.98
Scale used: strongly disagree = 1, disagree = 2, agree = 3, strongly agree = 4
Even though the findings indicated that the respondents were willing
to spend time, energy and money searching Internet materials (mean =
3.06, SD = .74), the willingness to develop ICT materials (mean = 2.48,
SD = .84) is still at an unsatisfactory level. Respondents also displayed
little enthusiasm (mean = 2.21, SD = .98) in constructing their own web
pages for teaching and learning. Respondents in interviews sessions
expressed that the need to set up web pages was not of great concern
as the majority of the students did not have Internet access at home or in
their hostel. Hence the use of new technology to conduct collaborative
on-line discourse between students and lecturers though often envisioned
was not practical at the moment due to such constraints.
The survey questionnaire also examined the respondents perception
of student/learner readiness (Table 2). The findings indicated that students
learned better when lecturers incorporated ICT (mean = 4.17, SD = .54)
into the teaching and learning process. The results showed students
commitment towards ICT (mean = 3.06, SD = .67). Students are
comparatively more interested in learning when the lecturers use ICT in
their teaching (mean = 3.06, SD = .75). Even though, respondents agreed
that their students possessed good computer skills (mean = 3.00, SD =
80
.67), they were still skeptical regarding their students readiness for ICT
(mean = 2.49, SD = .73). They felt that this was probably due to their
students inadequate computer skills and limited English language
proficiency (mean = 3.39, SD = .85). These findings were also
corroborated by the respondents during the interview sessions. The
respondents felt that their students were held back because a large
number of them did not have Internet access at home or at their hostel.
Table 2: Student Readiness (n = 34)
Item
Mean
SD
My students learn better when I use the computer in the teaching

and learning process
4.17
.54
Limited English language proficiency hinders ICT adoption by

my students
3.39
.85
My students are committed to ICT
3.06
.67
My students are more interested in learning when l use computer

in my teaching
3.06
.75
Most of my students have good computer skills
3.00
.67
My students are ready to go for ICT
2.49
.73
Findings in Table 3 show that respondents felt their faculty had a

vision and mission on ICT (mean = 3.00, SD = .62). Even though
respondents were of the opinion that their faculty provided sufficient
training on how to support ICT (mean = 3.75, SD = .11), there were still
some who either lacked confidence or were skeptical towards the
integration of ICT into teaching and learning (mean = 2.69, SD = .69)
and the implementation of ICT (mean = 2.37, SD = .87). This was probably
due to the unsatisfactory level of infrastructure (mean = 2.63, SD = .79),
staff development (mean = 2.59, SD = .88), availability of dedicated
instructional designers (mean = 2.56, SD = .95) and technical assistance
(mean = 2.50, SD = .72). The findings also revealed that the faculty
lacked a strong IT team of experts (mean = 2.37, SD = .87), ICT Master
Plan (mean = 2.50, SD = .72) and an ICT training center in the faculty
(mean = 2.00, SD = .80) to implement ICT.
81

Table 3: Management Readiness (n = 34)
Mean
SD
My faculty provides training on how to support ICT
Items
3.75
.11
My faculty has a vision/mission on ICT
3.00
.62
My faculty is ready to integrate ICT into teaching and learning
2.69
.69
My faculty provides the necessary infrastructure for ICT
2.63
.79
My faculty has a staff development plan for ICT
2.59
.88
My faculty has a team of dedicated instructional designers
2.56
.95
My faculty has formulated an ICT Master Plan for the coming years
2.50
.72
My faculty provides technical assistance to staff and students
2.50
.72
My faculty is ready for ICT
2.50
.72
My faculty has a team to implement ICT
2.37
.87
My faculty has an ICT training center
2.00
.80
However, results exhibited that there was a high level of ICT content
readiness in the faculty (Table 4). A majority of respondents find that
there are a variety of ICT materials to choose from the Internet (mean
= 3.35, SD = .72). The data showed that a majority of respondents
agreed that the existing content for ICT was useful (mean = 3.00, SD =
.65), appropriate (mean = 2.88, SD = .56), sufficient (mean = 2.82, SD =
.74) and there are adequate online content support for their needs (mean
= 2.76, SD = .49). Interview data also revealed that most of the lecturers
felt that over the semesters they had improved their ICT skills and this
was visible in their teaching Power Point presentations. Overall, the
findings displayed that a majority of the respondents indicated a high
level of content readiness for ICT in the faculty.
Table 4: Content Readiness (n = 34)
Item
Mean
SD
There are a variety of ICT materials to choose from the Internet
3.35
.72
Existing content in the Internet is useful for my students
3.00
.65
Existing content in the Internet is appropriate for the needs of

my students
2.88
.56
2.82
.74
2.76
.49
Existing content in the Internet is sufficient for ICT

There is adequate on-line content support (e.g. library, tutorials,
e-discussions, educational portals, WWW, on-line
collaboration projects, telecommunication projects, etc.)
82
Looking at the results in Table 5, we notice that a majority of the

respondents perceived ICT as an efficient means of disseminating
information (mean = 3.24, SD = .65) and an advanced mode in teaching
and learning (mean = 3.00, SD = .69). They believed that ICT can enable
students and lecturers to communicate and interact better with one
another (mean = 3.06, SD = .81). Despite having such a positive view
towards the use of ICT in the teaching and learning process, respondents
displayed a rather contradictory result when a majority of them indicated
that the most effective method of learning was still face-to-face
interaction (mean = 3.24, SD = .89). Similarly a majority of respondents
also revealed that though chalk and talk was not the most efficient
method of teaching (mean = 2.00, SD = .78), the teacher remains the
best information provider (mean = 3.00, SD = .69). However, the results
also showed that only an above average mean was achieved regarding
the feasibility of collaborative learning (mean = 2.94, SD = .74) and
communication skills (mean = 2.76, SD = .82) through ICT.
Table 5: Cultural Readiness (n = 34)
Items
Mean
SD
The most effective method of learning is face-to-face interaction
3.24
.89
ICT is an efficient mean of disseminating information
3.24
.65
ICT enable students and lecturers to communicate and interact

better with one another
3.06
.81
ICT is an advanced mode in teaching and learning
3.00
.69
The teacher is still the best information provider
3.00
.92
Collaborative learning can be enhanced through telecommunication

projects
2.94
.74
Email and chat enhance students communication skills
2.76
.82
Discussions via the Internet make learning more meaningful
2.47
.86
The most efficient method of teaching is chalk and talk
2.00
.78
Intercorrelations among the ICT Readiness Variables

An analysis of the findings presented in Table 6 reveals the zero order
correlations among the readiness variables. Leaner readiness (r = .56, p
< .001), management readiness (r = .67, p < .001), content readiness
83
(r = .74, p < .001) and cultural readiness (r = .29, p < .05) indicated a
significant positive relationship with lecturer readiness. These results
suggest that a good lecturer should be a content expert and one who is
able to establish a good relationship with the management, understand
the cultural differences and have a friendly and cordial relationship with
students to ensure the success of the integration of ICT into teaching
and learning. It is also interesting to note that learner readiness had a
positive association with management (r = .45, p < .001), content
(r = .68, p < .001), and cultural readiness (r = .30, p < .05). These results
imply that students who want to manage their own learning must be
familiar with the ICT learning environment, management system and
the cultural system. Correlation analysis also indicated the significant
positive relationship between management readiness with content
(r = .38, p < .001) and cultural readiness (r = .27, p < .05).
Table 6: Correlation among the Readiness Variables
Readiness Variables
Lecturer
Learner
Management
Content
Cultural
Lecturer
Learner
Management
1.00
.56**
.67**
74**
29*
1.00
.45**
.68**
.30**
1.00
.38**
.27*
Content Cultural
1.00
.26*
1.00
* P .05, ** P .001
Notes: Lecturer = Lecturer Readiness, Learner = Learner Readiness, Management =
Management Readiness, Content = Content Readiness, Cultural = Cultural Readiness
The result suggested that a good management system would

encourage lecturers to prepare ICT materials and attempt to integrate
ICT into teaching and learning. The relationship between the content
and cultural readiness (r = .26, p < .05) further indicated the importance
of customizing the content according to the different cultural environments.
These findings also reveal that students who study in an ICT aided
environment will definitely learn better. From the correlation analysis,
we can see that the success of the integration of ICT into teaching and
learning is not solely dependent on lecturers competency, but there are
many other factors at play such as students competency, classroom
facilities, management and technical support, relevant content and the
84
awareness of the cultural differences that also need to be taken into

consideration.
These results were further analysed based on variables such as
gender and the academic qualification of the lecturers. T-test analyses
indicated significant gender differences in all the readiness variables
(see Table 7). Males reported higher mean scores than females on the
lecturer readiness (M = 2.84 vs 2.44, SD = .80 vs .72) and content
readiness; M = 3.14 vs 2.93, SD = .66 vs .65). However, females reported
higher scores for management readiness (M = 2.80 vs 2.50, SD = .70 vs
.72), learner readiness (M = 3.24 vs 2.67, SD = .64 vs .66) and cultural
readiness (M = 3.05 vs 2.68, SD = .80 vs .79). T-test analyses indicated
significant differences in all the readiness variables between males and
females. Overall, the study implied that male lecturers were more
competent than female lecturers and were more ready to upload their
materials onto the websites. However, the female lecturers were more
people-centred compared to their male counterparts as they were more
concerned with the management supports, students readiness and cultural
differences in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning.
Table 7: t-test Results by Gender
Variable
Gender
Mean
SD
p- value
Lecturer
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
2.84
2.44
3.14
2.93
2.50
2.80
2.67
3.24
2.68
3.05
.80.
.72
.66.
.65
.72
.70
.66
.64
.79
.80
2.13
.000**
2.87
.000**
2.35
.000**
2.78
.000**
2.89
.000**
Learner
Management
Content
Cultural
An ANOVA was also conducted to evaluate the relationship between

each readiness variable and academic qualification. However, no
significant difference was observed (see Table 8), suggesting that ICT
readiness variables are not related to academic qualification.
85

Table 8: ANOVA Results by Academic Qualification
Variable
Academic
qualification
Mean
SD
p- value
Lecturer
Doctorate
Masters
Bachelor
2.65
2.64
2.63
.80
.77
.72
2.45
.076
Learner
Doctorate
Masters
Bachelor
3.04
3.02
3.01
.69
.66
.65
2.89
.087
Management
Doctorate
Masters
Bachelor
2.66
2.59
2.61
.72
.70
.70
2.35
.058
Content
Doctorate
Masters
Bachelor
3.00
2.96
2.94
.67
.66
.63
2.78
.065
Cultural
Doctorate
Masters
Bachelor
3.00
2.89
2.85
.78
.79
.80
2.57
.085
Qualitative Data of ICT Readiness

The data analysis also included the mean scores of the respondents
overall comments based on a scale of 1 to 10. A score of 1 indicated
strong disagreement and a score of 10 displayed strong agreement. The
results indicated that a majority of the respondents perceived that their
students (mean = 6.65, SD = .56) and they themselves (mean = 6.53, SD
= .73) were ready for ICT. However, respondents expressed moderately
low concern for issues related to the economy (mean = 5.74, SD = .66),
efficiency (mean = 4.97, SD = .85) and effectiveness (mean = 4.79, SD
= .49) of the integration of ICT into the faculty teaching and learning.
Open ended questions in the survey questionnaire also explored issues
such as respondents understanding of the term ICT and examples of
ICT activities respondents carried out in their everyday teaching practice.
Given below are some definitions put forward by respondents:
! The delivery of learning, training and education programs by electronic
means (Respondent 3).
! Teaching and learning via computers and the Internet (Respondent
12)
! The use of technology to enhance teaching and learning (Respondent
27)
86
!
!
Using ICT in teaching and learning (Respondent 29)

Learning electronically (digitally) through computer network
(Respondent 34)
The above findings indicate that a majority of the respondents have

a good understanding of the term ICT but very few are able to articulate
the versatility that lay behind ICT such as on-line collaborative learning
and the use of educational portals and learning management systems.
Both interviews and the survey questionnaire also sought to get
respondents opinions regarding the integration of ICT into university
teaching and learning. A large majority viewed such integration positively
and agreed that it would enhance the teaching and learning process and
provide more flexible learning to take place. Some stressed that if
local universities wanted to be become global partners in education,
integration of ICT should be seen as the way forward towards achieving
world-class university status.
Respondent 32, agreed to the many benefits ICT could bring to the
learning classroom but emphasized that traditional methods of learning
like having library skills were still very much needed and should not be
ignored. However two respondents voiced concern. Respondent number
23 had this to say:
I dont think we should go overboard. The computer is not the
end; only the means to an end. The lecturer needs to be clear
about the function of ICT in the teaching and learning process.
ICT should not be used as an excuse for the lecturer to go missing
or reduce his/her teaching responsibilities. As I see it the
integration of ICT actually makes the lecturers role more
challenging.
Asked to comment on some of the challenges faced when integrating
ICT into university teaching and learning, a large majority of the
respondents expressed that the poor and unreliable Internet connection
at the university had somehow slowed and dampened lecturers
motivation and enthusiasm to integrate ICT into university teaching and
learning.
A number of respondents also voiced concern that expert technical
support was sadly lacking and regular maintenance by the technical team
was not carried out. Respondents expressed that they had to wait for
quite a while before expert assistance could be provided to alleviate
their ICT problems. A few respondents pointed out that their computers
87
were too old and they stressed the need to upgrade PCs on a regular
basis with the latest software to combat new viruses. Some complained
that their PCs were functioning too slow which made the integration
of ICT into teaching rather frustrating.
Finally respondents were asked to make suggestions as to how the
integration of ICT into university teaching and learning could be further
enhanced. A large majority again voiced the need for universities to build
a network system and a better server that could be relied upon at all
times. A number of the respondents felt broadband facilities should be
installed for all lecturers. Some proposed the set-up of a separate server
for each faculty so that the problem of over-load could be overcome.
A number of the respondents also called for better technical support.
Some claimed that the technical personnel lacked expert IT knowledge.
Hence steps would have to be taken to ensure expert technical support
is always at hand when problems arise. The need to increase technical
staff was also another suggestion put forward by a few respondents.
One respondent stressed that a number of students also need technical
support and if universities are to integrate ICT, both students and lecturers
must be provided with the technical support and the relevant
infrastructure. Hence there was a call for better computers and more
space for the building of up-to-date computer laboratories.
Discussion, Implications and Recommendations

The findings in this study indicate that academics are aware of the many
benefits ICT integration can bring into the field of university teaching
and learning. A majority of the respondents (> 80%) also agrees that
ICT based teaching and learning are self-paced, learner-centric, learnercontrolled, interactive and interesting. Despite the great potential of ICT,
academics are still cautious in implementing ICT into their classroom
teaching.
At the individual level, a majority of the teaching staff at the faculty
can be said to be at the exploratory stage where the integration of ICT is
concerned. They are just beginning to use ICT in their teaching and
learning due to the increased emphasis at a global level of the ICT
technologies such as the Internet and email. There is sufficient evidence
(Detya, 2000) that ICT applications have not penetrated university
teaching at much more than a superficial level, and that the level of
expertise and practice is not yet sufficient to ensure that their wider use
88
is considered viable by all academic staff. Inferential statistics also

indicated that effective lecturers should be ICT literate, able to establish
a good relationship with the management, understand the cultural
differences and integrate ICT into teaching and learning. Similarly, the
findings also reveal that a good management system will encourage
lecturers to prepare ICT materials and attempt to integrate ICT into
teaching and learning. As such, students who study in an ICT aided
environment will definitely learn better. This study also supports findings
from other studies elsewhere around the globe which indicate that
academic staff at university level use ICT more for personal tasks than
in their teaching and learning (Macchiusi & Trinidad, 2000).
Though feedback from lecturers in this study is generally positive
and indicates the level to which people have been willing to try something
new, there are still some cultural concerns. They are prepared to give
ICT a try but at the same time want to maintain a tight control on what
is happening, particularly how (and what) learning might occur. This
group of academics doubts the effectiveness of ICT and believes that
the teacher is still the best information provider and guide to student
learning. Yet all these academics are familiar and agree with the rhetoric
behind the push for increased competency in using ICT. It is evident that
the integrated use of ICT in university teaching perhaps calls for a change
in the mindset of all academics and the giving up of some (traditional)
control of the learning process. This finding supports the versatility of
teaching proposed by Smaldino, Lowther and Russell (2007). According
to Smaldino, Lowther and Russell (2007: 334), the digital teachers
instruction includes presentations that are media-rich and interactive.
Live digital videoconferences bring historians, novelists, and content
experts into the classroom. Notes and concept maps from brainstorming
sessions are captured on electronic whiteboards and instantaneously
emailed to students. Instructional presentations seamlessly integrate
streamed digital video and audio from Internet-based files that range
from short clips demonstrating specific concepts to full-length
documentaries. Teachers instantaneously go to a specific section of a
DVD and show a segment in slow or fast motion, or still shot to reinforce
the targeted student outcomes. PowerPoint presentations integrate
animations, sounds, and hyperlinks to digitized information.
The findings also suggest that effective integration of ICT into
university teaching and learning requires a high-impact change among
the profession of academics. Such a change must come from both within
and outside the individual. More importantly, the management must take
89
on a more positive role in providing training programs that range from

the very basic to more complex applications such as how to make a
webpage or portal and more extensive programs such as learning how
to use shared workspaces. Additionally, the management needs to be
aware that ICT in university teaching and learning has to be more
contextualised. According to IT Preneur (2004) such ICT endeavors
have to be:
!
!
!
just in time - available for the users when they need it to complete
the task;
on-demand - available when they need it, not in a couple of days
time, or a week or a month;
bite-sized - available in small chunks that take only a short time to
complete, i.e. 15-20 minutes
Finally, the high cost of ICT is always one of the major concerns of
anyone wanting to integrate ICT into their systems. Effective, efficient
and economical integration of ICT into university teaching and learning
calls for adequate on-going finance budgets that can provide for continual
upgrading of software, proper infrastructure and reliable Internet access.
Together with successful ICT integration, there is a demand for a good
technical support system and professional expert IT personnel. These
results also reveal that students who want to manage their own learning
must be familiar with the ICT learning environment, the management
system and the cultural system.
Conclusion
This study corroborates with the fact that the integration of ICT into
university teaching and learning provides attractive and meaningful
learning experiences. Both academics and the management at the faculty
acknowledge the great potential of ICT that simultaneously enables the
accessibility of ICT into university education. While ICT provides an
array of choices, academics are not only cautious but also slow in keeping
up with the fast pace of changing technologies available in todays hightech markets. At such a juncture, perhaps what is needed is a shift in the
mindset of university academics towards ICT. Academics must be willing
to try and achieve strategic ICT outcomes and look for ways to respond
to the pedagogical needs and opportunities that encourage involvement
from both students and other members of the faculty. Academics must
90
practice what they preach and use the latest innovations in ICT in such
a way that both academics and students alike will benefit, making
university education more enriched and flexible.
If ICT is to be seen as an integral part of university teaching and
learning process, then university management needs to ensure ample
computer access and projection facilities in all teaching classrooms so
that everyone can take full advantage of the flexibility of ICT. More
importantly, if universities want to profile themselves as being techno
savvy, a synergic working relationship requiring communication at all
levels at the university needs to be formed to address critical issues and
problems related to the integration of ICT into university education. There
is no doubt that once the necessary support systems and proper
infrastructure are provided for a common electronic environment, much
more can be achieved towards making ICT a reality in university
education.
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wiki/Information_and_communication_technologies_in_education.
Wikibooks (2009). ICT in education/definition of terms. Retrieved August
16, 2009, from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ICT_in_Education/
Definition_of_Terms.
94
Variation in First Year College

Students Understanding on Their
Conceptions of and Approaches to
Solving Mathematical Problems
Parmjit Singh
ABSTRACT
A primary goal of mathematics learning and teaching in secondary

school is to develop students ability to solve a wide variety of
complex mathematical problems as a preparatory stage for college.
In view of this, the objective of this paper is to investigate the mastery
of content level that first year college students bring with them to
the mathematics classroom with reference to their national
examination grades (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia). The study
investigated the conceptions of 127 student and their heuristic
actions in mathematical problem solving. Among these students
98.5% had obtained an A grade in the national examination for
mathematics. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches, namely
written assessment (five mathematical problems) and interviews were
utilized in assessing students relational understanding of
mathematical concepts in problem solving. The percentage of correct
responses from these students, who can be considered as the cream
of the crop of the nation, for the five items in the written test were
74.8%, 72.4%, 67.7%, 52.8% and 18.9 %.The data indicates that
the grades obtained in the national examination did not reflect their
mathematical knowledge in mathematical problem solving. The study
concludes that capable mathematics students (the ones who obtained
an A grade in the national examination) when placed in the context
of non-routine problems have difficulty solving what may be
considered elementary mathematics for their level of task

achievement. This evidence seemingly indicates that many students
from high schools are not acquiring the mathematical skills expected
of college level mathematics.
Keywords: problem solving, proportion, ratio, mathematics, learning,
school mathematics.
Background
Students coming to college need to unpack and revisit their mathematical
knowledge which they bring from school to allow them to examine the
undergirdings and interconnections of college mathematics with other
areas of mathematical application such as physics and chemistry (Parmjit
& White, 2006). These students with a string of As in their bag do
indeed construct a reasonably large number and a variety of algorithms
in order to continue achieving good results in mathematics examinations.
However, it is of interest to determine the quality of this knowledge
since the quality of students mathematics knowledge is always a crucial
matter. The single most significant factor determining the quality of
knowing is the quality of the students experiences in constructing their
knowledge. The use of problem solving in the college mathematics
classroom content enables this unpacking and can result in variation in
these students conceptions of and approaches to solving fundamental
mathematical problems.
Many teachers, parents, students, and even educators equate problem
solving with word problems that are presented in textbooks or in various
level of examinations. But are these problems really the problems?
Before coming into details of this, we do need to define what a problem
is in mathematical contexts. Reitman (1965) defined a problem as when
you have been given the description of something but do not yet have
anything that satisfies that description. His discussion described a problem
solver as a person perceiving and accepting a goal without an immediate
mean of reaching the goal. In a problem, one is not aware of any algorithm
that will guarantee a solution. As Polya (1973) puts it:
To have a problem means to search consciously for some action
appropriate to attain some clearly conceived but not immediately
attainable aim. To solve a problem means to find such an action
(p. 99).
96
Variation in First Year College Students
Wheatley (1991) also succinctly pointed out that solving a problem

means finding a way out of difficulty, a way around an obstacle, attaining
an aim that was not immediately attainable. In a parallel note, Reys
et al., (2004) defined a problem as a situation in which a person does
not know immediately what to do to get it (p. 115). Reys et al. (2004)
believed that the difficulty of a problem must require some creative
effort and higher-level thinking (p. 115) to resolve. Schoenfeld (1985)
also emphasised that the difficulty should be an intellectual impasse
rather than a computational one (p. 74). In summary, one can conclude
that a question is a problem if the procedure or method of solution is not
immediately known, and hence requires one to apply the previous
constructed knowledge in a new and unfamiliar situation with the aid of
creativity.
Problem solving has a special importance in the study of mathematics.
A primary goal of mathematics teaching and learning is to develop the
ability to solve a wide variety of complex mathematical problems. This
was also noted by Garfola & Lester (1985):
The primary purpose of mathematical problem solving instruction
is not to equip students with a collection of skill and processes,
but rather to enable them to think for themselves. (p. 166)
Teaching college students how to use mathematics to reason, to
think critically and to solve problems is a key to the success of any
mathematics curriculum and it has long been an issue of concern at
every level. Yes, one will not deny that successful mathematics students
do indeed construct a fairly large number and variety of algorithms in
order to continue achieving good results in national mathematics
examinations. However, what is the quality of this mathematical
knowledge? A variety of research has been done in Malaysia in assessing
students relational understanding of mathematics. Relational
understanding, which is at times synonymously used as conceptual
understanding, relates to employing reasoning to what and the why
rather than what to do to get the answer. In two separate studies
(Parmjit, 2000, Parmjit & White, 2006) to determine the relationship
between secondary (upper and lower) students grades obtained in
national examinations and their mathematical knowledge, it was found
that the grades obtained did not reflect their mathematical knowledge in
mathematical problem solving. The conclusion seems to indicate that
students in Malaysia have learnt how to do numerical computation at the
expense of learning how to think and solve problems. This is because
97
the emphasis in the examinations has been on solving routine problems

rather than non- routine problems. The ineffective practices that are
prevalent in todays classroom are: teachers expect students to learn
mathematics by listening and imitating; teachers teach as they were
taught rather than as they were taught how to teach; teachers teach
only what is in textbooks; students learn only what will be on the test.
Although in the Malaysian Mathematics Education syllabus, problem
solving has been stated as a theme, these problems are of the routine
type rather than the non-routine type. What is the difference between
these two problems? Lets discuss this in the context of problems available
in Malaysian textbooks.
For example, Task 1: There are 15 people at a gathering and each of
them shake hands once and only once with everyone else. How
many handshakes are there altogether?
This task may be familiar to students who have learnt it in high
school and so they may know immediately how to solve it. The routine
procedural skill that students will employ is 15C2 which produces 105
handshakes. This task is considered as routine for maths students because
of their familiarity with it. One might question that this task might be a
problem for students who are low achievers as they might not know
how to apply it properly. However, with enough practice, this task can
become a routine exercise for these students. Moreover, the purpose of
this type of tasks is to provide students with practice in using standard
mathematical procedures (for e.g., computational algorithms, algebraic
manipulations, and use of formulas, Lester, 1980, p. 31). Some
researchers called this type of tasks routine problems (Orton &
Frobisher, 1996, p. 27).
Let us contrast task 1 with another task.
Task 2: How many zeros are there in 100?
This task is inherently different from the first task in that it requires
some higher level thinking strategies (e.g Reys et. al., 2004) and not just
a direct application of a procedure. Furthermore, it cannot be computed
by using a scientific calculator because of the number of digits involved.
The first type of mathematical tasks (Task 1) is called routine problem
since that is commonly found in textbooks and involve practicing
procedures, and the second type (Task 2) non-routine problem is not
commonly found in texts and requires the use of higher level thinking
strategies to solve.
98
Any institution that wishes to retain basic mathematics students

cannot simply hustle them into the regular curriculum and assume that a
few hours of tutoring will enable them to learn the material. Neither can
the institution dredge up a standard high school course to offer them.
Rather, the institution must assess both the mathematical content that is
required for college level courses and the mathematical skills of the
incoming students. Only then can a curriculum be designed which will
best help these students to face the challenge of college mathematics. In
Singapore, mathematical problem solving is central to mathematics
learning at both primary and secondary levels. It involves the acquisition
and application of mathematics concepts and skills in a wide range of
situation, including non-routine, open ended and real word problems (Lee,
2006).
Another issue of concern is the methodological approaches employed
in Malaysia, especially in assessing college students mathematics
learning. Too often, we consider only aspects of knowledge that focus
their attention upon the concepts identified, the generalization recalled,
the problem solved, the theorem proven or the procedure extended. The
emphasis is upon the mathematical result, rather than the process of
constructing the idea. As educators, we would like to see students develop
their reasoning and thinking capabilities rather than their abilities to
memorize meaningless facts. A particular fruitful approach for research
in developing these capabilities is to concentrate on the students
themselves and the ways in which they individually construct knowledge
rather than just solely rely on what they can and cannot do. We as
educators should be critical of the quality of research in mathematics
education in colleges. One can look at tables of statistical data utilizing
powerful quantitative analysis and can say so what! Vital questions go
unanswered while means, standard deviation, and t-tests pile up. There
is too great a reliance on statistics, and a deep look at process is avoided.
Statistics are valuable in their place. They can suggest hypotheses in
preliminary studies and help to test them in well-designed experimental
studies. But if we want to understand what goes on in students heads
when they solve problems, we have to watch them solving problems
(Schoenfeld, 1987).
Students misconceptions can remain hidden from the lecturers view
unless particular attention is paid to the way they think through a problem.
For this study, these students have been through the national standardized
examination, namely the Malaysian Education Certificate (SPM), and
thus the researchers could consequently pursue the question of how
99
well Malaysian Education Certificate mathematics grades reflect the

students conceptual understanding of mathematics. It is believed that
only by closely scrutinizing students thinking during a problem session
can lecturers reveal this sort of misconception.
Objectives of the Study

This paper assesses students basic mathematical knowledge upon
entering college. The general objective is to investigate the mastery of
content level which first year college students (fresh from high school)
bring with them to the mathematics classroom based on their national
examination grades (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia). It investigates students
conceptual understanding and approaches in solving non-routine
mathematical problems, identifies what sort of experiences and
understanding are critical in solving the given tasks and the difficulties
they encounter. The goals are primarily to make sense of students
mathematical behavior to explain what goes on in their heads as they
engage in mathematical problem solving tasks of some complexity.
Methodology
The methodology utilized in this study encompasses quantitative and
qualitative method with a greater emphasis on the latter. The study
investigated 127 first year college students conceptions and heuristic
actions in mathematical problem solving.
The instrument used for this study was adapted from Parmjit (2006)
and four items were elicited from that study. The difference between
the study conducted in 2006 and this study is that the former emphasize
quantitative data analysis while the latter emphasizes qualitative data
analysis. Second, the students used in the study in 2006 were first year
students who were at the end of their semester while the students in this
study are randomly selected in their first week of college when they
registered for a problem solving course.
There were five items in this test and the responses were grouped
into categories according to the criterion behaviour exhibited. A numerical
value was assigned to each of these criterion behaviours. Students
100
responses were categorized on the following five point scale based on

the reasoning employed:
4. All correct, good reasoning
3. Good reasoning, small error(s)
2. Some promising (reasoning) work but it is not clear on whether a
solution would be reached
1. Some work but unlikely to lead to a solution
0. Blank
However, for the quantitative responses of this paper, the analysis
was computed based on correct and incorrect response. The scale of 0,
1 and 2 were categorized as incorrect responses and 3 and 4 as correct
responses.
The content validity of this instrument was established by three
experienced mathematics lecturers who were experts in the related area.
The content was validated based on the specification of KBSM
mathematics syllabus. Several suggestions were given and the items
were amended accordingly. In determining the reliability estimation, testretest reliability estimation was utilized. This estimation was based on
the correlation between two administrations of the same test to a group
of pupils. The researcher was aware of the recall biasness (exposure to
the test at Test 1 influences scores on the test at Test 2) associated with
the test-retest reliability analysis and in view of this, the second test was
conducted three days after the first and the items in the retest was
randomly arranged. Field (2005) considered as good reliability coefficients
ranging between 0.70 and 0.80. The test-retest reliability coefficient of
0.917 is a strong reliability coefficient. In other words, the correlation
coefficients are of substantial magnitude indicating high stability of test
results over time and they provide good evidence of the reliability for the
instrument.
One hundred and twenty seven first year college students, aged 1819, participated in this study. Of these, 77.2% obtained a grade 1A in
their national examination as compared to 21.3% and 1.5% who obtained
a grade 2A and 3B respectively (Table1). In other words, 98.5% of the
students involved in this study obtained an A grade in the national
examination. The rationale for choosing this sample was that they have
at this level been formally taught in secondary school the basic
mathematical concepts needed to solve problems.
For the qualitative analysis, eight students were selected based on
the responses given in the written test and each interview session lasted
101

Table 1: Distribution of Samples According to
Mathematics Grades
Grade
Frequency
Percentage
1A
2A
3B
98
27
2
77.2
21.3
1.5
Total
127
100.0
for about an hour. The composition of the students according to their

grades are shown in Table 1.
Findings and Discussion

The following sections detail the data obtained from both the written test
and interviews from the five items used in this study.
Table 2 shows 74.8% of the students in this study got item 1 correct
as opposed to 25.2% who got it incorrect. The data also indicates that 32
(25.2%) students of the total who obtained an incorrect response utilized
the additive reasoning procedures in deriving the answer.
Table 2: Students Responses for Item 1 (n = 127)
Pele and Maradona were great soccer players. Pele

scored 300 goals in 400 matches, while Maradona
scored 400 goals in 500 matches. Who had a better
scoring record: Pele, Maradona or they have a same
scoring record? (Please explain).
% Correct
% Incorrect
74.8
25.2*
*32 students gave an incorrect response due to additive

reasoning
Among the common reasoning for incorrect answers given based

on students worksheet are as follow;
!
!
The difference between the goals are the same (400 300 = 100
and 500 400 = 100), so both Pele and Maradona have the same
scoring record.
Some of them computed the ratio (400/300 for Pele and 500/400 for
Maradona) and obtained 1.33 and 1.25 respectively. Then they
102
reasoned that since the value of the former is greater than the latter,
they made the conclusion that Pele has a better scoring record.
Surprisingly, they did not seem to know what the number represents.
The difference is 100, so the scoring record is the same.
Interview with students confirmed the reasoning made above. Student

ASA stands for students A, SB for students B and etc.
S A : I think both are the same... the goal difference is one hundred.
R : How did you get one hundred?
S A : Four hundred minus three hundred is one hundred and also
five hundred minus four
R : How do you interpret this one hundred?
S A : The goals that they missed.
From item 1 as shown in Table 2, 32 students or 25.2% of the students
obtained an incorrect response which was based on additive reasoning
where the answer given was both have the same scoring record.
Furthermore, these students were not able to conceptualize and interpret
the ratios computed (400/300 for Pele and 500/400 for Maradona).
In a follow up question;
R : If there is another player who has played 600 games, how
many goals must he score in order to have the same scoring
record as Pele?
S A : He needs to score five hundred (500) goals.
This indicates the consistency in student A reasoning based on additive
reasoning. He was not able to see and compare the ratio of the goals to
the number of games played.
The heuristics performed by student A was as follows:
Pele: 400 300 = 100 goals
Maradona: 500 400 = 100 goals
He was unable to coordinate two ratios simultaneously (400/300
and 500/400). He surmised that since the differences between the two
players are the same, they will have the same scoring record!
Student B
S B : Pele has a better scoring record.
R : Why?
S B : (Pointing to his work sheet) because four hundred over three
hundred (400/300) for Pele...and you get 1.333 and five
103
hundred over four hundred (500/400) for Maradona...you

get 1.25
R : So, what does these values mean (referring to 1.333 and 1.25)?
S B : Peles value is bigger (pointing to 1.333), so his scoring record
is better.
There were a number of students who were able to use
proportionality (coordination of two ratios) but from the interview, one of
them showed that he is unable to compare or relate the obtained ratios.
This is noticeably seen in the transcripts below:
Student C (who obtained the correct answer)
S C : Maradona has a better scoring record.
R : Why?
S C : (pointing to her worksheet) three hundred over four hundred
(300/400)0.75 and four hundred over five hundred (400/
500)0.8.
R : What is represented by 0.75?
S C : Goals in one game.
R : What about 0.8?
S C : For Maradona.
R : What about comparing the numbers 0.75 and 0.8?
S C : Actually the distance between 0.75 and 0.8 is very small if the
difference is 100. If he plays 100 games, the difference is
only 0.05.
These students were unable to coordinate the information given
where one needs to compare the ratio of the goals to the number of
games played (or the two scoring rates). The mere computation
manipulation does seem not to make much sense to these students,
especially when the numbers did not divide evenly (e.g. 400/300 = 1.333...).
Here, the students did not have a good notion of ratio nor did they have the
understanding that the objective of a proportion problem is to keep the
value of a ratio invariant under iteration. Thus, apparently for these students,
it seemingly indicates that when determining whether or not two ratios
were equivalent, they looked for a relation between the first rate pair and
then matched it with the second rate pair, to see if the relation holds.
However, the conceptions of the ratios (e.g. 0.75 or 0.8) confused these
students interpretations. These difficulties are often attributed to the
insufficient integration of instruction with students intuitive knowledge
about quantities as they experience in everyday activities.
104
Approximately 27.6% of the students obtained an incorrect response

for this item (item 2 in Table 3), which is quite similar to item 1 as shown
in Table 2. From this percentage, 33 students or approximately 26%
utilized the additive reasoning procedure for their rationale. They reasoned
that if they add one can of black paint and one can of white paint, their
colour should still remain the same. Their reasoning was based on the
assumption that since one can of each paint was added and the quantity
of both colours was the same, the new mixture should have the same
shade. Their reasoning was based on the primitive additive reasoning
and approximately 26% of the students gave this additive reasoning. In
short, these students failed to construct a coordination of two ratios
simultaneously as: 2 white to 3 black and 3 white to 4 black.
Table 3: Students responses for Item 2 (n = 127)
Eva and Alex want to paint the door of their garage.

They first mix 2 cans of white paint and 3 cans of
black paint to get a particular shade of gray. They
add one more can of each. Will the new shade of gray
be lighter, darker or are they the same?
% Correct
% Incorrect
72.4(92)
27.6*
*33 students used addition reasoning
Responses from the interview with students who obtained the correct
response show that they had the idea as to how to solve the problem.
The researcher needed to ask the right questions to perturb the students.
The student then used proportional reasoning and proceeded to use
multiplicative reasoning stating that in order to get the same shade, the
ratio must be 4/6. They were then able to see that 2/3 and 3/4 represented
the ratios of white paint to black paint and the greater the number, the
lighter the shade of the mixture.
S E : I got the ratio of 2/3 and 3/4.
R : How do you use this ratio in determining which shade is lighter,
darker or the same?
S E : .... to be same, the ratio should be equal.
R : So, if 2/3, we compared it with?
S E : 4/6
R : what about 2/3 and 3/4?
S E : We look at the paint. If there is more black paint, then it is
darker.
105
The following verbatim is based on students who used the percentage

method with incorrect responses (based on their answer sheet). On their
earlier attempt, they tried utilizing proportional reasoning but were unable
to conceptualize the meaning of the percentages of 66.7% (2/3) and
75%. (3/4)
R : You obtained this figures, 66.7 % and 75 %. And then you
said that the shade is darker. Why?
S F : It is the same.
R : Same?
S E : Same shade.
R : Why, now you say it is the same?
S E : Because they added one can of white and one can of
blackthe same number of cans for each.
R : What about the percentages you computed?
S E : It is wrong.
R : Why? (Could not give an explanation)
Students (e.g. SE ) could not relate the percentage to the problem
given. This led them to use additive reasoning to get a similar shade.
They then concluded that an equal amount of each type of paint is added
to the mixture; therefore, the mixture has the same shade.
A third group of students also used additive reasoning. The reasoning
employed is that if an equal number of cans for each type of paint is
added to the mixture, the shade will remain the same. They were unable
to see the proportion of white paint to the black paint before and after
the addition of two cans of paint.
S G : In my opinion, it will be the same as one tin of white paint and
one tin of black paint is added... because the difference is the
same. If we want a darker shade, we will have to add more
black paint than white paint... and if we want a lighter shade,
more white paint than black paint.
R : So, in your opinion, if one more tin of white paint and one
more tin of black paint is added, the shade of gray is the
same?
S C : Yes. (very confidently)
In both these items, (item 1 and item 2), what it requires is making
sense of the structural similarity between a/b and c/d based on the
invariance of ratio. The comparison problem of proportionality, the
106
relationship among a, b, c and d are understood as two ratios or rates,

i.e. a/b and c/d. These ratios (rates) are stored and further compared to
determine whether or not they are equivalent and /or whether another
level of relationship is in question.
Next, Table 4 indicates 67.7% of the students arrived at the correct
answer for item 3. 32.3 % of the students failed to see an inverse proportion
relationship and solved the question by utilizing a cross multiplicative
strategy. Many of them used the following heuristics:
9 workers = 5 hours
6 workers = X
X/5 = 6/9; 9X = 30; x = 30/9 = 3 1/3 hours.
Table 4: Students Responses for Item 3 (n = 127)
% Correct % Incorrect
If it takes 9 workers 5 hours to mow a certain lawn,
67.7(86)
how long would it take 6 workers to mow the same lawn?
(Assuming that the workers are all performing at the same
rate and all working for the entire time).
32.3*
*31.5% used direct proportion
In fact, 31.5% of the students utilized mechanical reasoning as shown

above.
Here, they did not reason what each number represents and what
they were actually computing. Logically, they should have realized that
the answer they produced (3 1/3 hours) implied that fewer people take a
shorter time to finish up the job!
An interview with a student who used a similar method revealed that he
was aware that fewer workers means longer working hours but was
unable to answer why his cross multiplication strategy did not give a
logical solution.
R
SH
R
SH
:
:
:
:
What is your answer?

Three hours and thirty three minutes (3 hours 33 minute)s.
How did you obtain this answer?
Well (pointing to his worksheet), nine workers takes 5 five
hours....we need to find six workers ....so, six over nine multiply
with five (6/9 x 5)...the answer is ten over three (10/3)...equals
to three-one over three (3 1/3).
107
R : What is the unit for three one over three?

S H : Hours...it is three hours and .....twenty minutes (3 hours 20
minutes).
R : Is your answer logical?
S H : ...kept quiet
R : What are you thinking?
S H : If nine workers takes five hours, then six workers should be
longer!
R : What do you mean by longer?
S H : Time
R : So, where is your error?
S H : My working is correct (showing his steps, utilizing the cross
multiplication method, in his worksheet) I am not sure.
An interview with another student yielded a similar response.
R : In here (pointing to the worksheet) you wrote five hours
multiply with 60..then divide by nine. Why?
S C : To find how many minutes each worker takes. Then multiply
with six (workers).
R : So, how long does it take for six workers?
S C : 3.33 hours
R : Are you happy with your answer?
S C : Yes
R : If nine workers take five hours, fewer workers will take shorter
or longer time?
S C : (After a while)....something not right.
R : What do you mean?
S C : Should take a longer time because fewer workers should take
longer time!
After realizing the mistake, he was able to solve the problems and
derived the answer as seven hours and thirty minutes (7 hours 30
minutes.)
The most common incorrect answer to this problem was due to the
use of an inappropriate direct proportion formula and the failure to realize
that the resulting answer was unreasonable. Approximately one-third
(32.3%) of these students, who obtained an A grade in the national
examination were unable to solve this problem. For these students, the
word proportion seemed to be equated with direct proportion though the
inverse proportion content has been learnt in high school. The data from
108
these problems seems to indicate that school mathematics instruction

was procedural without sense making: one learns to read the problem,
extract the relevant numbers and the operation to be used, perform the
operation and write down the resultwithout even probing into what it all
means.
The majority of the those student who used proportional reasoning
by cross multiplication, multiplication by 6 to get the total numbers of
hours work by 6 workers, did not realize that their solution was illogical.
Utilizing this approach simply becomes an act of symbolic manipulation.
This cross multiplication algorithm is an efficient way of getting answers
but is often used in an absurd way. The premature formalism leads to
symbolic manipulation which students cannot connect to the real world,
resulting in the virtual elimination of any possibility in enhancing their
thinking capabilities. As Kieran (1988) pointed out, symbolic knowledge
that is not based on understanding is highly dependent on memory and
subject to deterioration (p. 178).
Table 5: Students Responses for Item 4
% Correct % Incorrect
An old antique bicycle has wheels of unequal size. The
front wheel has a circumference of 8 feet. The back
wheel has a circumference of 10 feet. How far has the
bicycle gone when the front wheel has turned 20 more
revolutions than the back wheel?
52.8 (67)
47.2*
*32.5% without reasoning
Table 5 shows that only 52.8 students obtained a correct solution for
item 4. Observations of students responses to this item indicate that
32.5% (those with an incorrect solution) of the students could not even
reach a stage to show any promising heuristic reasoning. They faced
great difficulties in expressing the problem into a mathematical expression.
The interview results revealed that a majority of them did not realize that
both tyres travelled the same distance. Some of the heuristics by students
who got it correct are as follows:
The majority of students who obtained a correct response used the
following algebraic method:
109
x - number of revolution
Front wheel revolution: 20 + x
Back wheel revolution: 10x
Distance travelled by front wheel = 8 (20 + x) = 160 + 8x
Distance travelled by back wheel = 10x
Since the distance travelled is the same,
160 + 8x = 10x
x = 80
Bicycle travelled for a distance of 10 (80) = 800 feet
Another group of students utilized proportionality to solve the problem.
To travel a certain distance, the front wheel has made 5 revolutions,
while the back has made 4. Therefore, the ratio is 5: 4, and the difference
is 1 revolution. So, to get a difference of 20, multiply ten on each side to
get 100: 80. This shows that the front has made 100 revolutions. Hence,
the wheel has travelled 100 x 8 = 800 feet.
As shown in this item, students can no longer function optimally in
mathematics learning by just knowing the rules to follow to obtain a
correct answer. They also need to be able to decide through a process
of logical deduction what algorithm, if any, a situation requires and
sometimes, need to be able to develop their own rules in a situation
where an algorithm cannot be directly applied. I believe that it is time for
schools to focus their efforts on preparing people to be good adaptive
learners as Resnick (1987) argued, so that they can perform effectively
when situations are unpredictable and tasks demand changes, as required
by item 4 in this paper. In other words, students need to learn the means
by which mathematics can be applied to a variety of unfamiliar situations.
Table 6 shows that 81.1% of the students obtained an incorrect
response for item 5. This was the item where students faced highest
Table 6: Students Responses for Item 5
A van travels a maximum of 100 km/hr. Its speed

decreases in proportion with the number of passengers.
The van can carry a maximum of seven people. Given
that the van can travel 88km/hr with 3 people in the
van, what will be the speed of the van when 6 people
are on board?
*49.5 % responded 97 km/hr
110
% Correct
% Incorrect
18.9(24)
81.1*
percentage of difficulty as compared to the other questions. From the

responses on the worksheets, it was noticed that these students were
not able to model the situation in a mathematical form. Various non logical
computation were given as the solution, however, from those with an
incorrect response, 49.5% responded to the solution as 97 km/hr.
Interviews with students based on these responses are as follows:
Student E conceptions:
R : How did you obtain this answer? (Pointing to her answer,
97km/hr).
S E : Speed decreases when the number of people increases. Eighty
eight km per hour for three passengers, so we need to find for
six passengers?
R : How did you find this? (pointing to the table, as illustrated, in
the worksheet)
peed (km/h)
People
100
97
94
91
88
The steps shown on her worksheet:

For 5 people, middle = (88 + 100)/2 = 94 km/hr
For 4 people = (94+88)/2 = 91 km/hr
6 people = (94+ 100)/2 = 97 km/hr
S E : To find for five people, it is in the middle between eighty eight
and one hundred, so eighty eight plus one hundred and divide
with two... ninety four km/hr...
R : How do you know it is in the middle?
S E : Because, five is between three (3) and seven (7) ... and four
(4) is between three (3) and five (5)... I mean people
R : What about six people?
S E : Similar, ninety four plus one hundred and divide with two...
ninety seven (97) km/hr
Student F conceptions:
S F : With three people, it travels 88 km/hr, with seven people... 100
km/hr
Pointing to her worksheet (as illustrated):
111
3 people 88 km/hr
2{
}6
5 people 94 km/hr
2{
}6
7 people 100 km/hr
S F : For five people, it is 94 km/hr.

R : How did you get the speed for five people?
S : The difference between 3 (people) and 7 (people) is 4 and the
difference between 88 (km/hr) and 100 (km/hr) is 12 (km/hr).
So, every increment in two people we can add a speed for 6
km/hr... One passenger... increment of 3 km/hr.
From the worksheet:
3 p 88 km/hr
4 p 91 km/hr
5 p 94 km/hr
6 p (94+3) km/hr = 97 km/hr
The majority of the other students also produced a similar reasoning
in their solutions.
The majority of students with correct responses used the following
algorithm(using the algebra abstraction) to solve the problem.
Let say, x is the reduction in speed per person:
100 3x = 88
100 88 = 3x
12 = 3x
x = 4 km/h reduction in speed per person
When six person are on board, the van travels at
100 6x = 100 6(4)
= 76 km/h
From these interviews, it indicates that both SE and SF did not have
a good notion of ratio nor did they have the understanding that the objective
of a proportional problem is to keep the value of a ratio invariant. Thus,
it seems that when determining whether or not the two rates were
equivalent, they looked for a relation between the rates.
SE looked for a relation between the first rate 88km/hr and 100 km/
hr and then matched it with 94km/hr and 88 km/hr to see if the relation
holds. Similarly, student F matched the relation between 3 people and 7
112
people and matched it with 88 km/hr and 100 km/hr. Since the reason for
a search for a multiplicative relationship was not understood, they looked
for any relationship where the pairs match.
Sometimes these students failure to apply a multiplicative strategy
was not due to the absence of that multiplicative strategy from their
repertoire. Rather, the application of an incorrect and less sophisticated
strategy was also due to lack of domain in context familiarity. That is,
students failed to recognize that the situation called for ratio and proportion.
For these reasons, problem solving can be developed as a valuable skill
in itself by contextualizing daily life problems and as a way of thinking
(NCTM, 1989), rather than just as the means to an end of finding the
correct answer. Perkins (1981) concisely states that good thinkers do
not necessarily think harder, longer or more exactly; they have simply
learned to think in directions that are more likely to be productive.
From the interviews with students, the joy of doing these kinds of
problems allows the students to experience a range of emotions associated
with various stages in the solution process. They also show the willingness
and desire to engage with the tasks for a longer period of time. Although
it is this engagement that initially motivates the solver to pursue a problem,
it is still necessary for certain techniques to be available for the
involvement to continue successfully. Hence, more need to be understood
about what these techniques are and how they can best be made available.
Problem solving has a place in our curriculum as spelt out in our
mathematics syllabus; however, it is often used in a token way as a
starting point to obtain a single correct answer, usually by following a set
of correct procedures.
Conclusion
This study indicates that capable mathematics students, with an A grade
in national examinations have, when removed from the context of
coursework, difficulty doing what may be considered elementary
mathematics for their level of achievement. As the data shows, these
first year college students faced difficulty in the application of elementary
mathematical concepts to the given problems.
Too often, they utilized algorithmic procedures (e.g. cross
multiplication technique) that are alien to them in terms of their
conceptions. These techniques may be useful for getting the answers to
113
a problem but they do not provide rich learning opportunities modeling

the situations. These students have learned how to do numerical
computations at the expense of learning how to think and solve problems.
One can surmise that though they are first year college with A grades in
the national mathematics examination, they still do not have a good notion
of the intensive value of ratio, especially as indicated in task 1, task 2 and
task 5. Nor do they have a sound understanding that the objective of a
proportion problem, that is to keep the value of ratio invariant. Thus, they
are supposed to look for a relation between one ratio and then match it
to the second ratio based on multiplicative structure. However, in this
study (based on the interviews (e.g. SA, SB, SC), the students look for a
relation between one ratio and another but one that is based on the
incorrect assumption of additive reasoning.
The relationship between students grades obtained in national
examination and their mathematical knowledge was studied by the
researcher (Parmjit et. al, 2002; Parmjit, 2006) and it was found that the
grades obtained did not reflect their mathematical knowledge in
mathematical problem solving. This study embarked on a similar mission
with the difference that whereas the latter study focused more on
qualitative analysis, the former focused on quantitative analysis. The
findings of this study detail a similar outcome where students grades
from the national examination did not match their content knowledge of
mathematics. 98.5% of the students in this study obtained an A grade in
the national examination for mathematics. However, from the five items
given, the percentage of correct responses obtained from these students,
who can be considered as the cream of the crop of the nation were
74.8%, 72.4%, 67.7%, 52.8% and 18.9 %. The items chosen for this
study were based on the content of secondary school mathematics where
the usage of calculator was not required. It focused more on conceptual
development rather than computation.
Successful mathematics students do indeed construct a fairly large
number and variety of algorithms in order to continue achieving good
results in mathematics examinations. However, many students emerge
from their study of mathematics in schools without a functional
understanding of some elementary but fundamental concepts with
emphasis on algorithmic procedure rather than conceptual understanding.
These underlying concepts which are the basis of understanding
mathematics become a secondary entity in learning and the algorithmic
procedures in producing the product becomes the prime entity of learning.
I am not pointing that memorizing is not good but rather that emphasis
114
should be more on the understanding of conceptual facts. As Pirie (1988)

pointed out:
An algorithm is not of itself knowledge, it is a tool whose use is
directed by mathematical knowledge and care must be taken
not to confuse evidence of understanding with the understanding
itself. (p. 4)
Evidence from a variety of sources makes it clear that many students
are not learning the mathematics they need or are expected to learn
(Parmjit, 2003; Kenney and Silver, 1997; Mullis et al., 1998). Studies
have shown that students who score well on standardized tests often are
unable to successfully use memorized facts and formulae in real-life
application outside the classroom (Parmjit, 2000; Parmjit et al., 2002).
Resnick (1987) has also commented that practical knowledge (common
sense) and school knowledge are becoming mutually exclusive. This
was echoed by Steffee (1994):
The current notion of school mathematics is based almost
exclusively on formal mathematical procedures and concepts
that, of their nature, are very remote from the conceptual world
of the children who are to learn them. (p. 5)
A review of recent studies in Malaysia (e.g. Parmjit & Lau, 2006;
Parmjit & White, 2006; Fatimah, 2007; Lau, 2006) suggests that possible
problems in secondary school mathematics may be due to the procedural
paradigm orientation in the curriculum and the conventional style of
teaching in the classroom which do not provide sufficient opportunities
for students to develop conceptual understanding. The current notion of
school mathematics is based almost exclusively on formal mathematical
procedures and concepts that, of their nature, are very remote from the
conceptual world of the students who are to learn them. Many students
see little connection between what they study in the classroom and real
life. Just having students memorize facts and algorithms is debilitating.
Learning mathematics involves the construction of a network of
meanings-relating one thing to another (Wheatley, 1991). While students
are memorizing facts, which could not possibly hold any meaning for
them, they are not constructing relationship and patterns. In fact, they
may stop thinking about mathematical relationship altogether (Wheatley,
1991). As examination grades attest, many of these students in this study
who complete high school can solve standard quantitative problems, such
as those in the national examinations. Success on such problems, however,
115
does not ensure that students have developed a functional understanding,

i.e., the ability to do the reasoning needed to apply appropriate concepts
and principles in situations not previously memorized. For many students,
solving such problems is a relatively passive experience. Problems that
require non-routine tasks or qualitative reasoning and verbal explanation
demand a higher level of intellectual involvement.
Helping students develop problem solving skills is a frequently cited
goal of educators. The task of providing a mathematical education in
problem solving that is meaningful and relevant to students is a formidable
one. As educators, we would like to see students develop their reasoning
and thinking capabilities rather than their abilities to memorize meaningless
facts. Emphasizing variations in students conceptions of and approaches
from this study, hopefully, can act as a catalyst in driving an initial effort
towards making problem solving as the central focus in mathematics
learning.
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118
Selecting Future Teachers: The

Predictive Validity of Communication
Skills, Personality and Academic
Achievement in the Admission
Process at an Asian University
Richard J. Holmes
Marina Mohamed Arif
Lee Lai Fong
ABSTRACT
This paper studies the relationship between communication skills,

personality factors and performance in secondary school and
academic success in Teaching English as a Second Language
(TESL) programme in a Malaysian university. It was found that
three specific skills: fluency, clarity and language use were
modestly predictive of success over the first six semesters of the
degree programme but that personality traits and general and
educational knowledge were not. Performance on the Malaysian
secondary school examination, especially in maths, also predicted
academic success. It was also found that the qualities assessed at
the interview were barely detectable by lecturers a little more than
two years later although communicative skills were somewhat more
so than the others. The findings suggest that when students are
studying in the medium of a second language, communicative
competence and prior academic achievement, possibly reflective
of underlying general intelligence are important factors
contributing to academic success.
Keywords: selection, university admission, communication skills,

personality, intelligence
Introduction
This study investigates the relationship of communication skills, personality
factors and academic achievement in secondary school to success in
pre-degree and degree programs in the Education Faculty in an Asian
university. The aim of this study is firstly to determine whether there
was any relationship between the qualities assessed at an admission
interview, that is communication skills and personality, and academic
performance in university and secondly to determine whether these
qualities remained stable as students entered the early part of the degree
programme. The study also examined the contribution of academic
performance in secondary school.
A very large literature has emerged in the last few years concerning
the validity of various forms of selection for employment and admission
to higher education courses and training programmes. This is an issue of
great significance since almost everywhere admission to universities and
colleges or employment of students by large companies and government
agencies is crucial for economic success and social status. Moreover,
selection for education and employment is often linked to conflict and
competition between ethnic, racial and gender groups and is of great
importance for the competitiveness of national economies.
The findings of the literature are fairly consistent. For employment,
there is an abundance of evidence that the best single predictor of success
or productivity in most occupations of moderate or high complexity is
quite simply general mental ability or intelligence. (Gottfredson, 1997;
Hulsheger, Maier & Stumpp, 2007; Hunter & Hunter, 1984; Schmidt &
Hunter, 1998, 2004). This is not by any means the only factor that
contributes to success in employment since optimal predictive validity
can be obtained by combining intelligence test scores with other measures
such as integrity tests, structured interviews, validated personality tests
or work samples. There are also highly specialized occupations such as
modeling or entertainment that depend on what Adam Smith (1776:1/10/
28) called very agreeable and beautiful talents of which the possession
commands a certain sort of admiration but have little connection
with any sort of intelligence.
120
Selecting Future Teachers
There is, however, considerable unease about the documented

importance of intelligence in education and employment. A great deal of
energy has been expended on attempts to demonstrate the existence
and importance of different types of intelligence multiple, creative,
practical, social, emotional, spiritual supposedly distinct from that
measured by conventional tests of mental ability (Buzan, 2001; Gardner,
1983; Goleman, 1983, 2006; Sternberg, 1985). So far, emotional
intelligence has not been shown to have very much validity or to differ
appreciably from conventional intelligence or personality traits.
(Antonakis, 2004; Jensen 1998; Newsome, Day & Catano, 2000;
OConnor & Little 2003; Stankov, 2000) while spiritual quotient or
spiritual intelligence appears to measure little more than adherence to
beliefs and practices that are specific to particular faiths or sects (see
e.g. Amran & Dryer 2007; Jain & Purohit, 2006).
There has also been a lot of interest in the use of personality factors
or other noncognitive characteristics to predict future success in
employment or education. Usually, these are measured by performance
at some sort of interview although sometimes they are assessed by a
written test. For selection for employment and promotion, the evidence
indicates that structured, standardized and validated interviews that assess
job knowledge or a limited range of personality traits have a high degree
of predictive validity. Unstructured interviews that attempt to assess
personality traits usually have little especially if there is only one
interviewer. A meta-analysis by Wiesner and Cronshaw (1988), for
example, found that after correcting for restriction of range, the validity
of structured interviews was very high at 0.64 while that of unstructured
interviews was 0.20. Similar results are discussed by Robertson and
Smith (2001).
With regard to academic selection, it seems that tests of attainment
and knowledge are probably the best single predictor of future academic
success, followed closely by tests of general intelligence or standardized
tests such as the American SAT or GRE with which the former have a
very high correlation (Geiser & Santelices, 2007). Arulampalam, Naylor
& Smith (2004), for example, indicate that in the UK there is a close
association between A-level results and retention in medical school.
Similar results were found for undergraduate and postgraduate medical
education as well as subsequent medical careers by McManus et al
(2003). Five personality traits; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism have been shown to have construct validity
and to relate in varying degrees to academic performance, although to a
121
lesser extent overall than general mental ability. A review of the literature
by OConnor and Paunonen (2007) found that conscientiousness was
often and openness to experience sometimes linked to academic success.
Chowdhury (2006) has noted that openness and neuroticism are important
predictors of success among marketing students. There is, however,
little or no evidence that broadly defined characteristics such as character,
leadership, honesty, ethical values, sensitivity, appearance, spirituality,
commitment to social justice and so on can contribute anything to the
prediction of academic performance. Such qualities are not easy to define
let alone assess accurately, fairly and without racial, ethnic, gender, class
or political bias.
There is some evidence that in professional education in fields
such as law, medicine, dentistry and education, factors other than
intelligence or prior academic success may have some influence,
particularly on the practical or clinical components of degree or diploma
courses, although the data is very mixed at this point. A meta-analysis
by Goho and Blackman (2006) for instance, found a modest relationship
between interview performance and clinical performance in health
related professional education. Hughes (2002) has also reported studies
that show that some noncognitive factors are predictive for some groups
in some fields and that there is evidence that the clinical performance
of medical students can be predicted by admission interviews. For
example, interview performance and previous experience are better
predictors of academic success in medical studies than exam scores
for women and ethnic minorities in the US. There is also some evidence
that while interviews do not predict relative academic performance
among those who persist, they are able to identify future dropouts.
Fagan and Squitiera (2002) have observed that achievement via
independence, capacity for status, and psychological-mindedness were
associate with early success in law school.
It could be argued though, and in fact often is, especially in Asian
countries, that some personal qualities are desirable in themselves and
that society values and perhaps needs graduates and public servants
who are honest, confident, well groomed, loyal and sensitive as much as
or more than it does those who are competent and intelligent. The question
then arises whether noncognitive factors such as these should be
considered as criteria for university entrance even if they have no effect
on academic proficiency or even on success in practical course
components. We need to ask whether such qualities can be defined,
whether they can be objectively measured and whether they are
122
reasonably stable over a significant part of a career or an academic or

professional course.
As already noted, there are several studies of the ability of
noncognitive factors to predict success in employment and higher
education. This study, however, is also concerned with another issue.
While it examines the relationship between various noncognitive factors
assessed at an interview and academic performance, it is also concerned
with whether students who apparently display certain characteristics
continue to display them after entering a pre-degree programme and
embarking on a degree course. We are then interested in whether
these qualities persist after a period of university study as well as in
whether they contribute to academic or professional success. This study
therefore looks at the relationship between these factors and academic
success as measured by GPA and by persistence in the degree
programme. We therefore investigated whether students who attended
an interview and were assessed for the twelve qualities of
understanding, articulateness, fluency, clarity, language use, knowledge
of educational issues, knowledge of current affairs, leadership,
sensitivity, motivation, politeness and confidence continue to display
these qualities a little more than two years later.
This study investigates a very small fraction of a large group who
perhaps deserve more attention than they have received in the literature,
namely students who are studying or intending to study through the
medium of a second language. The numbers of this group are increasing
rapidly. For example, in Southeast Asia, tertiary science and professional
education in Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia are now
largely in English. It is possible then that the determinants of academic
success in such places may depend substantially on written and spoken
communication skills in what for many students is their second language
as much as it does on academic aptitude.
Methods
In May 2003, applicants were interviewed for places in the pre-TESL
(Teaching English as a Second Language) programme in the Faculty
of Education at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This is one of
the largest universities in the world and the largest in Malaysia. It is
located in Shah Alam, the capital of the state of Selangor. The
programme lasts for one year after which most students enter a four
123
year B Ed TESL programme that prepares them to become teachers

of English in secondary schools or junior colleges. Although other
institutions offer degree courses in TESL or equivalent, the pre-degree
programme is unique in Malaysia. It attracts a fairly high number of
applicants. The students were all bumiputeras (members of indigenous
groups) and their first language was Malay or a related Austronesian
language. The majority were Muslim and females.
They were first screened based on their SPM (Sijil Pelajaran
Malaysia Malaysian Certificate of Education, roughly equivalent to
British GCSE and normally taken at the age of 17) results. They had to
have 5 credits (grades 1-6) with a minimum of grade 3 in English.
Shortly before being interviewed, they were given a brief test of reading
comprehension and writing. Each candidate was interviewed for 10 to
15 minutes by a panel of two interviewers who were relatively senior
lecturers in the faculty. A significant amount of the interviewers time
was devoted to inspecting and verifying the documents provided by
the candidates. Students were then interviewed and assessed according
to the following characteristics and awarded a score out of ten for
each: language skills compromising kefahaman (understanding),
pernyataan (articulateness), perjelasan (clarity), perlancaran
(fluency) and penggunaan (use of language), isu semasa (knowledge
of current issues) and isu pendidikan (knowledge of educational issues)
and personality including kesopanan (politeness), motivasi (motivation),
kepekaan (sensitivity), keyakinan (confidence) and kepimpinan
(leadership). Although the assessment forms were in Malay, the
interviews were conducted entirely in English. The scores were
weighted so that the reading and writing test had a value of thirty
points, communication skills thirty, knowledge of educational and current
issues twenty and personality twenty points. The interviewers were
then required to add up the scores, including those for the reading and
writing test, and assign a mark to the candidates. Seventy per cent
was the mark for acceptance, 60 per cent meant keep in view and
below 60 per cent meant rejection. Total interview scores were
available for 41 applicants although in three cases, scores for specific
criteria were not available. Forty of these had scored over seventy
percent and one, a keep in view, a little over 60 percent. Data was
not available for rejected candidates resulting in a marked restriction
of range. Thirty-six students completed the pre-TESL programme and
27 were still present in the degree programme by the sixth semester in
October, 2007.
124
The subsequent academic performance of students was assessed

by Grade Point Average (GPA) for the first, third, fifth and sixth semesters
of the degree programme and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)
for the second (final) semester of the predegree programme and the
sixth semester of the degree programme. By the latter semester, most
students had completed their course work and only had the Teaching
Practicum and Academic Exercise to complete. It was felt that
performance on the latter two items required separate and detailed
treatment in future papers.
In addition, in September 2005, after the accepted students had
completed two semesters of the pre-TESL programme and were nearing
the end of the first semester of the B Ed TESL programme, lecturers in
the programme were asked to evaluate the same students according to
the same criteria and using the same scoring system. In most cases,
students were assessed by several lecturers and a mean score was
therefore obtained. Only about half of the lecturers returned the forms,
despite prompting, and one actually refused to have anything to do with
the study. The purpose of this exercise was to determine whether students
continue to demonstrate the qualities assessed during the interview after
they had entered the TESL degree programme.
Results
Interview Scores and Academic Performance in the
Pre-degree Programme
First of all, there is a slight positive but statistically insignificant
association between the overall interview scores and academic
success in the pre-TESL programme. The correlation between the
weighted total interview score and cumulative grade point average
(CGPA) for the two semesters was .216 (significance = .205; N =
36) If the reading and writing scores are excluded then the correlation
is even lower at .161 (significance = .370; N = 33)
However, it is noticeable that communication skills, especially
articulateness and clarity show a somewhat greater correlation with
CGPA for the two semesters of the pre-TESL programme. This has
been discussed in more detail in an earlier paper (Lee, Arif & Holmes,
2006) There was a modest correlation with CGPA for the pre-degree
programme of .309 (significance = .080; N = 33) for articulateness
and .322 (significance = .068; N = 33) for clarity. In these cases, the
125
level of significance is quite close to the conventional .05 level. The

admission process therefore does have some value since it includes an
assessment of those communication skills that appear to contribute,
albeit modestly, to success in the pre-degree programme.
Interview Scores and Academic Performance in the
Degree programme
The overall interview scores had very little relationship with performance
in the degree programme as measured by GPA. Table 1 indicates that
the correlation between the total weighted interview scores including
the reading and writing test and GPA for the first semester of the degree
programme was actually negative at -.154 (significance = .426; N = 29)
However, by the third semester of the degree programme the interview
scores showed a positive and significant correlation of .383 (significance
= .040; N = 29) with GPA. In subsequent semesters, the correlation
between interview scores and GPA returned to insignificance. In the
fifth semester, it was .117 (significance = .562; N = 27) and in the sixth,
.057 (significance = .781; N= 26). Over the three years from the first to
the sixth semester of the degree programme, the correlation between
Cumulative GPA and total weighted interview scores was .130
(significance = .517; N= 27). If the scores for the reading and writing
test are excluded from the total for the interview, the correlation with
CGPA is slightly higher at.203 (.320) but still small and statistically
insignificant.
Table 1. Correlation between Total Interview Score and Grade Point
Average in the B Ed TESL Program
GPA
GPA
GPA
GPA
CGPA
Semester 1 semester 3 semester 5 semester 6 semester 6
Pearson
correlation
-.154
.383*
.117
.057
.130
Sig (2-tailed)
.426
.040
.562
.781
.517
29
29
27
26
27
*Significant at .05 level (2-tailed)
126
Communication skills in general are not apparently associated with

academic success when students enter the first semester of the degree
programme. While there are slight correlations between communication
skills and pre-TESL grades, the correlations between these skills and
GPA at the start of the degree programme are actually negative although
still insignificant at -116 (significance = .563; N = 29). For semesters
three, five and six, the correlation between communication skills and
GPA was -.129 (significance = .521; N = 29), .069 (significance =
.737; N = 27) and .091 (significance = .665; N = 26) respectively. For
CGPA for the six semesters, it was .248 (significance = .221; N= 27).
However, a somewhat different picture emerges when we look at
these communication skills one by one. In no case was there any very
substantial or very significant correlation between these skills and
semester GPA but there were correlations of .356 (significance = .074;
N = 27), .327 (significance = .103; N = 27) and .351 (significance =
.079; N = 27) between CGPA over six semesters and fluency, clarity
and language use respectively. Combining the scores for these three
elements produced a correlation of .363 (significance = .068; N= 27).
Thus, the total interview weighted score was unable to predict
academic performance in the pre- degree programme or the degree
programme It was, however, moderately predictive of success in the
third semester of the degree programme. Overall, the correlation between
CGPA for the first six semesters of the degree programme and interview
score was low and insignificant.
It was also noted that the correlation between the combined score
for communication skills and GPA in all semesters and CGPA after six
semesters was also low and negligibly significant in all semesters. What
is interesting, however, is that three specific communication skills, fluency,
clarity and language use, did correlate modestly with CGPA over six
semesters of the degree programme and those significance levels were
close to the .05 level.
The study also looked at the predictive validity of SPM scores.
Looking at students for whom interview scores and SPM grades were
available and who persisted until the sixth semester of the degree
programme, it was found that the correlation between the aggregate
of the best five SPM scores and CGPA for the six semesters of the
degree programme was .540 (significance = .004; N = 26). The most
predictive subject was maths, with a correlation of .460 (significance
= .018; N= 26), followed by additional maths with a correlation of .412
(significance = .51; N = 23), English with a correlation of .344
127
(significance = .85; N= 26) and chemistry with a correlation of .328

(significance = .136; N = 22). For Bahasa Malaysia (Malay), history,
Islamic education and biology, the correlations were all under .300 and
all were statistically insignificant. The correlation between CGPA and
SPM scores for physics was actually negative although not significant.
Table 2 shows a significant relationship between aggregate SPM grades
and GPA for semesters one, three and six. In semester five, the
correlation is somewhat lower than for the other semesters.
Table 2. Correlation between Aggregate of Five Best SPM Scores and Grade
Point Average in the B Ed TESL Program
GPA
GPA
GPA
GPA
CGPA
Semester 1 semester 3 semester 5 semester 6 semester 6
Pearson
correlation
.432*
.418*
.345
.396*
.540**
Sig (2-tailed)
.025
.030
.084
.050
.004
27
27
26
25
26
*Significant at .05 level (2-tailed)

**Significant at .05 level (2-tailed)
The Persistence of Noncognitive Factors

It might, as we have said, be argued that it is a good thing to have
students or teachers who are articulate, fluent, knowledgeable about
educational and other issues, confident, sensitive, motivated and polite
rather than students who are inarticulate, stuttering, ignorant, timid,
coarse and demotivated even if the latter are brighter and get better
GPAs and after they start teaching produce better exam results. The
problem, though, is that the interviewers in this study seemed not only
unable, under the then current procedures, to predict the academic
success of candidates but also were unable to predict whether these
qualities would persist even for a short period.
The results of the second part of the study are unequivocal. There
is no significant relationship between the scores given at the interview
and those given by lecturers a little more than two years later. The
best correlations are for language use and fluency although they are
still small and of slight significance while those for understanding (of
128

Table 3: Correlation of Interview Scores and Lecturers Assessments
Understanding
Articulateness
Fluency
Clarity
Language use
Current issues
Educational issues
Leadership
Confidence
Sensitivity
Politeness
Motivation
Pearson Correlation
Significance (2-tailed)
-.017
.215
.140
.100
.223
.089
-.024
-.118
.179
.147
.017
.036
.927
.237
.460
.605
.221
.626
.897
.519
.326
.423
.924
.847
32
32
30
29
32
32
31
32
32
32
32
32
spoken English), leadership and knowledge of educational issues were

actually negative although still insignificant.
Discussion
We can conclude, therefore, that there is very little or no relationship
between the overall scores awarded at the interview and academic
performance in the pre-degree programme. However, there is a very
slight but insignificant relationship between articulateness and fluency
and grades in the pre-TESL programme. This suggests that in this and
similar contexts it might be worth investigating how to improve students
communicative English and giving it greater emphasis in admission
interviews. The effect of this would almost certainly be quite modest
at best.
With regard to performance throughout the degree programme, the
most predictive factor appears to be aggregate grades for SPM and
grades for maths and additional maths. It should be noted that these
students had completed their secondary education entirely, except for
English language classes, in the medium of Malay and that very little in
the secondary school maths syllabi, except perhaps for some elementary
statistics, would be of direct relevance to any TESL course. It therefore
seems likely that the reason for the high correlation is that secondary
129
school maths and science and the TESL degree programme both require
a substantial amount of general mental ability to do well. In addition, it
appears that over the whole of the first six semesters of the degree
programme some spoken communication skills observed at the interview,
namely clarity, fluency and language use, are quite important in
contributing to academic performance. Whether this is because they
have a direct input into assessment through presentations, discussions
and so on or because they are reflective of an underlying factor or
factors cannot be determined here.
The very limited predictive validity of this particular interview as a
whole does not necessarily mean that it should be immediately discarded
since it is not impossible that elements of it would predict performance
on the teaching practicum. However, it is necessary to wait for results
from further studies before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
It seems clear then that academic success in these programmes
depends to some extent on two main factors. One is communicative
competence assessed at the interview, more specifically fluency, clarity
and language use, and the other is general mental ability as indicated by
relatively high scores at SPM, especially for maths. The two appear to
be independent since there is no substantial or significant correlation
between the two.
If Asian universities, especially those that use English as the medium
of instruction, are concerned with selecting a student body that will
perform at a high level academically then the admission process might
be modified to emphasize communicative competence, especially in
English, and performance in maths, additional maths and related subjects.
It might, however, be premature to do this before the results of the
students teaching practicum are available since it is possible that some
personality factors might be irrelevant to academic competence but could
affect performance in the classroom.
Another question to be considered is that if the qualities assessed at
the interview are valuable per se then we should seek to determine
whether they remain apparent throughout the students academic and
professional careers. This study provides no evidence they do to any
substantial degree since lecturers perceptions two years later show little
or no correlation with those of the admission interviewers. However, it is
noticeable that of the qualities assessed at the interview certain
communication skills were likely to show a limited discernible persistence
after a little more than two years.
130
It is also likely that the structure and format of the interview may
well have mitigated against accurate assessment in several ways. First,
as noted already, the interview was very short and the interviewers had
to carry out a number of administrative tasks during the interview, such
as checking exam results and records of co-curricular activities. They
therefore had less than a minute to assess each of the twelve attributes
and inevitably short cuts had to be taken. Thus, leadership was invariably
measured by looking at the applicants secondary school records and
awarding points for being a member of a club or society committee and
a bit more for being a prefect. Since participation in co-curricular activities
is compulsory in Malaysian secondary schools this criterion would appear
to be close to meaningless. General knowledge was tested by asking
one or two questions or sometimes estimating how the candidate would
have answered if he or she had been asked any.
It was also observed by the authors of the present study, who were
members of the interview panels, that interviewers sometimes used the
general and educational knowledge section for other purposes. Thus it
was common for interviewers to provide candidates with information
about a political issue and ask them to respond. This was perhaps a good
test of pragmatic competence but in no way did it test general knowledge.
It was also noticeable that when students were asked to nominate a
topic of current concern they almost invariably chose Palestine, Iraq or
Afghanistan and usually displayed a negligible knowledge of the topic,
sometimes failing to recognise that these were three different places.
The interviewers, however, generally did not expect candidates to know
any more than that there was a conflict in these places.
Another problem resulted from an observed strong and often
irresistible tendency to adjust the various section scores to come up with
a desired result. If, for example, a candidate had made a good impression
on the interviewers and had received a score just below the acceptance
score of 70 then often a few percentage points would be added to one of
the component scores to reach the desired figures.
We cannot therefore conclude that the interview process per se is
totally invalid until changes in the process are introduced. First, if analytical
scoring is required, then the addition of the scores and the final decision
should not be made by the interviewers. Secondly, the number of qualities
needs to be reduced and some thought should be given to the possibility
of written assessment. In particular, it would seem that testing general
and educational knowledge could be done easily by a set of multiple
choice questions. If leadership is operationalised as the holding of offices
131
in school clubs and societies then it could be easily checked by office or

junior staff before the interview.
There is some evidence in the literature that the big five personality
traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and
openness to experience are in varying degrees related to academic
performance and career success. It might be worth considering whether
these traits or some of them might be included in the admission process.
An alternative approach might be to test personality separately using off
the shelf tests while the interview deals with the assessment of
communication skills
Only when such steps are taken could we come to a definite
conclusion about whether desirable personality factors will persist
throughout a students academic and professional career. At the moment,
all we can say is that the admission process that has been in effect since
2003 does not predict the extent to which desirable characteristics are
still retained two years later.
The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has recently
introduced a test battery, Malaysian Educators Selection Inventory
(MEDSI) that assesses a number of personality traits (Joharry Othman,
et al., 2008). All candidates for education courses are now required to
take it. The battery is essentially a screening mechanism to keep out
candidates who are manifestly unsuited for teaching. The qualities
assessed include personality, career interest, integrity and emotional
quotient. The personality component has subscales for the following items:
Assertive, Analytical, Autonomous, Extrovert, Intellectual, Resistance,
Self-Criticism, Leadership, Helping and Achievement. Some of the items
appear to be similar to cognitive abilities (analytical) or personality traits
(extrovert, helping) that have been demonstrated to have some degree
of validity. It is, however, unfortunate that it contains a subscale for
emotional quotient,
If MEDSI is demonstrated to have a high level of validity, which so
far has not been done, then there would be an opportunity for the
admission interview to focus largely on the assessment of communicative
competence which has a modest and detectable degree of stability and
which also contributes to overall academic success.
132
Conclusion
To conclude, the present study indicates that at the moment
communicative skills are likely to be more indicative of academic success
in a pre degree and degree programme for future English teachers than
personality and other noncognitive factors and more likely to correlate
with lecturers perceptions during the early years of the degree
programme. It is possible therefore that the selection of future teachers
in Malaysia and elsewhere and candidates for other courses conducted
in English might be improved by putting more emphasis on spoken
communication skills, by keeping analytical and holistic assessment
distinct, by reducing the number of characteristics assessed, by paying
more attention to grades in maths and science as a proxy for general
intelligence and by assessing those personality characteristics that have
been demonstrated to be predictive of career and academic success.
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Vol.5 No.

1. Personalized Rankings: A New Ranking System for

Angela Yung-chi Hou

2. Epistemological Beliefs and Self-directed Learning

3. Writing Web Logs in the ESL Classroom: A Study of

Mah Boon Yih

4. Integrating Information and Communication Technology

5. Variation in First Year College Students Understanding

6. Selecting Future Teachers: The Predictive Validity of

Because traditional college rankings had many methodological

Asian Journal of University Education

Universities Guide, Japans Asahi Shimbun, and Germanys The Center

The Rationale for College Rankings

Asian Journal of University Education

Pitfalls and Criticism

Higher Education Institutions which consist of 16 descriptive principles

Internationalization in Higher Education and

Asian Journal of University Education

However, as mentioned above, owing to methodological problems

to their own preference (Macleans, 2008). How many institutions users

Table 1: Comparison Among 5 Major Personalized College Ranking

Asian Journal of University Education

The Developmental Framework of the Taiwan

Asian Journal of University Education

National Public Private Total National Public

Source: Department of Higher Education. (2008b). Introduction to higher education in

Internationalization in Taiwanese Higher Education

shows, the top five institutions by the proportion of international students

National Chi Nan University

The Role of the Higher Education Evaluation and

Asian Journal of University Education

In order to improve the quality of Taiwan higher education quickly ,

Framework of the Taiwan Personalized College

Selection of Institutions and Programs

Asian Journal of University Education

academic survey, student selectivity, student demographics,

enrollment rate, proportion of graduate students, graduation

location, size, type, program/ discipline, etc.

Table 5: Definition of Criteria and Indicators

Opinions of college presidents, vice

Number of freshmen enrolled at the

Number of graduate students

Number of full-time equivalent

Number of full-time faculty/number

Number of NSC distinguished

Number of articles published Number of articles published in SCI/

Number of National Science

Number of NSC projects in social

Number of library holdings

Total library holdings/number of fulltime-equivalent students

Educational expenditures per

Total education expenses/total fulltime equivalent enrollment

Number of international faculty/

Asian Journal of University Education

Asian Journal of University Education

for colleges and universities in Taiwan, HEEACTs website is published

Applicability of the Berlin Principles to College

are empowered to rank the institutions according to their preference,

Statistical Analysis of Users Attitude Toward Criteria

Equipment expenses per full-timeequivalent student

Asian Journal of University Education

Proportion of students abroad

In order to get more suggestions from users, the ranking group