Attitude, Perception and Use of E-Learning at Open University Malaysia

To ensure the success of the e-learning initiatives,OUM has developed its own e-learning management system,known as myLMS.Since its introduction,many modifications and improvements have been introduced to increase its effectiveness.It is now timely that OUM take stock of its students'attitudes towards e-learning.Thus,a survey was conducted on about 1,000 students at one of OUM's own learning centres,that is,the Kelantan Regional Centrel.The study indicated that generally the teacher cohort had a somewhat neutral attitude towards e-learning.The use of e-learning was more specifically aimed at achieving short term goals of obtaining good coursework and examination grades by capitalizing on the use of the Discussion Board and Courseware.A closer examination reveals that the females prefer the Discussion Board while the males prefer the Courseware.Learners in the Engineering and English programmes had more positive attitudes towards e-learning compared to learners in the Mathematics and Science programme. Learners with CGPA＞3.0 who are categorized as high achievers are more positive towards e-learning as compared to the low achievers(CGPA＜3.0).Age difference,learners‘income per month,learners’Internet and e-learning habits were also found to be predictors of attitude towards e-learning.

Association between Comorbidities and Selected Sociodemographic Factors with Complications of Diabetes: Results from the National Diabetic Registry Malaysia

Background: This study aims to determine the hazard ratio of having any complication from diabetes mellitus, and the associations between comorbidities and risk of having any complications from diabetes mellitus among diabetic patients who have attended government primary care clinics. Methods: Secondary data were retrieved from the Malaysian National Diabetic Registry which included all patients who received care. The data from the study on the socio-demographic, diabetes complications, clinical and treatment characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Cox regression was performed to estimate the hazard ratio for comorbidities, tobacco use, duration of diabetes and socio-demography characteristics upon time to diabetic complications. Results: Adjusted for other covariates, increase number of comorbidities contributed the highest hazard ratio risk: 1 comorbid (aHR: 2.47, 95% CI: 2.39, 2.55), 2 comorbidities (aHR: 4.34, 95% CI: 4.22, 4.47), 3 comorbidities (aHR: 6.56, 95% CI: 6.31, 6.81) and 4 comorbidities (aHR: 9.13, 95% CI: 8.20, 10.17). Other factors: age > 40 years (8%) Malays (27%) and smokers (10%) have hazard risks to develop diabetic complications. Conclusions: Increase in number of comorbidities will increase the risk of getting diabetes complications. Other factors such as age, gender, race, smoking status and duration of diabetes are also noted to contribute to increase risk for diabetes complications.

Mediating effect of e-learning quality on learning outcomes through student satisfaction in nursing education

Objective:This study aimed to determine the relationships between e-learning quality,student satisfaction,and learning outcomes and the mediating effect of student satisfaction.Methods:A cross-sectional quantitative correlational study using a predictive design and multivariate analysis method was employed in this study.A sample of 241 nursing students were recruited through an online survey based on a stratified random sampling technique.The variance-based Par tial Least Squares Structural Modeling analysis method was used to test the possible relationship and mediating effect among the variables.Results:The findings revealed statistical y significant relationships between e-learning quality,student satisfaction,and learning outcomes.A mediating effect of 37.2%is predicted for e-learning quality on learning outcomes through student satisfaction.Conclusions:This study emphasizes the learning needs of working nurses and the impact on their learning outcomes in e-learning nursing undergraduate programs.Advances in e-learning education have assisted nurses to be more self-sufficient in their pursuit of lifelong learning.

Impact of work environment on job satisfaction and stress among hemodialysis staff in Klang Valley

Objective:To investigate the factors contributing to satisfaction with the work environment,job satisfaction(JS),and stress among hemodialysis(HD)staff in the central region of Malaysia.Methods:A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 215 HD staff working at private and non-government(NGO)dialysis centers using self-administered questionnaires.The chi-square test was used to determine factors associated with HD staff's JS,stress,and working environment.Results:The scientific proof was apparent that the working environment had an effect on JS and stress among employees at HD centers.Conclusions:This research offers useful insights into the essence and complexities of HD staff's work and will help nurses,dialysis managers,other dialysis personnel,and organizations to better understand the benefits and stresses faced by these workers.

Liquid Film on Unsteady Stretching Sheet with General Surface Temperature and Viscous Dissipation

我们学习效果粘滞在一张不稳定的拉长表上的一部薄液体电影的流动和热转移上的驱散。一般表面温度被考虑。速度和温度领域用 homotopy 分析方法被解决。Eckert 的增加的价值数的结果表演能增加温度分发和热转移率。

Coping with Short-term Sustained Peak Demands——several cost-effective strategies

For most open universities,in fact for most universities,there will arise occasions when some online activities will have to be completed by all students in a very short time interval.These occasions usually result in a great rush to get online as quickly as possible;the rush is often made worst by the limited good choices on offer such that usually only the earliest can get the best.Choosing and confirming elective subjects,when only a limited number for each are offered,on a first-come-first-served basis is an example. At the Open University Malaysia the rush occurs when confirming offered subjects and choosing face-to-face meeting timetable.Most students rushed to be earliest to ensure choice slots in the timetable are obtained. Available I.T.resources such as Internet bandwidth and servers cannot cope with these short-term sustained peak demands.Unless these peak demands are met,however,online services will slow down drastically resulting in long queues of users waiting to be served.Providing excess capacity,if at all possible,to ensure these short duration peak demands can be met would not be cost-effective since most of the time these resources are not utilised.This paper will look at some cost-effective approaches to meeting these short-term peak demands.