Enhancing Ethical Capability in Students Development at Tertiary Education in Malaysia

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1 Enhancing Ethical Capability in Students Development at Tertiary Education in Malaysia Siti Akmar Abu Samah UiTM International Centre, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia AND Posiah Mohd Isa (PhD) i-lec, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract In recent years, there have been spates of illegal activities committed by graduates due to myriads of motives. These are young people who have gone through good formal schooling within the national education system. They have successfully fulfilled the entry requirements to be admitted as students in the institutions of higher education, and subsequently graduated. Although the percentage of young adult offenders may not have reached an alarming level in Malaysia, custodian of higher education has always viewed students development within and outside the classroom very important and necessary. It requires undivided attention and real initiatives apart from expecting the undergraduates to excel to acquire higher education certification. In this discursive review and brief survey, the focus is on some initiatives undertaken by a local university to inculcate spiritual elements through ethics learning in its human capital development of the students. This is a step of continuous process to nurture and to develop the human capital to be prepared for the working world when they leave the university. It is also to upkeep the credibility of the undergraduates who view higher education as an indication of a status symbol. Being an initial process in the career path of most young people of today, tertiary education requires students development programme to become a major learning experience for them, apart from being trained to acquire certification in their own areas of studies. The paper also attempts to highlight issues of human capital development that includes nurturing the spiritual capital and to indicate its relevance and significance in developing the undergraduates through a survey. Descriptors: spirituality, human capital, moral, curriculum, tertiary, total character A paper submitted and accepted for an oral presentation at the Ethics in Education Conference on March 2009 in Salzburg, Austria. 1.0 Introduction Imparting the knowledge on ethics may be construed as a challenging task to undergraduates. In the past, only selected disciplines address the need to teach ethics such as medicine, business and law. However, there is a changing trend in the education system as far as ethics learning is 1

2 concerned (Kolb et al, 2003). In the effort to address the problem of unethical graduates, the higher education in Malaysia has taken the initiative to guard the sanctity of knowledge and the real practice with the integration of the National Integrity Plan. A comprehensive plan, the National Integrity Plan has been formulated with the purpose of enhancing ethics and integrity. This effort to reach all levels of the national community is guided by the Plan. It continues to propel the nation to greater heights. This movement to enhance integrity encompasses the key success factors which, to name a few continuous education, leadership by example and effective communication. More can be referred to in Figure 1. From the list of these key success factors, one of the initiatives is continuous education of noble values and norms among various levels and sectors of the society. Through this initiative, the effort of imparting knowledge on ethics at higher education has begun to take roots. Figure 1. Key Success Factors (adapted from The National Integrity Plan, 2005) For the purpose of this paper, the three terms: values, moral and ethics are taken into consideration. The term values are the rules by which decisions are being made about what is wrong and what is right, should and should not, good and bad. A situation arises when values indicate which is more or less important and upholding our decision in trading off one value over another (Huitt, 2004). Meanwhile, ethics tend to be categorised into a formal system or set of rules which are very clearly adopted by a group of people, for example, professional ethics and medical ethics (Shannon & Berl, 1997). Whilst morals tend to be externally imposed on other people, they are by far more about good and bad, than other values. In general the tendency is more to judge a person on morals than on values. Therefore, differences between values and ethics and morals, may be minimal; but they are seen as very important to be inculcated within the education system as the present day cannot distant itself from the multitude of challenges. Since values and ethics determine an individual s behavioural activity in life, lack of these influences implicates negative actions such as criminal offences. In a survey conducted in United 2

3 States prison, the result has found more than 16 percent of young inmates from all over the country being categorised as mentally ill. Subsequently, prisons seem to turn out to be the nation's psychiatric hospitals. In dealing with young offenders, one consideration is to provide young people comprehensive education, training and counselling. Preventive measures are the initial priority to help youths. It is not rightful to look at criminal punishment system to be the problem-solver. Therefore, the best that a society can try to do is to provide the youths access and equity to education which encompasses comprehensive training and teaching-learning opportunities that will eventually develop a total human being. Hence, education in ethics produces more enlightened consumers of ethics information who are able to make sound determinations about the responsibility in ethical dilemmas (Carlson & Burke 1998). Currently, the issue about education that arises is whether inculcation of ethical component necessary at tertiary level? Inculcating ethicall input is still relevant at any level of human development. In his book God s Way Is Still the Best Way by Zig Ziglar (2007), it is found that creating awareness of God s presence, which eventually manifests in upholding value and ethics, is still necessary. If the manifestation of desirable action is still lacking or absent of values and ethics at early young age, it is still hopeful to inculcate the concept while youths are still studying. In a study conducted by Farrington (1986), it was found that there is a strong relationship between criminals and family experiences, Youths spend years of studying at tertiary level and only return to the family during mid-semester break. Lack of family hours at tertiary level sees more need that comprehensive curriculum include elements of values and ethics in the courses offered. The initiatives discussed below indicate the University commitment to ensure that youths are given appropriate ethical input for sustenance in their future undertakings. Socially unacceptable behaviour from a youthful age like violence, alcohol/drug abuse, poor parenting, failed education, unemployment and a host of other negatives create the vicious cycle of problematic youths. Thus, damage control has to take place at school and at tertiary level, to ensure continuous educational elements intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. 2.0 Ethics and Spiritual Education in Undergraduate Courses This paper attempts to share the Malaysian experience in the tertiary teaching-learning process, in particular the teaching of ethics and several other initiatives involved. These are put forth to help alleviate the undesirable phenomenon for the purpose of churning total character among the undergraduates. Educational initiatives to enhance quality of higher education in a developing country like Malaysia encompass intellectual, emotional and spiritual development. This is manifested in the number of courses offered by the University. Out of about five thousand courses provided, there are more than twenty courses as displayed in Table 3 below that contain ethics elements. The range of courses provided is to ensure that students keep abreast with the industrial and economics needs of today without compromising on the ethics and morals of these individuals. Some literatures have doubted the relevance of inculcating ethics in the higher education courses (Andrew 1979, Miller & Miller 1976 and Thurow 1987). This is due to the reason that ethics are learned early in life and are established before a student enters college. However, argument has 3

4 been made that through exposure and discussion of ethics and ethical issue, the level of its awareness during the decision making process will be heightened. In the 1980 s, a research conducted on 237 presidents and CEOs of companies, has found that 78% listed that business ethics as the most important thing that higher education could do to help the business community develop and sustain ethical behaviour while 16 % felt that ethics cannot be taught to students at this stage of their lives. This is an implication that teaching ethics is relevant at higher education. Hosmer (1988) however suggested that ethics courses be taught by faculty from the functional and technical areas. Hence, almost all faculties strive to establish ethic courses in almost all the discipline of studies (Table 1). Courses on integrity, values and ethics are being offered by various faculties. From among these courses, students are exposed to the social issues related to the society, issues on history, development and economics of related discipline of study, ethical theories and thoughts, ethical conflicts and dilemmas. These are relevant to the students with the objective to being a responsible computer user, professional or personal, in particular offered by the course Professional Ethics in IT. Exposure to these elements, therefore, poses a requirement to study the impact and effectiveness on the real life practice of ethics and values on the students when they enter the working world. The survey results are presented below. Table 1: Ethics courses in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia 1 ADS 451 Ethics in Administration 2 ADV 643 Advertising Ethics & Regulation 3 CHE 680 Leadership & Professional Ethics for Engineers 4 CHE 691 Leadership & Professional Ethics for Engineers 5 COM 565 Media Law, Regulations & Ethics 6 CRG 520 Businesss Ethics & Corporate Governance 7 EDU 403 Ethics and Education 8 EMA 717 Ethics and Integrity in Administration 9 FIN 360 Legal Aspects & Ethics in Banking 10 FIN 657 Issues & Ethics in Finance 11 IPK 200 Philosophy & Ethics of Islamic Science 12 IPK502 Ethics in Islamic Banking 13 IPK 503 Ethics in Islamic Information Technology 14 IPK 661 Environmental Ethics 15 ITS 610 Ethical, Social & Professional Issues 4

5 16 ITS 753 Professional Ethics for IT Managers 17 LAD 453 Environmental Ethics 18 LAR 655 Environmental Ethics 19 LAW 483 Moral & Ethical Issues in Law 20 LAW 598 Ethics 21 DEM 581 Ethics, Protocol & Culture in Coordinating Events 22 SPS 607 Ethics in Sports Shannon & Berl (1993) quote Hosmer (1988) for suggesting that educators at tertiary level to teach ethics course work from the functional and technical areas. Ethics instruction particularly business studies, should begin as early as possible and Hosmer (1988) again states further that a business ethic course should be part of the required curriculum and be placed as early as the first semester. In Universiti Teknologi MARA, what is practised is niche clusters of management, science and technology and social sciences provide ethics courses in most areas of studies. Some programmes are found lacking on these such as Art and Design Faculty and Faculty of Accountancy. In the University, there is an alternative platform that provides ethics courses in ethics. The population of Malaysia comprises more than fifty percent Muslims and the rest are those of varying faiths. Being a university of having such an enrolment too, Islamic Studies was first introduced to supplement the teaching-learning activities as early as in Since evolving from a training centre known as Dewan Latihan RIDA in 1956, later Maktab RIDA and in 1967 as Institut Teknologi MARA and finally in 1999 as a University, spiritual development programmes have never been compromised. This next educational initative is under the prerogative of a unit of study named Unit Pendidikan Islam. The Centre was formed in 1975 and Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilisation) course was made mandatory to every undergraduate pursuing their studies in the University. In 1983, the Unit underwent another transformation and was upgraded as Pusat Pendidikan Islam. Then, it began to offer more than 40 courses on Islamic Studies and Islamic Civilisation, of which some are displayed in Table 2 below. In 2004, the centre was renamed Centre for Islamic Thought and Understanding (CITU). Spiritual input in forty-three Islamic courses is being offered to not only undergraduates, but also the faculty members of the University as well. 5

6 Table 2: Islamic Studies and Islamic Civilisation courses offered by Centre for Islamic Thoughts and Understanding(CITU), UiTM. COURSE CODE CTU101 CTU151 CTU231 CTU241 CTU242 CTU261 CTU262 CTU271 CTU282 CTU283 CTU551 IDA152 IDA202 IEP150 IEP200 IMK152 IPK205 IPK207 IPK211 IPK503 IPK504 IPK661 PAM201 COURSE Fundamental Principles of Islam Islamic Thoughts and Civilisation Islamic Fundamental Accountancy Islamic Fundamental Economics Fundamentals of Takaful Islam and Environment Management Islamic Property Management Islam and Communication Islamic Art and Creativity Islamic Environmental Design Islamic and Asian Civilisation Islamic Civilisation Islamic Community and State Islamic Economics Thoughts and Civilisation Islamic Business Islamic Community and State Islam and Management Islamic Management in Hotel and Tourism Islamic Concept of Accountancy Islamic Information Technology Ethics Islamic Historiographic Science Environmental Ethics Principles and Practices in Muamalat III Another pertinent issue on enhancing the ethical awareness in tertiary education is it can be instilled in the teaching-learning process at tertiary level. If there is a need to be a curriculum of this nature, it is best delivered and implemented in the Students Development Programme which comes within the Student s Welfare Department under the auspices of Deputy Vice Chancellor. Tertiary education has to ensure that the behavioural capability of this next generation of leaders is not compromised by the negative impact and effects of the current state of misconduct in the country. This situation is vital and should be the concern of every institution of higher education 6

7 in the country. To shape the moral and morale of undergraduates has become a pertinent objective. Educators not only impart knowledge, but also should be ready to help mould elements of desirable behaviour of undergraduates under their tutelage. Fenwick and English (2004) reiterate that ethical capability is an emerging trend in which they quote several literature by Meriam and Heuer (1996), Hunt (1998) and Tisdell (1999). Hence, the question is whether there is effectiveness of ethics courses as a means of achieving ethical awareness and sensitivity? Berger & Pratt (1998) are in favour for continuing use to facilitate ethical training in an academic context as they quoted works of Bishop 1992, McDonald and Donleavy The spiritual capability of an individual plays as important a role as the intelligence and emotional capabilities in order to make a human total (Ari Ginanjar Agustian: 2005). One of the challenges that is plaguing the modern life, in developing countries like Malaysia, is the insurgence of non-traditional culture which takes to the local youths very easily. When this surge takes place, the lifestyle practices of the youth in developing countries may be contradictory to the local customs, traditions and practices. One way of demarcating the elements of cultural imbalances and disproportion would be complemented through the education system. Although teaching ethics may be encountered with cynics (Ortiz & Sison, 1993), there is still room for this knowledge as a study has proved that education in ethics produces more enlightened consumers of ethics information who are able to make sound determinations about responsibility in ethical dilemmas (Carlson & Burke, 1998). 3.0 The Survey This paper also attempts to survey the undergraduates outlook on the courses on ethics that are being taught in the faculty. A survey which is conducted on a group of students in Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia (Shah Alam campus) suggests that teaching ethics in the tertiary level of education may enhance the student s level of ethics capability. A group of 64 students are given a set of questionnaire consisting of nine questions at the end period of the ethics course. Each question represents the characteristic or outcome that is expected to occur with the students mindset or behaviour after the course is taken. Table 3. Persons-Items Map Persons - MAP - Items <more><rare> 6 S02 S05 S18 S39 S48 + PERSON MAX = 6.61 T S03 S21 S25 S S01 S17 S29 S53 S54 S 4 + S31 S32 S34 S47 S08 S12 S14 S27 S42 S52 S55 High level of ethics capability 7

8 3 S07 S10 S11 S15 S26 S56 S63 + S04 S06 S13 S19 S36 S51 S60 M PERSON MEAN = 2.79 S24 S25 S28 S37 S50 S58 S61 S S09 S33 S38 S40 S57 S16 S35 S41 S44 S45 S64 T 1 S22 S+ ITEM MAX = 0.80 Sufficient Need Motivation/Training Q2-REQUIREMENT S59 S Q7-ATTITUDE Q8-SENSITIVITY Q3-CRITICAL Q5-LACK OF Q9-AWARENESS ITEM MEAN=0 0 +M Q6-VALUE S T Q4-IMPORTANCE OF ETCHICS IN UNIV LEVEL -1 + T Q1-IMPORTANCE OF GENERAL ETHICS S S23 S43 Need Counseling S20 + PERSON MIN = <less><frequ> This survey which is conducted on a group of students in Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia (Shah Alam campus) suggests that teaching ethics in the tertiary level of education may enhance the student s level of ethics capability. A group of 64 students is given a set of questionnaire consisting of nine questions at the end period of the ethics course. Each question represents the characteristic or outcome that is expected to occur at the students mindset or behaviour after the course is taken: Question 1: The general importance of ethics Question 2: Requirement of ethics in university curriculum Question 3: Critical thinking in Ethics 8

9 Question 4: Importance of ethics at university level Question 5: Damage effect in lack of ethics Question 6: Value Question 7: Attitude and behaviour Question 8: Sensitivity Question 9: Awareness Table 2 above depicts the result of Rasch analysis using WINSTEP software. The model above is called Persons-Items Map and it illustrates the relationship between respondents (persons) and the questions (items) in the survey. Based on the Rasch analysis, we would be able to identify the students perspective towards ethics issue. Assuming that teaching ethics indeed improves their understanding at the importance of ethics, they would outperform the values (signified by how far the respondents are placed from the Item Mean value of 0.00 towards the positive side) which are being asked in the survey. Furthermore, how good their performance is illustrated by their position in the model above. As a result, we find that most of the respondents (58 students) exhibit high level of ethics capability because they are able to outperform all the nine values that are being asked in the survey. Only one student is at par with one of the values which indicates that he or she has sufficient level of ethics understanding after the course is taken. In addition, only one student needs a motivation and additional training in ethics and four students need intensive counseling. How valid is this survey? Can we use this analysis in the real life practice? We could analyse the model above further using the summary statistics for items (questions being asked) and persons (the respondents). Accordingly, the analysis shows that the questionnaire is reliable enough to be conducted into another group or event based on the item reliability value of It is considered as not reliable if the analysis of item reliability results in a value below Moreover, the respondents seem to exhibit consistent performance during the survey. In other words, they are good enough to give the same answer or retain the same behaviour if the survey is repeated towards them. The person reliability value of 0.82 validates this statement. In addition, the whole concept of the test is reliable and could be repeated with the same expected result. This assumption based on the value of Cronbach Alpha of 0.91 which surpasses the minimum level of 0.60.To sum up, teaching ethics in the tertiary level of education may contribute to the ethics behaviour of the students. This will help the students to perform as a functional member of society in the real life. 4.0 Conclusion This paper is an attempt to explore and to provide the degree to which ethics in education can find its way in the tertiary education classroom. The result of the brief survey conducted has implied that tertiary education has to start somewhere to inculcate these ethical elements that help to develop the character of the undergraduates. Incorporating good values and ethics during the teaching-learning process at this level, is very important, since this is the last period of receiving formal education and utilising governmental fundings. At this stage, it would be 9

10 necessary in order that character building is being prepared. Effective character building will enable young graduates enter the market of work with much credibility and trustworthiness, responsibility and reliability. These values to be inculcated, have to take place through lessons involving case studies, discussion or other forms of intellectual fora incorporated in the teachinglearning process. In a nutshell, this paper has attempted to present the educational initiatives in enhancement of spiritual capital in the teaching and learning process in the University. These are courses designed to introduce to the students the study of ethics in relation to the programmes that they are pursuing. Various ethical theories and thoughts outline the course as they are the foundation of the ethical issues, conflicts and dilemmas faced by professionals in their daily work environment. Being professionals upon graduation, these students will eventually face complex challenges and opportunities in the wake of rapid and massive changes in not only business and professional environments, but also personal demand. With the contents disseminated, an understand of what is expected in these environments and how to respond effectively to ethical problems are crucial in charging responsibilities and professional services. However, the impact on its effectiveness requires another research to study. Hence, this whole paper offers exploration of another aspect of study for greater insights that may indicate either the effectiveness or its absence in the tertiary education system. References Ary Ginanjar Agustian (2005) 165 The ESQ Way ESQ Leadership Sdn Bhd Kuala Lumpur Dill, David D. The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 53, No. 3, Ethics and the Academic Profession, May-June 1982 pp Farrington, D.P. (1986) Age and Crime Crime AND Justice A Review of Research Heinonline 7:189 Huitt, W. (2004) Values Educational Psychology Interactive Valdosta State University Ignacio, Gotz L. On Spirituality in Teaching James, William (1958) Talks to Teachers WW Norton, New York Jersild, Arthur T. (1967) When Teachers Face Themselves, Teachers College Press, New York Kerr, D.S. AND Smith, L.M. (1995) Importance of and Approaches to Incorporating Ethics into the Accounting Classroom, Journal of Business Ethics 14: Kolb, J.A., Frisque, D., Lin, Hong, & Ronsell, Allen (2003) Communicating about ethics in classroom and Training Situations: Special Issues Related to Multicultural Audiences Proceedings of the 2003 Association for Business Communication Annual Convention Pennsylvania State University Association for Business Communication pp 1-6 Ortiz, J.M. AND Sison, A. J.G. (1993) The Dilemmas of Business Ethics Courses Universidad de Navarro taken from file:///f:/ajgsison/publications/conference/9/09.html on 6 February

11 Purpel, David E. (1989) The Moral and Spiritual Crisis in Education Bergin & Garvey New York Rothenburg, Eric (2003) Incorporating Ethics into introductory accounting courses A Personal Viewpoint The CPA Journal (pages unavailable) Universiti Teknologi MARA Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (2008) Course Contents ADS 451 Ethics in Administration Course Document Universiti Teknologi MARA Faculty of Administrative Science AND Policy Studies (2008) Course Contents CRG 520 Business Ethics Course Document Universiti Teknologi MARA Faculty of Administrative Science AND Policy Studies (2008) Course Contents IPK 200 Etika Falsafah Sains Islam Course Document in.org/pub/other/kireet1/ch2.htm

12 Appendix A SUMMARY OF 64 MEASURED (EXTREME AND NON-EXTREME) Persons RAW MODEL INFIT OUTFIT SCORE COUNT MEASURE ERROR MNSQ ZSTD MNSQ ZSTD MEAN S.D MAX MIN REAL RMSE.92 ADJ.SD 1.98 SEPARATION 2.15 Person RELIABILITY.82 MODEL RMSE.87 ADJ.SD 2.00 SEPARATION 2.29 Person RELIABILITY.84 S.E. OF Person MEAN = Person RAW SCORE-TO-MEASURE CORRELATION =.98 CRONBACH ALPHA (KR-20) Person RAW SCORE RELIABILITY =.91 Appendix B SUMMARY OF 9 MEASURED (NON-EXTREME) Items RAW MODEL INFIT OUTFIT SCORE COUNT MEASURE ERROR MNSQ ZSTD MNSQ ZSTD MEAN S.D MAX MIN REAL RMSE.27 ADJ.SD.50 SEPARATION 1.83 Item RELIABILITY.77 MODEL RMSE.26 ADJ.SD.50 SEPARATION 1.91 Item RELIABILITY.78 S.E. OF Item MEAN = UMEAN=.000 USCALE=1.000 Item RAW SCORE-TO-MEASURE CORRELATION = DATA POINTS. LOG-LIKELIHOOD CHI-SQUARE: with 454 d.f. p=