Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19
Adherents claim that online education mediated through technology can change society for the better, but critics assert that it has failed to produce job- or career-ready graduates. With this in mind, the present study examines the performance of academic and job-readiness of two groups of graduates...
Saved in:
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Published: |
Elsevier
2021
|
Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96278/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521004406?via%3Dihub |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
id |
my.upm.eprints.96278 |
---|---|
record_format |
eprints |
spelling |
my.upm.eprints.962782023-01-31T02:56:59Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96278/ Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 Alam, Gazi Mahabubul Parvin, Morsheda Adherents claim that online education mediated through technology can change society for the better, but critics assert that it has failed to produce job- or career-ready graduates. With this in mind, the present study examines the performance of academic and job-readiness of two groups of graduates. One group comprised a pre-COVID-19 cohort for face-to-face teaching mode while the other used the online mode during the pandemic. While the official secondary data are collected from the sampled university, primary data are gathered through an ‘empirical survey’ of 120 students in each group (i.e., before and during COVID-19, a total of 240). Findings suggest that the pre-pandemic group did poorly academically unlike their during-pandemic counterparts. Although both groups achieved well academically, there is a difference when comparing their job-readiness scores which included both aptitude and practicum tests. The pre-COVID-19 students achieved better job-readiness scores than their counterparts. Performance in academy and job-readiness is not proportionately linked. These findings suggest that higher education is generally not that active from the job market perspective, while online learning has in fact made education much more passive. Under any circumstances, the integrity of HE should not be compromised and hence a policy framework is hereby suggested to ensure that it functions well during an emergency period. Elsevier 2021 Article PeerReviewed Alam, Gazi Mahabubul and Parvin, Morsheda (2021) Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 172. art. no. 121008. pp. 1-10. ISSN 0040-1625; ESSN:1873-5509 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521004406?via%3Dihub 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121008 |
institution |
Universiti Putra Malaysia |
building |
UPM Library |
collection |
Institutional Repository |
continent |
Asia |
country |
Malaysia |
content_provider |
Universiti Putra Malaysia |
content_source |
UPM Institutional Repository |
url_provider |
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/ |
description |
Adherents claim that online education mediated through technology can change society for the better, but critics assert that it has failed to produce job- or career-ready graduates. With this in mind, the present study examines the performance of academic and job-readiness of two groups of graduates. One group comprised a pre-COVID-19 cohort for face-to-face teaching mode while the other used the online mode during the pandemic. While the official secondary data are collected from the sampled university, primary data are gathered through an ‘empirical survey’ of 120 students in each group (i.e., before and during COVID-19, a total of 240). Findings suggest that the pre-pandemic group did poorly academically unlike their during-pandemic counterparts. Although both groups achieved well academically, there is a difference when comparing their job-readiness scores which included both aptitude and practicum tests. The pre-COVID-19 students achieved better job-readiness scores than their counterparts. Performance in academy and job-readiness is not proportionately linked. These findings suggest that higher education is generally not that active from the job market perspective, while online learning has in fact made education much more passive. Under any circumstances, the integrity of HE should not be compromised and hence a policy framework is hereby suggested to ensure that it functions well during an emergency period. |
format |
Article |
author |
Alam, Gazi Mahabubul Parvin, Morsheda |
spellingShingle |
Alam, Gazi Mahabubul Parvin, Morsheda Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
author_facet |
Alam, Gazi Mahabubul Parvin, Morsheda |
author_sort |
Alam, Gazi Mahabubul |
title |
Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
title_short |
Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
title_full |
Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
title_fullStr |
Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during COVID-19 |
title_sort |
can online higher education be an active agent for change? —comparison of academic success and job-readiness before and during covid-19 |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96278/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521004406?via%3Dihub |
_version_ |
1756685787725824000 |
score |
13.222552 |