A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND PROACTIVE PERSONALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLES OF

MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATION

BY

HAMIMAH BINTI HASHIM

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Kulliyyah of Education

International Islamic University Malaysia

APRIL 2018

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ABSTRACT

This study examined the hypothesized model which postulated the causal relationships between perceived learning environmental factors namely, lecturers, peers and physical learning environment; proactive personality; motivational orientation (controlled) and creativity index. The main objective of this study was to determine the role of motivational orientation as mediating variable by testing a hypothesized structural model. Using responses to a creativity test and items survey (n=374) among first degree graduating students in UiTM Shah Alam, the structural model was tested against the data for its fitness, via AMOS version 16.0. The result indicated that controlled motivational orientation was a significant mediator for the relationship between proactive personality and creativity index. The percentages of variance explained by these variables were 50 % (motivational orientation) and 87% (creativity index). The study also established the validity and reliability of the instruments and the hypothesized model. Additionally, the findings indicated that there were significant relationships between the variables measured at p <0.05. The findings supported the assumptions of Amabile’s componential theory of creativity. In addition, it also highlighted the role of proactive personality as the factor that influenced the creativity index via controlled state of motivation. Finally, theoretical and practical implications were discussed in the context of learning environments and personality trait of the graduating students as the significant indicators for the creativity index.

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iii

ثحبلا ةصلاخ

ABSTRACT IN ARABIC

:ينب تاقلاعلا ضترفا يذلا ةيلكيلها ةلداعلما جذونم تايضرف ةساردلا هذى تثبح 1

لماوع )

،ةيميلعتلا ةئيبلاو ءلامزلاو نورضالمحا يىو ،ةيميلعتلا ةئيبلا 2

) ةيصخش ل ةردابلما

بلاط

سويرولاكبلا ،

3 مكحتلاو اهيلع ةرطيسلا ،سفنلاب ةقثلا لمشت تيلا ةيزيفحتلا تاىاتجلاا )

.فعضلاب و

4 .عادبلإا رشؤم ) ةئيبلا رود ديدحتل ىى ةساردلا هذله ةيسيئرلا فادىلأا

في ةيميلعتلا UITM

، ةيجراخ تايرغتمك ينجرختلما بلاطلل ةردابلما ةيصخشو ملع هاش

،

)ةيتاذ( عادبلإا رشؤم و )طيسولا تايرغتلما( ةيزيفحتلا تاىاتجلاا ،

جذومنلا رابتخا قيرط نع

ختساب .ضترفلما يلكيلها = ن( علاطتسا رصانعو يعادبلإا رابتخلاا تاباجتسا ماد

374 )

في سويرولاكبلا لىولأا ةنسلا بلاط ينب نم برتخُا يلكيلهاجذومنلا .ملع هاش UITM

ةخسنلا سومأ جمانرب ةطساوب ةحقنم تانايب للاخ 16.1

نأ لىإ جئاتنلا تراشأو .

لل برتعم طيسو تناك وسفنلاب ةقثلل ةيزيفحتلا تاىاتجلاا رشؤمو ةردابلما ةيصخشلا ينب ةقلاع

يذلا ةيزيفحتلا تاىاتجا في تايرغتلما هذى ةطساوب ترهظأ نيابتلا ةبسن نأ امك .راكتبلاا ناك 51 راكتبلاا رشؤم نأو ،٪

87 تاودلأا تابثو ةيقوثوم ىلع ةساردلا تدكأ اضيأو .٪

اتنلا تنيب ،كلذ لىإ ةفاضلإاب .حترقلما رابتخلاا جذونمو ةمدختسلما تاذ تاقلاع كانى نأ جئ

سايق يرغتم ينب ةيئاصحإ ةللاد p

<

1.15 ( تايضرفلا جئاتنلا هذى معدتو . the

Amabile’s componential طلست انهإف ،كلذ لىإ ةفاضلإاب .عادبلإاا ةيرظنل )

ةلاح برع عادبلإا رشؤم ىلع رثؤي يذلا لماعلا وىو ةردابلما ةيصخشلا رود ىلع ًاضيأ ءوضلا لاب ةقثلا .ملعتلا تائيب قايس في تشقون ةيلمعلاو ةيرظنلا تاقيبطتلا ،ًايرخأو .زيفحتلاب سفن

.عادبلإا تارشؤلم ةماى تاملاع تناك سويرولاكبلا بلاطل ةيصخشلا تافصلاو

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APPROVAL PAGE

The dissertation of Hamimah binti Hashim has been approved by the following:

_____________________________

Siti Rafiah Abd Hamid Supervisor

_____________________________

Mohd Burhan Ibrahim Co-Supervisor

_____________________________

Sharifah Sariah Syed Hassan Internal Examiner

_____________________________

Wan Shahrazad Wan Sulaiman External Examiner

_____________________________

Nooraini Othman External Examiner

_____________________________

Saim Kayadibi Chairman

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Hamimah Binti Hashim

Signature ... Date ...

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COPYRIGHT PAGE

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND PROACTIVE PERSONALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLES OF

MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATION

I declare that the copyright holders of this dissertation are jointly owned by the student and IIUM.

No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below

1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.

2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.

3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries.

By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy.

Affirmed by Hamimah binti Hashim

……..……….. ………..

Signature Date

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Especially dedicated to my loving family – my dearest soul mate, Sarimi bin Nordin, and my lovely daughter, Nurul Tasneem Binti Sarimi… Thank you for your love and

patience. Thank you for being there for me. Both of you are my sources of inspiration. Not to forget, my Beloved Wildan , My late prince, Anas Wafiy Bin Sarimi. You are my strength to complete this journey. Till we meet again in Jannah.

Also dedicated to my beloved parents – to my mother, Hajah Sarah Bt Rejab and my father, Hj. Hashim Bin Yasin. Thank you for your love, support and prayers. To the

extended family members of Bani Hashim and Binti sisters, thank you very much for everything and I love all of you. You are always in my heart.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillah. I have finally come to the end of the road of this long journey. This has been the most enlightening and surprisingly enjoyable moment of my life as an academician. I thank Allah for blessing me with the opportunity and willpower to endure this worthy experience.

This thesis would have not been materialized without the support of several individuals. First, my utmost gratitude goes to my main Ph.D supervisor, Assoc. Prof.

Dr. Siti Rafiah Abd Hamid, who has been most helpful throughout my entire study.

Her guidance throughout the process of carrying out the study from the initial stage, and her critical review and thorough examination of the research reports and drafts of this thesis has significantly contributed towards the realization of my thesis. I also wish to express my thanks to my supervisory committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Burhan Ibrahim and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ssekamanya Siraje Abdullah who have been such committed supervisors, giving me advices on my research and critical feedback on my writings. I am indeed blessed with such supervisors who have strong work ethics, meticulous, committed and not forgetting, pleasantly warm in nature.

I would like to extend my gratitude to International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), MARA University of Technology (UiTM) and Ministry of Education (MoE) for giving the opportunity and providing the Ph.D scholarship to undertake this degree. Many thanks to the Faculties involved in the study and the graduating students who participated in this study as respondents of the test and survey.

Finally, I wish to thank my friends, especially members of my Ph.D group and other individuals who have been directly and indirectly supportive, patient and understanding.

May Allah bless you all for your kindness. It is the end of this path but a beginning of yet a new one.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ... 23

2.2 Theoretical Background... 23

2.3 Theoretical Framework ... 24

2.4 Creativity ... 28

2.4.1 Islamic Perspectives of Creativity ... 38

2.5 Learning Environments ... 44

2.5.1 Lecturer ... 44

2.5.2 Physical Learning Environment ... 48

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2.5.3 Peers ... 53

2.5.4 Learning Environments from Islamic Perspectives ... 58

2.6 Motivational Orientations ... 62

2.6.1 Islamic Perspectives of Motivation ……….….. ... 74

2.7 Proactive Personality ... 79

2.7.1 Islamic Perspectives of Personality ... 82

2.8 Summary ... 84

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 86

3.2 Research Design ... 86

3.3 Population ... 87

3.4 Sampling ... 90

3.5 Instrumentation ... 91

3.5.1 Creativity Test ... 92

3.5.2 Motivation Scales ... 94

3.5.3 Learning Environments ... 96

3.5.4 Proactive Personality... 97

3.6 Data Collection Procedure ... 97

3.7 Data Analyses Procedure ... 98

3.8 Pilot Study ... 100

3.9 Summary ... 102

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT OF THE STUDY ... 103

4.2 Data Screening ... 103

4.2.1 Accuracy of Data Input ... 104

4.2.2 Missing Data ... 104

4.2.3 Assumptions for Multivariate Analysis ... 105

4.2.3.1 Normality ... 105

4.2.3.2 Univariate and Multivariate Outliers ... 106

4.2.3.3 Homogeneity of Variance ... 106

4.2.3.4 Linearity ... 107

4.2.3.5 Reliability and Initial Evidence of Validity ... 108

4.3 Profile of Respondents ... 109

4.4 Discussion of Results and Findings ... 114

4.4.1 Research Question 1 ... 114

4.4.1.1 Undergraduates’ Proactive Personality ... 114

4.4.1.2 Undergraduates’ Perceived Learning Environments ... 115

4.4.1.3 Undergraduates’ Motivational Orientations ... 117

4.4.1.4 Undergraduates’ Creativity Indexes ... 119

4.4.2 Psychometric Properties of the Hypothesized Measurement Model ... 122

4.4.2.1 The Measurement Models ... 122

4.4.2.1.1 Measurement Model for Peer ... 124

4.4.2.1.2 Measurement Model for Lecturer ... 125

4.4.2.1.3 Measurement Model for Proactive Personality ... 127

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4.4.2.1.4 Measurement Model for Physical Learning

Environment ... 129

4.4.2.1.5 Measurement Model for Controlled Orientation ... 131

4.4.2.1.6 Measurement Model for Creativity ... 132

4.4.2.2 The Overall Measurement Model ... 137

4.4.2.3 Convergent Validity ... 137

4.4.2.4 The Structural Equation Model ... 139

4.4.3 Theoretical-based Measurement Model ... 141

4.4.4 Relationships between Measured Constructs ... 142

4.4.5 Motivation Orientation as Mediating Variable ... 144

4.5 Summary ... 145

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 147

5.2 Discussion ... 147

5.2.1 Research Question 1 ... 149

5.2.1.1 Levels of Proactive Personality ... 149

5.2.1.2 Learning Environments ... 150

5.2.1.3 Motivation Scales ... 152

5.2.1.4 Creativity Indexes ... 153

5.2.2 Psychometric Properties of the Hypothesized Model ... 156

5.2.3 Theoretical –Based Measurement Model ... 159

5.2.4 Relationships between Measured Constructs ... 161

5.2.4.1 Proactive Personality and Motivation ... 161

5.2.4.2 Proactive Personality and Creativity ... 162

5.2.4.3 Motivational Orientation and Creativity ... 163

5.2.4.4 Lecturers’ Supports and Motivational Orientations ... 164

5.2.4.5 Learning Environments and Motivation ... 165

5.2.4.6 Peers Support and Motivation ... 166

5.2.4.7 Motivation and Creativity ... 168

5.2.5 Motivation Orientation as Mediating Variable ... 169

5.3 Implications of the Findings ... 170

5.3.1 Theoretical Implications ... 170

5.3.2 Practical Implications ... 172

5.3.3 Validation of the Instruments ... 173

5.4 Recommendations... 173

5.5 Limitations of the Study ... 175

5.6 Suggestions for Future Research ... 177

5.7 Conclusion ... 179

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 181

APPENDIX A: THINKING CREATIVELY WITH WORDS ... 210

APPENDIX B: SAMPLE OF QUESTIONAIRE ... 221

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LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Page No.

‎

2.1 Environmental Factors Conducive to Creativity 49

‎

3.1 Faculties in UiTM, Shah Alam, Selangor 87

‎3.2 Percentage and Total Number of Sample 91

‎3.3 TTCT: Scoring Elaboration 93

‎

3.4 Interpretation of Creativity Index 94

‎‎3.5 Model Fit Indices 100

‎3.6 Reliability Values of the Instruments 101

‎4.1 Missing Value Analysis for each Variable 104

‎4.2 Values of Skewness and Kurtosis for each Measured Variable 105

‎4.3 Levene’s Test for Measured Variable 107

‎4.4 Reliability values of Measured variables 109

‎

4.5 Respondent’s Profile by Gender, Cluster, Race and Religion 110

‎4.6 Mean and Standard Deviation for Constructs Under Study 111

‎4.7 Mean and Standard deviation for TTCT- Verbal Form 113

‎

4.8 Mean and Standard Deviation for Proactive Personality as Stratified

by Gender and Cluster of Studies 114

‎4.9 Mean and Standard Deviation for Learning Environments as

Stratified by Gender and Cluster of Studies 115

‎

4.10 Mean and Standard Deviation for Motivational Orientations as

Stratified by Gender and Cluster of Studies 118

‎

4.11 Mean and Standard Deviation for Total Verbal Creativity and Its Dimension (Fluency, Flexibility and Originality) as Stratified by

Gender and Cluster of Studies 119

‎

4.12 Goodness – of – Fit Indexes of The CFA Measurement Model for

Peer Construct 124

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‎

4.13 Goodness – of – Fit Indexes of The CFA Measurement Model for

Lecturer Construct 126

‎4.14 Goodness – of – Fit Indexes of The CFA Measurement Model for

Proactive Personality Construct 128

Physical Learning Environment Construct 130

Controlled Orientation Construct 131

Creativity Index 132

‎

4.18 Parameter Estimates for The CFA Measurement Model of the

6 Constructs 134

‎4.19 Discriminant Validity Checks by Comparing the Average Variance

Extracted and the Square of Correlation 135

‎4.20 Squared Multiple Correlation for the Endogenous Variables 138

‎4.21 Models Specifications for Post Hoc Confirmatory Factor

Analysis 139

‎

4.22 Goodness-of-Fit Indexes of The CFA the Hypothetical

Structural Model 141

‎4.23 Summary of Parameter Estimates for the Structural Model 144

‎

4.24 Sobel’s Test on the Effect of Controlled State of Motivation as

Mediator 145

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Page No.

‎2.1 Amabile’s (1986) Components of Creative Performance 25

‎2.2 Detail of the Componential Model: Mechanism of Social-

Environment Influence on Creativity 26

‎2.3 Conceptual Framework: Adapted from Amabile (1996) 28

‎2.4 The Islamic Model of Motivation 77

‎3.1 Hypothesized Model 99

‎4.1 P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residuals 107

‎4.2 P.P Plot of Regression Standardized Residuals 108

‎4.3 The Finalized Measurement Model for Peer Construct 125

‎4.4 The Finalized Measurement Model for Lecturer Construct 127

‎‎4.5 The Finalized Measurement Model for Proactive Personality

Construct 129

‎4.6 The Finalized Measurement Model for Physical Learning

Environment Construct 130

‎4.7 The Finalized Measurement Model for Controlled

Orientation Construct 132

‎4.8 The Finalized Measurement Model for Creativity Index 133

‎4.9 Overall Measurement Model 136

‎4.10 The Finalized Hypothetical Structural Model 140

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

MOE Ministry of Education P.B.U.H Peace Be Upon Him

SEM Structural Equation Modeling UiTM MARA University of Technology

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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Changes and revolution in the economic and educational settings are producing higher demands for the global workforce. In order for the fresh graduates to be employed, it does not depend on the academic qualification or Cumulative Grade point Average (CGPA) only but also on the skills and attitude of the graduates. Nowadays, global workforce is becoming more challenging and universities or higher learning institutions should prepare the graduating students with necessary skills in order for them to be employed (Fong, Sidhu & Fook, 2014). It is an undeniable fact that employers normally have high expectations on graduates to perform well as soon as they are hired. Higher educational institutions are accountable to produce qualified human capital for national development. It is crucial that graduates must be equipped with relevant employability skills and abilities. According to Proctor (2014), creativity is an essential skill for employees to remain relevant and competitive in the global market. Additionally, the study also defines the two terms and explains that these two terms are linked.

‗Creative thinking brings about new things – innovations – ranging from solutions to simple puzzles and riddles to ideas and inventions that have radically altered our world. Creative people are those who produce such innovations, and the creative process consists of the psychological

processes involved in bringing about innovations.‘

(Weisberg, 2006:1)

Jone (2009) in her research discloses that the five most prominent professional skills and personal qualities which employers seek in a candidate are positive collaboration and teamwork spirit, good interpersonal communication skill, ability to

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handle work under pressure, sharp analytical and problem solving skill, and innovative mind. Nevertheless, other skills which employers look which would complement the much sought after skills are positive attitudes, good organizational skills, attentiveness, creativity and ethical professional practices.

Creative thinking is often connected with innovation (Faizah, 2010). It was highlighted earlier by Dean (1998) that creative thinking is commonly associated with innovation which is essential in generating constructive changes for competitive advantages in the work force. The following excerpt highlights the importance of creativity and innovation in a workplace.

―….. we define creativity as the generation of ideas and alternatives, and innovation as the transformation of those ideas and alternatives into useful applications that lead to change and improvement. We've found that, in today's business environment, an essential element to an organization's success is adaptability. You must be able to manage at

the speed of change, and that takes creativity and innovation.‖

(Carr & Johansson, 1995:1)

Generally, employers would make the assumptions that graduates are equally trained and are well equipped with necessary skills and knowledge to best perform in the workforce. This postulation augments to Chung and Yet (2009) who believed that

―employability skills enhancement has been considered as a specific aim to be attained in the higher learning institutions‖ (p. 96).

In recent happening in Malaysia, the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (CUEPACS) announced that the Competency Level Assessment (PTK) which assesses public and civil employees work performance will effectively become null by December 2010. It will then give way to the new assessment method which will give emphasis on productivity, creativity, innovation and employee‘s contribution to the organization (Bernama, 2011).

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Hence, a study which examines for more conducive learning environments that produce creative and innovative workforce is necessary. An investigation of the learning environments in higher learning institutions is essential to benefit educational institutions for national development. Indeed, the government has emphasized the significance of creative and critical thinking as the learning outcomes in Malaysian school system since 1994. Creative and Critical Thinking Skills (CCTS) is an essential element to be highlighted in the school learning process as the Ministry of Education through Curriculum Development Centre (CDS) had tremendously exposed and trained the teachers to implement and practice these two skills in their classroom. The role of education is to produce excellence students in academic, co-curriculum and personality. The Ministry of Education aims to produce human capital with high thinking skills especially in the aspect of creativity and innovation (Nooraini &

Khairul, 2014).

With regard to the quality of Malaysian undergraduates, Chung and Yet (2009) investigated the undergraduates‘ core competencies and employability skills of undergraduates in private learning institution in Malaysia. The study involved employers and students as sample and the results indicated that the local university students are highly competent in personal qualities and necessary employability skills.

However, it is noteworthy to highlight that there was a mismatch in certain skills such as thinking skill which comprises of critical thinking and problem solving skills. It was also found that the students need more training in interpersonal communication, decision making, and negotiating. Employers keep complaining that the graduates are not ready to enter workplace (Alex, 2011). Therefore, higher learning institutions should design courses which inculcate practicality and meet the needs of the current demands

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Employability skills are regarded as required individual ability and competency to survive in the job market. Additional training on employability competency should be instilled in the course of undergraduate program for instance by having collaboration between learning institutions and industries is highly recommended to enhance students experience and skills (Ruth & Judie, 2014).

According to Gurvinder and Sharan (2007), in Malaysia, employers favor to employ graduates from public universities since these graduates possess required academic qualification and important employability skills.

The University of Western Australia (UWA) in 1996 defines employability skills as basic requirement or the career and employability skills. Employability skills are knowledge, skills and ability to enter workplace and retain the job (Rosenberg et al., 2012). Shukla (2012) added that employability skills are divided into three sets;

basic academic skills, high-order thinking skills and personal qualities. According to Bakar, Mohamad and Ivan (2015), creative, proactive and personality skills are the significant employability skills mentioned by many Malaysian employers.

Malaysian education system highlights and promotes creative thinking and critical thinking as its learning outcomes. Vision 2020 accentuates the need for a creative and critical people. In line with this vision, the Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025) summarizes the objective of the current plan that is to produce quality graduate and optimizing expenses in the higher education system. The blueprint was designed to refurbish and drive the education system to generate creative and innovative students. To produce Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), drastic changes need to be implied to the education process. Existing higher learning institutions are supposedly to encourage and enhance how thinking skills can be taught by highlighting on the facilities provided.

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As one of the public higher learning institutions in Malaysia, MARA University of Technology (UiTM) is supporting the mission and goals of the Ministry of Higher Learning Institution. UiTM is a well-known university and it is considered as the largest higher learning institution. UiTM started as Rural & Industrial Development Authority (RIDA) Training Centre in 1965 with the main objective to help the ‗Bumiputra‘ students to improve their future life. The training Centre then became MARA College in 1965 and started to offer its diploma program. The prestige of UiTM became flourish when the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad declared UiTM as university in 1999. This renowned university has its own vision:

‗To establish UiTM as a premier university of outstanding scholarship and academic excellence capable of providing leadership to Bumiputras‘s dynamic involvement in all professional fields of world- class standards in order to produce globally competitive graduates of sound ethical standing‘. (University Vision , 2010)

In order to fulfill its vision to the world class standard, UiTM enlists its objectives as following:

i. To provide maximum opportunities for ‗bumiputras‘ to pursue professionally-recognized programs of study in science, technology, industry, business, arts and humanities.

ii. To provide quality and innovative programs of study relevant to current market needs and customer demands, and in line with policies of national development.

iii. To establish a human resource development program as a tool for the assimilation of a value system within the university community.

iv. To ensure that UiTM graduates are adequately prepared to join the local as well as the global workforce.

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v. To establish UiTM as a center of excellence that is accountable for the effective and efficient management of its human resources, finances and assets in order to achieve its educational objectives, while playing its role as a catalyst in community development.

(University objectives, 2010) The main purpose of this study is to highlight the second objective which is to equip the students with the valuable programs of study that enable them to fulfill and survive in the global market and upholding the policies of nationwide and the fourth objective of UiTM which is to attest that UiTM students are sufficiently equipped to enter the local and the global market. In view of the deficiency in research and literature about assessing graduates‘ creativity index and innovation, the focus of this study is identified as being a need to research the satisfaction of the graduating students on the generic skills acquired at the university and the soft skills that they possessed. The findings from this study would provide better understanding on the importance of creativity as essential attribute of future workforce.

From the above discussion, a number of issues ascend. Does the university prepare quality graduates and at the same time still guarantee a good program? How does the university prepare creative and innovative graduates who are equipped to face the demands of the university and global market? Does the university provide environment conducive for the students‘ creativity to flourish? Literature has suggested that creativity can be acquired by incidental learning (Newton & Donkin, 2011). Anggia and Nurul (2014) found that the environment and surrounding can affect the amount of creative performance via the mediating role of intrinsic motivation. They examine the environment support which includes work and non-

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work environment support. Therefore, any studies that involve creative thinking should not discard the role of the environment and motivation.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As a developing country, Malaysia practices democratization of education which encourages its people to embark on tertiary education. Therefore higher learning institutions and universities have mushroomed and as of 2011, there are 22 public universities, 40 private universities, and numerous number of branch campuses of international universities, polytechnics, public community colleges and private colleges (Raja Suzana, 2011). Since the Malaysian education system promotes democratization of education and lifelong education, it encourages more students to embark in tertiary education. Parallel to this issue, the number of students registered in public higher learning has boosted from 100,000 in 1990 to more than 700,000 and about 47% go to public institutions and the remaining continue at the private institutions and abroad (William & Morshidi, 2015).

The progress and development of the country highly depend on knowledge and employability skills of its workforce. The increasing number of unemployed graduates resulted from three factors; graduates‘ attributes, lecturers‘ competency and quality of education (Zaliza & Mohd Safarin, 2014). Therefore, it is crucial for the higher educational institutions to equip their graduates to meet the demands of the global phenomena. Moreover, Malaysian universities need to reengineer their curriculum towards authentic assessment and support the employers‘ needs in the workplace (Kalaimagal & Norizan, 2012). The advantages of the authentic assessment are to produce graduates who are able to apply direct application of knowledge, encourage divergent thinking and enhance the development of meaningful skills. This is

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supported by Oon, Stefanie and Chua‘s research (2009) claiming that the traditional form of assessment (e.g. examination) which leads students to focus on seeking a single best answer, without thinking about other alternatives. In addition to this issue, Lim (2011) highlights that several researches have proven that there is also a mismatch between graduation degree and what the Malaysian job-market seeks.

Present workforce are not only expected to have added skills and good academic background but must also be efficient, productive, innovative, knowledgeable and competent language users in order to compete and survive in the employability market (Chavan & Surve, 2014). Higher learning institutions are the place to groom students to enhance and demonstrate effective thinking. However, most instruction is content based and moving away from deep thinking skills (Kevin, Gina, Mark, Courtney & Heath, 2010). Graduates need to be aware that employers would look for candidates who are geared with multiple skills, personal and intellectual attributes, as well as specialized subject knowledge.

Insufficient preparation and training among local graduates to face globalization and K-economy causing Malaysia lack of skilled workforce (Leong et al., 2010). Currently, employers are looking at those with higher order thinking skill and this include the creative thinking (Smith & Kruger, 2012). This result calls for a pressing evaluation on the university curriculum, quality of the instructors and the teaching and learning approaches.

Unfortunately, when the graduates do not get enough training at the university, the burden of teaching the graduates will transfer from their college professors to trainers in the work organizations. This is not supposed to happen and the graduate should be proactive and update themselves with the content knowledge and suitable skills needed in certain industry (Thijssen et al., 2008). Therefore it is pertinent to

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equip graduates with employability skills especially in creative and innovative aspects as both are the essential skills sought by the employers.

As the higher learning institution for Bumiputra only, the University Technology MARA (UiTM) seeks to improve the standard of living and amplify the Bumiputra economy. The formation of UiTM is exclusive due to its commitment to assist Bumiputra attain the highest intellectual standards and to train them for professional careers and practices. UiTM has 120,000 students and 15,000 workforces to date that contribute to the development of the university and offering more than 300 academic programmes (Nik Maheran, 2005). According to Mustaffa, Norashfah and Nurol‘ain (2007), the total number of UiTM graduates are 100,000 at that time, including undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates level. UiTM seek to increase its students to 200, 000 graduates in 2015. Therefore, this vision requires changes in thinking paradigm and work culture among the students and its employees.

With regard to the above issue, studies that examine the quality of UiTM graduates are essential in changing the current paradigm. However, not many studies give focus on soft skills of graduating students especially one that emphasizes on creative skill. A number of UiTM researchers focused only on the program offered by the university. For example, Abu Bakar (1989), examined the Mara Institute Of Technology (ITM) graduates perceptions on the importance of required banking studies courses, the effectiveness of practical training and the importance of the English language in preparing them for their current jobs; Che Ku Hisam and Siti Rokyah (2006), investigated the curriculum and pedagogy in the effort to improve the quality of future accountants; Zalina, Rasimah and Mohd Nasir (2007) assessed the efficiency and productivity assessments in higher education institutions (HEIs);

Kulliyyah of

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND PROACTIVE PERSONALITY: THE MEDIATING ROLES OF

ABSTRACT IN ARABIC

DECLARATION

COPYRIGHT PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ... 23

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 86

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 147

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 181

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM