For the first time, the School of Education, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) had conducted online interview sessions for its undergraduate candidates Semester 1, 2020/2021 intake from 5th to 9th of July 2020. Previously, the interviews were conducted face-to-face in different centers all over Malaysia.
The task force for the implementation of the online interview sessions was specially appointed by the School of Education which headed by Dr. Halijah Ibrahim.
The School of Education members had managed to prepare at least ten material guidelines (in the form of books, videos and systems) that align with the standard operation procedure (SOP) for the online interviews.
The guidelines were mainly to provide guidelines on the implementation of online interviews for the secretariat, panels and candidates of the interview sessions. These guidelines were produced following the directives of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the need to conduct online interviews.
Currently, the task-force members are in the process of producing legitimately published books registered with ISBN with nine copyrights. The following are the list of books which are in the copyright application stage:
- Panduan serta Proses Pelaksanaan Temuduga Dalam Talian ISMP, UTM (Guidelines for the Implementation Proces of ISMP Online Interviews , UTM)
- Panduan Temuduga Dalam Talian bagi Calon ISMP, UTM ( Online Interviews Guidelines for ISMP Candidates)
- Panduan Temuduga Dalam Talian bagi Panel Penemuduga Calon ISMP, UTM ( Online Interviews Guidelines for Panel of Interviewers of ISMP Candidates)
- Panduan dan Prosedur Ujian Kecergasan Dalam Talian bagi Calon ISMP, UTM (Guidelines and Procedure of Online Fitness Test for ISMP Candidates)
- Panduan Penilaian dan Prosedur Ujian Kecergasan Dalam Talian bagi Panel Penilai Calon ISMP, UTM (Assessment Guidelines and Procedure of Online Fitness Test for Panel of Assessors of ISMP Candidates)
- Video Panduan Temuduga Dalam Talian bagi Calon ISMP, UTM (Video on Guidelines for Online Interviews for ISMP Candidates)
- Video Panduan Temuduga Dalam Talian bagi Panel Penemuduga Calon ISMP, UTM (Video on Guidelines on Online Interviews for Panel of Interviewers of ISMP Candidates)
- Video Ujian Kecergasan Dalam Talian bagi Calon ISMP, UTM (Video on Online Fitness Test for ISMP Candidates)
- Sistem Maklumat Calon Temuduga Dalam Talian ISMP, UTM dan (Online Information System for ISMP Candidates)
- Sistem Permarkahan Temuduga Dalam Talian ISMP – Mytemubual) (Marking System for Online Interviews in ISMP)
The production of all the guideline books, videos, and data management systems has given a significant impact in the process of facilitating the online interview sessions for the secretariat, panel interviewers, and undergraduate candidates.
There were 405 undergraduate candidates that managed to get interviewed online for Semester 1 Session 2020/2021 intake for the nine majors offered, namely Sports Science, TESL, Physics Education, Chemistry Education, Mathematics Education, Islamic Studies, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering Education, and Building Construction Engineering Education.
The online interview sessions also involved 53 interviewers consisted of lecturers from the School of Education, Language Academy, and Academy of Islamic Civilization, as well as 24 secretariats and six technical secretariats from FSSH management and professional group.
The immediate feedback received from the interviews indicated that the majority of the candidates were very satisfied with the delivery of the information with regard to the professionalism of the panels and the implementation process of the online interviews.
The candidates also viewed the online method to be more flexible, effective, as well as saving the cost, time, and energy compared to face-to-face interviews. Positive feedback was also received from the interview panels and secretariat with regard to the implementation of online interviews.
The implementation of online interviews is an example of the implementation of a new norm during the post-pandemic which is very positive and should be maintained. The implementation of this method can be applied in the future by improving the procedure and technical needs to facilitate the process of interview for future undergraduate candidates of the Education Programme.
Written by: Dr. Asha Hasnimy Mohd Hashim & Dr. Halijah Ibrahim