Institute Of Continuing Education & Professional Studies INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON E-LEARNING AND HIGHER EDUCATION 1. APAcS Star Promoting Graduate Employability Traits 5 Puteh Mariam Ismail, Normahiran Yatim, Norhayati Alias 2. Innovation In Teaching By Applying Neuro Linguistic 25 Programming Muhamad Fuad Abdul Karim1, Hanim Abdul Razak2, Mohammad Bastyian Mahmud 3. The Acceptance Of Mobile Learning For The Subject Of 35 Geography Among Pre University Students (Form 6) Dympna James Jemson, Sabariah Sharif, Soon Singh A/L Bikar Singh 4. Innovative Pedagogies in CDIO Implementation in 47 Engineering Education Asmidar Alias1a, Nur Asmaliza Mohd Noor, Noraida Mohd Saim 5. Immersion, exposure and learner driven learning through 61 360-degree videos and VR experiences: Education 4.0 for English teaching Airil Haimi Mohd Adnan 6. 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The Application of Soft Skills Development Module Through 145 the Preparation of Group Assignment of the UiTM Professional Islamic Education Courses, Based on the Leadership Approach Hamdi Rahman Mohd Yaacob, Muhammad Yusri Yusof @ Salleh, Paiz Hassan, Amin Che Ahmat, Mohd Syukri Mohd Noor 12. Utilizing the Linguistic Landscapes for Contextual Language 163 Learning Kamisah Ariffin, Geraldine De Mello, Misyana Susanti Husin, Aini Andria Shirin Anuarudin, Nurhidayatul Shima Omar 13. Impact of GBL on Student Performance and Learning 175 Behaviour : Experience in UiTM Melaka Rani Diana Othman, Ismadi Md Badarudin, Nurul Hidayah Ahamad Nawawi 14. Integrating ICT In ESL Classroom: A Survey On Teachers’ 189 Perceptions In Using Frog VLE For English Lesson Johan @ Eddy Luaran, Fariha Amalina Zoolkafli, Jasmine Jain 15. The Design of Team Formation System - A Coordination 211 With The Perspectives of Delone and Mclean IS Success Model Safura Adeela Sukiman, Puteri Nur Hidayah Kamaludin 16. Human Governance Approach in Building High Performing 231 Learners W. Mansor, B. N. Sheikh Rahimullah 17. Student’s Readiness for Internship in FPA: KM Readiness 241 Model Approach Nur Wajihah Mohd Nawi, Nur Nabila Huda Aziz, Syahrizan Sahlan, Farahida Zulkefli, Asmah Awal (Dr.) 18. CDIO Initiative in Basic Sciences Courses in Diploma 261 Chemical Engineering Sarifah Fauziah Syed Draman, Noraini Razali INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON E-LEARNING AND HIGHER EDUCATION Patron Prof. Emeritus Datuk Ir. Dr. Mohd Azraai Kassim Advisor Prof. Ts. Dr Haji Mohamad Kamal Haji Harun Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Azizul Halim Bin Yahya Deputy Editor-in-Chief Assoc. Prof. Dr Johan @ Eddy Luaran Reviewers Prof. Dr. Zaidatun Tasir Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anealka Aziz Hussin Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ros Aizan Assoc. Prof. Dr. Izaham Shah Ismail Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teoh Sian Hoon Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamalludin Harun Dr. Fiaz Hussain Dr. Jamiah Baba Dr. Harrinni Md Noor Dr. Prasanna Ramakrisnan Dr. Suthagar Narasuman Dr. Rosalinda Alias Dr Azma Asnawi Shah Abd Hakim Ms. Noridah Abu Bakar Ms. Saliza Ramly Ms. Haslinda Noradzan Ms. Nor Azilah Mohd Asarani Mr. Fazyudi Ahmad Nadzri Mr. Zawawi Temyati 4 APAcS Star: Promoting Graduate Employability Traits APAcS Star: Promoting Graduate Employability Traits Puteh Mariam Ismail, Normahiran Yatim, Norhayati Alias Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] *Corresponding Author Abstract: The issue of graduates' employability has become a growing concern globally. With many graduates, but limited positions in the workforce, it is imminent for graduates to possess employability traits. Employers also expect the students to learn a multitude of skills and abilities, on top of knowledge of accounting, while studying in the university. To reduce this gap, a student development framework, the APAcS Star was established. APAcS Star aims to bridge the gap by arming students with essential interpersonal skills. Based on three core Skill Areas, namely Critical Thinking, Communications and Leadership skills. APAcS Star is executed by further breaking those Skill Area into Traits. These traits connote an element of a Skill that, by mastering a number of those smaller Traits, will lead to a mastery of the major Skill. All the Traits from the three Skill Areas are smartly placed in events, starting with ‘Knowledge Gaining’, then progressing to ‘Knowledge Applying’ and ‘Knowledge Assessing’. In 2016, 31 students graduated with an APAcS Star certificate. In 2017 and 2018, the final assessment was further enhanced into two categories, the idea pitching assessment and interview assessment, whereby 19 and 10 students respectively were awarded the APAcS Star certificate. The APAcS Star certificate increases the students’ chances of gaining employability upon graduation. In conclusion, this framework was able to assist the higher education provider to craft and develop a multitude of skills and abilities of its graduates, thus reducing the employability gap. Keywords: Communication skills, Critical thinking, Graduate employability, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership skills 5 INTRODUCTION Lifewide education is an educational concept that recognizes that learning occurs in multiple contexts within a learner's life such as school, home, work and other platforms. Therefore, it is important for educational institutions to create this lifewide education atmosphere not only through formal, but also non formal and informal learning to encourage, support and recognize students' lifewide learning. Furthermore, technical knowledge on its own will not be sustainable, therefore, it is necessary to update knowledge and competency in line with lifewide education. This will ensure learners remain relevant despite huge changes in the global environment. For example, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) itself has frequent updates to syllabus and study guide which tend to focus on the changes in technical knowledge due to the exam oriented environment. Therefore, there is a lack of focus on soft skills through formal learning education and it is a skill that needs to be acquired not only through formal learning but also by other means. Department of Professional Accounting Studies (DPAS) has three missions which are graduate on time, graduate employability traits and becoming chartered accountant in Malaysia. This is to support national agenda on producing and increasing bumiputera professional accountant by year 2030. The graduate on time and graduate employability traits are achieved during the learning phase while the latter will be achieved with three years working experience. Specifically, graduate on time is achieved when students pass their exam in stipulated time. During this period, students will gain all the technical knowledge needed to join the workforce. In order to continue supporting our students on-going journey, DPAS has developed APAcS Star framework to ensure they are equipped with the employability traits that will make them relevant to the industries. This issue of graduates' employability is one of the main concerns that were highlighted for quite some time. One pressing issue that needs focus is the existence of a gap between 'the level of competency expected by employers' and 'the level of competency presented by graduates'. This gap is known as the ‘Employability Gap’. APAcS Star program wishes to bridge the gap thus making graduates more attractive and relevant to the market. APAcS Star is a yearlong program designed to equip graduates with critical 6 APAcS Star: Promoting Graduate Employability Traits interpersonal skills to maximise graduates’ employability chances aligned with industry’s standard through industry integrated events and activities organised by the Association of Professional Accounting Students (APAcS). APAcS, a solitary student body that facilitates the welfare and development of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam’s professional accountancy graduates. APAcS has been actively helping to produce competent graduates fit for the corporate sectors in the country. Thus objective of this paper is to explain how APAcS Star programme addresses the employability traits issues that will make them relevant to join the workforce. LITERATURE REVIEW The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global organization for the accountancy profession. The organization supports the development, adoption and implementation of international standards for accounting education, ethics, and the public sector as well as audit and assurance. The body also addresses the importance of accounting graduates to possess employability skills to encourage high quality performance by