(1) Background: Due to the rapid growth of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), higher educational institutions across the world are investing heavily in MOOCs to support their traditional teaching, their students’ learning experience, and their performance. However, the success of MOOCs highly depends on several factors that influence their success in higher education. Prior studies have attempted to investigate and predict user acceptance of MOOCs in higher education by using a variety of theoretical viewpoints. Nonetheless, these studies have yielded conflicting findings and are inconclusive. (2) Purpose: This study aims to develop a model that integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), as well as the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) to explore the factors that influence the acceptance and use of MOOCs in higher education institutions, while synthesizing previous empirical findings in the field. (3) Methods: The model was tested using Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modelling (MASEM) based on the data gathered from 43 studies (k = 45 samples, n = 16,774). (4) Results: Effort expectancy (EE), attitude (ATT), performance expectancy (PE), and TTF—determined by several task and technology characteristics—were identified as the direct predictors of behavioral intention (BI) to continue using MOOCs. (5) Conclusions: This model provides a cohesive view of MOOCs’ acceptance in higher educational institutions, and it helps to identify potential research opportunities in this area. (6) Implications: Results from MASEM offer managerial guidance for the effective implementation of MOOCs and provide directions for further research, to augment current knowledge of MOOCs’ adoption, by higher education institutions.

Agility and future readiness are fundamental 21st-century skills that could guide university students globally to thriving and benefiting from a VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—world. The ability to respond flexibly, make informed decisions, and adapt to rapid change reflects future-readiness capabilities. However, little is known about the empirical role of the university curriculum, learning ecosystem, and learning experience as perceived by university students in developing these skills. Therefore, we analysed data collected from 209 Malaysian university students from 16 universities to assess whether these three pertinent factors impact the students’ learning agility and determine how well learning agility predicts learners’ future readiness. The present study empirically assessed a theoretical model using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The analysis supported all the hypotheses proposed in this study, which implies that the extended model could effectively predict learners’ agility and future readiness. The results revealed that the university learning experience, ecosystem, and curriculum positively, directly, and significantly affected learning agility and future readiness. Furthermore, the findings showed that student agility significantly mediated the relationships between the student learning experience, university learning ecosystem, and curriculum and student future readiness. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of a future-ready education nurtured by a vibrant learning ecosystem that delivers lasting values and experiences for students and communities to appreciate the opportunities for a challenging yet exciting future offered by a VUCA environment. The established empirical model describing the empirical interplays between these correlates could, in turn, aid better evidence-based policy making in higher education.

HRMARS is well established journal publisher based in Pakistan. It is publishing prominent journals in social sciences since 2011.

(1) Background: Social capital linking, bridging, and bonding have become fascinating options for sustainable development in rural Malaysia. (2) Objective: The aims of this research were (i) to evaluate how leadership styles affect the social capital in rural Malaysia, and (ii) to examine the moderating role of motivation in enhancing these relationships. (3) Methods: The researchers utilized a quantitative approach to analyze data collected through a self-administered survey involving 190 members of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) in Malaysia. The concept of “leadership quality” was measured based on transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership, while “motivations” cover its extrinsic and intrinsic components. The data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. (4) Results: The findings reveal that transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership types are essential to increase social capital in rural Malaysia. It may therefore be suggested that community leadership and its effective styles should be nurtured within the rural community to address more complex problems regarding social capital development. On top of that, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations also appeared to be significant moderating factors in determining social capital development in rural Malaysia. (5) Conclusions: Based on the results, community leaders with different leadership styles may offer better social benefits to the rural community by using various incentives to engage rural residents in facilitating social activities. (6) Policy recommendations: This study suggests further implications for academics and policy makers focused on social capital for sustainable rural development in Malaysia.

Many argue that the changing nature of research universities globally is making the academic profession demanding. Academics are expected to do more, produce more, and 'justify their existence' at their respective universities often in the form of outcomes-based performance measures that are historically foreign to the academic profession. At the same time, they may have to engage in volunteerism outside the academy. Despite much existing research on volunteerism within the context of higher education, a few studies have been conducted on volunteerism among senior academics in non-Western countries, in an attempt to understand how academics balance these pluralistic roles and responsibilities, and the personal philosophy behind their ongoing engagement in volunteerism. To address this gap, this study explored the personal volunteerism philosophies of university professors from a leading research university in Malaysia. Using a purposeful sampling approach, the authors conducted in-depth, semistructured qualitative interviews with seven professors from different academic departments who have regular engagement in volunteering activities beyond their internal academic obligations. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. From the analysis, three factors were found to contribute to the formulation of the personal philosophies about volunteerism. These were: (a) individual orientation and exposure; (b) religious beliefs; and (c) work related identities. Volunteerism was found to foster recognition for academics in their related field of expertise. The study concludes with suggestions for enhancing the volunteerism experiences of academics and implications for future research.