Preliminary study to determine the current status of engineering programmes at the Malaysian Public Universities

Abstract

This paper reports the process involved in the development of a questionnaire used to gather information on the status quo of curriculum for engineering programmes at several Malaysian public universities. The information gathered through the administration of the questionnaire will be utilized in formulating recommendations for future directions in engineering education in Malaysia. Specifically, the items of the questionnaire were developed to elicit answers to the questions of whether engineering programmes at the Malaysian public universities prepare students to solve real world engineering problems. Building on the concept of constructive alignment, the initial pool of 12 items focused on the alignment of learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities as well as the assessment implemented within the tertiary engineering curriculum. Three of the items were questions related to the Programme Outcomes which included its documentation, implementation and evaluation process. The remaining eight items were questions on the nature of teaching and learning approaches, as well as assessment, which support the incorporation of real world problems into the engineering courses across the curriculum. A preliminary study was conducted to confirm the usefulness of the initial questionnaire in order to draw the information needed. Eleven engineering faculties from five public universities served as the respondents of this study. Initial information was gathered from responses provided by eighteen programme coordinators from these faculties. The responses can be categorised into four themes namely documentation of programme outcomes, implementation, understanding of the teaching & learning methods, and alignment of assessment and programme outcomes. From the pattern of responses, it is concluded that the designed questionnaire has potential to generate insights into the current teaching and learning practices in the engineering programmes at the Malaysian public universities.