Exploring research activities: the engineering students' experience

Abstract

University students are constantly exposed and challenged to do various academic exercises that would prepare them for their academic excellence and future professional endeavor. The demand to equip these future professionals with skills that would enable them to meet the expectations of the university and later the industries is further aggravated when special requirements will have to be met before any program is accepted and recognised by special bodies such as the Malaysian Board of Engineers or the quality assurance standards set by the Ministry of Higher Education. For that reason, the teaching and learning process at the university has shifted from the common traditional lecture style to a more active form of learning. Therefore, knowledge is no longer acquired just by attending lectures, conducting laboratory experiments and by doing specific assignments for subject specific courses. Instead, it is also gained through hands-on learning that exposes and challenges students to use specific knowledge together with other soft skills such as problem solving, team working and communication.