THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF STUDENTS OF THE CIVIL AND STRUCTURE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

This paper discusses the effectiveness of the industrial training from the perspective of students who have undergone 12 weeks of industrial training. A questionnaire was distributed to 47 Third Year students at the Civil and Structural Engineering Department (JKAS), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The sample comprise of 21 male and 26 female students. The questionnaire consists of three parameters, namely students' knowledge, skills, and attitude towards industrial training. These parameters were identified as three domains of educational activities based on Bloom's Taxanomy. Students were required to answer 23 questions to assess their perception before and after undergoing industrial training. The Likert scale used in the questionnaire comprises of a one to five level of satisfaction scale (1 = not at all satisfied to 5 = extremely satisfied). The Winstep and Microsoft Excel software was used to analyse the survey. Winstep was used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the questions, while Microsoft Excel was used to assess the effectiveness of the industrial training from students' perspective, namely whether their perception has improved, remain unchanged, or decreased. The Rasch Model analysis showed that the questionnaire is reliable and valid. Fifty percent of the students said that industrial training had increased their knowledge and skills, while 39 percent of the students admitted that their attitude remain unchanged after completing their industrial training. Findings on knowledge and experience acquired by the students during industrial training could serve as guidance when planning for a better career in the future as well as to the industrial training programme.