The shift culture in engineering education : Are we ready? / Asmidar Alias and Norshariza Mohamad Bhkari

The culture in engineering education needs to be shifted from the
conventional method to a more effective one. Graduates cannot fulfill
requirements from industry because they lack of soft skills and this is one
of the unemployment issues in Malaysia recently. A shift culture is,
therefore, needed to improve curriculum in higher learning institutions.
Thus, the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is introduced in engineering
programmes as an initiative pilot study solicited by Ministry of Higher
Education (MOHE). This paper discusses the need of change affected by
the programme accreditation, needs from the industry and Continual
Quality Improvement (CQI). The paper also focuses on the programme
administration. Several actions have been taken by the Faculty of Civil
Engineering (FCE), UiTM towards the implementation of OBE. These
include the awareness of the changes from all engineering education
parties, the sharing of UiTM experiences, and the practice on developing
skills and standardisation. A few recommendations have been proposed
such as the need of experts, details for student qualification and the need
of regular discussions among lecturers to enable the transition of culture
shift embraced in harmony.