Implementation of project based learning for first year civil engineering student at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Implementation of Project Based Learning (PtBL) in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as part of Outcome Based Education (OBE) framework have faced various challenges (i.e revamp on the undergraduate co-curricullum, required high commitments from academicians & faculty and facilities to cater PtBL activities). This paper discusses the effectiveness of PtBL teaching method in an effort to develop the students’ soft skills in tandem with the technical or professional competencies; and problems, challenges and potential improvement in the course. The Survey Camp course which is offered at year one of a four years civil engineering degree programme in the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FKA), UTM was chosen for this study. It is a ten days fieldwork in which the students will carry out an engineering survey project from field to finish in groups of five to six students supervised by the academic staff. Assessment of the technical aspects was based on the students ability to meet the minimum engineering surveying’s standard whereas the assesment of soft skills was conducted during various sessions of the survey projects. Survey questionaires were given at the beginning and the end of the course as part of evaluation of the course effectiveness. The research has found that the technical aspects were achievable though with lesser degree for the engineering design. However, on the soft skills, students demonstrated an overall improvement of competency but it was difficult to determine the levels for the average students while the best and poor performers were easily observed