EVALUATION OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES: CREATING A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Abstract

The Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) requires the implementation of an outcome-based education (OBE) approach in all engineering programs in Malaysia, emphasizing the evaluation of course learning outcomes (CLOs). The student learning outcome for Solid Waste Management has been assessed as it is one of the courses taught in Civil Engineering Programme. In Malaysia, solid waste management is an important part of engineering education because of its direct impact on environmental sustainability and public health. The course covers the elements involved in solid waste management, implementing and evaluating efficient, sustainable and cost-effective waste management systems. This study evaluates the attainment of specified CLOs for a solid waste management course; eligible to be taken by all civil engineering students in a private university in Malaysia. The three main CLOs were evaluated based on curriculum alignment with Program Outcomes (PO) and Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) as documented in the EAC Self-Assessment Report. Attainment of these outcomes was measured by student performance on formative and summative assessments, particularly CLO1, CLO2 and CLO2. Semester 32334 results showed the highest overall achievement in CLO, while CLO1 showed the lowest achievement, ranging from 39.4% to 55.8%. Other CLOs achieved significantly higher rates, ranging from 72 percent to 95.9 percent. These findings highlight the need to refine targeted instructional strategies to improve learning outcomes in future offerings of the course.