A Malaysian Outcome-based Engineering Education Model

Malaysia is currently a provisional member of the Washington Accord and the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) in the country is shifting its paradigm to an outcome-based approach instead of being prescriptive in the assessment. Although the EAC’s 1999 published manual listed the generic attributes for graduates, little effort was made to ensure engineering schools appreciate and implement it. The prescriptive mode of evaluation continued until recently where engineering schools are expected to describe their programmes according to the outcome-based mode. In 2000, the Malaysian Engineering Education Model (MEEM) also paved the way for engineering schools to adopt outcome-based education but the spirit of MEEM was not fully comprehended and there was no compulsion to adhere to the recommendations. Since early 2004 the interest in Outcome-Based Education (OBE) began to emerge with several engineering education providers leading the way. This paper enunciates the MEEM and the processes leading to an outcome based engineering education. In addition, a case history of curriculum development at the Department of Civil Engineering of Universiti Putra Malaysia is cited.