The objective of this study is to improve the development of affective domain among students with the introduction of the Open-Ended Laboratory (OEL). This enables students to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data in a groups. By conducting the laboratory exercises in a group, students shall develop the ability to function effectively as a leader, as well as an effective team member. The present paper describes the assessment of the affective domain in OEL of Structural and Material Laboratory course for Diploma Program. This study involved a group of second-year students of Diploma of Civil Engineering for March-July 2019 semester who enrolled in the Structural and Material Laboratory course. There were ten groups involvesd in this study with the total number of 233 students; 98 male and 135 female.The attainment of affective domains among students in the evaluation rubrics was investigated in discovering the effectiveness of the course assessment. Not many differences in affective domain attainment between genders are reported; females shows better performance in punctuality and discipline attributes as compared to males. The outcome of this study is to observe that the OEL approach creates positive impacts in developing student generic skills such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. This attribute is expected by the industry, thus this also contributes to the overall students’ learning experience.

The attainment of program outcomes for Solid Mechanic course offered to the Diploma in Civil Engineering students is evaluated. It was found that most of the students were incapable to demonstrate graduate attributes which applying knowledge of mathematics, natural science and engineering fundamentals and the ability to analyse engineering problems. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of physics and maths scores on the students’ performance of solid mechanics. Analysis of the previous results in physics and maths shows that there is a clear link between students’ fundamentals knowledge and the understanding of solid mechanics. Meanwhile, this study also aims to find out the root causes that led to the high failure rate of solid mechanics. A quantitative method was employed and a total of 180 students responded to the survey. Results of survey indicate that most of the students perceived that they had limited time to gain deep understanding of the course and they could not visualise the complex problems in solid mechanics. Majority of the students admitted that they did not manage to solve all questions during their final exam, and they were indeed not well prepared for it. Hence, the problem of high failure rate is feasible to be solved provided both lecturers and students making efforts in striving the success of this course.      Keywords: Solid mechanics, Program outcomes, Failure rate, Problem solving, Applying knowledge

In the sphere of education, testing and enhancing students' comprehension is not a simple process. This is mirrored in the assessment results, where particular courses have a high failure rate. On the UiTM system, the high failure rate is defined as the proportion of students who fail a subject that exceeds the threshold of 25 percent. Therefore, topics exceeding this limit are deemed incapable of meeting the Academic Quality UiTM objective. In this study, Basic Hydraulic courses is chosen to be a pilot study as the failure rate is high for few semesters. A creative strategy and method of teaching and learning is being proposed to increase students' understanding of the course's content as to overcome the related issue. A smartphone application known as Sahabat Maya Pelajar (SMa2P) has been introduced and integrated into the teaching and learning process. According to the examination records of the Basic Hydraulics course at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at UiTM Johor, the failure rate of this course is decrease. This is shown by comparing results between semesters of 20204 and 20212 which indicate the course failure rate decreased by 22% in the latter semester. Therefore, it is crucial to improve students' performance and comprehension by using digital tools as this platform able to incorporate interactive teaching approaches into classroom activities through smartphone application.

The COVID-19 disease has created the largest disruption in human history, affecting all sectors especially educational systems. Closure of schools, universities, and other educational premises due to pandemic has forced higher education and researchers to create a new alternative way on how to alleviate this problem. E-learning and online instructions is one of the most notable methods that is highly recommended during this pandemic. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the experiences and challenges in learning Civil Engineering Materials (CEM) during COVID-19 pandemic among Civil Engineering Studies (CES). This quantitative study data was conducted to 159 students who enrolled in the CEM course. The student's experiences and challenges while undergoing online learning sessions and how the students can adapt to the CEM course with the new learning environment is the main concern of this study. The result showed that most of the students had a variety of problems such as internet access, discomfort, and inappropriate places to complete the required assessment. Whilst facing the risk of loss of enthusiasm in learning, lack of focus and lack of communication skills between the teaching staff and friends.

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