The Relationships of Spatial Experience, Previous Mathematics Achievement, and Gender with Perceived Ability in Learning Engineering Drawing
Author: Rafi, Ahmad
Date: 2007-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gender Differences,Mathematics Achievement,Problem Solving,Standards,Educational Change,Critical Thinking,Self Efficacy,Engineering Education,Secondary School Students,Foreign Countries,Spatial Ability,Prior Learning,High Achievement,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Correlation,Hypothesis Testing,Prediction,Drafting,Multiple Regression Analysis,Predictor Variables

Taking advantage of the convergence of technology and new insights of teaching and learning, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia has implemented a new educational reform primarily to revise the current curriculum, establish new learning standards, and incorporate the use of technology as an integral part of the learning process. This new educational reform suggests more of a focus on critical-thinking processes, problem solving, and student assessment deemed critical in academic curricula. The purpose of this research was to examine factors that may influence students' perceived ability or self-efficacy to learn Engineering Drawing at the foundation year, namely in the Form Four level of the Malaysian secondary schools. The school system in Malaysia consists of primary and secondary levels. The Engineering Drawing course covers a two-year period, with fundamental concepts, theories, and techniques covered during the first year and advanced topics covered during the second year (11th grade). Several factors have been identified to be critical in shaping students' perceived ability to learn the subject matter. Three hypotheses were formulated from prior research: (1) High spatial experience students will have higher perceived ability than low spatial experience students to learn Engineering Drawing; (2) High mathematics achievers will have higher perceived ability than low mathematics achievers to learn Engineering Drawing; and (3) Male students will have higher perceived ability than female students to learn Engineering Drawing. In addition to the above hypotheses, the study also sought to identify the factor(s) among the three variables that may have a strong predictive power to explain the variation in the perceived ability of students when learning the subject. A total of two hundred and twenty four (224) students, including 75 females and 149 males of Form Four level (10th graders) taking the Engineering Drawing course at the foundation year participated in the study. This study employed a quantitative survey approach using two questionnaires. Findings from the study have provided several insights concerning the perceived ability of students to learn the subject matter of engineering drawing. Spatial experience was found to be a significant factor, having a substantial relationship with students' perceived ability to learn Engineering Drawing for all four categories of topics, thus confirming the first hypothesis of the study. Students with more spatial experience perceive that they will be able to learn the content of the course. Prior mathematics achievement was found to have a weak relationship in predicting students' perceptions on their ability to learn Engineering Drawing content overall. Thus the second hypothesis was only weakly supported. The notion that males would have a higher perception about their success in Engineering Drawing, the third hypothesis, was not supported. Females were found to have a higher perception than males about learning the topics, especially the low spatial content group.