Computing and communication technology has had a significant impact on the engineering education system. This technology has improved online and collaborative learning. Besides that, it improves the students learning experiences. One of the distinguishing elements of engineering education is the laboratory requirement. In this paper, we discuss the current trends and key issues in virtual laboratories-simulation environment laboratories and remote laboratories via the Internet. ß

As developed and developing countries move towards greater technological development in the 21st century, the need for engineers has increased substantially. Japan is facing the dilemma of insufficient engineers; therefore, the country has to rely on foreign workers. This problem may be resolved if there is a continuous effort to increase the number of women engineers, who currently represent only 1%-2% of engineers in Japan. In this study, the satisfaction level of the learning experience of Japanese female engineering students was measured to determine its relationship with the students' intention to choose engineering as their profession. Socio-cultural influences on the respondents' intentions to pursue careers in the field were also studied. The findings revealed that learning experience was directly related to female students' intention to pursue their career in engineering whereas socio-cultural values of a society have strong influences on students' motivation to pursue careers in engineering in general. Additionally, some strategies are proposed to attract young girls to pursue engineering courses, as well as for current female engineering students to continue their studies and choose professions in the field as their career.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model which is aimed at assisting end-users, i.e. construction practitioners who are without a proper legal background for effective administration of construction contracts, to enable them to make correct interpretations and decisions in dealing with vast amount of legal information. Design/methodology/approach -This study proposes the application of data warehouse technology in the contract administration process of the construction industry. Upon identification of a comprehensive list of problems associated with construction contracts based on the feedback from 12 reputed experts in the construction industry, a conceptual model is developed using a data flow diagram. Findings -The results show that data warehouse technology is feasible and practical to the construction practitioners in the contract administration process. Research limitations/implications -This research focuses only on the development of a conceptual model and thus the practicability aspect of the model is a major concern. As such, the resulting practical implications are limited and are constrained only to the construction industry in Malaysia, raising the question of generalizability of the proposed model, as well as across different industries and countries. Practical implications -It is posited that the proposed conceptual model, when implemented, would enable construction practitioners to administer construction contracts with better clarity and accuracy, so that interpretation errors and disputes can be mitigated. This will facilitate the development of harmonious working relationships. Originality/value -The application of data warehouse technology in contract administration is rather new in the construction industry. The conceptual model thus offers a more effective and proactive approach in construction contract administration towards dispute resolution and/or prevention.

This paper reports the findings of the perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable development among Malaysian undergraduates. The study was carried out involving 154 undergraduates from five universities in Malaysia. This research was conducted based on a survey whereby the respondents were given a questionnaire to gauge their perception and attitude towards sustainable development. The output of the analyses showed that the respondents have positive perceptions and attitudes towards all sustainability dimensions—environmental, economic, and social—except for economic and social bound issues. These findings suggest that the educators who are involved in sustainable development education need to focus on economic and social bound aspects. Overall, the findings showed that the sustainable development education in higher education institutions has cultivated an appropriate sense of responsibility towards sustainability among their undergraduate students. As such, this investigation serves as a cornerstone to which the current paradigm of sustainable development education can be examined for further improvement by related stakeholders.

Over the years, rapid development in computer technology has engendered simulation-based laboratory (lab) in addition to the traditional hands-on (physical) lab. Many higher education institutions adopt simulation lab, replacing some existing physical lab experiments. The creation of new systems for conducting engineering lab activities has raised concerns among educators on the merits and shortcomings of both physical and simulation labs; at the same time, many arguments have been raised on the differences of both labs. Investigating the effectiveness of both labs is complicated, as there are multiple factors that should be considered. In view of this challenge, a study on students' perspectives on their experience related to key aspects on engineering laboratory exercise was conducted. In this study, the Visual Auditory Read and Kinetic model was utilised to measure the students' cognitive styles. The investigation was done through a survey among participants from Multimedia University, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there are significant differences for most of the aspects in physical and simulation labs.

ABSTRACT:Computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) via online is an emerging paradigm of educational technology where people can learn together with the help of computer and its related applications. CSCL has become an important and appealing mode of learning across disciplines including engineering. Teamwork is one of the most important elements in engineering profession and collaborative learning is a natural choice for engineering education since it cultivates team among students. This study aims to better understand the adoption of CSCL using Google Docs among engineering students and its relationship with students' attitude toward computer for learning, prior experience of using CSCL tool-Google Docs-and students' different learning styles. The outcomes of this investigation suggest that students' attitude toward computer for learning and prior experience have a significant relationship with the students' adoption of CSCL. At the same time, students' different learning styles did not have any impact on the adoption of CSCL in their learning process. ß 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:352-362, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae;

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Simulation-based laboratory in engineering education become an important and appealing mode of laboratory replacing highly complex physical laboratory. The attitude of the students towards computers and experience of using the computers are very important factors that may affect the students' adoption of simulationbased laboratory. In addition to those factors, prior knowledge and preferences on the engineering simulation software are also significant determinants that may influence the adoption of simulation lab exercise among the students. At the same time, different learning styles (cognitive) may affect how a student performs in different lab settings. Many researches have been conducted investigating the elements involved in adoption of computer applications but less work has been done looking into those elements in adoption of simulation lab exercise among engineering students. This research brings new sight in engineering education specifically in simulationbased laboratory. In this article, we investigate the relationship between students' attitude towards computer, experience in computer usage, students' preferences and prior knowledge on simulation software, students' cognitive style and adoption of the simulation lab exercise among Electronics-Telecommunications engineering students of Multimedia University, Malaysia. A conceptual model was designed to study the correlations among the variables in the model. The findings from the investigation indicated that all the factors-variables-have positive and significant relationships with the adoption of simulation lab exercise among the respondents in this study expect for the students' attitude towards computer and their preference of using engineering simulation software. Different cognitive styles among the students did not have any effects on their attitude towards computer and adoption to simulation-based laboratory except for the kinesthetic style on adoption to simulation lab. ß