Appropriate Indicators for Evaluating the Competency of Cooperative Education Students in Civil Engineering

Abstract

The purposes of this research was to 1) develop the appropriate indicators for evaluating the competency of cooperative education students in civil engineering on hypothesis model with empirical data and 2) test the construct validity of the measurement model of cooperative education student in civil engineering. The sample consisted of 410 subjects comprised 326 supervisors of King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok student and 84 supervisors of Suranaree University of Technology student. The research instrument was supervisor expectation questionnaires. Data were analyzed by means, standard deviation, frequency, correlation coefficient and the goodness fit from confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated that 1) the 30 quality indicators were developed which covered 3 main component, namely, the professional knowledge and skill component with 13 indicators, the practical knowledge and skill component with 7 indicators, and the attribute component with 10 indicators. Ranging from the highest standardized factor loading value to the lowest, they were from .94 to .73 respectively: practical knowledge and skill, attribute, and professional knowledge and skill. The standardized factor loading value were .94, .89, and .73 respectively and 2) the construct validity of models was consistent with empirical data, with chi-square goodness of fit test at 343.33 with 352 degrees of freedom; p=0.064; Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) = 0.94; Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) = 0.92; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.99; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.04, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.02 with statistically significant at p = .05