Facilitating Learning via AMIT (Aplikasi Mudah Istilah Teknikal) in Civil Engineering Course: Users’ Perception

This chapter presents users’ perception on the use of a mobile application of bilingual technical glossary called, AMIT (Aplikasi Mudah Istilah Teknikal). The development of this application is motivated by the need of the technical students in Malaysia to comprehend the terminology learned in English in their mother tongue (in this case, Bahasa Malaysia). This is because of failure to correctly understand a certain terminology or concept, may result in failure to find solution to any related problem in the field. However, the only bilingual reference published by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the country’s Literary Agency) specifically in the engineering field is available in hardcopy, bulky and outdated version. With the fast technological development nowadays, one of the most convenient ways to retrieve information is through apps software. However, to date, the available electronic dictionary apps specifically for engineering terminology are all in English. Thus, AMIT is presented as a solution to the problem. 30 undergraduates of an engineering course in a public university in Malaysia were chosen to test the AMIT application in class. Although the development of the application is still at its infant stage, the users’ acceptance has been overwhelming. Using self-evaluated questionnaire to evaluate users’ perception towards AMIT’s facilitative role in the learning process, the findings indicate that most of the respondents perceived the application as a convenient, practical and quick source of reference compared to the conventional, hardcopy terminology book. AMIT is also valued in terms of its mobility and compatibility for any smartphones, making it usable as an education tool and digital content for engineering students. Further works for AMIT are also recommended such as making it more interactive with pictures and enhanced examples and quizzes.