Engineering Education at the Academy of Malaysia: The Challenges Ahead

Jowati Juhary

[presented at ICEET2 Kuwait 2007]

The Military Academy of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur provides an undergraduate education to the future officers of the Malaysian Armed Forces. The academy is considered an elite academy because it is the only tertiary military institution in Malaysia. The main curriculum at the academy is engineering education; there are seven engineering degrees offered at the academy. This paper attempts to explore and analyse the best learning and teaching practice for the academy’s engineering curriculum. In so doing, the history of the academy and its importance to the country is examined, together with the current practices of teaching cadets. This paper uses the United States Military Academy West Point as a benchmark for the engineering curriculum. Thus, in benchmarking West Point, the academy in Malaysia needs to consider the most suitable approach to its learning and teaching of engineering programmes. At present, the lack of facilities and engineering education models in the Malaysian academy have hindered an effective learning and teaching practice. At the end of the paper, two implications are highlighted.