Exploring the Issues in 'On the Job Training' (OJT) Assessment Rubric for Construction Technology Diploma in Malaysian Vocational College

On the job training (OJT) is a pre-requisite requirement for Construction Technology Diploma students to graduate in the Malaysian Vocational College system. The implementation of OJT comprises of assessment processes in assessing students’ hands-on performance which uses rubric as an assessment tool.  However, based on the literature and documents analysis, it has been identified that the current OJT (organization) assessment rubric is still inadequate in assessing students’ competency.  The current OJT (organization) assessment rubric is not detailed to the job scope of construction site supervisor.  It has been observed that the OJT assessment only uses a single rubric to assessed all diploma programs in the Vocational College.  In addition, the current OJT (Organization) assessment rubric is focusing more on the soft skills elements which primarily supposed to gauge more on the hands-on competency of the students.  Another issue that has been identified in OJT assessment rubric is that this rubric does not provide descriptors for each of the assessment items according to the scale.  As a result, the OJT supervisor from the organization/company does not have clear guidance in assessing students’ competency.  Therefore, this research suggests that the OJT (Organization) assessment rubric for Construction Technology Diploma should improve on the technical skills elements in order to gauge the competency of construction technology graduates.  Furthermore, new descriptors for each technical and soft skills elements need to be identified in order to develop a comprehensive OJT assessment rubric for the Construction Technology Diploma.