PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURES, BASIC MATHEMATICS SKILLS AND

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AMONG QUANTITY SURVEYING

UNDERGRADUATES

RAWIAH BINTI ABDUL RAHMAN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/07)

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT PAPER AND

COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name : RAWIAH BINTI ABDUL RAHMAN

Date of birth : 24th SEPTEMBER 1994

Title : PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURES, BASIC MATHEMATICS

SKILLS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A STUDY

AMONG QUANTITY SURVEYING UNDERGRADUATES

Academic Session : 2016/2017

I declare that this thesis is classified as:

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official

Secret Act 1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the

organisation where research was done)*

√ OPEN ACCESS I agree that my thesis to be published as online open

access (full text)

I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows:

1. The thesis is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for

the purpose of research only.

3. The Library has the right to make copies of the thesis for academic

exchange.

Certified by:

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF

SUPERVISOR

940924-14-5542 DR FARA DIVA MUSTAPA

(NEW IC NO. /PASSPORT NO.) NAME OF SUPERVISOR

Date : Date :

NOTES :* If the thesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the

letter from the organization with period and reasons for confidentiality or

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SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION

“I/We* hereby declare that I/We* have read this thesis and in my/our*

opinion this thesis is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the

award of the degree of Bachelor of Quantity Surveying.”

Signature : ....................................................

Name of Supervisor I : DR FARA DIVA MUSTAPA

Date : ....................................................

Signature : ....................................................

Name of Supervisor II : ASSOC. PROF. SR. DR. ZAKARIA

MOHD YUSOF

Date : ....................................................

* Delete as necessary

PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURES, BASIC MATHEMATICS SKILLS AND

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AMONG QUANTITY SURVEYING

UNDERGRADUATES

RAWIAH BINTI ABDUL RAHMAN

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the awards of the degree of

Bachelor of Quantity Surveying

Faculty of Built Environment

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JUNE 2017

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RAWIAH BINTI ABDUL RAHMAN

DECLARATION

I declare that this thesis entitled “Principles of Structures, Basic Mathematics

Skills and Academic Performance: A Study among Quantity Surveying

Undergraduates” is the result of my own research except as cited in the

references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not

concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature : ....................................................

Name : ....................................................

Date : ....................................................

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DEDICATION

No matter where you go in life, some things from the past should always be taken

with you on your journey, in hopes that it will keep you grounded and remind you of

your good memories growing up while making new memories together

-V.Y-

Thank you guys for everything…

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to express my highest gratitude to those

who have been with me, helping me throughout my final year conducting this research.

I would not have been able to finish this research if it is not for various parties that

showed me their greatest support, sacrifices and contributions.

My utmost thanks and sincere gratitude go to my Supervisor, Dr Fara Diva

Mustapa for sparing out her time in order to help and guide me to complete this

research. She has been very helpful and supportive since day one she became my

supervisor. There are just no other words to say how indebted I am to her.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their endless supports and

dedication in helping me mentally to complete this research. Thank you all.

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ABSTRACT

Principles of Structures course designed for quantity surveying students

to appreciate the calculations for structural frame of any particular buildings or project

and the cost consequences derived from the structural design. A pilot study undertaken

among Quantity Surveying students showed that this course has been considered as

one of those ‘killer subject’ in quantity surveying degree. Interestingly, it was found

that there is a direct correlation between having a high degree mathematics anxiety

with poor performance particularly in mathematics related subjects. Hence, this

research aim to study whether there is a similar pattern in quantity surveying students

especially in Principles of Structures course where it has been associated with high

failure rate. Also, to study such anxiety exists among quantity surveying students and

the impacts to their overall study performance. The respondents were current active

quantity surveying students from second year until final year. Triangulation method

has been adopted in order to collect the primary data and it was analysed using

frequency analysis, mean analysis, correlation using SPSS version 23.0. The

correlation analysis shows that background of study in secondary school is negatively

correlated with Mathematics result in SPM/STPM as well as Principles of Structures

Course. However, mathematics anxiety was found to correlate with both Mathematics

result in SPM/STPM and Principles of Structures result. The average mean score

showed that second year students has the highest mean score of mathematics anxiety

while final year students have the highest for Principles of Structures Course. Through

this finding, it will provide Department of Quantity Surveying a realistic evidence of

students’ anxiety towards Principles of Structures and give the lecturers of Principles

of Structures the upper hand to comprehend with their students’ characteristics in

which will influence their study performance. By assessing these factors, it will help

lecturers to come up with better alternatives to restructure teaching styles and learning

activities of this course.

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ABSTRAK

Kursus Prinsip Struktur direka bagi pelajar ukur bahan menghargai

pengiraan rangka struktur sesebuah bangunan atau projek dan kesan kos yang

diperoleh daripada reka bentuk struktur tersebut. Menariknya, terdapat hubungan

langsung antara tahap kebimbangan matematik yang tinggi dengan prestasi yang

lemah terutamanya dalam mata pelajaran yang melibatkan matematik. Oleh itu, kajian

ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji sekiranya terdapat corak yang sama dalam kalangan

pelajar ukur bahan terutama bagi kursus Prinsip Struktur yang telah dikaitkan dengan

kadar kegagalan yang tinggi. Di samping itu, kajian ini turut mengkaji sekiranya

kebimbangan itu wujud di kalangan pelajar ukur bahan dan impak kepada prestasi

pelajaran mereka secara keseluruhan. Responden bagi kajian ini adalah pelajar ukur

bahan dari tahun kedua hingga tahun akhir. Kaedah triangulasi telah digunakan dalam

usaha untuk mengumpul data primer seterusnya dianalisis menggunakan analisis

frekuensi, analisis min dan korelasi menggunakan perisian SPSS versi 23.0. Analisis

korelasi menunjukkan bahawa hubungan negatif antara latar belakang pengajian di

sekolah menengah dengan keputusan Matematik dalam SPM / STPM serta Prinsip

Struktur. Walau bagaimanapun, kebimbangan matematik didapati mempunyai kaitan

dengan kedua-dua mata pelajaran Matematik keputusan dalam SPM / STPM dan

Prinsip Struktur. Purata skor min telah menunjukkan bahawa pelajar tahun dua

mempunyai skor min yang tertinggi bagi kebimbangan matematik manakala pelajar

tahun akhir mempunyai skor min tertinggi bagi Prinsip Struktur. Melalui dapatan

kajian ini, ia akan memberikan Jabatan Ukur Bahan bukti realistik mengenai

kebimbangan pelajar terhadap Prinsip Struktur dan memberi pensyarah Prinsip

Struktur kelebihan untuk memahami ciri-ciri pelajar mereka yang akan mempengaruhi

prestasi pengajian. Dengan menilai faktor-faktor ini, ia akan membantu pensyarah

untuk memikirkan alternatif yang lebih baik dalam menyusun semula gaya pengajaran

dan pembelajaran bagi kursus ini.

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