Assessing The Industrial Training Items for Muamalat Students Using Rasch Measurement Model

Abstract

Industrial Training is one of the components of a program curriculum that must be completed by students of Public Universities in Malaysia before being awarded a Bachelor’s degree. Over 16 weeks, students are exposed to knowledge and skills in a real work environment in preparation for graduation. This includes 57 students from Bachelor of Muamalat, the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, where their achievements are assessed by their employers. The objective of this paper is to analyze the performance of the students who participated in one of these industrial trainings. They are assessed on three aspects – their cognitive ability, skills, and work attitude – using 18 items of the 5-Point Likert Scale instrument. Data obtained were taken from a pre-designed questionnaire in addition to the study of reference documents. The data were then analyzed using inductive and deductive descriptive methods, as well as the Rasch Measurement Model. Data analysis is done using three criteria: the value of reliability, separation of items, and respondents as the Persons-items Distribution Map (PIDM). Research findings show that the instrument has a high reliability (person = 0.92; item = 0.79) with a separation value of person = 3.30 good, but vice versa for item = 1.94. Results show that 36 (63.2%) students were free and excellent; they were above the mean person (+3.79logit). 10 (17.5%) students were considered extreme persons as they were rated very excellently by the industrial supervisors. On the opposite side, there were two (3.5%) students who were rated weak because they were below the minimum item (-1.33logit). The findings of this study will help the industry to design a more comprehensive employee training system in the future, while the university can improve the provision of education that meets the needs of the current job market.