T.K. Tee, N. Abd Nasir, M. H. Mohd Noor, N. Azid, Z. Hanapi, Sukardi, M.C. Wu
The issue of unemployment has become one of the global problems, especially in developing countries. This is due to employers desperately tend to recruit workers with good generic skills. Graduates are lack of command on creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in the workplace. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the pattern and relationship of thinking styles and levels of inventive problem-solving skills among technical and engineering students. The study was conducted using a quantitative approach with a survey research design in which two sets of test were used. The instruments were distributed to UTHM students with a total of 331 samples across five faculties. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially to identify the students' thinking style, the level of problem-solving skills, and the relationship between thinking styles and inventive problem-solving skills. The findings show that the majority of the samples practice critical thinking style across faculties and gender. On the other hand, findings also show that the majority of samples have a moderate level in inventive problem-solving skills across faculties and gender. The research results also indicate that there are no significant differences in thinking styles and levels of inventive problem-solving skills across faculties and gender. Finally, the research shows that there is a weak relationship between thinking styles and inventive problem-solving skills among the samples. Researchers recommend that further research should be carried out on intervention to achieve a balanced thinking style and to acquire better problem-solving skills. © 2023 Author(s).
Institute of Excellent Teachers and Leaders in Education, Excellent Digital Curriculum: TVET Future Learning Consortium, School of Education, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia; Institute of Excellent Teachers and Leaders in Education, Excellent Digital Curriculum: TVET Future Learning Consortium, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Johor, Malaysia; Malaysia Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (MyRIVET), Johor, 86400, Malaysia; Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Johor, 86400, Malaysia; School of Education, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, 06010, Malaysia; Faculty of Technical and Vocational, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Perak, 35900, Malaysia; Fakultas Teknik, Universitas Negeri Padang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia; School of Humanistic and Applied Science, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Douliu City, Taiwan
