STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AT PRE-UNIVERSITY LEVEL: DOES IT INFLUENCE THE ACHIEVEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY?

At the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), a poor level of Mathematics achievement among the first-year students enrolling in the engineering course is a cause for concern to the faculty. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyse the correlation and association between students' achievement in the subject of Mathematics during the preuniversity level and in their first year at the UKM. As many as 181 first year students for the 2012/2013 session are involved in this study. Students' Mathematics results in the pre-university and their Vector Calculus result in the first semester of their first year were compared. Their educational background was also recorded and grouped. The study shows that there is a weak correlation and association between Mathematics results of the pre-university students with their Vector Calculus results in the first semester