DETERMINATION OF ATTITUDES AND QUALIFICATIONS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS FOR USE OF PACKAGE PROGRAM

Abstract

It is extremely important for candidate engineers of today to be raised as equipped engineers who have grasped the importance of technology throughout their education life and who use it effectively and efficiently, are aware of the responsibilities brought by their profession, can generate practical and analytical solutions when faced with problems, constantly follow the developments in their professional field, are aware of lifelong learning, can apply their knowledge acquired during their academic life to life, and briefly who can fulfill the requirements of the age of technology. In a sense, candidate engineers need to have the knowledge, skills and self-confidence to effectively use technology during the education process so that they will be able to fulfill all the aforementioned requirements. In this context, in terms of professional development, it is important for candidate engineers to have an insight about computer software related to their professional fields and improve themselves continuously in this regard. By the courtesy of computer software packages, which have developed rapidly in recent years, design and analysis of an engineering system can be done by software packages based on theoretical principles on the basis of standards and regulations. In this context, the fact that the engineer candidates can use the package programs related to their professional fields is an important factor in terms of employment. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the knowledge and awareness of Civil Engineering students about the package programs related to their professional fields, which programs will also contribute to their employment after graduation, and to learn their interest in using these programs. In accordance with this aim, the idea to conduct this descriptive study emerged in order to determine the attitudes and skills of the students from the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Isparta University of Applied Sciences to using the package programs related to their professional field and knowing programming languages. In this study, a survey was conducted on a total of 709 students studying at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Isparta University of Applied Sciences during the academic year 2018-2019 to measure their knowledge and usage of package programs. The analyses were performed by SPSS statistical package program, and tests such as frequency analysis, variance analysis, t-test and reliability analysis were used to analyze data. In the light of the data obtained, it was investigated whether the attitudes of the students to using package programs showed any significant differences by variables, including class level, gender, purpose of using computer and using package programs.