Alumni's perspectives on the training program of the universities administered by the Vietnam Ministry of Transport: an EFA-based descriptive study on CDIO

This article reports on a study of four universities run by the Vietnam Ministry of Transport. The study uses a 40-Likert-seven-point-item questionnaire and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to analyse 312 alumni's perceptions on the academic program. The current academic program fulfils 45.19% of alumni soft skill, work communication, and work skill needs. The six scales derived from the 12 CDIO standards that influence alumni attitudes are, from strongest to weakest: 1) teaching and learning methods; 2) design-build experiences; 3) integrated curriculum expected; 4) learning outcomes; 5) assessment and evaluation; 6) faculty teaching skills. The EFA results show a good correlation between the six components, with R values of 0.922 and R2 of 0.851. 85.10% of the six criteria explain the stakeholders' requirements. Sig. value 0.0005, from F (6, 305) = 289.788, shows that the regression model predicts alumni perspectives. The results provide clear evidence to the academic program designers of the four universities in the study when revising the academic program to approach the CDIO philosophy.