%P 110-114 %I Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. %A A.M. Hashim %A D.B. Shahruzzaman %A N.Z. Yusof %T The role of structured academic visit in enhancing experiential learning for Coastal Engineering courses %L scholars9997 %J Proceedings - 2017 7th World Engineering Education Forum, WEEF 2017- In Conjunction with: 7th Regional Conference on Engineering Education and Research in Higher Education 2017, RCEE and RHEd 2017, 1st International STEAM Education Conference, STEAMEC 201 %O cited By 0; Conference of 7th World Engineering Education Forum, WEEF 2017 ; Conference Date: 13 November 2017 Through 16 November 2017; Conference Code:139977 %R 10.1109/WEEF.2017.8467124 %D 2018 %X The successful delivery of coastal engineering courses significantly hinges on the structured academic visit which is embedded in their designed curriculum. Structured academic visit in this paper refers to an approach which involves a specially planned experiential learning strategy where execution of multiple tasks in achieving several expected outcomes are carried out by individual execution as well as a coordinated team work. A well-structured academic visit has the potential to nurture numerous positive personal traits, leadership skills, positive sharing attitudes, social and communication skills. This paper discusses the initial assessment that has been undertaken employing a set of quiz questions for a sample class of 22 final year Civil Engineering students at a private university in Malaysia. The aim of the assessment is to identify the impacts of the academic visit in enhancing their experiential learning. Results of the pre and post academic visit assessment revealed that more than half of the students (54) had an improvement in their score indicating direct benefits from the academic visit. About 14 had no changes in their mark, while 32 of them were found to score relatively lower as compared to before academic visit. Further analysis done to assess students' attitude coupled with results from additional peer assessment later able to provide better explanation. The thorough assessment showed positive outcome with important findings. Overall, it was established that the respondents managed to understand the theory better and able to appreciate the knowledge after the academic visit. © 2017 IEEE. %K Coastal engineering; Students; Technical presentations, Civil engineering students; Communication skills; Coordinated teams; Experiential learning; Initial assessment; Leadership skills; pre and post visit assessment; structured academic visit, Engineering education