42 International Journal of Multidisciplinary Education and Research– IJMER Volume 1 : Issue 2 Publication Date : 30 September, 2014 Perceptions towards the Usage of Collaborative Learning in Teaching and Learning Processes at Malaysia Polytechnic. Sharifah Nadiyah Razali 1 , Faaizah Shahbodin 2 , Norasiken Bakar 2 , Hanipah Hussin 2 , Mohd Hafiez Ahmad 3 Abstract — It is difficult for a graduate to get employed, due to fierce competition within today’s career market. Most employers are primarily looking for good soft skills over academic achievements as selection criteria for selecting new employees. This paper shares the preliminary findings on the perceptions of students and lecturers on the use of Collaborative Learning in teaching and learning processes at Malaysia Polytechnic. In this study, two sets of questionnaires were distributed to 145 lecturers and 356 diploma students from Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan, Politeknik Merlimau, Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, Politeknik Kota Kinabalu, and Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah. All collected data was analysed using SPPS 19 software. The results show that even though lecturers used the collaborative learning method in their teaching and learning processes, the evaluation was only on the output product. The students felt that it was unfair for all members to get the same marks, and that the lecturers should award marks based only on the student’s contribution. Therefore, the development of soft skills will not happen if active collaboration does not occur. Keywords — Collaborative Learning (CL), Employability, Soft skills I. Introduction Soft skills are particular abilities that can improve employment performance and career prospects. Soft skills are defined by [1] as 'skills, abilities and traits associated with personality, attitude and behaviour, and different from skills in the form of formal or technical knowledge'. Meanwhile, Hurrel [2] defines soft skills as „involving interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities to facilitate the performance of control in certain contexts'. Harvey et.al [3] and Ahmad et.al [4] propose that employability assets consist of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Most employers are primarily looking for good soft skills over academic achievements as selection criteria for selecting new employees. Twenty-first century learning skills require collaboration, communication, problem solving, and critical thinking skills that need to be controlled by HEIs graduates. Sharifah Nadiyah Razali 1 , Faaizah Shahbodin 2 , Norasiken Bakar 2 , Hanipah Hussin 2 , Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia. Mohd Hafiez Ahmad 3 , Kolej Komuniti Masjid Tanah (KKMT), Malaysia. Polytechnic Education Malaysia offers technical and vocational courses for school leavers and certificate holders from polytechnics and community colleges. Polytechnics produce semi-skilled workers in service, engineering, and commerce sectors, to meet the demands of public and private sectors. The number of applicants to polytechnics, as evidenced by the growing number of Certificate of Education (SPM) graduates, is increasing annually. However, according to the findings of a Graduate Tracer Study in 2012, obtained from the Department of Polytechnics, shows that only 46.42% of former students are employed, while the remaining 53.58% continue to be unemployed. For employed graduates, only 18.39% obtained jobs relative to their respective fields, 15.71% obtained jobs not relative to their respective fields, 7.85% were waiting for job placement, 3.07% were continuing their studies to the next level, and 1.40% graduates became entrepreneurs (Refer Error! Reference source not found. ). Figure 1: Malaysian Polytechnic Graduates Employability data (Source: Graduate Tracer Study, 2012) Unemployed graduates have become a cause for concern in Malaysia. Research by [5] to collect feedback from industries, shows that Malaysia polytechnic students do not meet the levels of competency and working attitudes expected by them. Several interview sessions were made with program heads from Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan, Politeknik Merlimau, Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, Politeknik Kota Kinabalu, and Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah, to view the main factors of unemployed graduates. Responses received were as follows: