Implementing project-based learning in a civil engineering course: a practitioner’s perspective

• Autores: Prateek Shekhar, Maura Borrego
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 33, no. 4, 2017, 1148 págs.
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Project-based learning (PBL) promotes development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills by allowing students towork in teams on real world projects. However, in spite of its effectiveness, the use of PBL in engineering classrooms hasbeen limited due to the challenges associated with its design and implementation. Instructors have reported concernsregarding the amount of time required in administering PBL and difficulty in aligning projects with student workloadpreferences. While severalstudies have been conducted to examine the effectiveness of PBL in engineering courses, minimalresearch attention has been devoted to finding effective strategies for using PBL. Most recommendations in the literaturehave been primarily anecdotal. In this practitioner-focused study, we present an examination of a PBL engineering courseand explicate techniques for implementing PBL. Using classroom observations, instructor interviews, student focusgroups and surveys, we examine instructional approach and students’ response to PBL. The findings offer several strategiesfor designing project tasks, sequencing projects, assigning presentation topics, and selecting readings in PBL course.