Examining engineering students' perceptions of learner agency enactment in problem‐ and project‐based learning using Q methodology

Abstract

Background: Few studies have reported how students enact learner agency in a team setting or examined what elements of team settings students perceive as more supportive of their learning in problem-and project-based learning (PBL) processes.Purpose: This study explores how engineering students perceive their enactment of learner agency, particularly which aspects of the PBL process they find most important. Method: Thirty-nine students from two PBL civil engineering courses in Qatar participated in the study. Q methodology was chosen for both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. A 40-item Q set based on a theoretical model of learner agency was used.Results: Eight significantly different student viewpoints emerged from the Q methodological factor analysis, indicating a range of individual perceptions of learner agency. Intrapersonal dimensions were highlighted by three of the eight viewpoints, behavioral dimensions were underlined by seven viewpoints, and environmental dimensions were valued by all viewpoints. Conclusion:While the results reveal a wide range of individual experiences with learner agency across the three dimensions, students addressed self-directed learning aspects both actively and passively, suggesting that many participants still value instructors' roles of providing direct instruction and authorized knowledge in PBL. The results highlight the need for more awareness of learner agency and more opportunities for students to enact learner agency by increasing PBL knowledge, skills, and efficacy. Q methodology can contribute to engineering education research by providing new theoretical and empirical insights into learners' subjective understanding of agency in a PBL setting as a complex system.

Engineers, figuring it out: Collaborative learning in cultural worlds

“…Following a single leader who asserts expertise reproduces this authority structure and is also often an efficient strategy for such a task, which may account for its popularity in organizing group work. In contrast, a task sheet that provides a “messy” or complex problem with multiple possible approaches positions students as engineers: agents with sufficient knowledge and power to make decisions about which steps to take (Du et al, 2022; Forman & Ford, 2014; Jurow, 2005; Nolen et al, 2020; Svihla et al, 2021; Swenson et al, 2021).…”

All Opinions Matter

“…Q pedagogy embraces and promotes these reflective aspects of completing a Q sort. These personal outcomes, especially when Q has been used in fields as diverse as medicine (Di Giuseppe, et al, 2020), engineering (Du, Lundberg, Ayari, Naji, & Hawari, 2021), journalism (Peters, Christian Schrøder, Lehaff, & Vulpius, 2021), environmental governance and policy (Davies, Van Alstine, & Lovett, 2016), and marketing (Oliveira, Barbosa, & Sousa, 2020). A good example of the use of Q in an area related to environmental science is its use in conservation research.…”

Student conceptions of problem and project based learning in engineering education: A phenomenographic investigation

“…Pihl (2015) showed that forming a group consensus around the project's design and direction can harm individual student creativity. Du et al (2022) refined the study of group processes by investigating how student perceptions of agency shape group process outcomes. Looking at the agency through three dimensions-intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental-this study showed that PBL novices manifest increased dependency on the project supervisor and decreased group independence.…”