‘I'm lost’ – a qualitative analysis of student teams' strategies during their first experience in problem-based learning

Mabley, S.; Ventura-Medina, Esther; Anderson, Anne H.

doi:10.1080/03043797.2019.1646709

Cited by 9 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Regarding group processes, Mabley et al (2020) found that students in project groups tend to impose rigid, disciplinary structures on the group problem-solving process, thereby decreasing the depth of individual student engagement with the problem. Pihl (2015) showed that forming a group consensus around the project's design and direction can harm individual student creativity.…”

Section: Student Experiences In Pblmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Servant-Miklos

Kolmos

2022

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: Problem-oriented project work, also known as problem and project-based learning (PBL), is a popular educational approach in engineering education. However, the focus of the literature on the implementation of PBL has been at the course and institutional levels. Scant attention has been paid to the student experience, especially regarding student conceptions of PBL. Purpose: This is a phenomenographic study of student conceptions of PBL in a Danish engineering program that uses a systemic PBL model. Design/method: This study follows a phenomenographic qualitative design.Sixteen participants from four different engineering disciplines were asked to share their views and experiences with PBL. The interview transcripts were analyzed to identify emerging variations in the student conceptions of PBL.Results: The outcome space suggests three levels of students' conceptions of PBL: individual, group and society levels. Within the categories of description, sublevel variations appear: PBL as an unsupportive process and environment, PBL as a supportive process and environment, and PBL as a structured education method. These conceptions were organized hierarchically from a narrow individual to a broader society level. Conclusions: Student conceptions of PBL as a structured education method echo the literature on the intended learning outcomes of PBL. However, our study shows that conceptions of PBL as personal and social processes fall outside of the scope of current scholarly discussions on PBL. Issues of societal relevance, while prominent in the literature on PBL, do not feature in students' thinking about PBL at this stage. Introducing broader reflection practices informed by exemplarity could address some of these discrepancies.

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Section: Student Experiences In Pblmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Servant-Miklos

Kolmos

2022

J of Engineering Edu

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“…In the second case, the group does not work collaboratively on the project any longer and there is a clear divide within the group. This is a challenging situation for students and Mabley (Mabley, Ventura-Medina, and Anderson 2020) showed in their empirical study on group problem solving strategies that students have a tendency to adopt relatively rigid structures and find it often difficult to move beyond what is familiar to them. With this in mind, facilitation of group dynamics is a key element in PBL and it is important that faculty and student assistants can help students to become aware, reflect upon, and work with the underlying processes (Kolmos et al 2008).…”

Section: Student-student Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent premises in student experiences of a first-year electrical engineering course

Bolstad

Wallin

Lundheim

et al. 2020

European Journal of Engineering Education

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This study explores how project-based learning in combination with other pedagogical scaffolding approaches influences students' experiences during their transition into the university. Based on the thematic analysis of interviews with students at the end of the first semester, we show how a project-based course in electronics can create opportunities within three themes: student socialisation, curriculum integration, and peer-learning. In the light of these findings, we discuss how students build relationships with other students, as well as with faculty members and practicing engineers, and how these relationships influence their start at the university. On a more general level, this case study exemplifies how an existing electrical engineering programme can be changed by targeted interventions without the need for programme wide adjustments.

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“…In a PBL environment, students must have an active role during the entire learning process, from identifying and understanding the problem to proposing and evaluating potential solutions. Moreover, PBL is a didactic technique highly oriented to collaborative work (Mabley et al, 2019), to the development of competencies (Webster, 2022), and with a focus on scenarios related to real problems (Jaeger et al, 2021); thus, it has very relevant elements for the research work that is developed herein.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active learning to develop disciplinary competencies related to automatic control in engineering curricula using low cost do-it-yourself didactic stations

Navarro-Durán

Félix-Herrán²,

Membrillo-Hernández³

et al. 2023

Front. Educ.

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IntroductionIn general, in automatic control courses, the process of designing and testing a control system includes applying physical laws to model the system, working with virtual models, building one or various prototypes, and testing the control algorithms. However, in the industry, the approach must be more pragmatic because the design and implementation time must be shorter, and the success of the solution must be ensured.MethodsChallenged with this problem, a black-box model from which data are generated turns into a convenient starting point to design and implement the automation, and this approach is addressed in this research. The herein proposal is the design and implementation of didactic stations and their application in undergraduate automatic control courses. In the context of active learning, by using the stations to identify the model’s dynamics, and subsequently, design and implement an automatic system, students reinforce the theory and receive another stimulus for the development of competencies in automatic control.ResultsThe didactic stations emulate those cases in the industry where the hardware is already working, and it is necessary to automate or improve some process following a practical approach. During the first phase, students, guided by professors, designed and implemented four electromechanical prototypes. The second phase was using the prototypes in the curricular courses Control Engineering and Computerized Control to implement and evaluate controllers. The research included a control group and an experimental group. The group using the stations had a higher final course average grade than the control group.DiscussionThe findings encourage the application of this type of approach to complement the teaching of automatic control, which could positively impact the professional performance of future control engineers.

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‘I'm lost’ – a qualitative analysis of student teams' strategies during their first experience in problem-based learning

Cited by 9 publications

References 45 publications

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

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

Emergent premises in student experiences of a first-year electrical engineering course

Active learning to develop disciplinary competencies related to automatic control in engineering curricula using low cost do-it-yourself didactic stations

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