Examples of Course level Implementation

At McMaster University, Canada, a concept of problem-based learning is used in an engineering economics course for chemical engineering. The teacher used the course objectives to design the set of problems. The whole class (class size 20-45 students) was divided into groups of five students. Students were then asked to grapple with the assigned problems. In this case, the same teacher also acted as a resource to support the problem-solving process. The students were asked to discuss their solutions in a mini lecture with facilitation from teacher. The teacher observed that, in these mini lectures, students taught each other and discussed the content. In this way, PBL was helpful forlearning (Woods, 1991).

In a public university in São Carlos, Brazil, PBL was implemented in an administration course for a postgraduate production-engineering curriculum. The class size was 23. The students formed groups of four or five. In line with the instructional goals, a set of 12 PBL problems was designed and presented to the groups each week. The teacher held discussions with the student groups on each problem initially, and then they were asked to solve the problems during the semester. To assess the groups‘ performance, the teacher used presentations, reports and peer evaluation strategy. In the course feedback, students stated that this intervention provided opportunity and motivation to learn, made the class livelier and stimulated the development of interpersonal and research skills. The students learned to work in teams and to search for knowledge. Students mentioned that they learned to respect and adapt to other opinions (Luis et al 2005).

At the Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT), Hoboken, USA, project-based learning was implemented in the junior-level mechanical engineering course on mechanisms and machine

19 dynamics. The existing course was revised to incorporate the project-based learning approach. Projects were designed with the course structure and content in mind. The intention was to improve student‘s motivation, create an interest in learning, and develop analysis skills and non-technical skills. The project was presented to the students and important requirements were outlined at the beginning of the semester. The class was divided into groups of three or four students. The project was assessed via a progress report, two progress presentations and a final presentation by each student team. In addition to this, peer assessment was used to evaluate individual contributions. The introduction of PBL was shown to significantly improve interaction between the instructor and the students. It resulted in a better learning environment. The researcher mentioned that it is difficult to evaluate individual contributions and achieved skill levels of the team members in the group projects (Esche, 2002).

In one of the examples from Syria, a traditional and PBL pedagogy was compared in a quasi-experimental setting with reference to the embedded system course. The experimental group was assigned problems to solve during and after each session. These problems were kept for the purpose of analysis and comparison. The teacher observed significant participation, better attitude and motivation enhancement of the experimental group students.

In addition, PBL influenced the intrinsic motivation to solve complex problems (Abdulwahed

& Balid et al., 2009).

At Curtin University of Technology, Australia, Principles & Communications is a fundamental 14-week unit for all first-year engineering students. For this unit, the design/build project is offered to the students. The project is structured around the usual processes, as seen in actual engineering projects. Students groups are asked to make elementary engineering constructions such as bridges, to satisfy the certain stipulated conditions. The aim of this exercise is to encourage first year engineers to understand the various stages and challenges associated with a real engineering project (Graham, 2010).

To incorporate the PBL approach, a new course ‗1006ENG Design and Professional Skills‘ was designed at Griffith University in Australia. This course aimed to introduce engineering design and practice and to enhance problem-solving abilities, and student learning. In this course, three projects were designed in accordance with the students‘ major.

For example, mechanical engineering students were asked to design products like cars, electrical engineering students were offered motors, and civil engineering students were asked to prepare scale models of construction sites. Students in this course were evaluated by using self and peer assessment, as well as test scores. To evaluate the outcome of this course, a survey was conducted at the end of the semester. In this survey, 72 students responded, a response rate of 30.4. A one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to find significant difference between the responses of the students. An evaluation revealed that the students enjoyed the PBL experience. The data suggested that the courses were effective for their intended purposes. Students perceived teamwork as valuable and enjoyed designing

‗real world‘ practical applications that related closely to the engineering profession (Palmer

& Hall, 2011).

In another example, the mechanical engineering department at Imperial College, London, applied problem-based learning to its final year course on vibrations. The teacher designed three pairs of problems (six problems) related to the course. The whole class (class size of 48 students) was divided into groups of three or four. Groups were then asked to solve the problem and prepare a report about their proposed solution. In this example, the student groups evaluated the solutions proposed by the other groups. These activities were all done in the presence of a teacher, who also acted as supervisor for the groups (Cawley, 1991).

20 The Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Coventry University implemented an

‗activity-led‘ curriculum. This curriculum had a six-week project at the start of each academic year. The results of these activities indicated a positive impact on the participating students‘ results. The Electronic and Electrical Engineering department of UCL has adopted problem-based learning in a number of modules across the first three years of its curriculum.

These initiatives are led by the interested faculty. In another case, the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at UCL recently restructured their undergraduate curriculum. The first two years of the program run on five-week cycles. At the beginning of each cycle, students are given a project based learning scenario, followed by 4 weeks of relevant lecture notes and an intensive week of working in teams on the problem set (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007).

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde re-designed the first three semesters of their program around PJBL with a view to engage and motivate students. This curriculum has three types of projects. First is the first year mechanical dissection module, in which students are asked to dismantle complex mechanical assembly.

The second project type is the artefact analysis project, which requires student groups to take one element of a more complex engineering product such as a car and investigate its properties, function, design and manufacture. The third project type is the ‗low-tech‘

community-based project, in which final year student groups are asked to develop robust and sustainable solutions to solve real community problems (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007).

In the mechanical engineering department of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, the machine design course has been modified. Two projects were designed to address learning objectives. The intention of the PBL intervention was to make the students more active in their learning. Two types of projects were used in this course: assembly and disassembly of a car and the process design of a machine. The first project type was split into three parts: engine disassembly, functional analysis and drawing. Teams of two students were allowed to disassemble and reassemblean engine, followed by a functional analysis of an engine component. This was done in the presence of expert faculty. In the functional analysis, students took measurements to examine the constructional and structural features and to investigate the tolerances and surface finish required for the component to perform its intended functions. The groups were then asked to make a drawing of the part, first manually and then using AUTOCAD (it is a drawing and drafting software). In this way, students were exposed to active learning and course objectives were achieved. In the second project type, students were explained the basics of a process design, using a washing machine, lawn mover etc. as examples. Students worked in teams of four. The students were required to design a machine or a part of a machine for use by the relevant industry. The students carried out the design at the university and presented it in front of a jury composed of academic staff and engineers from industry. Assessment of the projects was based on the report, and group work performed during the semester. This is followed by an oral examination. Evaluation was also based on efforts put for solving a problem and drawing a part of a machine (Raucent, 2001).

Evaluation of these projects showed that students‘ improved their problem-solving skill capabilities. Feedback from students revealed that they experienced difficulties in finding relevant information and in time management. The researcher realised that relatively less topics are covered in the project work, however the work led to a deeper understanding of the content. The researcher added that designing a good problem to cover learning objectives appeared to be a difficult task (Raucent, 2001).

At the University of Minho, Portugal, PLE (Project Led Education) methodology was implemented for a course on Industrial and Management Engineering (IME). An

21 interdisciplinary project was proposed for the course. This model focused on a coaching strategy in which the supervisors facilitated the students‘ learning. The University of Tampere collaborated on the curriculum design process. It was found that students developed project management competencies like time management and management skills, team working competencies such as responsibility, leadership and problem solving, and personal competencies such as critical thinking, creativity, writing and oral communication skills. In addition, the ability to work in a group increased. However, teamwork was recognised as a difficult aspect of the whole process (Bin & Bin, 2010).

The Technical university of Madrid, Spain, used PBL methodology to design the Real Time System course. The main aim was to explain to students the theoretical basis used for the construction of the real time system. The groups were asked to go through various learning tasks such as tutorials, presentations, lectures, tests and lab sessions. The project was divided into six practical tasks. The evaluation strategy included: written test, project work, oral presentations and teamwork. The students maintained portfolios of their work. The survey method was used to assess the usefulness of the course. Students reported that PBL was an effective method for learning the course content (Javier & Perez, 2009).

Since 2001, the polytechnic of Agueda, Portugal, has been using project-based learning in its engineering programmes. A group of courses are used to create project themes and vice versa. The projects are given to small groups of students, to whom meeting space, a computer and a supervisor are provided. The role of the supervisor is to help, guide and monitor the progress of the students. The supervisor also takes part in the project evaluation. The projects are evaluated based on an oral presentation, reports and question answers. To assess the effectiveness of this initiative, a case study was conducted during which surveys and interviews of staff and students were used to collect data. Students welcomed the PBL approach and indicated the development of personal and professional capabilities. Most of the teachers agreed that PBL was in line with the requirements of professional education. The teachers pointed out the increase in their workload due to PBL activity. The new teachers said it was challenging to keep up with this new course culture. The evaluation suggested that the students‘ grades improved (Oliveira, 2006).

In the year 2004-2005, the University of Technology, Malaysia (UTM), introduced PBL for a process control course. About 70% of the syllabus was covered in classes using PBL;

the rest used cooperative learning (CL) and mini lectures. At the end of the semester, a survey was taken during a forum with the students who had undergone PBL and the top academic administrators of UTM in order to evaluate the outcomes of PBL (Mohd Yusof et al., 2005).

In the Department of Electrical Engineering, at University of Malaya, Malaysia, problem-based learning can be found in the first-year undergraduate engineering course on digital systems. In this course, the students were given a course related problem. The problem focuses on design of two-switch staircase lighting. This problem focused on the skills required to design digital circuits. The problem was designed by the researcher to provide useful engineering experience to the students. In view of this, PBL is thought to be a useful tool in developing the relevant transferable skills expected of engineers such as critical thinking skills, communication skills and analytical skills (Said et al., 2005).

In one Japanese case, PBL implementation was is used in the curriculum for the master‘s programme of Information System Architecture. The professor designed the projects and gave them to groups of 3-7 students. The aim of the model was to allow students to develop the skills needed for an IT professional. The researcher noted that PBL was effective in developing the skills fitting of an IT education (Yoshio, 2009). At Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in all programmes at the final year of bachelor level courses, one project (capstone) is

22 compulsory for every student. Students said that they learned much from the projects, compared to other traditional methods, and showed good commitment toward group and project work (Joshi & Joshi, 2011).

PBL practices from India

The effectiveness of PBL instructions on the knowledge and skills of students in the undergraduate program for Electronics & Communication Engineering at Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Punjab, was assessed in three subjects over a period of four semesters. Mantry et al. (2008) compared traditional pedagogy with PBL. The authors designed open-ended technical problems (TPs) to achieve learning objectives. The scope of the TPs was designed such that the students could achieve all the technical nodes while attempting to solve them. Students were informed about PBL and the evaluation strategies before implementation. In this experiment, the students achieved better scores in knowledge and skill tests, showed better attitudes towards learning and utilised the class time more effectively when taught in the PBL environment. At the end of the semester, feedback from students was taken for a particular course and showed that the students supported PBL.

Presentation and teamwork skills were also largely improved in the PBL class (Mantry et al., 2008).

In another example, the engineering students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi were asked to build the Robot to perform specific tasks (the project) under the concept of Robotic Competition. Singh et al. (2008) collected the experiences of engineering students who participated in this competition. Authors realised the impact of such a competition and found that the use of projects helped students to understand aspects of engineering product development, techniques for team and project management (Singh et al., 2008).

At the Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre, Jaipur, project-based learning was applied to improve students‘ on-campus recruitment. Students had projects as a compulsory course in their curriculum in the final semester of engineering. In this study, PBL was found useful in helping students acquire the skill and content learning needed for campus placement (Debnath & Pandey, 2011). In Sinhgad Institute of Technology, Lonavala, students‘

experiences working on an industry project were gathered. Students‘ responses suggested that their learning was improved by the project. Although these projects gave good experience, students mentioned that they needed to work beyond normal working hours to finish these projects (Abhonkar, Sawant, & Horade, 2011).

In addition to the above listed experiments, there are numerous initiatives taking place in India to implement PBL. Chattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai, has established a PBL learning centre and has offered PBL in Bachelor degree courses of engineering and technology since 2008 (http://targetstudy.com). Apart from engineering, many studies of PBL and its implementation in medical curricula can be found in the literature (Roche & Abraham, 2011; and Shrivastava S, Shrivastava P & Ramasamy J., 2013).

Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai conducted a PBL workshop series for middle school teachers of humanities science (HBCSE, 2008). In a bid to get rid of rote learning, the Gujarat state education department introduced project-based learning from 9^th class in the schools affiliated with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has provided training to teachers on the design of course projects and preparing students for the projects (Yagnik, 2010). Suzie Boss (2011) also reported their experiences from Indian secondary schools.

23 In this section, 23 examples are quoted showing the widespread practices of PBL in different continents. In the coming section, the above examples will be analysed for different parameters. From fewer PBL practices from India, it can be concluded that the PBL in India is less researched and there is a need for representative framework for PBL implementation in India.

2.5.1 Types of problems

In most of the cases, teachers used the course content or objectives to design the set of problems or project (Woods, 1991, Esche, 2002, Raucent, 2001, Said et al. 2005, Mantry et al. 2008). To design the project the existing course may be revised (Woods, 1991, Raucent, 2001) or may not be (Esche, 2002) revised. Thus use of course content may help in designing an authentic project according to the students‘ intended profession and in line with the instructional objectives.

The next step is to explain this problem or project to the students. Many authors informed or presented students about problems or projects at the start of the semester. Important requirements and evaluation strategies were told to the students at the start or during the semester (Woods, 1991, Esche, 2002, Mantry et al., 2008). Then the student groups were asked to discuss or grapple with these problems. Sometimes, students were asked to solve multiple problems during a semester (Woods, 1991, Cawley, 1991, Mantry et al., 2008) or they worked on a single project (Esche, 2002, Graham, 2010) which was divided in the set of tasks or activities (Javier & Perez, 2009).

In many cases, the design or build projectwas offered to the students in the form of asking students to prepare products to satisfy certain stipulated conditions. For example, students were asked to build abridge (Graham, 2010), car, motor, scale model of a construction site (Palmer & Hall, 2011) or to design two-switch staircase lighting (Said et al., 2005.

Sometimes final year student groups were asked to complete one major project (capstone) and to develop solutions to solve real community problems (Joshi & Joshi, 2011, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007, Debnath & Pandey, 2011).

In some examples, a mechanical dissection or assembly-disassembly module was used.

Artefact analysis projects, which require student groups to each take one element of a more complex engineering product, such as a car, and investigate its properties, function, design and manufacture, were used in two programmes (Raucent, 2001, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007).

In the Industry-based projects, student groups are asked to solve real commercial problems in the presence or for the industry (Raucent, 2001, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007, Abhonkar, Sawant, & Horade, 2011). These projects provide scope for interaction with the industry experts. Sometimes interdisciplinary project proposals were created to give students scientific knowledge and breadth (Bin & Bin, 2010). In one case, the concept of a robotic

In the Industry-based projects, student groups are asked to solve real commercial problems in the presence or for the industry (Raucent, 2001, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007, Abhonkar, Sawant, & Horade, 2011). These projects provide scope for interaction with the industry experts. Sometimes interdisciplinary project proposals were created to give students scientific knowledge and breadth (Bin & Bin, 2010). In one case, the concept of a robotic