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Etec500 Assignment3-Group1
Etec500 Assignment3-Group1
Project Based Learning and Perceived Student Preparedness in First Year Engineering Classes
Albert Bangma, Baljeet Gill, Bryn Hammett, Michael Hengeveld, and Kenny Jamieson
Research Proposal
Janet McCracken
Abstract 3
Objective 4
Theoretical framework 5
Methods 7
Educational significance 11
References 12
Appendix A 14
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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Abstract
This study involved 700 first year engineering students from three different post-secondary
institutions in British Columbia. In their K-12 education, some students were exposed to various
levels of project-based and inquiry based learning strategies, while others learned through
traditional methods. The questionnaire contained 20 statements concerning students’ high school
learning experiences and their perceptions of their preparedness for the rigors of a
post-secondary learning environment . A correlational analysis of the results of the study reveals
the effect of project-based and inquiry-based teaching strategies on the perceived preparedness of
students during a critical period of transition in the STEM pipeline. An analysis of task-level
aspects of project-based and inquiry-based learning systems, could provide best-practice policy
insights for curriculum designers and other key stakeholders during a time of changing
Objective
In 2016, the British Columbia government implemented a complete overhaul of the K-12
curriculum thus asking educators to focus on personalized learning and 21st century skills such
as ‘Big Ideas’ and ‘Curricular Competencies’ as opposed to just content retention; a shift that
some believe is conducive to Project Based Learning (PBL) and Inquiry Learning (IL).
Although it has been established that PBL and IL pedagogies increase long term retention of
concepts (Schwartz & Martin, 2004) and engagement through increased student agency and
real-world application (Ahlfeldt, Mehta & Sellnow, 2005; DeWitte & Rogge, 2014), we found a
lack of research in the areas around students’ perception of their preparedness for post-secondary
education.
self-reported preparedness in first year STEM classes and their level of exposure to PBL and IL
in secondary school.
new BC curriculum, we aim to inform their decisions as they advise other stakeholders in the
education system both within BC and abroad; although they are not our primary audience, our
Through an extensive literature review and with the motivation of guiding our own
teaching practice, we posed the following research question and developed the following
hypothesis:
Does the extent of exposure to project based learning (PBL) and Inquiry Learning (IL) have a
engineering programs?
H1: There is a positive correlation between exposure to project based learning (PBL) and inquiry
learning (IL) in high school with student levels of preparedness in first-year post-secondary
engineering programs.
Theoretical framework
learning ones (Scott, 2012). While in some instances, such as memorization or factual recall,
traditional approaches have shown advantages, PBL has higher levels of retention when
measuring student learning of big ideas into their own lifeworlds(Strobel & van Barneveld,
2009). Studies have shown that an International Baccalaureate (IB) approach to learning has
lasting impacts on students, beyond the immediate course (Schwartz & Martin, 2004). What has
not yet been shown is the longitudinal effects of PBL and IL approaches to learning used in
Although PBL and IL are well established in theory, their application in the classroom is
hardly uniform (Ahlfedt, Mehta & Sellnow, 2005; Erdogan, Navruz, Younes, Capraro, 2016).
Given that these methodologies have received uneven treatment by instructors, it is not clear
what makes PBL and IL effective. There is some evidence to suggest, for example, that
collaboration may not be an essential element of PBL, but that engagement with the problem is
an essential element (Pease & Kuhn, 2010). It is particularly important at this point to position
our investigation of PBL or IL with clearly defined task-level elements and the degree to which
In PBL pedagogy projects are central to the curriculum, with a focus on the processes of
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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investigation, collaboration, designing, and prototyping (Ahfeldt, et. al., 2005; Erdogan, et. al.,
2016; Hugerat, 2016); projects should contain relatively high-levels of student self-direction and
reflection (Ahfeldt, et. al., 2005); projects should be realistic and not 'school-like' (Hugerat,
2016); and, there should be multiple ways to solve the problem (Erdogan, et. al., 2016). To
measure the degree to which a secondary school student has been exposed to PBL at a task-level,
or IL more generally, Stearns, Morgan, Capraro, and Capraro (2012) have created a teacher
observation instrument for PBL classroom instruction, and has been adapted by other
While there is some consensus around what constitutes the task-level elements of PBL or
IL, making measurements of these elements and how they affect self-perceived preparedness is
less clearly defined. In response to high university drop out rates, Jansen and van der Meer
self-efficacy in students graduating from the K-12 system. Although they were not targeting
PBL programs, the tasks in their study are highly related to elements of PBL and IL. Their
instrument and analysis techniques will be adapted to explore the specific effects of PBL and IL
Adapting a teacher observation instrument to construct our survey questions is only one
method for maintaining objectivity. We will also have to be aware, and try to eliminate where
possible, a wide variety of confounding variables. Chin, et. al. (2011) suggests that prior
knowledge from parents and life experiences, rather than secondary school, may be a motivating
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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factor in students enrolling in engineering programs. Heslop (2013) provides a further, and
much longer, list of variables for student success in post-secondary institutions, many of which
are outside of secondary school preparation, such as gender, ethnicity, language and geography.
The complex lives of students is a further confounding factor; personal likes and dislikes of
secondary teachers or school life can all contribute to a student's feeling of preparedness for
post-secondary education. The collection of biographical and historical data will be an important
control measure.
Engineering and other STEM related post-secondary programs have a high dropout rate
(Jansen & van der Meer, 2012) despite the increasingly prevalent adoption of PBL and IL
programming in K-12 and its ability to increase engagement, retention, and preparedness of
students (Pease & Kuhn, 2010) . A survey that quantifies the students' perspectives on
preparedness, through a task level investigation of PBL and IL, may reveal what elements are
best able to prepare students for the transition to a post-secondary education setting.
Methods
Selected students enrolled in their first year engineering programs at the University of
British Columbia (UBC), the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the
University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) will participate in this study by completing an
online survey. Students will be sampled using equal stratified sampling to ensure equal
representation from each educational facility. In total, several hundred students are expected to
be surveyed.
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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This study will be conducted using a web-based survey tool. Initially, consent to share
the cover letter and survey directions with first year engineering instructors will be asked from
the Deans of Engineering from each institution via e-mail. Upon approval, instructors will be
informed on the nature and rationale of the study and the survey cover letter and directions will
be sent directly to the academic e-mail account of each selected student by the instructor. The
cover letter will detail the approaches taken to ensure the confidentiality of the students
throughout the survey process. Participants will be informed that their participation in this study
is voluntary and by completing and submitting the survey, they are providing their consent to
participate. If they choose to not to participate, they will be instructed to simply disregard the
e-mail message. Students will be able to access the survey through a hyperlink and will be asked
to answer each question to the best of their abilities and then submit their responses
electronically. The survey will be available for 3 weeks from the date that it is first sent.
The web-based survey that has been developed for this study will instruct participants to
respond to 20 statements concerning their level of exposure to PBL and IL instructional methods
during secondary school and perceived preparedness for post-secondary. They are instructed to
respond to each statement on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to
“Strongly Agree”. Additionally, six demographic questions are included in the survey in order to
control for the socioeconomic and cultural variability of the respondents. Measures will be taken
In order to collect the data that is needed to conduct the research, contact will need to be
made with the post-secondary schools selected for the study at the start of the September
semester. With the assistance of the office of the registrar, those students will be reached by the
e-mail address they have provided through their respective student account. Surveys will be sent
in the latter third of the course to ensure students have had a chance to reflect on their
post-secondary classroom content yet still clearly recall their high school experience.
The data will be analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using
descriptive and inferential techniques, including advanced and multivariate analyses. Initial
descriptive statistical analyses will provide insight into frequency distributions and measures of
central tendency, dispersion, and relationship. Further inferential statistical analysis will test the
strength of relationship between exposure to PBL/IL instruction in high school and the degree to
which participants feel prepared entering the study of engineering at a postsecondary institution.
Variance will be analyzed using ANOVA by comparing the data from those who were exposed
to PBL/IL instruction in high school with data from those who were not. All ANOVA results
For this study, assumptions are made that the students participating in the study will be
able to clearly recall the experiences they had as secondary school students. In addition, it is
assumed that the students will be able to successfully recognize that the approaches their
secondary school teachers used match the descriptions we have used in our survey. Further, the
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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survey instrument that is being used will help the students accurately connect their secondary
experiences to the level of preparedness they felt upon entering a first-year engineering program.
The study intends to use a web-based survey that will rely on students accurately
self-reporting the information required for effective analysis. No attempts will be made to
confirm the reporting of the usage of various PBL forms of learning in secondary schools.
Additionally, there will be no follow up with the students who have submitted the survey, to
confirm the accuracy of their responses with respect to their actual levels of preparedness or the
clarity of their recollections of their secondary school experience. The study is also dependent
The data source used for this study will be the participant survey. Responses will be
collected, collated and analyzed. Inferences will be made about the correlation between the level
of exposure to PBL instruction in high school and the self reported level of preparedness for first
The survey will attempt to see if any correlation can be found between the questions
related to PBL and IL and the questions related to preparedness, while also checking to see if
there are socio-demographical extraneous influences. Our expectation is that students exposed to
a PBL/IL model will self report a higher level of preparedness for university. If, after statistical
analysis, the exposure to PBL/IL and level of preparedness appear correlational, then the
inference that PBL/IL increases student preparedness will be made. Further analysis may reveal
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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some of the task-specific descriptors of PBL have higher instances of correlation with
Educational significance
Education is a high-stakes enterprise with each grade building on the skills and learning
of the previous to scaffold students towards ever higher, more critical levels of understanding
and engagement. Within the K-12 system, the curriculum, social, and educational requirements
of the successive years are fairly well known and understood; students progress through a system
that changes mostly incrementally and carefully scaffolds their understanding from year to year.
The transition from secondary to post-secondary education, however, is filled with uncertainty
and greater change. The various stakeholders involved all want to ensure students are prepared
for the transition, but, there is an opacity around the teaching and learning at the post-secondary
environment.
All the stakeholders want to be assured that systems of teaching and learning, like PBL
and IL, which work so well transitioning students from grade to grade, will continue to work
when students pass beyond secondary school. This study would be one more reassurance that
PBL and IL approaches to learning can and do have a lasting effect that does prepare students for
References
Ahlfeldt, S., Mehta, S., & Sellnow, T. (2005). Measurement and analysis of student engagement
in university classes where varying levels of PBL methods of instruction are in use. Higher
Chin, J., Zeid, A., Duggan, C., & Kamarthi, S. (2011). A unique methodology for implementing
Erdogan, N., Navruz, B., Younes, R., & Capraro, R. (2016). Viewing how STEM project-based
learning influences students’ science achievement through the implementation lens: A latent
12(8). doi:10.12973/eurasia.2016.1294a
Heslop, J., Project, B. C. S. T., Canadian Electronic Library (Firm), & desLibris - Documents.
(2013). Student transitions into post-secondary education sectors B.C. public, B.C. private
and non-B.C. institutions: Ten research questions. British Columbia Student Transitions
Project.
Hugerat, M. (2016). How teaching science using project-based learning strategies affects the
doi:10.1007/s10984-016-9212-y
Jansen, E. P. W. A., & van der Meer, J. (2012). Ready for university? A cross national study on
1-16. doi:10.1007/s13384-011-0044-6
PBL AND PERCEIVED STUDENT PREPAREDNESS
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Pease, M. A., & Kuhn, D. (2011). Experimental analysis of the effective components of
Schwartz, D. L., & Martin, T. (2004). Inventing to prepare for future learning: The hidden
focused high schools in the U.S. Journal of STEM Education : Innovations and Research,
13(5), 30.
Stearns, L. M., Morgan, J., Capraro, M. M., & Capraro, R. M. (2012). A teacher observation
instrument for PBL classroom instruction. Journal of STEM Education : Innovations and
Research, 13(3), 7.
Strobel, J., & Van Barneveld, A. (2009). When is PBL more effective? A meta-synthesis of
Appendix A
Survey of exposure to project based learning (PBL) and inquiry learning (IL) with student
self-reported levels of preparedness in first-year post-secondary engineering programs.
The purpose of this survey is to assess prior exposure to Project Based Learning and Inquiry
Learning and to report levels of preparedness for first year university engineering courses. This
survey has 20 questions and should take no more than 5 minutes of your time. Your
participation in completing the survey is voluntary and greatly appreciated!
This survey is anonymous. It is not a part of your grade and your instructor will not have access
to the data. The researchers involved in this study will not know which students have or have
not chosen to participate in the survey and information collected will be used to study statistical
trends only and cannot be used to identify individuals.
Please respond to each of the statements below, indicating the extent to which you agree or
disagree with each one, using the following scale:
5 = Strongly Agree
4 = Somewhat Agree
3 = Neutral
2 = Somewhat Disagree
1 = Strongly Disagree
Question Response