Engineering instructor perception of problem- and project- based learning: Learning, success factors and difficulties

Abstract

This work considers three research objectives: to analyze the perception of instructors of the incidence of PBL/PrBL on content learning and skill development; to identify the success factors that they believe promote learning when using them, as well as their importance; and to identify the difficulties they face, and the frequency with which they occur. The responses to a questionnaire administered to 50 instructors who participated in a specific training program were analyzed. The results show that the instructors’ perception is that both models contribute to a better understanding of the contents with regard to their practical application, and to a high level of skill development in their students, with the most favored being group work, decision-making, autonomous learning and problem solving. The instructors consider important success factors to be student involvement in their own learning from the very beginning, feedback from the professor, the tasks having been well-designed and team work and cooperation among students. The most common difficulties identified in our study correspond to the excessive workload associated with monitoring the students, and managing and developing within the established time the planning of their tasks and activities, although there is a medium level of incidence in this regard, and it may be due to the characteristics of the training program received. Exploring these aspects in greater depth in future investigations could facilitate the development of more effective teaching practices.