Distance Learning Engineering Students Languish Under Project-Based Learning, But Thrive in Case Studies and Practical Workshops

Abstract

The International Engineering Alliance lists 12 important graduate attributes that students must demonstrate during their higher educational career. One of these important graduate attributes is the ability to solve problems, which can be demonstrated by the use of project-based learning, case studies, and practical workshops. The purpose of this paper is to highlight student academic results of practical work done in an electrical engineering qualification that feature these three pedagogies. These three pedagogies are used in an open-distance learning environment to assess engineering students in an electrical engineering qualification involving three separate electronic communication modules. A time-lag study using a nonexperimental descriptive design is employed. Results show that the most frequent student grade for practical workshop assignments was 80%, while the most frequent student grade for case study assignments was 70%. However, the most frequent student grade for project-based learning assignments was 50%. The results show that distance learning engineering students languish under project-based learning, while they thrive in case studies and practical workshops. Possible reasons are given for this, based on the challenges faced by students engaging with these three pedagogies.