Project Based Learning

Engineering and Technology educators in higher education use Topic-Based Learning (TBL) to present course contents. This method classically relies on numerous attributes, which include the instructor presenting facts to students, a learning structure defined by the sequence of material presented in a text book, discussion of questions or problem solving and textbook oriented labs. This conventional and often successful model of knowledge transmission centers for the most part on the teacher and what they want students to learn and accomplish from theses lectures. Another teaching approach known as ProjectBased Learning (PBL) promotes critical thinking utilizing real-life problems as the starting point. Professors and students are expected to play non-conventional roles by engaging in this instructional and learning approach. In a PBL environment, learners practice higher order cognitive skills (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) and are constantly engaged in reflective thinking asking questions that are based on application of concepts from different Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This paper draws on the lessons learned from different disciplines where PBL has been employed. The motivation behind the development and implementation of PBL in a Data Acquisition course was to help students avoid memorization, to free them from being equations driven and to assist them in learning and understanding concepts through critical thinking. Projects that provide contextual based learning and analysis are implemented in an integrated Data Acquisition Systems course. Projects provide our student opportunities to integrate Engineering Technology concepts to enhance learning. Team consisting of three students work on design of sensor based projects to model, test, and modify system for efficient performance. This paper will present student projects to illustrate the methods employed to implement PBL.