Is changing pedagogy a good bait in attracting students to engineering?

Abstract

In line with the new policy on pedagogical innovation adopted by Victoria University (VU) Policy in 2005, engineering schools at VU decided to introduce Problem-Based Learning (PBL) into their undergraduate engineering programs. It was hoped that such an action would attract more students to engineering courses at VU with higher equivalent national tertiary entry ranking (ENTER) cut off scores, be more attractive to girls and therefore address the predominating gender imbalance in engineering professions. The introduction of PBL was followed by intense publicity in secondary schools and vocational colleges. The management of both engineering schools at VU decided base their PBL model on one adopted on and used for a number of years at Aalborg University in Denmark. The initial implementation begun in some subjects in 2006 and by 2007 half the subjects in engineering curricula were designated for PBL delivery. Yet, despite the substantial investment in human resources and capital dedicated to the construction of PBL learning studios, there was little to show for the investment. There was a relatively little increase in popularity in attracting greater number of students to engineering at VU , which in terms of attractiveness remaining lowest in the packing order among engineering education providers in Melbourne. The proportion of girls selecting VU engineering as their course of study remained low. Surveys taken since 2008 among second year engineering students were part of a study to determine students' perceptions and motivations for choosing engineering as their course of study, and choosing VU engineering. The study hoped also to explore the effect PBL had on popularity of studying engineering at VU. This is the subject of this paper. The survey results revealed a mixed-bag. There was some good news. Over the seven years, the awareness of PBL at VU amongst final year secondary students has risen. More students indicated that knowledge of PBL would be more likely to attract them to VU engineering than act as a disincentive. It must also be noted that almost half of students were neutrally disposed towards PBL. Despite the liking PBL pedagogy, large proportion of students felt preferred the subject delivery was to be done in more traditional pedagogies. It suggested that students liked constructivist approaches within a more accessible framework. The relative high proportion of students indicating their desire to transfer to another university or course is a concern and needs to be addressed by the curriculum planners.