Chowdhury, T., & Ortega-Alvarez, J. D., & Twyman, C., & James, M., & Chambers, B. (2022, August), Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41372

\bibitem{asee_peer_41372}
  Chowdhury, T., \& Ortega-Alvarez, J. D., \& Twyman, C., \& James, M., \& Chambers, B. (2022, August), \emph{Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course}
  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.
  10.18260/1-2--41372

Tahsin Chowdhury, Juan David Ortega-Alvarez, Catherine Twyman, Matthew James, and Benjamin Chambers.  "Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course".  2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August.  ASEE Conferences, 2022.  https://peer.asee.org/41372 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_41372}
  Tahsin Chowdhury, Juan David Ortega-Alvarez, Catherine Twyman, Matthew James, and Benjamin Chambers.
  "Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course".
  \emph{2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2022.
  https://peer.asee.org/41372 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_41372
author = "Tahsin Chowdhury, Juan David Ortega-Alvarez, Catherine Twyman, Matthew James, and Benjamin Chambers"
title = "Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course"
booktitle = "2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2022"
month = "August"
address = "Minneapolis, MN"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/41372}
number = {10.18260/1-2--41372}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This complete research paper discusses the experience of first-year engineering students in an online project-based learning class. The study focuses on the second part of a two-part course sequence focusing on the engineering design process. Project-based learning (PjBL) is a widely adopted active learning pedagogical approach, which promotes student critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In higher education, students have the opportunity to learn while engaging actively in a collaborative environment under the context of a challenging, open-ended problem. PjBL is effective for engineering students, especially in the first year, and has been proven to develop both technical and professional competencies as they progress through their undergraduate studies. Many classes in higher education institutions have shifted online due to the current pandemic in the 2020-2021 academic year, where teaching and learning were undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. Similarly, the Foundations of Engineering course sequence, which promotes PjBL for first-year engineering students at a Mid-Atlantic R1 institution, was recently adapted into an online format. Students in the Foundations of Engineering course sequence were offered this project-based learning course online for the first time at the institution. 



Prior studies have explored the adoption of the online project-based learning (OPjBL) approach in various educational contexts. However there are few studies which reported the use of online PjBL in engineering, specifically in the first year engineering course. Hence, this study focuses on a successful implementation of an OPjBL course which helped in achieving an effective learning environment. The purpose of this study was to better understand the PjBL experience of students working in a first-year engineering foundation course in the online format. One of the major learning outcomes of this course is that students should demonstrate proficiency in implementing an engineering design process. For that reason, we focused on exploring students' perceptions of engineering design through the online experience. Accordingly, this study was guided by the following research question:  What are students' perceptions of engineering and design after taking an online PjBL First Year Engineering class?



Data was collected from student surveys at the end of the course. More than 400 students completed the online survey. The survey questions probed students’ perceptions of engineering design after culminating their semester-long design project. We analyzed both the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey. Results provide a better understanding of students’ perceptions of engineering design after working on their design projects online. The study provides further implications and recommendations for faculty, instructors and higher education practitioners of PjBL. 
AU  - Tahsin Chowdhury
AU  - Juan David Ortega-Alvarez
AU  - Catherine Twyman
AU  - Matthew James
AU  - Benjamin Chambers
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Understanding Student Experiences in a First-Year Engineering Online Project-Based Learning (OPjBL) Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41372
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41372
ER  -