Effectiveness of ‘Project Based learning - Internship’ for Third Year Civil Engineering students

Abstract

This Paper aims at investigating the effectiveness of Project based learning (PBL) Field Internship program as a PILOT study conducted with the third year civil engineering undergraduate students. The analysis of the study was based on the data collected by different tools which measured the role of PBL based Field Internship program in imparting the civil engineering field knowledge and contributing in preparing the program participants as career ready individuals. The outcomes presented were resulted from the qualitative and quantitive analysis of the collected data for the conducted PBL based internship program (PILOT) study with a sample of students. The designed curriculum topics and the related field activities are briefly included in the first part of the paper. The learning outcomes in the improvement in technical competence or gained field knowledge were assessed by comparing mean achievement scores of administered pre-test and post-test of the participants. The descriptive analysis of program participants feedback and evaluation forms, group project reports and presentations per designed rubric identifies the development or improvement in the soft skills (technical writing, team work, decision making, time management , etc.) of this PBL based Internship program (PILOT) participants. The empirical results obtained from this conducted PBL based Internship program (PILOT ) were relevant in order to ensure the sustainability with the sample in identifying the shortcomings or challenges that may have appeared for the author’s proposed main study