Responding to changing demands in engineering education: PBL for distance and on-campus students

Abstract

In 2002 the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Australia introduced the first of four problem based learning courses into its programs. This was in response to changing requirements of both the university and professional accreditation bodies to address the graduate attributes of teamwork, problem solving, communication, and independent and life long learning skills within the faculty’s programs. This case study describes the methodology and implementation of the first of these courses and gives results from a longitudinal study that assesses student perceptions and results