Engineering students' self-regulation, study strategies, and motivational believes in traditional and problem-based curricula

Is problem-based learning (PBL) really effective? Evidence focusing on achievement provides mixed results, but a growing body of research indicates that PBL fosters students' academic engagement. However these studies are limited to the education of health professionals and do not include measures of implementation. The aim of the present study is to compare perceptions of the learning environment, motivational beliefs (self-efficacy and goal orientations), self-regulation strategies, study strategies, and satisfaction among engineering students before and after the shift from a lecture-based to a problem- and project-based (PBL) curriculum. The last cohort of students who attended the traditional curriculum and the first cohort of students who attended the new PBL curriculum participated to a questionnaire survey. Results of multivariate analyses show that PBL students perceived stronger academic support and weaker organizational structure. They also report more frequent use of adaptive self-regulation and deep processing strategies, less frequent use of surface processing strategies, lower satisfaction, higher attendance and longer study time. No differences were found for motivational beliefs and collaboration between students. Moreover, perceived learning environment mediates most of the observed differences between cohorts. Implications for attempts to improve student academic engagement are discussed