Reinforcing skills and building student confidence through a multicultural project-based learning experience

In this paper, we report on the impact of a project-based learning course on student self-efficacy in fundamental engineering attributes. The study was conducted as part of a four-week junior (third-year) course on renewable energy in 2011 at Shantou University that was taught to 20 Canadian students from the Schulich School of Engineering and 20 Chinese students from Shantou University. The study compared student self-efficacy at the start and at the end of the course. Students showed increased levels of self-efficacy in all of the attributes, with the largest increases in the attributes that were most closely aligned with the intended learning outcomes of the course. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2013.