Engineering Students’ Perception of Learner Agency Development in an Intercultural PBL (Problem- and Project-Based) Team Setting

Abstract

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This study explores the elements engineering students perceive as important for developing their learner agency in the context of intercultural project-based learning (PBL) teams. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> The concept of learner agency has recently gained prominence due to its relevance for student-centeredness, autonomy, self-regulation, and collaboration. Certain pedagogical approaches are known to specifically support the development of learner agency, including PBL, in which learners are provided with active, self-directed, and collaborative learning tasks. PBL practice is also increasingly diverse, emphasizing intercultural collaboration in teams. However, learner agency has received little research attention in PBL settings, and even less in intercultural PBL. This study contributes to the existing literature on the development of learner agency in intercultural PBL teams. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research Question:</i> What elements do engineering students consider important for supporting their learner agency development in an intercultural PBL team context? <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</i> Theoretically, learner agency is framed within three interrelated dimensions, namely, intrapersonal, behavioral, and environmental. Based on this framework, a survey instrument with 31 items was constructed and responses were obtained from 310 engineering students. The survey used expert review, student piloting, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and Cronbach’s alpha to test content validity, construct validity, and reliability. The descriptive and demographic statistics were examined through <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t$</tex-math> </inline-formula> -test and the analysis of variance test. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> Five factors emerged from EFA: 1) interest and motivation; 2) self-efficacy; 3) self-regulated behaviors in teams; 4) team dynamics; and 5) external support. The statistical analysis shows that the interest and motivation factor was perceived by the engineering students as the most important. Furthermore, several demographic variables, including gender, nationality, year of study, and type of PBL learner based on their level of experience with PBL, were found to impact engineering students’ agency development.