Problem-Based Learning Approach in Marine Engineering Education Using Mobile Devices and Internet Tools

Abstract

The skills of Marine Engineering graduates should be strongly oriented to problem solving for situations without external direct assistance. Marine professionals should also be able to take the right decisions under difficult situations like emergencies. Work-group and job planning is an every day requirement, especially when doing maintenance and reparation tasks. Besides, marine technology has advanced quickly and knowledge recycling is a must on every shipping company, but operation and maintenance procedures have usually to be learnt on the go. During last decades, marine engineering students had not got immersed into a real challenge work environment until going onboard for the first time when finishing their studies. The adoption of a problem-based learning is intended to solve this situation, so students will have a closer contact with real decision-taking and auto-learning situations on earlier stages. We pretend to create more engaging experiences and introduce our students into real collaborative environments using technologies; especially those based on mobile devices and Internet tools. Grounded in motivation theory, this research evaluates how the context of problem-based learning (PBL) affects aspects of motivation in students of marine engineering. Our research aims to answer: 1) How does the context of service in project-based learning affect student motivation? 2) What factors are most influential on student motivation to persist in project-based learning experiences? The results show different behavior in freshmen and senior students.