Does the project-based-learning (PBL) strategy change first-year students' perceptions of the engineering profession?

The purpose of this study is to describe how students' perceptions of the engineering profession change overall as a result of the implementation of the project-based-learning (PBL) strategy in an introductory biomedical engineering course. This is a pre- post-test with no control group study design. Two classes (n = 113) of the course participated in a hybrid lecture+PBL learning strategy. A survey comprising a demographic and 5-point Likert sections measured students' perceptions of the engineering profession. The survey was administered three times; (first week, baseline, T0), when students were exposed to lectures only (sixth week, T1), and after the implementation of the PBL strategy, T2. No statistically significant results in the students' perceptions in the baseline compared with T1 (p<0.566) and statistically significant change in the students' perceptions in T1 compared with T2 (p<0.024) were found. The PBL educative strategy positively changed first-year students' perceptions of the engineering profession.