Problem based learning and students' motivation: The case of an electronics laboratory course

Problem based learning is a student-centered pedagogy that often develops some of the skills required of engineering graduates, and an inquiry based laboratory might be an appropriate platform for its implementation. The study described in this paper focused on an inquiry based electronics laboratory offered to junior electrical engineering students at a leading college in Israel. It is the first course where students are exposed to problem based learning and experience how engineers work. In light of the course's unique characteristics, the study examined whether a change in the students' academic motivation has occurred as a result of the course. Fourteen electrical engineering students participated in the study which utilized quantitative and qualitative tools. The study found a decrease (small effect) in the students' relative autonomy index, which had been caused mainly by a decrease in their intrinsic motivation and an increase in their external regulation. This change could be explained by the findings, according to which, the students' need for competence was not met during the course. Possible causes for this lack of fulfillment are the difficulties experienced by most students to adjust to independent learning and to cope with the complexity of the problems studied on the course. Such difficulties are known in the literature as associated with problem based learning, and the paper offers various ways to overcome them.