Changes of adaptability strategies to Problem-Based Learning: A longitudinal study of first-year Chinese engineering graduate students

Problem- and project-based Learning (PBL) has been acknowledged and practiced as one of the widely accepted and innovative methods in engineering education over the last forty years at Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark. However, the transition from lecture-based traditional learning to PBL represents a major challenge, especially for international students who have no prior knowledge and experience in PBL. In addition, more transition issues are raised by overseas students from China due to the differences in language, culture, learning styles etc. To remain and prosper in a new and competitive PBL learning environment, these engineering students must develop adaptability skills, which means that they must finds ways to fit into and learn through PBL. Our previous study has identified that first-year Chinese graduate engineering students’ preferred adaptability strategies are integration, assimilation and separation when adapting to PBL in their first semester at AAU. In order to enrich our understanding of adaptability as a changing process, the current longitudinal research extends the focus to the changes of the students’ choice of adaptability strategies to PBL over time and aims to explore the factors which influence their selection. Four Chinese engineering graduate students were followed through consecutive semistructured interviews during their second semester at AAU. The results indicate that both integration and separation strategies are the favored adaptability strategies at this stage. Moreover, some factors relating to PBL courses, teamwork, communication and language proficiency impact these Chinese engineering students’ preferences for different adaptability strategies.