Progression in PBL competences

In engineering education, qualification frameworks as well as curriculum standards,like the CDIO standards, have offered overall guidelines for progression in curriculum design. However, although the development has moved towards more student-centred and active learning environments, the attention towards learning progression specifically focusing on “learning to learn” has been limited. The scope of this paper is to explore the challenges of creating progression in (problem based learning) PBL competences with a specific focus on the development of meta-cognitive competences. Whereas the conceptual framework builds on the experiential learning theory, the empirical material draws on a study of learning progression at the problem and project organized learning (PBL) institution, Aalborg University. The empirical material includes insights from three engineering domains (Energy, Software and Architecture & Design), and nine focus group interviews with students in their first and third years of the bachelor’s programme and during their master’s study. The study showed that students develop a more comprehensive understanding of PBL throughout their study as their experience base expands. However, the case also raises attention to the risk of letting PBL competences become embedded into practice to an extent where it becomes tacit. If students do not have a language and a conceptual platform for PBL, it is difficult for them to identify their PBL competences, and it is also hard to transfer their understandings, concepts and methodological framework and apply their PBL competences to new learning situations as well as to new professional contexts.