Work-In-Progress: Using research-focused PBL to support computer engineering students’ learning engagement in a systemic PBL environment

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) anchors learning to special problems and enables effective teaching. The systemic PBL model which has been implemented at Aalborg university provides students with the opportunity to solve problems of a given field in a team. In this work, by applying the experience of research- based learning to PBL teaching, we explore PBL and propose a research-focused PBL framework, which integrates three focuses: research-focused project through research proposal design, enhancing student’s learning engagement through research, and co-creation of mutual learning with the project supervisor. The framework was piloted through a one-semester long project with initial feedback from students collected through a survey. The preliminary results demonstrated their positive reaction to the pilot and willingness to engage to further similar practices. Practical implications are provided based on the initial results.