Inducing competence-based assignment in traditional structural engineering education: A case study

The paper is motivated by real problems concerning the evaluation of the academic performance, satisfaction, critical thinking skills, and creativity in the learning process of engineering students exposed to a mixture of lecture-based learning with competence-based learning. The study randomized 450 students, enrolled in a reinforced concrete structures course, into three equal groups. One group was assigned to problem-based learning, while project- and technology-based learning was conducted for the other two groups. The practices of these three groups were compared based on two methods: monitoring of both generic and technical skills and a questionnaire analysis that indicated student satisfaction, critical thinking skills, and creativity. On the basis of the findings, the students who passed the project- and technology-based assignments held the highest achievement marks and reported higher satisfaction, critical thinking skills, and creativity. The obtained results revealed the necessity of technology to embrace new learning strategies that mimic real-world problems.