IS PBL THE ANSWER IN ATTRACTING AND RETAINING STUDENTS TO ENGINEERING?

In line with the new policy a introduced in 2005, Victoria University (VU) decided to implement new pedagogical directions. The two engineering schools as a consequence introduced Problem-Based Learning (PBL) pedagogy in their undergraduate engineering programs. It was hoped that this action would inspire more and better qualified students, of both genders, to consider engineering courses at VU. This was followed by an extensive publicity in secondary schools and vocational colleges. Though some small increase in popularity for attracting greater number of students to engineering at VU was observed, nevertheless VU engineering still remained as the least attractive destination. The proportion of girls selecting VU engineering as their course of study remained low. Seven years of surveys showed increasing awareness of PBL at VU amongst final year secondary students. It also showed awareness of PBL would more likely to attract students to VU engineering than act as a disincentive. Despite liking PBL a large proportion of students would have preferred more traditional instructive teaching in PBL subject. The relative high proportion of students indicating their desire to transfer to another university showed that PBL had little effect on possible attrition rates suggesting that other strategies need to be adopted.