Problem-Based Learning That Fits: Transforming SCATE’s Approach into Your Own Program

South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SC ATE) has been helping educators implement Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in classrooms for years. But often schools can take the SC ATE curriculum and transform it into their own unique approach. That’s what Phil Regalbuto, instructor in Electronics Engineering Technology at Trident Technological College in Charleston has been doing for some time.

Shifting from Standard Solutions to Custom SolutionsOriginally, SC ATE’s Problem-Based Learning approach formed the core of Engineering Technology Foundations (EGR 140), a course that introduces students to fundamental concepts of electrical, mechanical, and other systems related to engineering technology, along with a healthy dose of workplace readiness skills. But the original projects have changed over the years.

For instance, when making presentations for workplace readiness, students are no longer offered PowerPoint as an option. “When EGR 104 was created, Power-Point was new and exciting, but what we have seen over the years is death by PowerPoint,” Regalbuto explains. “By forcing them out of the PowerPoint mold, we’ve forced them into doing some really creative things,” including brochures, flyers, websites, and even videos.

Other SC ATE components have been dropped in favor of new projects. Regalbuto has dropped the original mechanical project in favor of building trebuchets. “We got money from our foundation, and bought some kits, like a heavy-duty erector set.” After a series of mechanical labs about different forces and levers, the students build their trebuchets and compete against each other for accuracy.

The final project is building a break room, which often brings out real craftsmanship. “I’ve had people make models of the break room detailed to where they’re putting in LED lighting.”

Spreading Problem-Based Learning to Other Courses

One benefit of exploring the SC ATE database is that problem-based projects do not need to remain in the courses for which they were originally designed. For instance, Regalbuto now uses the problem-based approach in Introduction to Engineering (EGR 270), which covers the application of computers in engineering, including programming.

“I give them a Lego Mindstorms robot. It’s created,” explains Regalbuto, “but their project is to get it through a maze.” The robot is required to travel all the way down and back through the maze. Failing to get the robot down to the end of the maze means failing the project, reaching the remote end is a “C”, and returning

up the maze results in minimal “A.” For a perfect score, the robot must return to the starting box. “At the end of the semester, I have to kick them out of the lab, because they want to get that 100, and I won’t let them unless they stop it in the starting box. I have three or four out of about 40 every semester who manage to do it.”

Problem-Based Learning and the Evolving Educational Experience

Experience with project-based learning opens up new inroads for students and

instructors alike. One of Regalbuto’s many hats is Lead instructor for the Mechanical

and Electrical Engineering programs’ senior project, in which students have to design

and build an instructor-approved project. Their projects have ranged from automatic

dog washers to solar pool heaters to roller coasters. Two students bounced a laser off a window and amplified the signal so that they could hear what was going on in the room.

How many of these projects are found in the SC ATE database? None of them!

“These are all original,” explains Regalbuto. “We’ve taken the idea of project-based learning and turned it into a capstone course in which they choose the project. When you give them these kinds of things, they tend to go the extra mile. You don’t really have to push them.”

“We’ve just added Mechanical Engineering students to the senior project in the last four years. Some projects have an electrical and a mechanical component. We have two people working in a team on it. They start off in the EGR 104 courses and projects and finish with the senior project class.”

Lessons Learned Along the Way

Here are some things that Regalbuto has noted about PBL:

• Students really like project-based learning. Regalbuto notes that students “want to be creative, and they don’t get much opportunity to do that in some other courses.”

• Giving direction is key. While you shouldn’t do the project for them, you can give students concrete information at the beginning and encourage them along the way to bring out their own creativity.

• Expect some apprehension in the beginning. When students first encounter project-based learning, they may be hesitant. “A lot of them, at the beginning of the course, are asking ‘How can I get an A?’ or ‘Is this going to be on the test?’” The apprehension will pass.

• Mix up your teams. Much of problem-based learning involves teamwork. Regalbuto

says results are much better when you mix them up.

• Expect greater results in the end. Students take learning more seriously when the project is their own instead of something they are forced to do.

Phil Regalbuto is an Instructor in Electronics Engineering Technology and Engineering Transfer

at Trident Technical College in Charleston, South Carolina. He came to Trident Tech in August 1990, and was one of the faculty on the original ATE grant in the late 90s. Prior to coming to TridentTech, he worked in industry for 14 years.