Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak has caused unprecedented disruption to education, requiring innovative educational adaptations. This study examines how students at the Engineering School of the Merchant Marine Academy of Macedonia Greece adapted to a newly proposed methodology, called MyPBL. The proposed methodology is based on an online PBL setting where learning is triggered by problems/indicators suggested by the students and derived from their internship experience. The methodology was implemented in the engine-room laboratories of the 3rd and 4th semesters and 159 engineering students participated. We tried to identify the benefits of MyPBL in maritime education and empirically examine the influence of the PBL-triggers in students’ motivation and their ability to remain engaged to the class and how this helped online education. This study adopted an action research strategy where the researcher-educator integrated didactic and research activities in the marine engineering laboratory. Qualitative research methods were used from observations and diaries of the researcher, interviews and open-ended questions in the questionnaires of students, teachers and marine engineers, with parallel references to quantitative data collected from questionnaires measuring student and teacher satisfaction, as well as from measurable observations. Findings of this study revealed that MyPBL seems to facilitate learning and increase students’ interest in the course, while encouraging self-directed learning, teamwork and collaboration. Moreover, it links the internship with school attendance and seems to have a positive impact on online courses.
Presenters
Mary MatsoukaAssociate Lecturer, Engineering School, Merchant Marine Academy, Greece Vassilios Dagdilelis
Teacher, Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
PBL Triggers, Online Courses, Marine Engineering Education, Students’ Motivation, Covid-19
