Project-based Learning for Experimental Design Research

Project-based learning has been illustrated to be an effective means of teaching students many of the "real-world" issues that arise during the course of engineering projects. However, project-based learning tends to have a product-centric focus. This paper describes an experimental run of a project-based learning program with a researchoriented focus, named "X-PBL." In this project, four college undergraduates were tasked with developing artifacts to interrogate a research question of their own design. This paper outlines the motivation and details the logistical organization of this project, concluding with a qualitative assessment of how the research focus changes the character of project-based learning in engineering design.