The impacts of project-based teaching approach on students´ motivation

This paper analyzes a situation to better understand the effects of project-based teaching on motivation and learning. It aims to observe the effects of project-based teaching on mastery goals, performance/avoidance, on the students´ interest in electrical engineering. These goals were compared to those of the traditional approach to teaching master level using both lectures and workshops. The experiment was conducted with second year master students in electrical engineering during the academic year 2010/2011. Two questionnaires on the value and commitment were used to collect data within a research experiment. Analysis of results showed significant differences between the two approaches for different purposes: mastery, performance/avoidance and interest. Some limitations and practical implications are also presented.