Project-based Learning for First-Year Engineering Students: Design of CO2 Sequestration

This paper evaluates the teaching and learning outcomes from a first-year project-based engineering course at the University of New South Wales. The students worked in teams to design and build a device to sequester 'CO2' into a reservoir. We present our observation of the peer assessments, performance prediction and diversity of the students. We found that some teams collaborated more effectively than others. We quantified this effectiveness using an online peer assessment that enables students to rate the performance of their teammates. These ratings were incorporated into the assignment of individual marks for group assignments. The analysis of the marks students achieved for various assessments and components of the course is presented. We observed that female students tended to out-perform their peers in both individual and team assessments, and students who did well in individual components of the course also did well in the team components. The use of early assessments to predict performance in later assessments seems to be difficult. However, there is a strong connection between students' results for their design proposal and their results for the final design work. We are able to show statistically a significant improvement for marks for presentations but not for report writing. Anonymous surveys showed that about 90% of students were satisfied with their experience of the course. Students found this course to be challenging and enjoyable, giving them a good start in developing their skills as engineers.