Impact of Experiential Learning on Students' Success in Undergraduate Engineering

Abstract

Experiential learning is an important pedagogical approach used in teaching-learning process to facilitate "do it and learn". The proposed research work aims to evaluate the experiential learning approach to determine academic performance and students' success by defining hypothesis on the data collected from two different groups. The study is carried out on a population consisting of 168 computer science and engineering undergraduate students identified with two different engineering colleges of which one (college A) had adopted experiential learning through project based learning while the other(college B) has adopted traditional approach for teaching. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in the scores of subtests of students who had undergone experiential learning approach from that of traditional approach. College A adopted Project based learning(PBL) through course projects to apply course knowledge solve a problem, mini-projects to apply learning of multiple course knowledge to solve a real world problem, minor projects to use different technology stacks to develop a product and capstone projects to develop a product. The experience obtained help the students to improve their skills such as creative thinking, problem solving, leadership, teamwork, communication skill and make them industry ready. The students' success is measured with parameters: semester end exam(SEE)scores and placements. The result shows that college A has better students' success than college B. Also results have brought potential positive change in individual, organizational and societal level. It was concluded that experiential learning improve students' performance and can also be used in other disciplines.