The Relationships between Students' Conceptions of Learning Engineering and their Preferences for Classroom and Laboratory Learning Environments

This study developed a survey entitled Conceptions of Learning Engineering (CLE), to elicit undergraduate engineering students' conceptions of learning engineering. The reliability and validity of the CLE survey were confirmed through a factor analysis of 321 responses of undergraduate students majoring in electrical engineering. A series of ANOVA analyses revealed that students who preferred a classroom setting tended to conceptualize learning engineering as ?testing? and ?calculating and practicing,? whereas students who preferred a laboratory setting expressed conceptions of learning engineering as ?increasing one's knowledge,? ?applying,? ?understanding,? and ?seeing in a new way.? A further analysis of student essays suggested that learning environments which are student-centered, peer-interactive, and teacher-facilitated help engineering students develop more fruitful conceptions of learning engineering.