CORRELATION STUDY BETWEEN THE PERFORMANCE IN DIFFERENT ENGINEERING COURSES AND PROJECT-BASED COURSES

In a previous study, already published (Bragós, 2022), we analyzed the correlation between the University access mark to the engineering studies with the grades obtained in project-based courses and in non-project-based standard courses. A lower correlation with the capstone course performance (R=0.3) than the one obtained with the average of the other courses (R=0.6) was obtained. Probably as a result of the fact that a different kind of skills are promoted in these courses. In this paper, we have changed and extended the scope of the correlation study. We used as a reference of the students’ performance index the individual average marks in the 1st year basic courses. Then we obtained the correlation with different categories of courses of our engineering program: theoretical/practical, mandatory/elective, by disciplines, and the Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Product Development Project (PDP) courses. This is, using internal indicators instead of the access mark, which has an external origin, and improving the granularity of the study. We have analyzed four consecutive cohorts that have completed a coherent set of subjects, n=762 students. We have classified the subjects (40 courses per student in average) in the categories aforementioned. They are compared with the performance in two “classic” PBL courses and a capstone PDP course. There is also a final Engineering bachelor thesis which is usually performed individually in companies or research labs. The very abridged results of the study display differences even higher that the ones obtained with the access mark. The three groups of non-project standard courses show a higher correlation among them (R=0.84 Basic to Mandatory-Disciplinary; R=0.69 Basic to Elective-Disciplinary) that when comparing the Basic courses with the PBL courses (R=0.59) or with the capstone PDP course (a very weak correlation with R=0.26). The complete set of cross-correlations among the categories is displayed in the paper. Like in the study about the correlation with the access mark, the main conclusion is the evidence that there is a remarkable set of students which have difficulties in the standard courses, with a higher analytic content but can perform very well in the project-based courses. Therefore, a different kind of skills are promoted in these courses. This is, in our opinion, a positive result because these students can find a place to stand out. It enhances their self-confidence and their perception of a potentially good performance in their future career.