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An integrative model of project-based learning for sustainability in engineering capstones: insights from students across industry-based and service-learning contexts

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates how engineering capstone projects influence students’ academic motivation and understanding of sustainable development. Drawing on qualitative interviews with twenty final-year engineering students, it examines how course design, basic psychological need satisfaction, and project contexts shape students’ capstone learning experiences. The findings indicate that perceived competence gaps, structured autonomy, and interdisciplinary collaboration serve as powerful motivators. In contrast, time constraints, competing academic priorities, limited budgets and resources, and insufficient stakeholder engagement constrain opportunities for deeper learning, experimentation, and critical reflection. Although most participants initially viewed sustainability primarily through an environmental perspective, those involved in service-learning projects developed a broader understanding that encompassed engineers’ social responsibilities and the Sustainable Development Goals. Based on these findings, the study proposes a transferable integrative model of project-based learning that demonstrates how contextual factors, basic psychological need satisfaction, and motivational regulation interact to foster academic motivation and sustainability-oriented learning in engineering capstone education.

Source: European Journal of Engineering Education

DOI: 10.1080/03043797.2026.2708786

Authors: David Kongpiwatana Narong, Philip Hallinger

Institutions: Thammasat University, Mahidol University, University of Johannesburg

Language: English

Topic: Problem and Project Based Learning

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Mahidol University, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia