Improving self-efficacy in engineering students using PLC based traffic light experiments

Abstract

In ABET EC2000, eight of the eleven attributes are defined as abilities of engineering program graduates. While educators have methods to measure these abilities, the students are often left with a somewhat vague idea of their increased knowledge and little sense of advancement in their engineering capabilities. This research aims to develop metrics to measure improvements in the self-efficacy of senior engineering students through a set of increasingly more challenging laboratory exercises. The experimental setup consists of a programmable logic controller (PLC), a replica of an intersection of two roads with a set of traffic lights and road sensors, and a number of toy cars capable of triggering the sensors. Experiments progress from flashing red and yellow lights, through controlling a single traffic light, controlling the whole intersection, to implementing the sensors in creating a more complicated intersection control. The self-efficacy of students is assessed through a questionnaire. An analysis of the results shows the change in self-efficacy for engineering students who participated in this study.