Engineering instructors’ professional agency development and identity renegotiation through engaging in pedagogical change towards PBL

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant Information.

Name	Gender	Country	Years of Teaching Experience	Classroom Size	Management Experience	Discipline	PBL Professional Learning Experience
UE	Male	Qatar	Over 20	Around 30	Yes	Civil Engineering	Two 3-day pedagogical development workshops hosted at the institute with external experts.
KN	Male	Qatar	Over 20	Around 30	Yes	Civil Engineering
JP	Female	China	Over 20	Some 120, some 30	Yes	Pharmaceutical Engineering	A 6-month PBL programme for engineering instructors hosted by Aalborg University in Denmark, where PBL has been systemically implemented for over 40 years.

Table 2. Coding Scheme with Sample Themes and Data.

	Themes	Subthemes	Sample Data
Agency-for-action	Drivers and readiness for change	Instructors’ motivation and beliefs	‘I believe that PBL is the most meaningful way to solve the issues in the current teaching and learning in China.’ (JP interview 1)
		Instructors’ actions in preparing for PBL implementation	‘Although I am not an educational expert, I did try to read literature about PBL and learn from others so that I could do PBL in a correct way.’ (UE written portfolio)
Agency-in-action	Engagement, regulation, and reflection and evaluation in implementation	Evaluation from the student learning perspective	‘I am quite critical of my own PBL practice; although I am enthusiastic and I benefited from PBL from my own learning in the training program in Denmark, I also wish for my students to go through the same process. So, I am always concerned about how they feel about it, whether they really learned from this, and how I can adjust to fit them.’ (JP interview 3)
		Evaluation from the institutional perspective	‘Piloting PBL is important, but it is more important that we document our practice through evidence of student learning, so participating in educational research is essential to convince people in our environment that PBL is useful.’ (KN written reflection)
		Handling challenges	‘Through piloting PBL twice, I have to say it is not easy. The institutional support is missing, despite good intentions from the college and university. It’s good that I can talk to KN so that I am not totally alone in this environment.’ (UE interview 4)
		Resilience	‘Although there are concerns from my colleagues, and we need to be careful when doing something new in our environment, I am not worried. This is the best way to go and we will make the change slowly.’ (KN interview 4)
Agency-on-prospects and future orientations	Instructors’ perceptions of future steps	Prospects for instructors’ individual plans	‘Now I have tried PBL three times, and two were in the same courses. I have developed my skills to adjust to different student reactions and I am confident in handling more different situations. As a next step, I will consider involving industry mentors in my own PBL course.’ (UE interview 6)
		Prospects for student development	‘There is a lot to do in order to adapt PBL to our context. Making sense of PBL in a big classroom is still much more difficult than a classroom of 40. I need to further work on the online support system to find more strategies for PBL in a big class.’ (JP written reflection)
		Prospects for institutional development	‘We need a more institutionalized approach to further change to PBL, balancing the requirements of accreditation and university top management … there is still a journey to go but we will make the changes that fit the culture.’ (KN interview 6)