Lecture-Based and Project-Based Approaches to Instruction, Classroom Learning Environment, and Deep Learning is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Thailand License.
Institutions of higher education generally employ both lecture-based and project-based approaches to instruction. This
study aims to investigate which aspects of lectures and project-based instructional environments contribute to “deep” and “surface”
approaches to student learning. We collected and compared survey data from undergraduate students taking a civil engineering
course in which they were assigned to a section taught with lecture-based instruction (n = 181) or with project-based instruction (n
= 142). Data analysis was performed after controlling for the effects of the motivational goal orientations of students. A positive
correlation can be found between deep learning and higher levels of investigative culture and student involvement in the project-
based classroom. Additionally, we found that higher levels of task orientation in the project-based classroom had an inverse
correlation with a “surface approach”. We discussed the value of an investigative and participatory learning atmosphere for student
approach to learning and its curricular implications for the design of project-based and lecture-based instruction.