Development of an Online Project-Based Learning Design Course for African First Year Students and Its Impact on Self-Efficacy Levels

Contribution: Online learning during the pandemic led to reports of learning losses, with physical isolation as one contributing factor. Education on the African continent faced additional challenges due to weaker supply chains and connectivity. Here, it is shown that even if students participate in a project-based design course online, from their homes across Africa, it is nonetheless possible for this pedagogy to increase their self-efficacy to design and build. Background: A false narrative exists about innovation needing to be diffused into the continent instead of generated locally. Understanding the impact of a successful attempt at challenging this narrative can inform curricula broadly. Research Questions: 1) Can a project-based design course increase self-efficacy levels for African first-year students? 2) How do social support levels relate to their change in self-efficacy? 3) How do self-efficacy levels relate to their pursuit of extracurricular design activities afterward? Methodology: Assessment of online and in-person modalities of the Principles of Design course was carried out through surveys at three time points. T-tests and Hedge’s g tests ascertained statistical significance and effect size of changes in self-efficacy over time. Use of a self-proposed scale with minimal items limited the analysis. Findings: Self-efficacy levels increased significantly during the course for all majors, modalities, and genders. They either stayed statistically similar or increased one to two years afterward. Moderate correlation was found between support levels and self-efficacy changes. Statistical significance was neither found there nor between self-efficacy at the end of the course and design activity levels afterward.