Fostering Technical and Sustainability Competencies Through an Integrated PBL Approach in an Undergraduate Mechanical Vibration Course

Engineering education requires pedagogical approaches that integrate sustainability with the development of core technical competencies. This study develops, implements, and evaluates a Sustainability-Integrated Problem-Based Learning (SI-PBL) approach in an undergraduate mechanical vibration course. The approach anchors the learning process in the inherent sustainability characteristics of an engineering problem, requiring students to explicitly negotiate trade-offs between technical performance and sustainability objectives. A quasi-experimental study with 121 mechanical engineering students compared the SI-PBL approach to traditional lecture-based instruction through a compressor redesign project in which students redesigned the balancing system of a single-stage air compressor. Analysis of covariance showed that the SI-PBL cohort achieved significantly larger gains in conceptual understanding ( d = 0.74 , p < 0.001 ), mathematical proficiency ( d = 0.77 , p < 0.001 ), complex problem-solving ( d = 0.56 , p < 0.001 ), and sustainability-oriented decision-making ( d = 0.61 , p < 0.001 ). A positive correlation between gains in complex problem-solving and sustainability reasoning within the SI-PBL group ( r = 0.41 , p = 0.001 ) indicated related competency development. The study provides empirical evidence for using sustainability as an integrating context for developing both technical and sustainability competencies in engineering education.