Title Connections between education and research: engineering students’ perspectives and experiences
Authors Nizevičienė, D ; Vaičiukynienė, D ; Kantautas, Aras ; Vaičiukynas, Vilimantas ; Bistrickaitė, R ; Mockienė, Jūratė ; Stelmokaitis, G ; Balevičius, Giedrius ; Rudžionis, Ž ; Vaitkevičius, V ; Šerelis, E
DOI 10.21125/edulearn.2026.1617
ISBN 9788409884445
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Is Part of EDULEARN26 Proceedings: 18th international conference on education and new learning technologies, 29 June-1 July, 2026 Palma, Spain.. Burjassot : IATED, 2026. art. no. 1617, p. 1-7.. ISSN 2340-1117. ISBN 9788409884445
Keywords [eng] Research-based learning ; Engineering education ; Tolerance of frustration ; Research motivation ; Higher education.
Abstract [eng] Research-oriented methods are playing an increasingly important role in higher education; therefore, understanding students’ attitudes toward research is essential for strengthening the integration of research into engineering study programs. To empirically investigate these issues, a survey was conducted involving civil engineering students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and the Lithuanian Engineering College (LIK). The study examined six key aspects determining students’ engagement in research activities: (1) knowledge of research, (2) value-based interest in research, (3) enjoyment of working with scientific literature, (4) enjoyment of working with empirical data, (5) tolerance for uncertainty, and (6) tolerance for disappointment. The study showed that 50.23% of KTU and 30.36% of LIK participants are interested in research. Similar results were obtained regarding working with scientific literature and empirical data. Accordingly, 17.9% of respondents from Kaunas University of Technology and 6.07% of respondents from LIK expressed satisfaction. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that more educated and independent students are more likely to choose engineering universities than colleges with the same profile. The results of this research are useful for curriculum developers seeking to strengthen the role of research in engineering studies.
Published Burjassot : IATED, 2026
Type Conference paper
Language English
Publication date 2026