2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The project focuses on designing and implementing a new computer science course using a flipped project-based learning (FPBL) model. The course instructor (Co-PI) has over 20 years of experience teaching undergraduate computer science students. While course design and learning assessments are presented in a companion paper (“[NSF IUSE] Flipped Learning for Enhanced Project-Based Learning in Cyber-Aerial Computing: Privacy Protection and Security Enhancement”), this paper examines students’ motivation and learning strategies and the instructor’s perceptions of student engagement. To measure student motivation and self-regulated learning, we adapted the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), which includes subscales assessing motivational orientation and learning strategies. Findings indicate that students reported high interest in the course and strong expectancy for success, suggesting high levels of motivation and confidence. The instructor also observed unusually high engagement compared to other courses over his two decades of teaching. The drone-based projects appeared to increase students’ motivation and sustained attention, supporting engagement in hands-on and project-based learning contexts.