In order to respond to the ever-changing global economic environment, the technological and vocational education system in Taiwan needs to be dramatically reformed to the changing needs of the domestic industrial structure. Integrating practical talents with practical industrial experiences and competences can help avoid discrepancy and close the gap between vocational education and the practical demands of industries. Thus, to achieve the goals of technological and vocational education, it is necessary to incorporate instruction that meets the demands of the industrial-oriented manpower in Taiwan. In this study, the well-known problem-based learning (PBL) approach, utilized commonly in the educational area of medicine and business management, was integrated with the qualitative method of action research to explore how such a learning strategy could influence college students’ learning outcomes regarding industrial-oriented competences. The research results were induced from the empirical data collected via participatory classroom observations, and analyses of teachers’ instructional journals and semi-structural interviews. A survey with quasi-experimental design of the control group pretest and posttest was conducted by using an industrial-oriented competences scale to explore the influences of PBL on students’ learning outcomes of industrial-oriented competences. The findings are expected to shed light on the teaching and learning strategy of college students’ industrial-oriented competences and contribute to theoretical implications and future educational and industrial development of Taiwan. © 2015, The Author(s).
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