In response to the structural difficulties of vague goals, disciplinary content, passive implementation, and single evaluation in the design of vocational undergraduate courses, this study introduces the "Project Driven Capability Oriented" (PDCO) teaching mode, aiming to construct a course design path suitable for the training of high-level technical and skilled talents. The study first elucidated the connotation, characteristics, and appropriateness of the PDCO model with "project as the carrier and capability as the core"; Secondly, four basic principles have been established: "ability goals first, typical project tasks, moderate knowledge embedding, and process evaluation accompanying"; Furthermore, a five step closed-loop operation path covering "job capability analysis → course goal determination → project task design → knowledge point embedding → teaching activity implementation → evaluation feedback" was constructed. A quasi experimental study using the course "Intelligent Connected Vehicle Technology" as an example shows that compared to traditional teaching methods, the PDCO model can significantly improve students' academic performance (p<0.01, Cohen's d=1.12) and satisfaction with enterprise evaluations, effectively strengthening students' ability to solve complex engineering problems. This study provides theoretical references and practical paradigms for the construction of vocational undergraduate engineering courses.

Huan Zhang. PDCO Model-Based Design of Vocational Undergraduate Courses. Frontiers in Educational Research (2026), Vol. 9, Issue 5: 39-46. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2026.090507.

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