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Introduction – Engineering education is shifting from knowledge transmission to competence construction. The integration of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) represents this direction, yet research lacks empirical examination of the complete student perception-psychological process-competence chain. This study constructs an integrated model to explore how students’ perceived OBE-CDIO environment quality influences engineering literacy development through its multidimensional structure.

Methods – A cross-sectional research design was employed, administering a retrospective questionnaire survey to 366 graduates from a Double First-Class university in China who had experienced the OBE-CDIO integrated curriculum. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for higher-order factor analysis and path testing. Core constructs included: Integrated Education Environment Quality (a second-order latent variable measured by Curriculum Objective Alignment X1, Practical Project Richness X2, and Perception of Dual-Qualification Faculty Ratio X3) and Integrated Engineering Literacy (a higher-order latent variable comprising two first-order factors: Cognitive Internalization Literacy and Practical Externalization Literacy).

Results – The measurement model demonstrated excellent fit (χ2/df = 2.41, CFI = 0.962, TLI = 0.957, RMSEA = 0.062). The higher-order structural equation model revealed a strong total effect of integrated education environment quality on integrated engineering literacy (β = 0.72, p < 0.001). Mediation path analysis uncovered a key mechanism: environmental quality significantly enhanced students’ cognitive internalization literacy (β = 0.65), which in turn strongly drove the development of their practical externalization literacy (β = 0.80). Among the three dimensions of environmental quality, curriculum objective alignment (β = 0.282) contributed the most, followed by practical project richness (β = 0.222) and perception of dual-qualification faculty ratio (β = 0.170). In the sequential mediation model (Model B), total effect decomposition revealed that curriculum objective alignment had the largest total effect on practical externalization literacy (0.458), followed by practical project richness (0.426) and dual-qualification faculty ratio (0.395).

Conclusion – OBE-CDIO integration constructs an empowering environment where clear objectives promote knowledge internalization, which transforms into practical competencies under project and faculty guidance. This provides an empirically-based, stage-specific mechanism map for student-centered and outcome-oriented engineering education reform. The study offers a student-centered psychological perspective, bridging the gap between macro-level educational design and micro-level competence development in engineering education.