scholarly journals Managing PBL difficulties in an industrial engineering and management program

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela Alves ◽  
Rui Sousa ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
M. Alice Carvalho ◽  
Elisabete Cardoso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
First Semester ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose: Project-Based Learning (PBL) is considered to be an active learning methodology which can be used to develop both technical and transversal competences in engineering programs. This methodology demands a great deal of work effort from the students and also from the teachers and it requires a meticulous plan and a well-managed project as well. These activities go far beyond the normal activities in traditional lectures, enabling to outpace the difficulties that spur along the way that may be both complex and demotivating. This methodology has been implemented in the Integrated Master Degree on Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM), at one public university in Portugal, since the 2004/2005 academic year. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the main difficulties of the implementation of PBL, mainly from the teachers’ perspectives. Additionally, some effective strategies will be recommended to overcome such difficulties.Design/methodology/approach: The perceptions of the teachers were collected through a survey based on six main themes. The participants in the study include eight teachers from the five courses of the first semester of the first year of the IEM program involved in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 editions.Findings: Integration of courses in the project; student assessment; growing number of students in each team and the need of physical spaces for them; and compartmentalized knowledge has emerged as the main difficulties. To overcome these difficulties some key strategies were recommended.Originality/value: A new perspective based on course teachers' views and experiences will deepen the understanding of the problems and provide inputs for the development of strategies that may improve the effectiveness of PBL and introduce changes for its successful implementation. These strategies are intended to be transferable to other contexts, as most of the problems and constraints are common to other active learning approaches.

Action, Practice and Research in Project Based Learning in an Industrial Engineering and Management Program

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Celina P. Leão
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
Teacher Engagement ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Engaged Teachers ◽  
Market Needs ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Coordination Team

Engineering is a profession that suffers from rapid obsolescence because of constantly new market needs. Therefore, the engineering education curriculum must be adapted to accommodate change and to prepare as well as possible new engineers. To achieve this, Project-Based Learning (PBL) as an active learning methodology, assumes greater importance. PBL has been implemented for a decade (since 2004/05) in the first semester of the first and fourth year of the Master Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) at University of Minho, Portugal, by a team of IEM teachers. This paper describes this last decade of teaching, learning and researching in a PBL environment in this degree. PBL engages students in their own learning. In IEM program, PBL also engaged teachers in improving their teaching methods by questioning continuously these. Throughout ten years, the coordination team of IEM program faced many challenges and brought significant contributions to discussion, researching on how PBL process in IEM could be improved and studying different PBL models for different students’ needs. By following this path, this paper disseminates the practices researched in PBL process of IEM program and the benefits founded by applying this learning methodology through an analysis of the results of this research published in international conferences, journals and books (more than 70 publications). In light of the results achieved, as well as feedback from researchers and students, the authors believe that PBL is one of the best practices for student learning and teacher engagement.

Dealing With Student Profile Diversity in an Industrial Engineering and Management Program: PBL vs “Non-PBL”

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
Celina P. Leão
Keyword(s):  
Management Program ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Student Profile ◽  
The University ◽  
Transfer Mechanisms ◽  
Pbl Model ◽  
Distinct Approach

The Integrated Master in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) program has been implementing Project-Based Learning (PBL) for more than 15 years in the first year, first semester. The IEM program is currently attracting students from different programs, using transfer mechanisms, who normally already have passed some of the courses on their original program. Additionally, this program also attracts a number of students already working in some companies. These students are a bit older and their profile is also distinct from that of their fellow colleagues, which enter the university using a regular national ingress process. Thus, distinct situations are identified that demand a different learning approach. The teachers have come-up with one such distinct approach and called it “non-PBL”, since the PBL model is structured in a way that students must have a specific profile, namely, to be first-year IEM student and enrolled a similar set of curricular units. With this in mind, this paper presents these situations, and describes the solution found to address this diversity. The solution must promote similar competences on both PBL and “non-PBL” students. A heavier workload is imposed on the teachers, given that the number of “non-PBL” teams formed can be as much as the number of PBL teams. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that the “non-PBL” students successfully conclude the first year and that they value the solution proposed, in spite of the difficulties raised with this process.

scholarly journals PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCHES CONDUCTED AT UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard Lachiver
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Faculty Involvement ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
One Year ◽  
Pedagogical Research ◽  
Teaching Learning

The USherbrooke Faculty of Engineering is recognized as a leader in innovation and research in engineering education. The Université de Sherbrooke was the second university in Canada to offer co-op programs for its students in 1966 and is now among the top 10 higher education institutions in North America for the significance of its co-op system. The faculty of engineering was the first in Canada to offer an undergraduate mechanical engineering program based on professional competencies with design as the ultimate competency integration activity - the backbone of the entire program. In 2001, we introduced completely redesigned electrical and computer engineering programs based on two complementary frameworks. The first one is a competency-based framework used to have a better alignment between teaching/learning activities, program objectives and competences development. The second one, called the learning framework, introduces a paradigm shift from passive to active learning methodologies with the deployment of problem and project based learning situations. Over the years, the faculty of engineering has developed many original approaches to both design of curriculum and faculty organisation. We also developed considerable expertise to improve teaching and learning especially integration of curriculum elements, the development of team skills and of a professional culture, the use of design projects extending over more than one year with links to industry, the use of portfolio to track competencies development, active learning environment such as problem and project-based learning and in utilising novel assessment techniques to improve learning. All these initiatives have been made possible by creating winning conditions to involve faculty members in pedagogical research activities and implementation methodologies. To do that we provided institutional financial support (faculty, university), encouragement, teaching load relief, recognition of faculty involvement in tenure and promotion, professional support for CEAB accreditation requirements, etc.

The Use of Blogs in a Project-Based Learning Context for First-Year Engineering Students’ Teams

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Ana C. Pereira ◽  
Celina P. Leão ◽  
Sandra Fernandes ◽  
Andre F. Uebe-Mansur
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Development Context ◽  
Project Phases

Abstract The Integrated Project of Industrial Engineering and Management 1 (IPIEM1) is a curricular unit of the first year developed in the first semester of the Integrated Masters degree of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM11) – University of Minho, Portugal. In the 2019’s 1st semester and in the IPIEM1 previous versions, Project-Based Learning (PBL) was usually adopted as a learning methodology. In this pedagogical development context, freshman students develop a project integrating all five courses related to this current semester. To undertake this project, the students work in large teams that comprise nine to ten members. Throughout the semester, each team must accomplish the project phases and tasks. To communicate their progress and results developed during the semester, each team designed a blog. In the IPIEM1 previous editions of PBL of this year in this program, the weblog (blog) digital technology was also adopted, but it was never assessed. Thus, this paper has two main objectives: 1) to evaluate the importance of the blog for the teams; 2) to discuss teams’ engagement during its development, knowing that it would be a part of the assessment method. The survey results revealed that the teams considered the blog useful to keep an update record of the project progress and to stimulate the writing and reflection about project contents. Furthermore, some of teachers’ and students’ considerations showed the need for providing more training and experience in the development of blogs.

scholarly journals Analyzing effectiveness of active learning through project-based learning approach in university level ICT courses

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Dhiraj Shrestha ◽  
Satyendra Nath Lohani ◽  
Roshan Manjushree Adhikari
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
University Level ◽  
Teaching Learning

The concept of Active Learning (AL), which has journeyed through multiple research studies over the years, is an important part of the teaching learning process at academic institutions. The present study applies active learning via project-based approaches where students engage in real life projects and solve associated complications with their research, communication, and technical skills. As a case study of effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL), especially in engineering project contexts, the present research is conducted among students studying computer science and engineering at Kathmandu University (KU), Nepal. The key findings of the study suggest that PBL assignments have helped students in their active learning processes. This paper also compares teaching and learning approaches of KU with other IT institutions of Nepal.

scholarly journals Promoting creative thinking for gifted students in undergraduate mathematics

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Parinya Sa Ngiamsunthorn
Keyword(s):  
Learning Style ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
Challenge Based Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Process

Gifted students need a form of special education through extracurricular and learning experiences because they have extraordinary potential in terms of intelligence, creativity, social and mentality, compared to other students. This study aims to investigate various teaching and learning approaches designed for gifted students, and to constitute appropriate techniques that enhance their creative thinking in mathematics. The participants of this study were first-year gifted students enrolled in fundamental mathematics courses towards their undergraduate engineering programs at a science and technology-based university in Thailand. This study discovered that an adequate use of challenge-based learning, problem solving process, project-based learning, well-designed questions and in-depth learning style in the classroom effectively fostered their insightful and creative thought. Moreover, an online tool such as Facebook could be used as a learning platform outside the classroom to engage them in online discussion and collaboration and to challenge their thinking. Ultimately, based on students’ feedbacks and evaluation, this study found that a combination of these techniques and methods built up a more comfortable and motivating atmosphere that helped them for creative thinking and corresponded to their needs and satisfaction.

scholarly journals Virtualizing Project-Based Learning: An Abrupt Adaptation of Active Learning in the First Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, with Promising Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
Marco Antonio Carvalho Pereira ◽  
Luísa Miranda Nunes da Costa Ignácio ◽  
Cristiano E. Rodrigues Reis
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Adjustment Process ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
First Semester ◽  
The Past ◽  
Case Evaluation ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
The University

Project-based learning (PBL) is renowned as an active learning practice that promotes the application of the accumulation of knowledge through real-world and often open-ended problems. This work assesses a case evaluation of an introductory PBL course in a typical industrial engineering curriculum in Brazil. This course is taken during the first semester, in which students must develop solutions for a single given problem through weekly meetings. The case presented herein highlights the forced abrupt virtualization of the learning process, which imposed an unprecedented scenario on the students and instructors, especially with regard to this course, which is based primarily on presented discussions and activities. The first weeks of class following the abrupt virtualization of activities encountered misinformation and a lack of clarity about the adaptation of the activities. Fortunately, through rapid iterations, the adjustment process resulted in time invested by the students and classes, with an active discussion, using the tools made available by the university. This work aims to present the forced abrupt changes applied to this first-semester course, highlighting the challenges faced, and the positive outcomes obtained and observed by both the students and the instructor, and to make a comparison to the evolution of the course over the past years.

Tutoring Experiences in PBL of Industrial Engineering and Management Program: Teachers vs Students

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
Celina P. Leão ◽  
Senhorinha Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Normal Development ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
On Line ◽  
Project Objectives ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The University

Teamwork tutors are one of the characteristic elements of the Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology. PBL is considered to be an active learning methodology that involves the students in their own learning, by promoting the development of a large interdisciplinary project. The project runs typically over one full semester, or longer, and it is supported by a number of Project Supporting Courses (PSC) that teach and also applies its own contents aligned with project objectives. A set of activities, tasks and milestones are planned for each team so that the project objectives are accrued, with the aid of a tutor that follows the normal development and reports on its progress. This paper discusses the role of the tutor from both sides: students’ and teachers’ tutors, and students in their first year of the Integrated Master in Industrial Engineering and Management program at the University of Minho. A total of thirteen tutors (four teachers and nine third year students) tutored six teams of students. Two on-line questionnaires were used to collect: 1) the perspectives of the tutored students with a total of 38 questions; 2) the perspectives of the tutors with a total of 22 questions. It was interesting to note that almost all students that answered to the questionnaire enjoyed having an older student tutoring them. The students’ tutors also enjoyed and they all had a good tutorship experience, being a special opportunity to help the first year colleagues.

Project Based Learning in First Year, First Semester of Industrial Engineering and Management: Some Results

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela C. Alves ◽  
Francisco Moreira ◽  
Rui Lima ◽  
Rui Sousa ◽  
José Dinis-Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bologna Process ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Engineering ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Innovative Learning ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Bologna Process ◽  
Coordination Team

The innovative learning methodology Project-based learning (PBL) has been functioning in the first semester of the first year of the Master Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) at University of Minho, Portugal, since 2004_2005. This methodology was implemented by a team of teachers from the Department of Production and Systems of the Engineering School just before the Bologna process was adopted in Portugal. The process required substantial changes in the teaching/learning methods and methodologies and had a significant impact on students’ learning and motivation. The team of IEM teachers designed a full semester project based on the contents of four project-supporting courses (PSC), and formed a coordination team involving PSC lecturers, tutors and educational researchers. The latter aimed to accompany students’ teams, assess the learning process and evaluate the PBL experience at IEM. After nine editions of PBL in the first year, the IEM curricular structure has been reformulated to include a semester-wide project course in the first semester, recognizing PBL as a distinct part of the curriculum. It is therefore time to reflect on the past experiences and the merits of the PBL experiences. After presenting the overview of PBL based on the IEM specific context, its merit will be discussed through the analysis of surveys results and workshops organized at the end of last three PBL editions. This learning approach has put many challenges to the coordination team, brought discussion and triggered research that supported PBL along the way.

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