Abstract:

The inclusion of active methodologies in the classroom is generally assumed in the context of the European Higher Education Area as an engine of change to switch from a teacher-centred model, to a teaching-learning model centred on students. At the University College of Technical Industrial Engineering of Bilbao (University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU) in particular, the institution promotes the inclusion of two active methodologies, in different degrees: problem-based learning (PBL) and projects based learning (PjBL), in order to develop the "IKD teaching-learning model" of the University of the Basque Country (in basque Ikasketa Kooperatibo eta Dinamikoa). The “IKD model” is defined as student-centred, cooperative and dynamic.

In the school it´s the PjBL methodology which has been adopted in most of analysed implantations, due to the fact that in engineering education it is well accepted by teachers, as they do not find strange to work by projects. Moreover the development of professional projects has always been an activity included in engineering studies as a way to come near to professional field, considering that develop engineering projects is part of the work of graduates. However it should be noted that the objective of the project approach is not limited to develop classic engineering projects. It´s far more, it is an approach that creates riches learning situations with many learning opportunities to develop generic and specific skills, being the final goal the production of a document or artefact. The complexity of the method makes the design and implementation of PjBL approaches, very demanding for teachers.

In this paper the designs and implementations of 14 PjBL approaches are analysed, those which have been developed during three academic courses. For this purpose interviews have been conducted to teachers that have implemented those approaches in their subject. The interviews have been based on a questionnaire with mostly open questions. In the study there have been analysed the context of the subject, the characteristics of intervention in the classroom, the developing of the implementation and the evaluation that teachers do about their experience.

The study reveals that although the interventions have the basic ingredients of PjBL and consequently there are not only classic project-work, the level of implementation is generally low in each grade, and the impact in teaching model change can´t be significant. Therefore the school must move towards a more demanding PjBL model for the institution, in order to overcome the voluntariness of a small number of teachers, and go toward a more structured model. Thus two goals will be achieve: first more teachers will make approaches in their subjects, and second the objectives and way of working in the classroom will be align along all the grade, this way, students will find it easier to work with the new method, and develop generic skills with greater assurance.

Keywords:

Projetc bases learning.