Abstract:

Context:
The interaction between Higher Education Institutions and businesses has gained significant importance throughout the years. Specifically, project-based forms of interaction, hereafter called University-Business Cooperation (UBC) projects (or short UBC projects), have received pronounced recognition due to their ability to develop students’ practical knowledge and competencies, in addition to the prevalent theoretical knowledge provision in universities. UBC projects allow students to have a better understanding of the world of work they are about to enter (Baaken et al., 2015; 2016).

Problem Statement and Objective:
Most of the studies on UBC projects focus only on the measurable outcomes of these kind of projects, often the solutions found by the students. Current literature lacks the point of view of the participants and leaves behind the potential of the UBC (Science-to-Business Marketing Research Centre, 2011). Since an individual perception provide a better ground for the improvement of the UBC projects, this research aims to develop a questionnaire and research framework enabling a deeper analysis of the experiences of previous UBC project participants.

Methodology:
The paper aims to compare select frameworks by looking at influencing factors, drivers and barriers to UBC projects as well as recommendations for the future. The following table provides a first analysis of papers and frameworks that might be useful for the analysis.
 
Discussion and Conclusion:
Problem Based Learning Theory explains the importance of creating real life cases/problems for the students to solve, while the teacher works as a pure observer. This is why UBC Projects are helpful in giving the opportunity for the students to use their knowledges and get in contact with situations they could face in the future. According to the initial framework reviews, the UBC project questionnaire should include:

- Self-directed learning related questions, which seek to understand how much the UBC project helped the students to develop as professionals or the reason behind their interest in the project.
- Problem solving related issues, which seek to understand how the project created a challenge for the students and how did they worked to find a solution for it
- Skills as a group member related questions, which seek to evaluate the engagement of the participants and make an assessment of the group as a whole

In conclusion, UBC Projects are important for the professional development of students and a great opportunity for the companies to have new ideas; nevertheless, it is crucial to make a continuous analysis and follow up of the students’ experiences and opinions, in order to keep developing the program and apply the changes suggested. Therefore, having as a base the Problem Based Learning and the Student-Centred Teaching theories, the paper delivers a draft of a questionnaire that could cover all the fields and be useful for a proper review and assessment. The assessment is made with questions related to the students’ interests, impressions and the work of both the team and the professor, with the objective of obtaining information on how the students felt about the class/project, mostly with questions like “how would you rate...” (Burrowes, 2003).

Keywords:

Student Centred Teaching, Problem based Learning, University-Industry-Projects, Involving Students in Projects for Businesses.