PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING COMBINED WITH COLLABORATIVE WORK, AN INTERMETHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject in the context of a problem, given by a teacher; the problem is the vehicle with which the student learns. PBL methodology in connection with collaborative work involves the resolution of problems in a group using teamwork. By means of the problem the teacher proposes a new situation, to understand the new task is necessary the acquisition of prior knowledge. The main objective of the resolution of the problem is to learn new concepts and the implementation of the acquired knowledge.
The main object of this paper is to show the experience that we have carried out at theSchool of Science and Technology of the University of the Bask Country (Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Ehuskal Herriko Unibertsitatea). In this experiment we combine Problem-Based Learning and collaborative work. Specifically, we are going to explain our experience and the results obtained in the Chemical Engineering degree for two students groups, one who learns in Spanish and the other one who studies in Basque.
We introduce the general characteristics of the subject where we have applied the methodology: how many credits it has; in which other degrees we give lessons with PBL and collaborative work; characteristics of the groups involved, etc. After this introduction we explain the methodology applied: how we connect the master classes with the collaborative work and the problem-based learning; which work has been carried out in the seminars and in the practical sessions with the computers; which are the evaluation criteria, etc. In addition, we show some of the obtained results comparing the marks obtained by the students in 2010-2011 year and in 2009-2010 year; we examine the level of acceptance of the subject taking into account the number of students whot have attend to the different test defined to evaluate their work. Finally we draw out some conclusions and future work.