Abstract:

Problem-based learning (PBL) is characterized as a learning method based on the principle of using problems as a starting point for the acquisition and integration of new knowledge. The protagonists of learning are the students, who assume the responsibility of being an active part in the process of providing a solution to the problem posed. To do this, students usually work in small groups over several stages and may need to resort to previous acquired knowledge of different subjects.

This paper describes the experience of applying the PBL methodology in an Innovation Management course taught in the Degree in Business Administration of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló (Spain) over four academic years. In it, we assess the benefits and the main challenges of applying PBL in terms of development of some of the course competencies. The competences of the subject that we aimed to foster with the methodology were: analysis and synthesis ability; teamwork; ability to apply knowledge to practice; ability to search for information and research.

The starting point was positing a problem faced by an innovative company to the students according to the characteristics that must meet an ABP problem (poorly structured, complex, current, real, close and adapted to the cognitive level of the students). For its development, the ABP process was structured in the seven stages suggested in the literature: presentation of the problem; clarification of terms and concepts; analysis of the problem; organization of ideas and systematic analysis in depth; establishment of learning objectives; search for additional information outside the group; and synthesis and presentation of the results. In order to assess the extent to which the activity contributed to the course competencies, we gathered data by means of a questionnaire addressed to the students. The results highlight the positive impact of the methodology in terms of the development of skills associated with the ability to analyse and synthesise information, the ability to apply knowledge to practice, as well as the ability to search for information and research. In contrast, students did not perceive that their ability to work in teams to improve as a consequence of their participation in the project. The students' assessments also include the recognition that the fact of not being familiar with this kind of unstructured problems and the PBL process itself led them, in many cases, to negatively perceive the activity, as a consequence of the anxiety that generated them having to change their premises and routines in their learning process, when compared with the structured, guided approach they usually followed in other courses. As a consequence, some changes were implemented to deal with these drawbacks. Discussion and conclusion sections present some reflexions on how they contributed to improve students’ course competences.

Keywords:

Problem-based learning, challenges, competences, innovation management course.