Abstract:

The application of active learning methodologies in Higher Education has experienced a great increase in the last decade. Evidence suggests that in some cases the incorporation of new methodologies is not accompanied by an adequate customazation of the educational tools to the real learning environment of the institution. Thus, a large margin of improvement has been identified within the factors conditioning the optimized use of active methodologies in technical education.

This research analyzes the influence of team grouping in the achievement of educational outcomes for a training module embedded within a problem-based learning (PBL) strategy. This module is part of the subject of Production Management, which is included in the degrees of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Electronic Engineering.

The research methodology consists on comparing the implementation of a problem-based learning module among 250 students by varying the number of members of the working teams. A survey has been conducted among the participants enquiring about their perception of the benefits and preferences of the ideal number of members in their working team. In parallel, the academic results related to the contents addressed through the PBL activity have been also compared. Sample data have been statistically analyzed comparing the differences according to the number of members of the working teams.

The results will allow us to identify the influence of team grouping in achieving the educational objectives sought. We could therefore optimize PBL tools for a more efficient teaching-learning process and even develop the transferability of the model to features-related subjects.

Keywords:

PBL, Team grouping, Engineering.