Abstract:

The ability of an engineer flows not only from knowledge of the broad-mindedness and profundity of disciplinary knowledge, but also from the acquisition of personal and professional skills that arise from the experience of each individual. Inside enterprises, they focus on what an individual knows, how an individual can contribute, the self-perspective an individual brings to the company, and how well the individual fits into the culture of the organization. Today we live in the digital age and this markedly affects us and our lifestyle. It also makes a great impact on the teaching processes as well. Students need to learn these skills right from the moment they enter in the University, need to take a new look at lectures as a way of expanding their basic knowledge. In this sense, students need professors to teach them how to interpret what they have already learned and guide them in new paths to integrate knowledge. In the later we distinguish critical thinking, problem solving, hands-on approaches, learning by doing. In this study, we describe how active learning, as an educational tool, may help students develop these skills. Active learning (AL) enhances students’ motivation in learning, and makes engineering education relevant for real working life. In AL students learn by doing, by being faced and have to solve concrete engineering experiments. We will present some results of application of AL on Math Courses on Engineering Bachelor Degrees.

Keywords:

Active learning, Student-centered learning, Problem solving, Hands-On, Math, Engineering.