Abstract:

A new Master Program in Design and Manufacturing started in the 2007-08 academic year and is currently in its second edition at the Universitat Jaume I. This Master Program fulfills the new regulations in Spain to adapt the higher education programs to the Bologna Process.

One of the key changes in the setup of the new programs is the adoption of the European Credit Transfer System as a measure of the student workload. Other important issue in this process of change towards the Bologna spirit is the improvement in teaching methodologies moving towards activities centered in the student (learning), in contraposition to present methodologies with an excessive emphasis in the activities made by the teacher (teaching).

The Design and Manufacturing Master Program has been designed and implemented having in mind those new concepts in education and this paper describes the methodology of the Master and the results of the first year of implementation.

The design of the Master structure was done to improve the cooperation among teachers of related subjects and also to promote team work among students. The Master has been designed in modules composed by three or four subjects related between them. First semester of 30 ECTS is a block of three modules common for all the students. Second semester is composed of two optional blocks of 30 ECTS, one devoted to product design and the other one to machine design. Each of these optional blocks is also composed of three different modules.

The teaching methodology and assessment are unique for all the modules, being based on three main concepts:

• Continuous assessment of daily work through small assignments during the courses
• Project based learning through the development of a project in team work
• Evaluation of goals achievement through a final examination

Student workload is structured in each module so approximately 50 % of the time is for project work, 25% for classes and 25% for personal work in assignments and study. The final evaluation of the module follows the same figures: 50 % for team project, 25% for continuous assessment and 25% for final examination.

The use of Moodle as a common platform for the courses is other distinctive feature of the Master, contributing to the involvement of both students and teachers in the use of web based tools for on-line learning and teaching.

The objective of the paper is to describe in detail de methodologies employed and how they have been implemented in the first year, to discuss the main problems encountered and analyze possible solutions for them and to evaluate the results of this first year both in terms of students success and in terms of adaptation of students and teachers to new methodologies of the EEES.

Keywords:

ects implementation, master s programme, teaching methodology.