FROM REALITY TO THEORY, OR HOW ACQUIRE THE COMPETENCES OF THE MATERIALS SUBJECT COURSE IN THE DEGREE IN BUILDING ENGINEERING FROM A REAL BUILDING

Materials I is a subject of first course in the degree in Building Engineering. When students begin the first year of this Degree, they feel stubborn because the content of the different subjects do not fit their preconceptions. In the case of the subject Fundamentals of Materials I, students related the subject with Chemistry, something that most detested. From there, students considered the subject very theoretical and impractical, both of which led to a subject in which students are not too much interested, not getting very good results.

In an attempt to improve these aspects, a group of professors identified the need to make a change to the subject and change the methodologies used so far. The main idea was to motivate students to study the different materials (and their properties) used in construction. Although several possibilities were considered, from the beginning the main idea was quite clear: to use as a means to study what students know (a known building) to go diving into what they do not know (the materials used in construction, their properties and their commissioning work). Finally, a real sculptural ensemble (Wind Comb, one of the best known works of the great sculptor Eduardo Chillida¸ located at the west end of San Sebastian) was chosen as a basis for analyzing the different building materials and properties.

The process of change has been made by 40% of the subject on 2 courses and it's likely that in another 2 courses will be conducted in complete form. First, traditional teaching methodologies (passive) were alternated by active methodologies through Problem Based Learning (PBL). Thus they were changed the labs and lectures as the process of evaluation of the course, more in line with the methodology used in class. This work shows how it has evolved from a traditional approach to an active methodology in a Degree subject through PBL. The preliminary results are also shown both in terms of student outcomes as satisfaction inquiries.