Abstract:

One of the objectives of university education is the attainment of knowledge and skills together with the development of critical competences. This objective is set out in the "Bologna Declaration", which sets in motion a process of transformation that imposes on the universities of the European Higher Education Area the obligation to orient degree education towards the acquisition of competences.

The Faculty of Engineering of Bilbao has developed a practical experience within an Educational Innovation Project (EIP) subsidised by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) for the implementation of active methodologies that favour the attainment of competences in Industrial Organisation Engineering Degree (IOED).

Learning based on active methodologies focuses on the student, who must leave behind his passive attitude as a receiver of knowledge, to evolve and become an explorer and active creator of it. The knowledge acquired by the student is associated with that which he has previously acquired, developing internal knowledge networks that will be used to solve problems. Likewise, the active attitude of the student favours the assimilation of competences.

The EIP developed during the academic year 2017/2018 has been based on the application of active methodologies (Case Method, Problem-Based Learning and Cooperative Learning) for the acquisition of skills through a constructive process that establishes the connection between the competences assigned to two consecutive course subjects ("Business Competitiveness and Innovation" and "Industrial Policy and Technology" in the 3rd and 4th years of IOED).

The development of the pilot project has followed the sequence of activities detailed below. The teacher presents a case focused on a real company (using the "Case Method"), an SME that needs to remain competitive in today's market; a market characterized by constant instability. The students, who collaborate in teams made up of four members, undertake a "problem-based learning" project, where the work is divided into small problems which when combined obtain the final objective. These problems are: characterization of the company, identification of the innovative profile, selection of innovation projects, identification of subsidizable programs and development of the project report to be presented in an official application.

During the course "Business Competitiveness and Innovation", the team members carry out the diagnosis of the given company to identify its innovative profile, on the basis of which they then propose possible innovation projects aimed at increasing its competitiveness. The proposals are reflected in a final report that constitutes the starting point to be used in the subject "Industrial Policy and Technology". In this second stage, possible public announcements for economic aid are identified to which the previously defined innovation projects can be presented, and the corresponding project report is developed for processing the application. The approach and achievement of the partial milestones that lead to making the final proposal require the development of cooperative learning among the team members, focused on the development of coordination tasks, consensus and continuous group decision-making.

Keywords:

Competences, educational innovation project, active methodologies.