Abstract:

In the new curriculum of the Degree in Chemical Engineering (GIQ) there is a group of three compulsory subjects of experimentation in engineering taught from the 2nd semester of 2nd year to the 2nd semester of 3rd year. According to the guidelines of the curriculum, these subjects should provide the necessary skills for the design and management of experimental procedures, through laboratory practice of different subjects. This work focuses on the last of these three experimental subjects ("Experimentation in Chemical Engineering III"), in which it should be achieved the competence about design, and which has also the transferable competence "Design and project" assigned as control point.

Initially this subject was structured in 3 independent blocks, in terms of content, methodology and evaluation; devoting only one of the blocks to the design of processes. Therefore, the time available for the dedication to the work in projects is limited to four sessions for each group of students being insufficient. Therefore, with the current context, students do not reach the level of learning in design of industrial processes that would be desirable for a future graduate in Chemical Engineering. At the same time, the transversal competence assigned, is not been worked properly, so it is not possible to evaluate it as it is demanded by the university.

As a consequence of this situation, we have planned a new methodology for the subject "Experimentation in Chemical Engineering III, based on project learning methodology from the experimental work carried out in the laboratory, which aims to facilitate the development of competences of process design. In this work, it is analyzed the previous results in the subject that justify the modification of the methodology, and it describes such proposal that will begin to be implemented in the 2nd semester of the present year 2016-17.

Keywords:

Project Oriented Learning, competences, design, project.