Abstract:

Pedagogical innovations in teaching learning methods in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) courses, such Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), Project-Based Learning (PjBL) and Authentic Learning, are widely recognized by academic literature [1,2,3]. These active student-centered learning methodologies prepare them to meet contemporary and future global challenges [4], but the paradigm underlying their implementation is quite different from more traditional teaching and some skepticism still remain about all the underlying benefits [5].

This paper aims to fill this gap, and explains the relevance of the implementation of active methodologies in the context of a curricular unit, as well as a in broader scope, applied for a longer period and integrating several curricular units of two study cycles at University of Aveiro, Portugal. We present the results of a pedagogical innovation project entitled “Authentic Learning for Marketing Students in a B2B Context: Case of the Information Technology (IT) cluster” that was coordinated and implemented by the authors during the academic year 2021/2022.

This collaborative project was implemented in two study levels of higher education in which students were confronted with authentic challenges in the teaching-learning process: it started with two courses in the 1st semester, involving 93 undergraduate students from second and third year of the Bachelor in Marketing and Bachelor in Finance; it continued in the 2nd semester, integrating all the five courses taught in the master's degree in Marketing and all the students enrolled the course.

At the end of each semester, surveys were applied to collect students’ opinions about the experience and, independently, quality assurance system assessments were run by the university staff. All involved teachers shared their experience, as well.

The results obtained were very positive, with 5 of the 7 courses involved in the project being awarded with the “Seal of good practices” by the quality assurance system. Furthermore, the students involved in the project became more confident in making decisions and applying knowledge in practical situations, improved relationships with colleagues, learned to better express themselves, and developed problem-solving skills by experiencing situations that required making their own decisions, reinforcing autonomy in thinking and acting.

References:
[1] R.D. Anazifa and D. Djukri, "Project-based learning and problem-based learning: Are they effective to improve student’s thinking skills?", Journal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 346-355, 2017.
[2] S. Bell, "Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future", The clearing house, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 39-43, 2010.
[3] Chiu, P. S., et al. (2018). An authentic learning based evaluation method for mobile learning in Higher Education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 55(3), 336-347.
[4] N. Fajaryati and M. Akhyar, "The employability skills needed to face the demands of work in the future: Systematic literature reviews", Open Engineering, vol.10, no.1, pp. 595-603, 2020.
[5] V. Sukackė, et al. "Towards active evidence-based learning in engineering education: a systematic literature review of PBL, PjBL, and CBL." Sustainability, vol.14, no.13955 pp. 1-31, 2022.

Keywords:

Authentic learning, active learning, pedagogical innovation, problem and project-based learning.