Abstract:

This paper was made on first three semesters students of the School of Engineering, University of Mexico, who study mathematics, physics and chemistry subjects, in which there is speculation that their contents have a high degree of abstraction.

In two teaching projects developed from 2012 to date, have promoted the construction of a simple mechatronic or instrumentation models and prototypes by students under their teacher’s tutelage, putting into practice the didactic strategies known as problem-based learning, PBL, and collaborative learning, CL, in order to enhance some deficiencies presented in the passive learning. This idea proposes to address a real problem that does not have a single solution procedure. It requires that the student who is involved in the search for the problem’s solution, make its mathematical modeling, and build a physical prototype of this solution from an interdisciplinary perspective.

It starts on the assumption of solving a question that causes perplexity and at the same time presents difficulty to the student (Schoenfeld, 1992), which are attributes that characterize a real problem. It is necessary for the student to present three important attitudes to solve it:
a) get involved in obtaining the solution of the problem;
b) look for mathematical means to reach it; and
c) build its physical prototype.

One of the hypotheses of this work is that the benefits in the student’s learning that provide PBL far exceed those offered by the resolution of a traditional problem, because this requires much more than the application of algorithms of formulas.

To improve student learning in an unconventional way, it is proposed:
a) the development of a project of design and construction of physical prototypes;
b) a change of attitudes in the students and teachers before the academic work;
c) to adopt an interdisciplinary thinking;
d) to create a collaborative vision;
e) to influence the training of academic staff in non-traditional teaching methods.

It is important to provide to the students support by means of specialist’s lectures, articles of the subject and a special advisory service looking for the understanding of modeling and simulation processes, and the need of carry it out correctly.

Keywords:

Problem-based learning, collaborative learning, modeling, simulation.