Abstract:

Currently, the Higher Education (HE) system in Europe faces different challenges derived from the continuous and turbulent social transformation in which it is immersed. The complexity associated with this process suggests that a change in the dynamics of teaching is necessary and that its adaptation is following the requirements of society, economy, and sustainability. Therefore, a review of the system is pertinent to guarantee that all its elements meet the purposes of training and professional development demanded by the labor market.

Amid the scattered reflections and discussions of the HE system, several questions arise related to the challenges imposed by the environment described. What is conspicuous in this debate is the management of the evolution of the structures that make up knowledge, and that allow the system to be capable of being agile to face complexity without losing the autonomy and governability that characterizes it. In this panorama, there is an increase in the dissemination of methodological proposals that seek to facilitate student learning, so that they acquire and understand the competencies associated with the subjects in their entirety. These proposals share the premise of putting the student at the center of the teaching and learning process, thus overcoming the traditional passive learning model. Among these stands out the theory of threshold concepts, which states that in each discipline there are concepts that are especially problematic in student learning but are in turn highly transformative.

Therefore, the theory of threshold concepts provides an influential approach to recognizing fundamental disciplinary concepts, which are a cornerstone in the construction of the structure of students' knowledge, and therefore a way to address the challenges of system design. of higher education. However, there is currently no methodological consensus on how to identify this type of concept. With the help of this approach, this article presents the results and experiences of a study, within the framework of an Educational Innovation Project (EIP), to develop a methodology that allows identifying the threshold concepts of any subject taught in engineering technical schools that make up the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM).

For this study, semi-structured interviews and research questionnaires were designed and used to understand the teaching and learning experiences of teachers (n=21) and final-year engineering students (n=76) in the subject of engineering projects. Due to its characteristics, this subject fits the selection criteria, since it is usually transversal to all undergraduate degrees in engineering technical schools, and it has a theoretical-practical component that proposes to students a mixed learning process based on challenges and projects.

The results provided a list of 14 potential threshold concepts for the subject of engineering projects. Likewise, the proposed methodological design is highlighted for the identification of threshold concepts that allow teachers to assess the situation of the subject and the degree of understanding that students have of it. In more general terms, these results allow HE teachers and researchers to adjust the teaching process to the student's difficulties, preventing them from getting stuck and enabling effective adaptation of learning that enhances the acquisition of concepts by developing activities around them.

Keywords:

Threshold concepts, Troublesome knowledge, Course design, Engineering education, Higher education, Educational research methodology.