Abstract:

In the last years, in almost all European universities, curricula of the subjects have had to be adapted, so that their credits could be validated without any problem at any university in Europe. Teaching methodology that was used, have also had to adapt to the new system. Until now, the prevailing methodology was the lectures where the teacher was the protagonist and the student's role was relegated to the background. With the new development of educational systems, it makes little sense to continue using this traditional method, since from the beginning the student should be aware that he is the principal agent in the learning process. Moreover, the role to be played by students is far from being a mere copying of notes. Therefore, in this so-called Bologna process, active learning methodologies are very important.

Among the different ways to apply active methodologies within the classroom, we have selected the Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In our classes, we have to take into account different parameters such as number of students, hours to develop the methodology, same examinations of all groups of students, different teachers with different methods for teaching, etc.

In the Engineering School of the University of the Basque Country, in subjects of Mathematics, the study of functions of a real variable has been partially taught using PBL methodology. In this paper, we present the conclusions of a pilot study comparing some results among students that have applied this PBL methodology and the traditional one. This research has been developed in different groups of students, who did some tests, valuable for their final mark in the subjects. These tests had the same concepts in order to be compared.

Keywords:

PBL, Mathematics, active methodology.