Abstract:

For many years competences within the engineering studies in university have focused on the development of specific competencies without going to value the importance of the development of transversal skills and new skills demanded by society and companies increasingly. Not only engineers have to develop competencies that are specific to their area of knowledge but must also know how to relate them and link them with what is happening around them. The future engineer should be able to understand the impact of the major problems of society on their professional development and in turn the impact that their work has on society.

They have to be trained to be able to analyze the What and Why of things because knowing why and how, they will better understand what actually happens around them and will be able to act accordingly.

This competence makes reference to the need that our engineering students understand contemporary political, social, legal and environmental values. For the acquisition of this competence, they are asked to search scenarios in which they can discuss in depth such issues, being able to summarize the most relevant aspects and to defend a position on this. It is very important that they learn to evaluate complex situations using different approaches, such as: the economic aspects, the quality of life, the environmental impact and sustainability, local and national policies, etc, and relate them and link them with their field of work.

This competence is beginning to be implemented in the studies of the Universitat Politècnica de València. In this paper, we present the process and the results in the training and assessment of this competence in the subject of Statistics.