Conference paper 2018

Dealing with student profile diversity in an Industrial Engineering and Management program: PBL vs "non-PBL"

ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)
Conference · Vol. 5
Abstract

The Integrated Master in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) program has been implementing Project-Based Learning (PBL) for more than 15 years in the first year, first semester. The IEM program is currently attracting students from different programs, using transfer mechanisms, who normally already have passed some of the courses on their original program. Additionally, this program also attracts a number of students already working in some companies. These students are a bit older and their profile is also distinct from that of their fellow colleagues, which enter the university using a regular national ingress process. Thus, distinct situations are identified that demand a different learning approach. The teachers have come-up with one such distinct approach and called it "non-PBL", since the PBL model is structured in a way that students must have a specific profile, namely, to be first-year IEM student and enrolled a similar set of curricular units. With this in mind, this paper presents these situations, and describes the solution found to address this diversity. The solution must promote similar competences on both PBL and "non-PBL" students. A heavier workload is imposed on the teachers, given that the number of "non-PBL" teams formed can be as much as the number of PBL teams. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that the "non-PBL" students successfully conclude the first year and that they value the solution proposed, in spite of the difficulties raised with this process. © © 2018 ASME.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Project-Based Learning Active learning Industrial Engineering and Management Education Profile diversity

Index Keywords

Education computing Students Project based learning Project management Active learning Learning approach Management education Student profiles Management programs Profile diversity Transfer mechanisms
Author Affiliations
RandD Centre Algoritmi, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Braga, Portugal
Funding & Acknowledgements
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT
Grant: UID/CEC/00319/2013
This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT \u2013 Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013.
Programa Operacional Temático Factores de Competitividade, POFC
Grant: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043
This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT \u2013 Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013.
References 10 References
1 Definition and Selection of Key Competencies Executive Summary, (2000)
2 Proceedings of the 2014 IIE Engineering Lean and Six Sigma Conference Lean Educator Conference, (2014)
3 Project Led Engineering Education, (2003)
4 Lima, Rui M., A case study on project led education in engineering: students' and teachers' perceptions, European Journal of Engineering Education, 32, 3, pp. 337-347, (2007)
5 Alves, Anabela C., PBL in the first year of an industrial engineering and management program: A journey of continuous improvement, International Symposium on Project Approaches in Engineering Education, 9, pp. 44-51, (2017)
6 Alves, Anabela C., Project based learning in first year, first semester of industrial engineering and management: Some results, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE), 5, pp. 111-120, (2012)
7 Fernandes, Sandra Raquel Gonçalves, Engaging students in learning: Findings from a study of project-led education, European Journal of Engineering Education, 39, 1, pp. 55-67, (2014)
8 Alves, Anabela C., Teacher's experiences in PBL: implications for practice, European Journal of Engineering Education, 41, 2, pp. 123-141, (2016)
9 Alves, Anabela C., Tutoring experiences in PBL of industrial engineering and management program: Teachers vs students, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE), 5, (2017)
10 Moreira, F., Lecturers' perceptions of a semester-wide interdisciplinary PBL in a master's degree program in industrial engineering and management, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE), 5, (2017)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
3
Times Cited (Scopus)

References 10
Document Identifiers