Project Based Learning in Engineering Schools: The roles of Supply Management, Procurement, Designers and Builders of a new product (original) (raw)
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Design, Development and Supply Management of a new product are a hard and complicated task which requires knowledge in several disciplines such as engineering and development, Marketing and Human Resources . Acquiring these tasks by engineering students represents a major advancement in preparation for real life as future engineers. All these tasks are hardly applied jointly to traditional learning methods, so they are hardly assimilated by engineering students. The new learning techniques such as project-based learning, facilitates the assimilation of all these task giving the student a much more comprehensive and realistic future for professional life. In this paper, we present a case study of project-based learning , involving the Design, Development and the role of the marketing and Supply Chain Management of this new product , which relates to the manufacturing of a new motorcycle made by students of engineering schools in Spain. Engineering schools are involved in the project competition in a real race held on a professional circuit.
3rd International Symposium on Project Approaches on Engineering Education (PAEE 2011), 2011
Project-based learning is an effective learning methodology in which students are confronted with complex problems with multiple solutions in a real working environment and where they should acquire and implement new knowledge. This methodology allows students to have a closer contact with real problems and help them developing both technical and soft skills. This article is based on a project-based learning experience, developed by University of Minho students in partnership with a subsidiary of an international industrial company that produces automotive components. The work aims to analyze the impact of this type of project, which follows the PLE (Project Led Education) methodology, on all the involved stakeholders identifying the main advantages and disadvantages, the importance of these projects and the relevance of their replication and existence. With this purpose, a survey and interviews were carried out to company employees, production chiefs, students and teachers. Results showed that this project was considered very successful by all the stakeholders. Almost all participants of this experience demonstrated interest in taking part on it and evaluated this type of project as relevant for all. Unquestionably, these projects should keep on existing.
Implementing the Project-Based Learning Approach in an Academic Engineering Course
International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2003
This paper presents perceptions and attitudes of freshmen students that have participated in an introductory Project-Based Learning (PBL) course in engineering. The course, 'A creative introduction to mechanical engineering', was developed and is taught in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion. In this course, teams of students carry out mini-projects that require the design and construction of devices that perform pre-defined tasks. The qualitative paradigm was found to be suitable for studying the process undergone by the students, mainly because the study focused on the human aspect -the students' emotions, thoughts, behavior, and difficulties. Data was collected by means of semistructured interviews with the students, the teacher, and the teaching-assistant, by observations in the classroom, and by analyzing students' reports. The paper presents the students' perceptions of: the aim of the course; the instructor's role in a PBL environment; characteristics of PBL course; advantages of the PBL from the students' point of view; PBL as a learning environment for future engineers, and implications of learning in teams.
Chisholm’s ‘first year experience’ is a significant feature of the new industry focused Bachelor of Engineering Technology program delivered in association with the South East Melbourne Manufacturers’ Alliance (SEMMA). Whereas it is common for CDIO Initiative programs to have a first year experience program containing a project typical of the type of industry project they would complete as a graduate engineer or engineering technologist, this goes further by using real industry projects provided by SEMMA members. A concern is that the industry involvement of the projects adds substantially to an already heavy student workload. It is recognised that an excessive workload could lead students to adopt surface learning approaches in other subjects. The goal of the project is to evaluate student perceptions of the value and work load impact of the industry project and other new first year initiatives.
A project-based learning approach for a first-year engineering course
2013
The incorporation of professional competencies in the curriculum that complement the technical profile of engineers is a global trend in education. Therefore, exposing engineering students to experiences and learning environments that foster the development of professional skills as part of their formal education from the very beginning and in a consistent and effective manner must be a main task of every engineering program. The Introduction to Engineering course is a great opportunity to expose the engineering students to scenarios to start developing professional skills. However, it is evident the lack of maturity of freshmen students to address challenges and engineering projects. The aim of this work is to propose a structure for an introductory course in engineering based on competencies that provides a framework for engineering practice. This paper describes the learning areas, competencies, learning outcomes and activities that will contribute to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are crucial to prepare students to face tougher challenges. The proposed framework allows students to engage in engineering practice individually and as a team through the design and construction of a product, a process or a system. This work also involves future works on the assessment of skills for teamwork, social consciousness, ethics and project planning.
Project-Oriented Design-Based Learning: Aligning Students' Views With Industry Needs*
International Journal of Engineering Education, 2013
This paper focuses on the alignment of students' views on project-oriented design-based learning (PODBL) with today's industrial needs. A Collaborative relationship between academic institutions and industrial expectations is a significant process towards analytical thinking (linking the theory and practice). Improving students' knowledge as well as the students' transition into industry, requires efficient joint ventures by both learning institutions and industry partners. Project-based learning (PBL) is well developed and implemented in most engineering schools and departments around the world. What requires closer attention is the focus on design within this project-based learning framework. Today design projects have been used to motivate and teach science in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. They are also used to assist students with possible science and engineering careers. For these reasons, design-based learning (DBL) is intended to be an effect...
As a means to produce highly sought after graduates, education institutions are now turning to Project-Based Learning (PjBL). The road to a successful implementation of PjBL at the institutional level is lined with challenges and has deterred many. One of the major challenges is the number of projects needed to sustain such an implementation. As a means to overcome this, an integrated PjBL framework is proposed. It is observed that this framework makes it very obvious to staff working on a research project that they could leverage on students in the various design modules by carving out different aspects of their research projects into smaller projects that could be offered as student projects. In doing so, staff research workload and the need to develop projects to support PjBL are no longer seen as separate workload but are synergistic.
Project–based learning in engineering: an actual case
The engineering programmes offered at the Polytechnic School of Águeda –University of Aveiro, have been organised, since 2001, around the Project Led Education paradigm. This paper will briefly set the scene for the educational development and will then proceed to describe the curricula implementation and discuss the first evaluation outcomes. As a result of these outcomes and of recent developments in the Portuguese Higher Education political scenario, new developments on the Águeda PLE curricula are now on the field. These developments will also be described in the paper. As a conclusion, the first impressions of students and teachers on the new re-developed curricula will be discussed.
52st Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), 2024
Project-based learning (PBL), as one of the effective teaching and learning approaches in engineering education, can create opportunities for students to address problems with real-world applications, integrate and apply knowledge, and practice and develop transversal competencies such as teamwork and communication. However, with the common emphasis on final products and a lack of explicit attention to transversal competencies in designing and teaching PBL courses, the benefit of PBL in facilitating the development of transversal skills is under question. In this paper, we use a critical lens to examine a project-based course offered at a polytechnic university in Switzerland, EPFL, and explore structural elements that are important in facilitating the development of transversal competencies. We describe the structure of the PBL course, Mechanical Product Design and Development, that was recently conceived and received positive feedback from students, report on ways transversal competencies were addressed, and reflect on lessons that can be learned from the praxis, informed by the literature, to avoid missing opportunities to support students in developing transversal competencies.