Mapping of a mechanical engineering course curriculum focusing on the implementation of learning strategies - Project based learning

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the mapping of the mechanical engineering course curriculum of the Escola de Engenharia Mauá - EEM, in the years before 2016, seeking to verify the teaching strategies used and how much these strategies are approaching the use of projects as a guideline for student’s work. In addition, a survey of the changes to be introduced in the curriculum based on new guidelines for the course, which implies on the introduction of Elective Complementary Activities, conducted by projects. This research is justified because EEM is going through a curricular reform process and the results will be used for comparison and identification of changes in learning and hence the pedagogical project. In the specific case of this study, the goal is to assist those responsible for the course of mechanical engineering to evaluate the proposal implemented. For this study, two elements have been used to date as a source of research data: The first were the teaching plans from before and after the curricular reform, this analysis sought elements to check for any previously disciplinary or interdisciplinary projects. The second source of data was the proposals of the Complementary Activities in the form of Project Based Learning which will be introduced in the second year of the course and will have features aimed on projects in the mechanical engineering area, conducted in order to place students in activities aimed at solutions to realistic problems related to the area or participation in competitive activities such as mini-baja, aero-design and SAE formula. This curricular reform was introduced in 2015 in the first year of the course and now it is being modeled for the second year and will be implemented in 2016, in other words, the curriculum being analyzed exists, yet, as a project without having been translated into practice, so the analysis being held so far is of an idealized curriculum. © 2016, University of Minho. All rights reserved.