Assessment of early stage implementation of the methodology of problem based learning in engineering courses

CONTEXT
Problem based learning is an active pedagogy centred in the self-guided learning of students. It follows a constructivist teaching approach that aims to build the student competences. The method is based on the presentation of a real or realistic problem exposed to groups of student, which are supposed to first define and then achieve their own learning outcomes. The role of the teacher is that of a mentor that supervises the process.
Whereas best practice approaches for problem based learning are well established and pioneer work date back to the 60s, a major challenge of implementing active pedagogies is the fact that many teachers themselves were trained by classical teacher centred methods, and are mostly used to replicate this teaching style in their own courses. This holds in particular for engineering teachers which have received in their formation significantly more professional than pedagogical training.

PURPOSE
Our study is guided by the following research question: What is the best strategy to implement the methodology of problem based in engineering courses, is the delivery of two workshops of teacher training a suitable approach?

APPROACH
We realized two subsequent one-week workshops to train teachers interested in the adoption of the methodology of problem based learning. In the first workshop, the participating teachers got acquainted with the methodology by taking the role of students exposed to deal with prepared case scenarios. In the second workshop the participants were invited to design new learning activities according the methodology. In order to assess the impact of the training in terms of transformed courses, the levels of implementation of the new methodology where measured by a series of interviews with the workshop participants.

RESULTS
After completing the workshops, 88 % of the participants considered to use the methodology in their own classes. The most appreciated aspect of the workshop was the opportunity to work in multidisciplinary teams with participants coming from different institutions (44 % mentioned this aspect), the reflection on roles within the team, and thereby experiencing limits and pressures that might apply to students when put in similar learning conditions. As impact of the project, the participants achieved to implement the new methodology within their own courses at different levels.

CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of active pedagogy is an ongoing challenge, that can be successfully achieved by focused teacher training. The training material elaborated and delivered within this research project on pilot scale in Chile is suited to be replicated in other South American countries.

REFERENCES
Krueger, R. A. and Casey, M. A. (2014). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Sage publications.

KEYWORDS
Problem based learning. Active learning strategies. Focus group.