Abstract
In 1998, the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) began to offer a 5-year civil engineering degree that, in the Spanish context, contained an innovative teaching model, which was characterized by a reduced number of students and project-based learning (PjBL) included in the curriculum. Now, 15 years after the graduation of the first civil engineers from the UCLM, graduates were given a questionnaire to evaluate the extent by which the advantages described in the PjBL literature were perceived as such by these graduates. As a result of chain-referrals and in order to cross-reference the results, a parallel questionnaire was given to their work colleagues. The survey revealed how the development of PjBL-related abilities and skills were appreciated by UCLM graduates, such as the ability to work in groups, communication/debate skills, and leadership. The engineers were generally satisfied with their theoretical and practical learning due to the high demands required of engineering undergraduates in Spanish universities. Those that had worked with PjBL, in addition to developing the skills and abilities indicated above, also considered their learning to be more effective and with a better result-to-effort ratio.
Highlights
Over the last 25 years, project-based learning (PjBL) has become one of the most widely employed innovative teaching methods in engineering courses, in civil engineering [1]
The movement beyond individual subjects and the global introduction of a different methodology on the curriculum to that of lecture-based learning, as sought out by PjBL, is a complicated task as it is necessary to overcome a series of hurdles, such as adaptation to the new teaching method by the majority of the academic staff, the allocation of specific areas where the students can carry out the projects, and the provision of a certain amount of infrastructure such as cartography, software, copiers, computers, etc
This degree course was in place until the 2016 academic year, when it terminated as result of adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which replaced engineering degrees of over 5 years by the Bachelor-Master model (4 + 2)
Summary
Over the last 25 years, project-based learning (PjBL) has become one of the most widely employed innovative teaching methods in engineering courses, in civil engineering [1]. The UCLM was the first university in Spain to use PjBL in an integral manner in civil engineering studies This degree course was in place until the 2016 academic year, when it terminated as result of adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which replaced engineering degrees of over 5 years by the Bachelor-Master model (4 + 2). Over these years, a total of 545 graduates from 12 course admissions left their classrooms and entered the workplace with a high regard for the quality and value of their university studies. We shall proceed to indicate the assessment method employed for the survey of the graduates and their work colleagues, before revealing the results of the survey, which show that the use of PjBL met the expectancies of UCLM graduates
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