Teaching proposal for the subject of unit operations at the university level through project-based learning (PBL) methodology

Abstract

Several studies have proposed Project-Based Learning (PBL) as one of the most effective methodologies to achieve competency-based education. The objective of this work was to test the PBL methodology in a group of university to meet competencies. This test was applied to 25 students group divided into teams that were tasked with developing a prototype for a different part of a unit operation. The final product was the demonstration of the operation of the prototypes individually and together. In the first part, students were asked to make a design proposal. Once the design was accepted, the construction of the equipment with commonly used materials was prepared. Subsequently, the performance and characteristics of the assembled prototypes were presented to an evaluation committee. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the PBL methodology proposed in this work contributed to the development of competence by students. We believe that the use of the PBL methodology could enrich the learning of Engineering students, as well as bring it closer to real scenarios.