El paisaje lítico interior de Caimanes – Tilama

The main problem with group work is that, some students gain a lot of qualification but some of them gain nothing because they left everything to the others. Therefore, teachers should focus on the achievement of every student rather than every group. They should allocate the marks fairly and accordingly and they must avoid allocating the same mark to every student in a group because this situation can lead to the problem of free-riders (Mohamed, Mat Jubadi, & Wan Zaki, 2012).

Indeed, each teacher-expert measured the technical part of the final report and the individual project defence related to their subject. Therefore, the allocation marks for each subject were as follows:

 The technical part of the final report (30%)

 Individual project defence (70%)

Regarding the subject called POPLB, which measured the transversal skills acquired by the students, its allocation marks were as follows:

 Final report format (30%)

 The prototype (50%)

 The final presentation (20%) Figure 2 Posters and Prototypes

In addition, students also have the mechanism to evaluate and give feedback about the POPBL. Once the POPBL is finished, students are surveyed and asked about the project. Concretely, the survey is based on 9 closed questions: the first 8 questions are measured using a 5-point Likert scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) and the last question indicating a number. In the following lines these items are listed:

 I think that the POPBL is an appropriate methodology in order to work on, understand and internalize technical skills.

 The POPBL methodology motivates me through the learning process, since this methodology makes sense of what I am studying.

 Through team-working (in comparison with individual-work) I learn communicating with people, learning from others, taking consensual decisions and sharing responsibilities.

 The project I have developed this semester has been interesting.

 The tutor has helped us through the project, promoting reflection of the problems that have arisen.

 The experts have helped us to resolve the previously prepared questions we made.

 Doing the presentation of the project has helped me to improve my communications skills.

 The projects defence has helped the whole team to know about all the different topics worked on and to assess the knowledge level of us.

 My personal dedication for working on the POPBL, outside of school hours, during the semester has been.

4 Conclusions

The intention of this paper has been to bring up a design model or method that includes prototyping within the POPBL methodology; since prototyping is one of the most important tools for experimenting and searching for solutions (Brown, 2009), as well as for testing assumptions on which their solution has been built.

Through the present POPBL implementation, students have experienced a great self-learning process. They not only learn about how to get the task done but they also learn about how to handle a group and being a leader. Concretely, through this approach students have been provided with mechanisms that allow them to acquire and develop both technical skills and transversal skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication and self- learning. In addition, the development of prototypes reveals student’s practical ability and application of theories learned (Awang, 2007).

Results obtained in this case study shown that the prototyping within the POPBL is a promising technique to be introduced in other courses with a well organised planning. In addition, this type of POPBL could be applied within other technical or no-technical degrees, since prototyping allows to be closer to real situations; which is a necessity for any current degree. However, it is noted that further improvement needs to be considered in terms of a problem crafting and industrial collaboration.

5 References

Awang, D. (2007). Comparison between “Project-Oriented” Learning and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Design Subject. 2nd Regional Conferenceon Engineering Education (RCEE2007)-Engineering Education: Towards Building World Class Human Capital (Monday, 03 Dec 2007-Wednesday, 05 Dec 2007).

Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: how design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. Collins Business, New York.

Burdewick, I. (2003). Aspects Of Methodology And Education Psychology In Project-Oriented Studies. Paper presented at the International Workshop on Project Oriented Learning, Hanzehogeschool Groningen.

Domblesky, J. P. (2009). Project Assisted Learning in Engineering–A Manufacturing Example.

Errasti, N., Igartua, J. I., & Zabaleta, N. (2013). El aprendizaje basado en problemas en el Grado en Organización Industrial. Paper presented at the XVI Congreso de Ingeniería de Organización, Vigo.

Mohamed, M., Mat Jubadi, W., & Wan Zaki, S. (2012). An Implementation of POPBL for Analog Electronics (BEL10203) Course at the Faculty Of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Journal of Technical Education and Training, 3(2).

Moore, D. J., & Voltmer, D. R. (2003). Curriculum for an engineering renaissance. IEEE Transactions on Education, 46(4), 452- 455.

Nuldén, U., & Scheepers, H. (1999). Interactive multimedia and problem based learning: Experiencing project failure. Journal of Educational multimedia and Hypermedia, 8(2), 189-215.

Proulx, G. (2004). Integrating scientific method & critical thinking in classroom debates on environmental issues. The American Biology Teacher, 66(1), 26-33.

Traylor, R. L., Heer, D., & Fiez, T. S. (2003). Using an integrated platform for learning™ to reinvent engineering education. Education, IEEE Transactions on, 46(4), 409-419.

Val, E., Zubizarreta, M., & Justel, D. (2006). El desarrollo de nuevos productos en el marco del aprendizaje basado en proyectos en Mondragón Goi Eskola Politeknikoa – Mondragon Unibertsitatea. Paper presented at the X Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de poryectos, Valencia.

Zubizarreta, M. I., & Altuna, J. (2009). Diseño de las titulaciones de ingeniería en base a competencias en Mondragon Unibertsitatea. La Cuestión Universitaria, 5(3).

E-learning environment for Electronics in Physics Degree

* _{Group of Electronic Design – Aragón Institute of Engineering Research (GDE-i3A), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain}

Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

This document presents a new global e-learning setting in the field of Electronics in the Degree in Physics that allows the integration of different itineraries as a function of the profile of the student. The implementation of this learning strategy enhances the learning autonomy of the students and introduces them to the methodologies and tools typically found in the field of Microelectronics from a professional point of view.

Keywords: active learning; collaborative work; e-learning; ICT; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

1 Introduction

Our higher education system is immersed into a novel teaching/learning paradigm in which specific and generic competencies are trained while it integrates itself in an information and knowledge society (Brandsford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). To achieve this, it is essential to focus the teaching on the student and to choose the teaching methodology according to the learning strategy.

The shift to a training based on competencies requires that teachers and students adapt their conceptions and usual practices to achieve the new educational goals more effectively. To accomplish it, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been proved to be an exceptional tool: they facilitate, promote and support student learning autonomy and at the same time they help teachers to guide, support and coordinate students (Kirkwood, & Price, 2005).

ICTs have a wide range of applications in the classroom (Olmo, Gomez, Molina, & Rivera, 2012; Zuniga, Pla, Garcia, & Dualde, 2012), but among them their application to perform student supervision tasks stands out, mainly due to the fact that now the student and the teacher do not need to coincide in space and time. Besides, ICTs allow the creation of discussion forums in which the teacher can analyze, rate and give feedback, and even keep record of every student’s evolution. In general, the realizations of ICTs with the highest potential for education are those that allow an increase of the presence of the teacher in the students’ learning process, providing them with relevant and rapid guidance.

The project described in this paper is implemented as part of the portfolio of a Degree in Physics. In particular, the students targeted are enrolled in courses taught at the Electronics Area: Digital Systems, Micro and Nano Systems, Physical Electronics, Physical Techniques I, II and III and Radiation Detection Systems from the Grade in Physics, and Signal Analog Processing, Microelectronic Design, Artificial Neural Networks and Applied Techniques in Physics from the Master in Physics and Physical Technologies. These courses have a close link to industrial and technological applications, thus facilitating a less theoretical approach to the materials than what is common in a Degree in Physics. It also has to be noted that this belongs to an overall mixed learning strategy, in which synchronous learning is put into practice as well.

In this project, a set of specific teaching resources making up a learning environment is created to promote blended learning. It allows performing different itineraries as a function of the profile of the student. The resources are hosted in a teaching e-platform and they constitute a comprehensive set of tools for the teaching/learning process and for its evaluation.