Web based on e-learning objects as support to the development of transversal competences for engineering students

Abstract

[EN] Active learning methodologies stand out among the priority lines in the field of higher education, exemplified by flipped teaching or project-based learning (PBL). The latter is a methodological approach of marked complexity and close to reality, which favours learning experiences with high educational impact, knowledge integration, and the transfer of what has been learnt to professional reality. In this context, it becomes necessary to work and assess the students¿ performance related not only to specific competences (SC) as usual, but also to transversal ones (TC), previously and simultaneously. The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), being aware of the increasing demand of TCs by employers and society, has defined 13 TCs whose training and assessment are integrated in their Bachelor's and Master's Degrees by means of the so called control point subjects. Based on the experience acquired in the School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII) since a number of subjects were appointed as control points of TCs in its 5 Degrees and 7 Masters, 6 of the TCs can be singled out for being the most difficult for teachers: Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship; Teamwork and leadership; Ethical, environmental and professional responsibility; Knowledge of contemporary problems; Permanent learning; Time planning and management. Unlike the instrumental TCs, which are intrinsic to the subjects taught, the (inter)personal and systemic ones are more complicated to fit in the subjects, because they require more complex or wider environments, or are very time consuming. That is why it has been proposed to use the flipped teaching methodology for the students¿ autonomous learning in TCs, through the development of an online educational platform. The website, with a section per TC, is accessible from https://www.etsii.upv.es/competencias/index-es.php. Its structure covers the definition of the TC, the aspects to enhance to acquire it, a performance level test, and resources to improve it (in-house produced and external). The value of this initiative is double: on the one hand, it is a space designed for the training of students and not for assisting the teacher (the UPV already put material available to teachers), and, on the other hand, it will serve as a vertical coordination axis between the subjects of a Degree. Future actions of improvement include examples of application of the techniques proposed to engineering cases, organization of resources by domain levels, and experiences of UPV students.