Implementation of a Project-Based Learning to the coordination of subjects in the Agrifood and Rural Engineering Bachelor

Abstract

The Bachelor's Degree in Agrifood and Rural Engineering at Universitat Jaume I of Castello has implemented in the second academic year a multidisciplinary project using a Project-Based Learning as the teaching method. Its final purpose is the acquisition of skills that should help the students to cope with their future career. This teaching-learning system has been used for three consecutive years since the degree was firstly implemented. Once a particular farm is assigned, the students are organized in groups and must fulfill their assigned tasks in a collaborative manner with the final goal of developing a project on that farm including viable improvements of the exploitation, taking into account the issues related to the different subjects involved. This work presents the results obtained along the three years, analyzed from two different points of view: student satisfaction and learning outcomes. Besides, the proposals for improvement of the weaknesses identified during the process are presented. The results show that the used method has promoted the acquisition of the competences proposed. Moreover the multidisciplinary approach has led to better results in the student performance than those obtained by students enrolled in an unidisciplinary project. Although improvement actions have solved some of the problems detected, there are still some weaknesses, mainly related to team working and tutorials that should be addressed in the future.