The Industrial Engineering undergraduate program offered at the University of Brasília was structured on Project Based Learning (PBL) methodology. This innovative educational proposal allows the students to deploy their technical competencies through real problem solving situations. The methodology also stimulates the development of the students' soft skills, by exposing them to a challenging environment. At the end of each project, the results are presented to an external agent, and are subsequently implemented. The objective of this paper is to present the evolution of the PSP courses, which adopt as guidelines both the PMBOK project management framework, as well as content from specific technical courses related to the project's subject. One other relevant aspect of the PSP courses is their involvement of both undergraduate and graduate students from different Engineering areas, such as Industrial, Mechanical and Civil Engineering, which serves to foster a more holistic and integrated problem-solving skillset.
KeywordsEngineering education. Industrial engineering. Production System Project (PSP). approach are intrinsically linked to the acquisition of knowledge that can be applied in a professional environment, in improving existing skills, and for problem solving as a whole.Project Based Learning utilizes continuous questioning as a teaching and learning technique. This particular strategy has been adopted by the University of Brasilia (UnB) in its Industrial Engineering course. The use of this approach encourages the student to seek knowledge by proposing solutions to real problems, introduced by external agents. The student becomes the subject of the learning process, as his or her learning depends on the constant search for new knowledge, technologies, methods, techniques and tools that can be used in carrying out activities that will permit them to arrive at feasible solutions.The PBL approach provides the student with a deeper understanding of the studied content, as it puts into practice the theoretical concepts and strategies for problem solving. At the same time, it fosters the development of multidisciplinary capabilities related to communication, leadership, management, and the development of a reasoned critical thinking (Witt et al., 2006;De los Ríos-Carmenado et al., 2015;Miranda, 2004). According to Barell (2007), there is an effective increase in students' performance, due to both the greater retention of information available, and to the motivation and interest that is fostered by resolving real-life issues.
