Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method that appeared in the early 1960s and is widely applied in distinct areas nowadays. In the presented manuscript, we describe a PBL methodology use restricted to applied mathematics for problem solving among a group of engineering students in a Portuguese university. In the pandemic context, it was a huge challenge both for the students and for the teacher. Supported by the available literature, the experiment was defined. As it is well known, teachers are not only knowledge transmitters but also designers of teaching initiatives. Thus, teachers and students both have a large role in PBL methodologies, where collaboration, reflection and concepts discussion are essential. In the presented pedagogical challenge, students were devoted to integrating the previous knowledge acquired and the one acquired during the project. This process improved their new competences—both personal and team work. Despite being a recent pedagogical method, PBL is revealed to be an important teaching tool.
The implementation of a PBL pedagogical experiment intended to understand how 2nd year students of engineering programs of Aeronautics and Materials Sciences applied mathematical contents to problem solving, specifically as regards geometrical modelling of an object and calculating its volume and centre of mass resorting to triple integrals. A qualitative methodology was used, this being a study whose importance consisted in a pedagogical experiment, which drove students to problematization, research and interdisciplinarity. At the end, we can conclude that this experiment has contributed to fostering the motivation and efficiency of significant learning of calculus contents. Students considered they were stimulated to use contents taught in class, deeming it an excellent initiative, which led them to escape the usual format of teaching and proved to be quite effective in grasping and applying knowledge, an initiative that should be maintained. They also stated they had acquired tools that could help them to overcome future difficulties and that their awareness level regarding application of theory to practice increased. The construction of a quantitative evaluation rubric, which is applied, is also presented, and resulted in an 81% grade for the undertaken activity.
In a context of growing social concern with issues of diversity and inclusion, the authors intended to explore the potential of assistive technology for the promotion of inclusion of students with disabilities. The research seeks to analyze not only the inclusion of the student during his/her academic experience, but also its role in moments when a potential candidate with disability is considering entering higher education, or considers continuing their studies, once acquiring this disability while attending the course. To this end, higher education teachers in Portugal were questioned on their experience or expectations regarding the teaching of students with special educational needs, and students with special educational needs, and the latter about their experience and expectations from the moment their application, or from the moment they become aware of their disability during the disability already during the course, until the moment they complete or abandon it. It was possible to conclude that there is a great need for pedagogical training of teachers in higher education in Portugal, both in general terms and specifically to prepare them for teaching students with special educational needs. In students' perspective, the difficulty in reaching information that supports the decision to apply for higher education (inclusive practices and accessibility of the institutions they are considering applying to, rights guaranteed by legislation and assistive technology that may facilitate their inclusion), as well as some difficulty in finding accessible or adapted assistive technology and teaching materials. It was also possible to identify needs in terms of assistive technology.
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