Agri Engineer Project-Based Learning

Abstract

Agricultural Engineer Degree students require a Graduation Project (GP) to complete the degree. The GP intends to be a real project that must be designed, described and solved, using the competences and skills acquired during the four years degree, by the student. Right now, the students wait to complete the four years degree to start thinking in the GP. Due to this reason after four years of engineer subjects, many of the students delay the presentation of the final Graduation project reducing the on time graduation index. The fear to face a complete engineering project, the need of time to think in their future and the offer of low quality jobs are some temptations to do not start the GP even during the last year of degree. In the other hand the Bologna process and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), let to introduce project-based learning (PBL) activities at the degree subjects. The aim of the innovative education action presented is to incorporate the project-based learning methodology to work on real agricultural projects in which they will work during their studies. After the fourth degree year they could have plan and start to design the project that will become their personal GP. The development of the innovative education action includes the selection of the subjects in which PBL will be implemented, the organization of seminars to close the students to agricultural projects, the dissemination of the use of PBL for agricultural degree subjects and the assessment of the on time graduation index evolution. The results will be, i) to give sense to the degree subjects by their application to real agricultural projects and ii) to help the students to face on time the GP.