PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION. COLLABORATION BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY

This paper presents two experiences of collaboration between university and industry through the implementation of the Project-based Learning (PBL) model in the University of Navarra. One of them has been developed by third year students of the Industrial Management Engineering Degree, and the participation is voluntary. The other one is carried out by students of the Master of Industrial Engineering, and it is mandatory. In both cases, the students visit a company, and it is the enterprise that poses them a challenge to solve or a project to be developed. After working in groups for several weeks, students present their project to the company managers. The main objective of this paper is to examine the benefits of developing PBL in a company context. It also aims to analyze the development of students' skills, motivation and commitment in comparison with other similar activities where the problem to be solved is defined by the teachers. It pretends as well to know the opinion of the enterprises regarding the university-industry collaboration and the work done by the students. The students value this experience, in both cases, positively, as it allows them to work on a real case, in which they test their knowledge and capabilities. The companies also appreciate this experience, as it is valuable for them. Apart from all the advantages that active learning methods entail for students, developing it in the context of university-industry collaboration leads to many other benefits. We have verified that when the project consists of solving a real problem proposed by a company, the engagement and motivation of students increases. Moreover, this experience provides a rich learning environment, closer to what their professional life will be.