Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 226 de 957
Topic: Technology in Learning – Chair: Wendy Newstetter
Materials Engineering Degree in the Technical University of Madrid (UPM): The
challenges of a new technology
Jose Miguel Atienza y Jose Ygnacio Pastor
jy.pastor@upm.es
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Spain
Abstract: The year 2010 was considered the deadline of the Bologna Process in
higher education in Spain; however it can still be considered a work in progress.
Although it could be argued that syllabus reform is practically completed,
methodological renewal is the battle that is being fought on the day-to-day
implementing of new degrees. In this paper, the work undertaken across an
undergraduate course in generating a local capacity for innovation and
fortifying the implementation of a new degree supported by methodological
renewal is discussed. The use of an Educational Innovation Group (Grupos de
Innovación Educativa, UPM) as a tool to generate new practices and support
services, to make resources available for innovation and to influence the
learning environment at the educational centre is exemplified. In our scenario, a
current situation in which the feeling of nothing-is-going-to-change has already
became ingrained, innovation should be considered more a change planned as a
response to the problems we perceive at our educational centres and on our
degree courses, rather than thinking of it as the introduction of a new method or
methodology. In this sense, the view of a degree course as a unit and common
project is indispensable in channelling the initiatives required to improve
education and learning. The generation of an environment and local capacity for
innovation in the educational centres is the route to be taken in achieving real
methodological renewal.
Introduction
The year 2010 was considered the deadline for the implementation of the Bologna Process
in higher education in Spain. From September 2010 access of new students to the pre-
Bologna degree courses was no longer permitted, by which all undergraduate and
postgraduate courses were to be adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
Has the reform achieved its objectives? The provision of a specific answer to this question,
one which appears to be arising in many forums, would be somewhat premature.
Unfortunately, the consequences of the important changes associated with the Bologna
Process are not only uncertain but also slow. Added to this complexity is the fact that such
changes, even in analogous learning environments, are neither homogeneous nor easily
comparable.
In addition to this, it should be taken into account that the Bologna Process includes,
together with reform of studies, significant educational and methodological renewal.
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011