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IntroductionHigher education systems have been, in the recent years, under strong pressure fromstudents, employers and society at large, in demand of adequate answers to thechallenges of a rapidly changing world. Mass education, diversity of student profiles, aswell as cultural, sociological and economic changes have all contributed to thisscenario. In this context, a strong emphasis has been put on the need for an actualshift from teacher‐centred to student‐centred systems, in which the development ofinterpersonal and professional capabilities (e.g. working in groups, leadership, makingpresentations, writing technical reports, tackling a problem) gains relevance, thedemand being that the opportunities for their development should be made explicit inthe learning experience [1],[2].For institutional reasons strongly related to this scenario, the Higher EducationPolytechnic School of Águeda ‐ University of Aveiro (ESTGA) has decided to movetowards the PBL paradigm in its three‐year engineering degrees. The process started in1999 and developed into an overall educational paradigm change involving everymember of the staff at the time. After three years of internal discussion and curriculumdevelopment, on October 2001 the move took place on the field. The process ofchange is thoroughly described by Alarcão [3] and by Oliveira [4], and will be theobject of discussion of the next section of this article.The paper will then set out to briefly discuss the change process, and will thenproceed to describe the current structure of ESTGA’s technological curricula. Finally,the author will offer a personal perspective on the development, reflecting on theaccumulated nine‐years experience as an actor engaged in the process, and discussingdifficulties and challenges of running PBL curricula on a daily‐basis.The change processIn response to a challenge from the Rector of the University of Aveiro, in 1999, theESTGA’s staff initiated a discussion of the Danish Aalborg University Project BasedLearning model using the book “The Aalborg Experiment, project innovation inuniversity education”, by Kjersdam and Enemark, as a start‐up for exploration. Sensingthe scepticism and doubts raised by this first exploration, the Rectorate took a furtherstep in the promotion of innovation: a visit to Aalborg of a university delegation leadedby the Vice‐Rector for Pedagogical Affairs, and including four members of the Águedastaff, was arranged. This visit made it possible to get to know, in loco, the Aalborgeducational reality. As a result, a report was produced that served as the starting pointfor an Águeda internal discussion on the possibility of adapting the PBL model to thereality of Portuguese society and higher education framework.The reduced number of staff members at the time, fifteen at the beginning ofthe process growing to twenty‐four along the way, allowed for general discussionmeetings in which decisions could be taken in a democratic way. It was clear thatsenior management, although not imposing a change to PBL, had expectations thatsuch a project would be undertaken by ESTGA. The staff’s feelings towards an overallchange ranged from enthusiasm to strong scepticism, with a fair number of peoplestaying in the mid‐waters of doubtfulness. As a result, the collective decision of46
developing a virtual curriculum change was taken: for the enthusiastic ones, this was away of working out possibilities and finding solutions to the expected barriers; for thedoubtful ones, a way of further incorporating what PBL was really about; and for thesceptics, a way of proving the impossibility of the change.Three working teams were created, involving all members of staff, eachdedicated to a different aspect of the development. Articulation and proposals by eachof the teams were discussed in general assembly meetings. A period of slow progress,featuring steps forward and backwards, followed. Envisaging the need for a deeperinsight of Project‐Based Learning, senior management arranged for two workshopsthat should provide for teacher training, incorporating a staff developmentprogramme.The first workshop was led by two professors from Aalborg University. It was anopportunity for the members of staff who had not been to Aalborg, to have directcontact with its model and to deepen the insight into project‐based learning. Thesecond workshop was run by a former Professor of Civil Engineering, who had acted asa consultant in Aalborg. The engineering background of the workshop leader and hisbroad views on education allowed for the immediate establishment of empathiccommunication with the participants. He managed to unleash a wealth of realities andexperiences beyond the Aalborg model, contextualising some of the questions beingraised by the staff from the first moment and opening room for the development of alocal, adapted, educational paradigm. The work being carried out by the three staffteams began to make sense.Following the workshop, it was clear that there was a climate for change: theteams intensified their work and the definitive decision to go forward with theinnovation was made. A process of “learning by doing” was under way, in the sensethat there was a project and a group of people dwelling with the necessary learning tofind a solution to that problem: project‐based learning itself was the methodologybeing used to make the educational development happen. The workshop leader soonbecame a consultant for the process of change, acting as the “project facilitator”: twomore workshops took place on October 2000 and January 2001, fully dedicated to theactual development. In between the three workshops, electronic contact wasmaintained.As a result of all these efforts, and after preparation meetings with the students,the move towards PBL took place on October 2001.The project-based learning curricular frameworkESTGA currently offers two distinctly technological programmes: Electrical Engineeringand Information Technology, both organized around the PBL paradigm. Table 1presents the curricular plan for the Electrical Engineering programme, which will serveas the base example for the rest of this subsection.The curriculum is organized around aggregate curricular units, eachcorresponding to one important theme to be addressed by the programme. Theseaggregate units materialize into Thematic Modules (TM), which consist of a project anda set of supporting courses. The idea behind these modules is to concentrate thedelivery for the goal themes in the same semester, instead of spreading them out47
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Juan Carlos Sánchez Hueteel proces
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