Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)

Problem-based learning is one of the most useful resources in education with the potential to effect real world change. The evident benefits of PBL in the face of the challenges that Latin America presently encounters have led many institutions to consider the adoption of PBL curricula. However, PBL...

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Main Authors: Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo, Hinojosa, Karen, Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Aalborg University Press 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.uanl.mx/19077/1/artic-Aparicio-JPBLHE-vol-8-no-1-2020.pdf
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author Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo
Hinojosa, Karen
Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa
author_facet Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo
Hinojosa, Karen
Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa
author_sort Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo
collection Repositorio Institucional
description Problem-based learning is one of the most useful resources in education with the potential to effect real world change. The evident benefits of PBL in the face of the challenges that Latin America presently encounters have led many institutions to consider the adoption of PBL curricula. However, PBL implementation has its own set of difficulties. “I liked to work in a multidisciplinary team because our skills were complemented. Sometimes, it was difficult to understand our different ways of working, because we were focused on different things”, said one of the students of our institution. This paper describes how different academic programs from the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) in Mexico, were integrated in a Learning Unit (LU) using the Problem Based Learning (PBL) methodology. First, we present some PBL definitions to delineate its main characteristics, like the students facing real problems. Afterwards, we describe the PBL implementation process at our university, its precedents, the administrative process, and the adaptation into an existing LU. Additionally, we describe how we adapted the PBL methodology to the Sustainable Ecological Environments course while also integrating the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, dedicated to cities and sustainable communities. Finally, we mention some findings from the Sustainable Ecological Environments LU. Most notably, the students favour working in multidisciplinary teams and the amount of student investment was higher than in traditionally taught courses. Nevertheless, multidisciplinary work means a constructive challenge for teachers, because it involves a closer monitoring of the student's learning process and a different time distribution than traditional courses, with a higher time investment during planning stages.
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spelling eprints-190772020-06-15T11:27:08Z http://eprints.uanl.mx/19077/ Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo Hinojosa, Karen Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa LB Teoría y Práctica de la Educación Problem-based learning is one of the most useful resources in education with the potential to effect real world change. The evident benefits of PBL in the face of the challenges that Latin America presently encounters have led many institutions to consider the adoption of PBL curricula. However, PBL implementation has its own set of difficulties. “I liked to work in a multidisciplinary team because our skills were complemented. Sometimes, it was difficult to understand our different ways of working, because we were focused on different things”, said one of the students of our institution. This paper describes how different academic programs from the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) in Mexico, were integrated in a Learning Unit (LU) using the Problem Based Learning (PBL) methodology. First, we present some PBL definitions to delineate its main characteristics, like the students facing real problems. Afterwards, we describe the PBL implementation process at our university, its precedents, the administrative process, and the adaptation into an existing LU. Additionally, we describe how we adapted the PBL methodology to the Sustainable Ecological Environments course while also integrating the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, dedicated to cities and sustainable communities. Finally, we mention some findings from the Sustainable Ecological Environments LU. Most notably, the students favour working in multidisciplinary teams and the amount of student investment was higher than in traditionally taught courses. Nevertheless, multidisciplinary work means a constructive challenge for teachers, because it involves a closer monitoring of the student's learning process and a different time distribution than traditional courses, with a higher time investment during planning stages. Aalborg University Press 2020 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_nc http://eprints.uanl.mx/19077/1/artic-Aparicio-JPBLHE-vol-8-no-1-2020.pdf http://eprints.uanl.mx/19077/1.haspreviewThumbnailVersion/artic-Aparicio-JPBLHE-vol-8-no-1-2020.pdf Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo y Hinojosa, Karen y Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa (2020) Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL). Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education, 8 (1). pp. 106-118. ISSN 2246-0918 doi:10.5278/ojs.jpblhe.v8i1.2645
spellingShingle LB Teoría y Práctica de la Educación
Aparicio, Carlos Estuardo
Hinojosa, Karen
Casillas Zapata, Amanda Melissa
Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
thumbnail https://rediab.uanl.mx/themes/sandal5/images/online.png
title Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
title_full Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
title_fullStr Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
title_full_unstemmed Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
title_short Integrating Disciplines with PBL at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL)
title_sort integrating disciplines with pbl at the autonomous university of nuevo leon uanl
topic LB Teoría y Práctica de la Educación
url http://eprints.uanl.mx/19077/1/artic-Aparicio-JPBLHE-vol-8-no-1-2020.pdf
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