Enhancing critical thinking in a PBL environment

• Autores: Aida Guerra, Jette Egelund Holgaard
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 32, no. Extra 1 (Parte B ), 2016, págs. 424-437
• Idioma: inglés
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• Dialnet Métricas: 1 Cita
• Resumen

  • Engineering education accreditation bodies emphasize the need for competencies beyond technical expertise. Criticalthinking is one of these competencies, which is also considered as a precursor for the development of other competenciessuch as multidisciplinary collaboration, problem-solving skills and lifelong learning. There is an urgent need to enhanceengineering students’ critical thinking and one way to do this is to make use of active, student-centred learning approachessuch as Problem Based Learning (PBL). This study aims to provide a model for understanding and enhancing criticalthinking in a PBL environment. The development of the model takes its point of departure from a conceptual model forcritical thinking that is concretized in a PBL context by including theoretical as well as empirical perspectives. Theempirical study was conducted at the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Aalborg University (Denmark), which has morethan 30 years of experience in educating engineers in a PBL environment. Based on the results, a model for critical thinkingin a PBL environment is outlined emphasizing a problem-solving process grounded in open and real life problems as well asa self-directed, collaborative and team-based learning environment. The model also includes recommendations toovercome challenges detected in the empirical study, especially those related to the scaffolding of group collaborationand the use of theory in a self-directed learning environment based on real life problems.