The main objective of the present work is to show the results obtained from innovation in the subject “Industrial Processes”. In this paper, some innovations on improving educational practices are presented. The results were very positive. The students said that they were more motivated and they thought that the subject was “more interesting, easier to understand and relevent”.
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK
There follows a description of the innovations that were introduced to the course 2000-2001, and that have been adopted to the present and will continue to be used in the future.
A recent addition to our staff in the Manufacturing Processes Engineering Area, who was previously my student in this subject, began to teach the subject in the course 2000-2001. He has a degree in Technical Engineering and Industrial Design, so, there is noone better placed to understand what a design engineer needs to know. Beginning with the 2002-2003 course, I, myself, a Mechanical Technical Engineer, began to impart the practical part of the course. The changes made to the course are as follows:
- The theory lecturer was changed.
- The work that the students had to give in at the end of the course was changed.
- Return of practical lecturer.
- Disappearance of practices of CNC (Computer Numerical Control).
- Improvements of infrastructures of workshop.
- Incorporation of a small theoretical part in practical work.
- Incorporation of a small oral test to check that students were working well in groups when they produced their report on practical work carried out.
- Substitution of the part to be made, previously dictated by the professor, to another part chosen by the students.
- Incorporation in the workshop practice of parts of other subjects.
- To continue with the evaluation form of monitoring practical work.
- To continue with the planning of the subject (possibility to change group sporadically).
2. RESULTS
The changes have been positive. The changes have meant that the subject has been modified considerably, with regard to the original course, which was a copy of the Mechanical Technology taught in the Mechanical Technical Engineeing Degree.
In order to evaluate these innovations, the students were asked directly for their views and the results of these surveys from 1997 to 2006 are very positive. In figure 1 we can observe the marks given to practical lecturer by the students. We can see that from the first three years the marks has risen until stabilizing onat around 9 (scale from 0 to 10). For the courses 2000-01 and 02-03 there is no data, because the practical part of the course was not taught.
Another point to help us evaluate these innovations is the statistics on the numbers of students taking and passing the subject from 1996 to 2007 (Fig. 2). The graph shows that the number of students passing in the first convocation rises in the first three years from the 60% to 80%. During the courses 2000-01 and 2001-02 they fall below 50% (years in which the subject was not taught). Since 2003 it has remained stable at above 60%.
3. CONCLUSIONS
The evaluation of the innovation has been positive. The changes meant that the subject was modified considerably with regard to the one that was initially imparted. The students are more motivated and they think that the subject is “interesting, easy to understand and useful”. They learn to value team-work and generally they want to learn how to use the machines..