Preparing Sustainable Engineers: A Project-Based Learning Experience in Logistics with Refugee Camps

María-José Terrón-López, Paloma J. Velasco-Quintana, Silvia Lavado-Anguera and María del Carmen Espinosa-Elvira
Additional contact information
María-José Terrón-López: Aerospace and Industrial Engineering Department, School of Architecture, Engineering and Design, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villavicosa de Odón, Spain
Paloma J. Velasco-Quintana: Academic Model and Digital Transformation, School of Architecture, Engineering and Design, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villavicosa de Odón, Spain
Silvia Lavado-Anguera: Aerospace and Industrial Engineering Department, School of Architecture, Engineering and Design, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villavicosa de Odón, Spain
María del Carmen Espinosa-Elvira: Aerospace and Industrial Engineering Department, School of Architecture, Engineering and Design, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villavicosa de Odón, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: This article describes an intrinsic case study of project-based learning (PBL) experience involving an NGO as an external client to promote sustainability competencies. Two research questions are posed: (1) How did this experiential PBL approach impact students learning to develop sustainability competencies by incorporating a responsible engineering perspective? (2) How did college students become engaged with social and sustainable PBL projects when external clients of developing economies were involved? The project-based design involved two subjects in the second year of an Industrial engineering degree. The client was an NGO with an existing project to improve the supply chain logistics of three refugee camps managed by women. Students had to cooperatively develop a sustainable proposal for the NGO with a global mindset. Findings obtained from the analysis of the reflections of students and teachers indicate that this methodology helps students to acquire comprehensively learning outcomes and to develop sustainability competencies. Sustainable and socially responsible engineering were achieved through a methodology that considers the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and engages students in real projects. This approach promotes student awareness on the importance of their actions and their personal behavior as engineers, including a gender perspective, while training them to move towards SDG4 and 5.

Keywords: Project-Based Learning; sustainable competencies development; social responsibility; cooperation projects; engineering education; SDG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4817/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4817/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4817-:d:370804

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().