IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i12p4817-d370804.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • María-José Terrón-López & Paloma J. Velasco-Quintana & Silvia Lavado-Anguera & María del Carmen Espinosa-Elvira, 2020. "Preparing Sustainable Engineers: A Project-Based Learning Experience in Logistics with Refugee Camps," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4817-:d:370804
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4817/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/12/4817/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bernard Amadei & Robyn Sandekian & Evan Thomas, 2009. "A Model for Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-19, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rohit Agrawal & Abhijit Majumdar & Kirty Majumdar & Rakesh D. Raut & Balkrishna E. Narkhede, 2022. "Attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs) through supply chain practices and business strategies: A systematic review with bibliometric and network analyses," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3669-3687, November.
    2. Clemente Rodríguez-Sabiote & Álvaro Manuel Úbeda-Sánchez & José Álvarez-Rodríguez & Daniel Álvarez-Ferrándiz, 2020. "Active Learning in an Environment of Innovative Training and Sustainability. Mapping of the Conceptual Structure of Research Fronts through a Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Vilma Sukackė & Aida Olivia Pereira de Carvalho Guerra & Dorothea Ellinger & Vânia Carlos & Saulė Petronienė & Lina Gaižiūnienė & Silvia Blanch & Anna Marbà-Tallada & Andrea Brose, 2022. "Towards Active Evidence-Based Learning in Engineering Education: A Systematic Literature Review of PBL, PjBL, and CBL," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-31, October.
    4. Rachael Budowle & Eric Krszjzaniek & Chelsea Taylor, 2021. "Students as Change Agents for Community–University Sustainability Transition Partnerships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, May.
    5. Renato Martins Neves & Rui M. Lima & Diana Mesquita, 2021. "Teacher Competences for Active Learning in Engineering Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Junmin Lee & Keungoui Kim & Hyunha Shin & Junseok Hwang, 2018. "Acceptance Factors of Appropriate Technology: Case of Water Purification Systems in Binh Dinh, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Evan Thomas, 2019. "Toward a New Field of Global Engineering," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-11, July.
    3. Suzana Brown & Alan Mickelson, 2018. "A Decision Framework for Choosing Telecommunication Technologies in Limited-Resource Settings," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4817-:d:370804. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.