Innovation in Education a Project Based Learning Implemented in Engineering using Global Classroom Methodology

Abstract

Nowadays, strategies have been developed to enable online international and multicultural collaboration experiences. The Global Classroom (GC) project represents an advanced educational strategy that promotes international online collaboration. This experience brought together students of Biotechnology Engineering from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico with students of Chemical Engineering from the Universidad EAN in Colombia. These groups participated jointly in the Analytical Chemistry with Product and Process Design courses during the semesters from August to December 2020 and from February to June 2021, in two cohorts. At the heart of this collaboration was the implementation of online Project-Based Learning (PBL), designed to deepen students’ intercultural and technical educational experience. The core project involved an experimental study of the heat of reaction in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide using an enzyme extracted from avocados at different stages of ripening. To evaluate the effectiveness of the GC program, three evaluation instruments were used: written reports, oral presentations, and anonymous surveys. The results of this assessment indicated a notable enrichment in several key competencies. Among them, teamwork stood out, where students learned to collaborate effectively despite cultural and location differences; problem-solving, encouraged by the challenging nature of the projects; and the exchange of ideas, which was enhanced by the diversity of perspectives and academic contexts. In addition, students showed an increase in the acquisition of new knowledge, successfully applied what they learned in previous scenarios, and optimized the use of computational and digital tools.