Propuesta metodológica para la determinación y el aprendizaje de las competencias genéricas clave del/la ingeniero/a tic y percepción diferencial del mercado entre el grado y el postgrado o máster

While the European Union is ongoing towards a production system based on the knowledge economy, and in a historical moment when universities are facing the challenges associated with the achievement of the postulates of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), it is necessary to rethink the competitive patterns established until now. It seems appropriate to clarify the expectations in relation to some of the main higher education needs of the information and communication technology (ICT) engineers in Spain, to reflect and evaluate the performance of the university and to consider how to develop curricula for this purpose. Thus, the thesis presents different objectives, which have divided the research into three phases. First, an in-depth study on the state of the art of both the specific literature on the concept of generic competences or transversal skills was conducted, specifying for the ICT sector and engineering studies. Yet, stress has also been put on the analysis of the general and specific literature on learning methods, focusing on the so-called active methodologies and contextualizing in the EHEA. Given the broad range of skills and general know-how required by the Spanish ICT sector (mainly focusing on graduates in computer and telecommunications engineering), a selection limited to 20 ICT skills has been ensured, following a rigorous procedure. In the second phase, and from a comprehensive statistical study using a representative sample that comprises more than 60% of all employees working in the Spanish ICT sector, it has been possible to shed some light on the graduate profile that responds to the market demands. The required pattern is as follows: the graduated is able to find the information he/she needs, has an analytical thinking, is able to planning, is team working and flexible, as well. The research conducted also reveals the most valued skills applying for both graduate and master level, being in both cases: teamwork, commitment to learning, problem solving and customer oriented. The field study has reflected Spanish university fulfills their role of training competences, attending to the needs and expectations of the sector, although highlighting certain gaps. This is a key element for reflection, which provides training proposing improvements for further investigations. Also research results have suggested a gap between generic skills demanded by the sector in Spain and those recommended by the scientific literature, in terms of business strategy and the ways of maintaining competitive advantage in the ICT sector. Finally, in the third stage analysis, and thanks to the use of an expert panel, it has been developed the most efficient way to ensure the acquisition of the 10 generic hey skills for graduates in ICT engineering. This original proposal has emphasized the use of student centered learning techniques, also known as active learning methodologies. The findings suggest that the use of project based learning (PBL) as well as the learning contract technique, are the teaching methods that best help in the acquisition of the skills required by the ICT sector. We must emphasize the relevance of this research, which assumes the methodological change, where the student becomes the central element of the new educational paradigm promoted by the European educational integration.Mientras la Unión Europea sigue caminando hacia un sistema productivo basado en la economía del conocimiento, y en un momento histórico, en el que, desde la universidad, se encaran los retos asociados a la consecución del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, es necesario replantearnos los patrones de competitividad hasta hoy establecidos. Parece oportuno, aclarar cuáles son las expectativas, des del ámbito de la empresa y los empleadores, en relación a algunos de los principales parámetros educativos que dan respuesta a las necesidades laborales de los/las ingenieros/as que trabajan en el mercado de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en España, poder reflejar y evaluar, el desempeño de la universidad y considerar cómo desarrollar los programas de estudio a tal fin. Así, la tesis presenta diferentes objetivos, que han dividido la investigación en tres fases, en primer lugar, a partir de un profundo estudio del estado del arte, tanto de la bibliografía específica sobre el concepto competencia, y todo lo directamente relacionado con las competencias genéricas o transversales, concretando en el sector TIC y los estudios de ingeniería. Y, a su vez, el análisis de la bibliografía general y específica sobre metodologías docentes y métodos de evaluación del aprendizaje, centrado en las denominadas metodologías activas y contextualizando en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Se ha asegurado la idoneidad de acotar a un total de 20 competencias, el amplio abanico de habilidades y destrezas generales que demanda el sector TIC en España, básicamente a los/las tituladas en ingeniería informática y de telecomunicación. En la segunda fase, y a partir de un amplio estudio estadístico, gracias a una muestra representativa de más del 60% del total de los empleados del conjunto del sector TIC en España, se ha desgranado el perfil del egresado, que responde al siguiente patrón: es capaz de encontrar la información que necesita, tiene un pensamiento analítico, sabe planificar, trabajar en equipo y es, a su vez flexible. También se han determinado las competencias más valoradas, que tanto a nivel de grado como de máster son coincidentes, siendo en ambos casos: el trabajo en equipo, la capacidad de aprender, el ser resolutivo y la orientación al cliente. El estudio de campo ha reflejado el papel discreto de la universidad española en la formación de competencias transversales, atendiendo a las necesidades y expectativas del sector, poniendo de manifiesto ciertas lagunas. Siendo éste un elemento de reflexión, que brinda la proposición de mejoras formativas a implementar. Juntamente, a otro hecho que sugiere la investigación, atendiendo a la literatura analizada, la brecha existente entre las competencias genéricas que el sector demanda, y aquellas que la literatura científica recomienda, en cuanto a estrategia empresarial y formas de mantener la ventaja competitiva, en el sector TIC. Finalmente, en la tercera fase del trabajo que completa las aportaciones de esta tesis, y gracias a la utilización del panel de expertos, se presenta la forma más eficiente de asegurar la adquisición de las 10 competencias genéricas clave para los graduados en ingenierías TIC, recién egresados, a través de técnicas de aprendizaje centradas en el estudiante, también conocidas como metodologías activas de aprendizaje. La investigación concluye que la utilización del método del aprendizaje basado en proyectos o project based learning (PBL) junto al contrato de aprendizaje, técnicas de carácter grupal por un lado y de carácter individual por otro, nos propician la consecución de su totalidad. Debemos resaltar la oportunidad del trabajo, asumiendo el cambio metodológico que supone el establecer, al estudiante como elemento central del nuevo paradigma pedagógico impulsado por la integración europea.Postprint (published version

ICE. Activitat confinament Curs 2019-2020Q2

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Training needs for a PhD programme in engineering education

©2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.The field of Engineering Education (EngEd) is a relatively new discipline that is attracting a growing interest all around the world. Despite this interest in research in EngEd, there are still only a few PhD programmes in the area, the oldest being that established in 2004 at Purdue University. Although some research groups exist in Europe, to our knowledge there are only three PhD programmes: those in Aalborg, Chalmers and Uppsala. The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech is a technical University providing degrees only in engineering, sciences and architecture. We have a strong commitment to high-quality education and face the same problems as other technical universities, such as the need to increase student attraction and retention, the development of an engineering identity and the acquisition of the professional competencies required in a global world. While we have been developing research in all those subjects, our next goal is to create a new PhD programme in Engineering, Science and Technology Education, with the first cohort due to begin in September, 2020. The structure of an EngEd PhD programme consists of a unique combination of engineering and education requirements. In order to design our program, we analysed the training courses offered by five programs (at Aalborg, Chalmers, Purdue, Uppsala, and Virginia Tech). This paper presents what we have learnt about the courses and learning objectives of those programmes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cost-benefit analysis of smart structures

Smart structure is defined as structure equipped with sensors (especially continuous and composed of fiber optic), so that it is able of transmitting data of interest about its state of health (deformations, cracks, oxidation, etc.). This technology can facilitate the preventive maintenance of buildings and the management of their structural health. Therefore, a necessary aspect of interest to analyze in order to know if the technology is applicable or not, is to evaluate its profitability. Thus, the objective of this paper is to perform a cost-benefit analysis of smart structures, studying on the one hand which is the initial cost increase involved in the implementation of the proposal, and on the other hand to evaluate which is the saving of money to over the time that this application represents, what allows to establish the point of return on investment (ROI), and from which moment it is possible to expect net benefitsPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Análisis coste-beneficio de las estructuras inteligentes

Definimos estructura inteligente como aquella estructura dotada de unos sensores (en especial continuos y de fibra óptica), de manera que es capaz de transmitir datos de interés sobre su estado de salud (deformaciones, fisuraciones, oxidaciones, etc.). Esta tecnología puede facilitar el mantenimiento preventivo de los edificios y la gestión de su salud estructural. Por ello, un aspecto de interés necesario a analizar para saber si la tecnología es aplicable o no, es evaluar su rentabilidad. Así, el objeto de este artículo es realizar un análisis coste-beneficio de las estructuras inteligentes, estudiando por un lado cuál es el incremento de coste inicial que supone la implementación de la propuesta, y por otro lado evaluar cuál es el ahorro de dinero a lo largo del tiempo que supone la aplicación de la misma, lo que permite establecer el periodo de retorno de la inversión inicial, y a partir de qué momento sepueden esperar beneficios netos.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Análisis coste-beneficio de las estructuras inteligentes

Definimos estructura inteligente como aquella estructura dotada de unos sensores (en especial continuos y de fibra óptica), de manera que es capaz de transmitir datos de interés sobre su estado de salud (deformaciones, fisuraciones, oxidaciones, etc.). Esta tecnología puede facilitar el mantenimiento preventivo de los edificios y la gestión de su salud estructural. Por ello, un aspecto de interés necesario a analizar para saber si la tecnología es aplicable o no, es evaluar su rentabilidad. Así, el objeto de este artículo es realizar un análisis coste-beneficio de las estructuras inteligentes, estudiando por un lado cuál es el incremento de coste inicial que supone la implementación de la propuesta, y por otro lado evaluar cuál es el ahorro de dinero a lo largo del tiempo que supone la aplicación de la misma, lo que permite establecer el periodo de retorno de la inversión inicial, y a partir de qué momento se pueden esperar beneficios netos.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Higher education needs for the information and communication technology spanish market

Purpose: The main objective of the paper is to clarify the expectations held in the realm of business and by employers, in relation to the main educational parameters that respond to the employment needs of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market in Spain, considering both technical and managerial knowledge. It also assesses whether the Spanish Technical University is providing its graduates with the knowledge currently demanded by the sector. Design/methodology/approach: The report is based on a survey completed by 43 companies, which constitutes more than 60% of the sector and is representative of the entire range of subsectors that constitute the vast ICT industry in Spain. According to the sample construction, post-stratification has been used for analyzing global results. Responses have been weighted according to the proportion that represents the employees’ population of the Spanish ICT sector. Findings: As a first conclusion of the current research it should be noted that in terms of technological knowledge, the gap between what the industry requires and the skills graduates can offer is, in general, much smaller than the gap relating to business management skills, where differences exceeding 25% have been demonstrated. This would suggest that the Spanish ICT sector needs to improve learning in the subjects related to business management. Originality/value: Finally, as an innovate factor since there are no previous bibliographic references on this topic, a surprising conclusion is that a significant segment of the Spanish ICT sector, specifically 51,2 % of the companies surveyed, did not distinguish between professional profiles, expressed indifference, and were equally likely to employ graduates as postgraduates. Although when the market was asked about the preferred profile for managerial positions, the results are quite different: 83.7% of respondents preferred a superior engineer qualification; 16.3%Postprint (published version

What Spanish ICT employers want: before and a decade after the introduction of the EHEA

This paper analyses the effect that the fulfilment of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has got among engineers in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. The focus is on Spain, and the comparison of the technical and managerial knowledge and skills most demanded by the sector in 2008 and 2018, coinciding with the first decade of the EHEA. The study also examines whether the professional skills acquired by university students are consistent with those required in the job market. The following question is answered: Are ICT students adequately trained a decade after the introduction of the EHEA? An empirical study was carried out on the basis of a cross-section of Spanish ICT sector enterprises. The results reveal a gap between employer expectations and the skills acquired by students. Policy and practice performance is also discussedPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The teaching involvement of the users, the units and the whole UPC measured through the Moodle indicators of the virtual platform Atenea. An extension proposal of Atenea’s BI platform

Atenea is the Moodle virtual platform of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) with about 31000 users and 5000 active subjects from 16 school centers. Atenea indicators give information on the teaching activity of the users and centers. This is specially relevant when teaching is online, as was the case in the Covid-19 period. The UPC already has a Atenea’s Bussines Intelligent platform (BI), which has recently been launched. In this 1st phase the Institute of Science of Education (ICE) has actively participated in the design of the application. Currently it shows basic indicators over a period of time where one can filter or compare by centers or type of users. The paper presents this design and make a proposal for the extension of the BI, for the future, with respect to: 1) the inclusion of some key indicators for measuring the subjects’ activity, 2) a proposal for cross-referencing data with academic performance

Anàlisi cost-benefici de les estructures intel.ligents

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