Application of Project-Based Learning in the first year of an Industrial Engineering Program: lessons learned and challenges

Abstract The Industrial Engineering Program at the School of Engineering of Lorena at the University of Sao Paulo has been using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology in the first term of the academic year since 2013. This article describes the experience of the first four years of the use, the lessons learned, and the remaining challenges. The use of PBL has been widely recognized by the students as one of the Industrial Engineering program’s differentiating features. Lessons have been learned continuously and have been subsequently incorporated to the application of the project. Much has been refined during this time frame but there is much more to be done. Some challenges persist, such as: (i) improving interaction with the course of Calculus I; (ii) enhancing peer evaluation; (iii) expanding the project coordination team, and (iv) refining tools for data collection and analysis