Session T4B San Juan, PR July 23 – 28, 2006 9 th International Conference on Engineering Education T4B-1 Strengthening Content With Context: Experience With Alternative Ways of Learning Paulo Rupino da Cunha, António Dias de Figueiredo University of Coimbra, Department of Informatics Engineering, Pólo II 3030-290 COIMBRA, Portugal, rupino@dei.uc.pt, adf@dei.uc.pt Abstract - As the social, political, economical and technical transformations of our world uncover limitations of traditional lecture-based higher education, there is a rising interest in ways of learning that break away from the delivery of information paradigm towards knowledge creation approaches capable of fostering self-learning, responsibility, relational skills, communication, activity and team work. This search lets us revisit approaches that were being used in more specific contexts but that now fit the requirements of a broader reality. Learning contracts and portfolios are two such examples. We report on the use we have made of these learning instruments over the past four years, across dissimilar courses: two B.Sc. and one M.Sc. – one on advanced IT, another on management, and another that was research-oriented. Different numbers of students were involved in each course, and we have achieved different levels of success. We provide insights from our experience and discuss merits and problems of applying these approaches, persuaded that readers wishing to venture into these avenues may share the rewards and avoid the pitfalls. Index Terms - Content, Context, Learning Contracts, Portfolios. INTRODUCTION Our world is calling for new forms of education. Social, political, economical and technical transformations are fast, relentless and global. Mobility has increased dramatically. New challenges demand added skills. The traditional view of a course preparing an individual for a lifetime in a single profession no longer holds. Lifelong learning becomes a must and, with it, the need for a concurring mindset. According to the European Round Table of Industrialists, a new, non- competitive, form of education should enable the development of individuals with broader competencies, capable of learning to learn, of communicating, of taking responsibilities, of effectively working in teams, motivated to constantly increase their level of knowledge [7]. The university plays an important role in creating contexts for the nurturing of these competencies, summarized in Table 1, equipping their students to thrive in these days of growing complexity and unpredictability and help them build their autonomy and independence. TABLE I COMPETENCIES FOR THIS MILLENNIUM, ADAPTED FROM [7] Self-Learning • Acquisition, assimilation and application of information • Organization • Development of a process to acquire contents and attitudes • Knowledge • Practical competencies needed to some area of application Technological / Technical • Knowledge • Practical competencies needed to some area of application Methodical / Creative • Transfer of experiences • Autonomous paths for solution • Planning and definition of objectives and means • Flexibility Social / Communitarian / Relational • Collaboration • Communication • Cooperation • Learning communities Participative / Ethical / Of citizenship • Autonomy • Responsibility • Decision-taking Some of the new competencies cannot be easily “taught” (i.e.: transferred as “content” from teacher to student) but can be “learned” in context, that is, they can be constructed in activity rich, interaction rich and culturally rich social environments [8]. As Vygostsky asserted, knowledge results, not from a transmission process, but from the internalization of social interactions [17]. The emergence of the Bologna Process in European higher education has strongly reinforced this call for new paradigms, namely through its emphasis on student learning and autonomy rather than on teacher delivery and control, its appeal for better alignment of teaching, learning, and assessment, and its plead for closer, more contextual, bonds between education and practice. The adoption of descriptors based on learning outcomes and competences went a long way to reinforce this mindset. The so called “Dublin descriptors”, now widely adopted in European higher education, include the evidence of knowledge and understanding demonstrated by the students, their capacity to apply them in occupational contexts, their ability to identify and use data to formulate responses to concrete and abstract problems, their aptitude to communicate about their own understanding, skills and