Learning Calculus through PBL in an Industrial Engineering and Management Program - A Seven-Year Study

Oct 15, 2026

Study explores how to develop Calculus learning outcomes using a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach for first-semester students in an Integrated Master’s program in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Minho. The work analyzes forty-two interdisciplinary project reports produced over seven years and identifies activities related to Calculus in the reports. Results support that Calculus content is applied during project development, showing PBL as a successful active learning process where students learn independently through engineering problem resolution tied to their professional profiles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Objective and methodology

Study sections and structure

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | FALL 2019 Learning Calculus through PBL in an Industrial Engineering and Management Program-A Seven-Year Study MARINEZ CARGNIN-STIELER Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso Mato Grosso, Brasil M. TERESA MALHEIRO Centre of Mathematics / Department of Mathematics, University of Minho Guimarães, Portugal ANABELA C. ALVES RUI M. LIMA ALGORITMI Research Centre, School of Engineering, University of Minho Guimarães, Portugal AND MARCELO C. M. TEIXEIRA São Paulo State University (UNESP) Ilha Solteira–São Paulo. Brasil ABSTRACT This paper aims to study ways of contributing to the development of Calculus through a ProjectBased Learning (PBL) approach, which involves students in their first semester of the Integrated Master’s program in Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) at the University of Minho. The study presents the analysis of forty-two interdisciplinary project reports developed by students over a seven-year period. The reports offer good evidence for the application of the requested Calculus learning outcomes, demonstrating that the application of Calculus content occurred during the development of the project. This finding means that PBL was successful as a truly active learning process for Calculus that involves students learning independently through the interdisciplinary resolution of problems related to their engineering professional profiles. Key words: Project based learning, engineering mathematics, first year curriculum ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Learning Calculus through PBL in an Industrial Engineering and Management Program-A Seven-Year Study INTRODUCTION The curricular structure of the first years of an engineering degree includes a large number of courses that can be considered the basic sciences required for engineering (Lima et al. , 2012) . In general, engineering departments offer few courses in these first years of the program, and the interaction between the instructors from the basic sciences and the engineering departments is minimal (Kumar & Jalkio, 1999) . There are a large number of studies investigating the processes of teaching and learning mathematics in engineering courses (e. g. , Kumar & Jalkio, 1999; Lavesson, 2010; Engelbrechta, Bergsten & Kågesten, 2012; Diefes-Dux, Hjalmarson, & Zawojewski, 2013; Nathan, Srisurichan, Walkington, Wolfgram, Williams, & Alibali 2013; Dym, College, Agogino, Eris, Frey & Leifer, 2005) Nevertheless, these works do not present studies involving several years of project-based learning approaches, which would offer an understanding of how calculus learning outcomes can be developed through this active learning approach. Calculus courses are included in the basic sciences area, and it is considered a difficult subject by engineering students (Baracat, Witkowski & Cutri, 2012; Wrobel, Zeferino & Carneiro, 2013; Fragelli et al, 2013. ) . In general, engineering students take longer than expected to complete their degrees due to the difficulty in understanding the importance of the basic content in the first two years of graduation, which may be explained by pre-university difficulties in physics, chemistry and mathematics (Saeki & Imaizumi, 2013) . Students struggle to acquire mathematics skills, which are needed for their professional futures, and strategies for overcoming these difficulties are important. Biggs & Tang (2007, p. 24) believed that when students feel a need to understand a concept, they automatically try to focus on underlying meaning, main ideas, themes, principles, or successful applications. One way to create this typeof inductive learning environment is based on Project-Based Learning (PBL) processes (Prince & Felder, 2006) . In this type of learning environment, teams of students cooperate on projects and present a solution for an existing problem, which is characterized by a

FAQs

What is the paper’s main goal?

To examine ways of developing Calculus learning through a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach for first-semester students in an Industrial Engineering and Management program.

How is the study conducted?

Through document-based analysis of forty-two interdisciplinary project reports completed by student teams over a seven-year period.

What evidence does the study provide about Calculus learning?

The project reports show evidence that required Calculus learning outcomes are achieved during the project development, indicating effective application of Calculus content within PBL.

Oct 15, 2026

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