WHAT STUDENTS THINK ABOUT PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The introduction of new degrees in higher education has been a major change in the university. Besides having to adapt the curricula of the subjects, so that their credits can be validated without any problem at any university in Europe, teaching methodology that was used have also had to adapt to the new system. Until now, the prevailing methodology was the lectures where the teacher was the protagonist and the student's role was relegated to the background. In the new scenario of the EHEA, it makes little sense to continue using this traditional method, since from the beginning the student should be aware that he is the principal agent in the learning process, and therefore the role to be played is far from being a mere copying of notes. Therefore, in this so-called Bologna process, active learning methodologies are very important. It is well known that among the teachers there are many detractors to these new ways of teaching, because these methodologies break with the patterns of education that have traditionally been followed, and they lead a new planning where, in addition to assessing knowledge skills, attitudes of students to achieve competencies established and related to his future profession are also assessed. But what do students think about these active methodologies? To answer this question a pilot study has been made with students from a group of first degree in Telecommunications Engineering in the University of the Basque Country. In the subject of Calculus, the study of functions of a real variable has been taught using the traditional method, while for the study of functions of real variables has followed the methodology of Problem-Based Learning. In this paper, we try to answer the above question with the conclusions of the pilot study.