Case study on the use of dynamics to teach quality tools to engineers

Abstract

Higher education in engineering is geared towards the development of young people and adults to work in business environments that require social skills such as teamwork and logical thinking. For this purpose, active teaching methodologies can facilitate dense theoretical contents learning and promote their connection with practice, especially for andragogic teaching. Therefore, the present work aims to apply an active teaching methodology adapted from the PBL (Problem-Based Learning) method, known as business games, during the discipline of management processes and quality management for the Chemical Engineering course. The classes were divided in theoretical and practice parts oriented to the development of a product in a simulated classroom production, in three productive batches. The students, divided into groups, were responsible for collecting data, analyzing and applying the quality management tools in their processes, aiming at the delivery of a written dossier at the end of the course and individual assessments. The results indicated the feasibility in the application of the methodology, verified by the engagement of the students in the participation of the proposed activities. The students also indicated that the methodology was interesting and aided in the process of group learning, also confirmed by the good performance of the class in the individual evaluations. This work contributes to the reproducibility in the use of this methodology for engineering disciplines and supports the benefits in the exploration of active teaching methodologies.