THE CURRICULUM BUILDING THROUGH ACTIVE METHODOLOGIES

Abstract

In times of uncertainty, changes and challenges faced by Higher Education, the teacher’s teaching strategies can contribute to the implementation of active learning in the classroom. Nonetheless, active methodologies present control, monitoring and assessment of the entire teaching-learning process, while the teacher’s teaching strategies do not necessarily have this intention. Thus, active methodologies of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) and the Project Led Education (PLE) are presented in a structured way, as potential candidates for use in Higher Education. Additionally, new possibilities are presented for the structures that comprise a curriculum, called curriculum cells, proposed from four models: (a) curriculum cell that uses only the PBL (model A); (b) curriculum cell that uses only the PLE (model B); (c) hybrid curriculum cell that uses the PBL and the PLE (model C); and (d) hybrid curriculum cell that uses the PBL and the PLE, and the dialogued expository classes (model D). A proposal for structuring the curriculum for a Lato Sensu Specialization Course in Intercultural Engineering is then presented, and it based on the small modifications in cell models B and C. The challenges in implementing active methodologies are enormous, and the pursuit of curriculum innovation cannot come suddenly or radically. Certainly, it takes dialogue, understanding of established practices and building a solid foundation, so that those involved in the process understand the importance of true transformation.