The Future of Education

The aim of this poster is to show how participative training techniques and specifically Problem-Based Learning (PBL) can be used in higher education successfully. Taking for example three different experiences we present the objectives, the procedures and the results achieved with a PBL approach centered in the empowerment of more engaged and reflective citizens. The cases were developed at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (Portugal), in three different curricular units that belong to three different thematic and degrees: 1) what are the mainstream concerns of mediterranean farming: developed with students of mediterranean farming post-secondary course; 2) what is the meaning of death and how to face the dying process: explored with undergraduate nursing students and 3) what means Human Development in nowadays society: exercised with master students of social and management sciences. The effectiveness of the practices is proven by the positive attitudes taken by the students towards the learning process (motivation) during classes and by the acquisition of a more complete understanding of what means being a pro-active citizen in nowadays society. PBL is an effective and successful teaching and learning method that stimulate collaborative understanding of subjects.

Keywords: Problem based learning; Participative teaching and learning technics; educational challenges.