Project-based Learning with Examples from Industry in University Courses

Abstract

This talk is based on a paper originally published in [Da16]. The talk deals with the use of industrial case examples in university education to improve students learning success. University education it is often burdened with conveying highly theoretical topics and students experience theory-driven instruction often as boring. In consequence, students show little interest or motivation. Rather than dry academic assignments, experience-based learning using industrial case exam- ples fosters collaboration, communication, and self-directed exploration of the instructed principles and can thus increase students interest and motivation. We first introduced a project-based learning approach using industrial case examples in the summer term of 2012 in a graduate requirements engineering course [Da14], and later on in its undergraduate companion. We report on our long term experiences gained from using case examples based on real industry projects in graduate and undergraduate requirements engineering courses. The use of industrial case examples resulted in higher student motivation and improved students exam results. Furthermore, the talk discusses the differences between the application of project-based teaching in undergraduate and graduate courses, which should be considered by lecturers of such courses.