UNIVERSITY-COMPANY INTERACTION FOR REAL CASE-BASED TEACHING IN ENGINEERING

Abstract

The content of a Quality Management subject in Production Engineering courses tends to be developed mostly without relating theory to practical activities. To demonstrate that the use of real cases can enhance the teaching of this curricular content, the experience reported in this paper was developed. This is an action research developed from a partnership project between an automotive industry company and a public university with the purpose of bringing cases of real problems directly or indirectly related to the subject of quality management in a Production Engineering undergraduate course. Cases and training were elaborated to be applied in the classroom, a final project that required group work and constant contact with the company to evaluate the progress of the project according to reports and schedule, expository lessons, and literature from the subarea of Quality Management as a theoretical basis. Based on this experience, it is possible to state that it is possible to successfully establish university-company partnerships for the development of joint actions in the scope of undergraduate engineering education. The company has shown itself willing to this partnership with a focus on the education of graduates in Production Engineering, and aspects related to possible barriers regarding execution time and expected results were aspects that encouraged the process. Also, the students became more interested in the content of the discipline showing autonomy and growing responsibility as co-responsible for the creation and construction of knowledge.