The i-Semester Experience: Undergraduate Challenge Based Learning within the Automotive Industry

This paper shows the development, implementation and results of an i-Semester, as part of the new educational model launch by Tecnologico de Monterrey, linked to the current needs of the automotive industry, whose companies are located throughout the Mexican Republic. The i-Semester program is described as an undergraduate training program, aimed to the development of disciplinary and transversal outcomes, defined by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, through industrial experiences and real-life applications. It is explained how the i-Semester was applied to an automotive industry challenge, where the student was involved in design, analysis and validation of components for the automotive industry. Explaining the work scheme, the modules with learning content, as well as the development of the industrial challenge. This work explains the experience in two editions of i-Semester in conjunction with a training partner, the automaker company Volkswagen de México. Thirty-eight students of Automotive Design Engineering and Mechatronic Engineering careers were immersed for 18-week periods, during spring and fall 2017 each one, into instruction from the teachers, professional workshops within the company and real-life experience to solve on real-life industry problem. Six teachers from the university and five engineers from the company served as mentors, giving feedback to students looking to solve the industrial problem. The second part of the paper explains how the evaluation tools were developed and implemented. As a conclusion, comments are made on the implementation challenges, opportunities, advantages and disadvantages that this new model has with respect to the traditional education scheme.