Academic Learning Platform for Practical Classes: A Learning Model in Manufacturing Engineering

We present a collaborative teaching model used in the practical classes of Manufacturing Engineering. This model has been developed by teachers from one of the Innovative Educational Groups “Nuevas Metodologías Docentes en Ingeniería Mecánica y de Fabricación” (New Learning Methodologies in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing) at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). It is implemented in the five degrees presently taught at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial (ETSIDI) (Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Design) at UPM. In this model, traditional practical lessons are combined with a Web platform, developed on our own, named “Plataforma Educativa de Prácticas Académicas” (PEPA) (Academic Learning Platform for Practical Classes), that allows both the automatic registration of the results from laboratory classes and the evaluations by teachers, automatically or manually.