Transforming Engineering Education: Competencybased Solutions and a Student-Centered Approach to Increase Graduation Rate

The accreditation of Engineering careers requires adjustments in the study plans in order to comply with the standards defined by official organizations. The Electronic Engineering degree at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences and Surveying of the National University of the Northeast must propose a new study plan focused on the student and based on competencies. This opens up several challenges, because three different study plans from 2001, 2006 and the current one, 2012, coexist. This work presents the actions, methodologies, and strategies that were carried out to complete the graduation of 35 engineering students from the plans 2001-2006 and 2012 within two years, in addition to the work proposed since the creation of the new plan based on competencies to clean up the practices that led to hindering the qualification of electronic engineers in our region.