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INT B International Project-Based Learning 19241
INT B International Project-Based Learning 19241
International
project-based
learning
among Venezuelan refugees and food technology stu- 2. Context and setting 48
project-based learning covering research, outreach, and 8. Continued actions and prospect 55
1. Introduction
Knowledge’s helices Since the inception of the well-known Triple Helix model (THM) – fo-
cused on connecting academia, industry, and government actors – al-
most three decades ago, the innovation systems and knowledge-based
economy came across several upgrades. This evolutionary process add-
ed new “helices” to the THM to consider cultural and social components,
thereby shaping quadruple, quintuple, or, more abstractly, n-tuple helix
models (Leydesdorff, 2012). THM and its variants have contrasts that
can be explored as conflicting or supplementing (Cai and Lattu, 2022;
Leydesdorff and Smith, 2022). Despite their differences, the rationale
to use them relies on their effectiveness to understand how innova-
tion is organized at a systematic view and the innovation dynamics can
be measured, especially at regional, national or international level. Be-
sides, they are useful to identify key actors, mechanisms of interaction,
and enabling conditions to implement specific inquiries both through
qualitative and quantitative framework (Cai and Amaral, 2021). It is now
recognizable that trending topics that outstrip national boundaries,
such as democracy, climate, ecology, and media are all intertwined in a
complex network of knowledge propelled by these helices (Carayannis,
Campbell, & Grigoroudis, 2022).
HEIs drive innovation Amidst a dynamic cosmos of global crises and challenges, higher edu-
cation institutions (HEIs) are revamping their underlying roles of teach-
ing, research, and outreach to absorb complementary missions (Puente
et al., 2021). Currently, whether from the “Industry 5.0”, “Society 5.0”
(Carayannis, Dezi, Gregori, & Calo, 2022), or “n-tuple helix” conceptual-
ization, HEIs are drivers of novel knowledge and innovation routes. For
this reason, they should foster real impact to their environs through
social innovation (Morawska-Jancelewicz, 2022), sustainability (Goi, Ha-
keem, & Frendy, 2022), entrepreneurship (Bikse, Lusena-Ezera, Rivza, &
Volkova, 2016; Ruiz, Martens, & da Costa, 2020), and regional develop-
ment (Sunina & Rivza, 2016; Lew & Park, 2021).
Brazil’s internationalization Internationalization is not alien to any of those helices since it is a dy-
challenges namic process influenced by global events and a keystone for HEIs’ fu-
ture agendas (de Wit & Altbach, 2021). On the contrary, it is a branch
of the innovation system concerned with stimulating local production
chains, opening new branches for foreign trade opportunities, and, in-
side the academic nucleus, leveraging innovative learning experiences
beyond territories. Brazil, in particular, hits many obstacles that decel-
erate the innovation-internationalization wheel, such as the language
barrier, heavy regulations, and little specificity of internationalization
plans at the HEIs. However, it turns out that rethinking university plan-
ning, carefully defining institutional profiles, and developing particular
policies can accelerate our progress since HEIs are inherent conduc-
tors of change (Neves & de Oliveira Barbosa, 2020). Out of the Brazilian
higher education system, public universities are the main strengths for
It is indisputable that tailored solutions are the best way to design and HEIs beyond classic pillars
mold helices’ blueprints so that local environmental, educational, so-
cial, and economic needs are manageable by each HEI based on their
reality. The purpose of this case study is to report the experience of
engagement of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) with Venezuelan
immigrants and point out how learning, research, outreach, innovation,
entrepreneurship, and internationalization are joinable in an “all-inclu-
sive” package of subjects inspired in the Quintuple Helix model (QHM).
This experiment suggests an innovative international version of the pro-
ject-based learning approach now applied to refugees’ needs.
Since April 2018, the Brazilian Government has been housing socially Humanitarian crisis in Venezuela
vulnerable Venezuelan refugees escaping humanitarian and socioeco-
nomic crises in their home country. The so-called “Operação Acolhida’’
task force, established in the Northern borders to watch the migratory
influx, had already relocated more than 78,000 people in 844 Brazilian
municipalities up to June 20221. Supported by the United Nations Refu-
gee Agency through representatives in Brazil (UNHCR/ACNUR Brazil), the
unfolding of this humanitarian operation resulted in striking evidence of
what QHM’s dimensions seem to support.
3. Institutional internationalization
policy
Stimulus to internationalization Presently, the IP efforts articulate to adapt QHM and its associated di-
mensions into emerging needs that primarily cover regional develop-
ment, indoor conviviality maximization among foreigners and UFPB’s
students, and entrepreneurship stimulation to foreign trade. To reach
these goals, ACI has been working collaboratively with neighbor HEIs
and members of the private sector to establish strategic alliances, pro-
mote events, and carry out outreach projects which, in our personal
view, touch upon the QHM’s subsystems as “manifold” tasks.
4. International project-based
learning (IPjBL)
Project-based learning (PjBL) is an educational approach that steers “Old-school” project-based
students to face real-world challenges by following a “hands-on” ten- learning
et. Deemed to be an offshoot of the early 20th century’s constructiv-
ist theories (Kokotsaki, Menzies, & Wiggins, 2016; Jumaat, Tasir, Halim,
& Ashari, 2017), PjBL is seen as a gold standard teaching methodolo-
gy at the secondary level (Larmer, Mergendoller, & Boss, 2015), despite
marked confluences with other nomenclatures (Dias & Brantley-Dias,
2017) and criticisms.
Apart from the merits and positive outcomes of the experience above,
we bring into the scene a type of internationalization mediated by PjBL
that overreach the simple reciprocity between people from different
countries working together on a common-good project. Given its pe-
culiarities, the way we think of the case we are reporting suggests the
birth of a novel perspective of PjBL in the internationalization process
of an HEI. Because of its singular features, the medley of skills, concepts,
and dimensions (social, technological, global) comminuted therein led
us to portray what internationalization project-based learning truly rep-
resents. Employing this idea, we draw attention to an outstanding view
of PjBL for internationalization subjects. In short, IPjBL. As we will ex-
plore next, IPjBL unfolds itself into a complex web of knowledge that
intersects the so-called innovation helices. At the same time, it magni-
fies the traditional pillars of HEI. Before moving towards IPjBL’s practical
aspects, we inserted an interlude to explain the background of the ele-
ment responsible to base this case study: the arepa bread.
History of the arepa bread Arepa is a bread made from maize dough or pre-cooked fine-grain maize
flour commonly used in Hispanic countries such as Bolivia, Spain, and
Venezuela (Fig. 1). Historic notes place the origin of arepa in the middle
of the 15th century in Europe and later on, during the 19th century in
South America. Although it is a cultural symbol of Colombia, the arepa is
also a many-flavored daily food in Venezuela and part of the country’s
gastronomy.
Arepa in many countries Arepa has similarities to Mexican gorditas, Ecuadorian tortillas, and oth-
er foods from Central America. However, there is no direct equivalent of
this food in Brazil. With time, arepas became widely consumed by the
Spanish American community in the USA, where methods for their in-
dustrial production began to be patent-protected in 1993. Despite that,
few technical papers exploring the nutritional, physical or chemical
characterization of the arepa’s properties are available, which makes it
a topic for food engineers and researchers in this field.
6. IPjBL in practice
Refugees’ leadership During the outreach initiative of welcoming the Venezuelan refugees,
they spoke about their difficulty preparing arepas in Brazil due to flour
unavailability. Then, the professors in charge of the project readily
sought manners to import the feedstock demanded by the Venezue-
lans. Besides manifesting their solidarity with the foreigners, they took
the opportunity to convert this challenge into a learning project which
From this point on, we identified that the IPjBL approach encompasses A multifaceted method
at least six dimensions:
■ Teaching: the learning method was taken over one month and based
on Charles Maguerez Arch, with the following modifications: discuss-
ing Venezuelans’ reality; apply hands-on gastronomic class, identify
technological key points for flour manufacturing, hypotheses, labora-
tory tests, and application for real. The problem’s first contact hap-
pened through an arepa workshop, where the students learned about
the culture around arepas from the Venezuelans viewpoint. The arepa
preparation came into class as a well-planned learning lecture, like
the others frequently implemented in food technology in-lab classes.
That is to say, including inputs’ selection, weighing, mixture, molding,
production, and quality control of the arepa loaves of bread obtained
through baking and frying. The focus of the second class was to iden-
tify the technological key points for flour production, for instance, the
optimum raw material humidity for the milling process, and what type
of cooking process to ensure partial gelatinization (Fig. 2). At the end,
the students managed in groups to select three possible routes for
maize flour production, starting from the white or the yellow hominy
corn. Two additional lectures were held in the lab, where the students
learned about milling and sifting, tested their hypotheses, and select-
ed the best technological route for each, the white maize flour and the
yellow maize flour. Finally, their course evaluation was to produce the
flour and the arepa explaining the science and technology behind it.
■ Outreach: the integration of the refugees into the local society from
the university’s doing is, per se, a unique case of outreach roles ex-
pected by HEIs. Happy to be the principal visitors and true leaders
of this action, the Venezuelan couple shared their opinion about the
pros and cons of living in Brazil, feelings, thoughts, but especially the
personal satisfaction of having a genuine arepa again after a long dep-
rivation time (Fig. 4).
7. Self-assessment
Great outcomes The post-lecture assessment found that the students kept an engaging
and enthusiastic posture for receiving the young Venezuelans for the
arepa-making workshop. They have committed to the proposed chal-
lenge and participated actively by taking notes, asking questions, and
practicing. All students and professors were involved with the task and
produced at least one arepa bread. We verified that this methodology is
a channel to elicit uncountable creative ideas. As a result, for instance,
the students came up with two viable technological solutions that may
afford arepa production in Brazil from corn flour manipulation.
Impact on students Maria Eduarda Rocha, a teaching assistant student who co-managed the
IPjBL, highlighted: “I feel that my professional skills and social respon-
sibility have increased after this experience. Not only because I have
acquired a deeper understanding of the Venezuelan’s hardship, but also
on the relevance of being exposed to the international context and rais-
ing awareness of others to promote global welfare”.
Community service generally is a positive feature that HEIs look for on Call to action
new students since they like “good citizens” may increase their repu-
tation concerning social responsibility and engagement. However, HEIs
should not sail over shallow waters of public commitment only, but dive
into extension and outreach actions as innermost institutional con-
cerns. UFPB recently concluded a series of adaptations in all its edu-
cational curricula to include extension activities as compulsory credit
hours. Regardless of this movement to meet superior legal enforce-
ment, our history and experience already shows that consistent actions
reflect in the surrounding community’s welfare. Our extension programs
impact people from countryside provinces, socially and economically
vulnerable ones, elderlies, and, by virtue of the context, refugees. Ac-
tions that a HEI could take to actively foster an extension and outreach
agenda without losing focus on internationalization practice are:
As quoted by Jones and de Wit, apud. (de Wit & Altbach, 2021): “interna- “De-westernizing” HEIs
tionalization should no longer be considered in terms of a westernized,
largely Anglo-Saxon, and predominantly English-speaking paradigm”. In
fact, “de-westernize” internationalization by addressing the needs of
immigrants and refugees or triggering initiatives towards “easterniza-
tion” are turning points for any HEI unconnected to such reality. In fact,
we corroborate that maxima. While shifts on the internationalization
policies of HEIs are underway, in the Global South we face the para-
doxical challenge of filling in gaps of the past that remain as footprints
of all-kind limiting resources to have solid internationalization policies
and, concomitantly, having to adjust the clock hands to follow up the
present time’s trends.
Several future actions relating to this case study are citable here. For
brevity, we will include only a few connected to humanitarian causes
and partner broadening with Africa and Asia. Our value proposition pre-
views the
Acknowledgments
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Authors
Contact: gustavo.oliveira@ci.ufpb.br
Contact: memr@academico.ufpb.br
Contact: acordos@aci.ufpb.br
Sandro M. Torres is full professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department. His ex-
pertise covers Civil, Materials, and Mechanical Engineering. Currently, he is the Presi-
dent of the International Cooperation Office, where he manages university’’ strategic
planning and policies for internationalization.
Contact: sandromardentorres@yahoo.co.uk
Ana Luiza M. Braga is professor at the Food Technology Department. Her background
covers Food and Process Engineering, as well as Materials Science. Director of Aca-
demic Mobility at the International Cooperation Office, she takes care of incoming
and outgoing students, experience and conviviality maximization, as well as develops
entrepreneurship-integrated actions for both national and international students.
Contact: almb@academico.ufpb.br