PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING METHODOLOGY AS A STRATEGY TO IMPROVE TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES

From the European Higher Education Space it's promoted a new form of education of higher quality and effectiveness to adapt better to new demands for qualified professionals. They are working on a range of methods designed for this purpose: to improve the training of students. But not only that, but also wanted the students to become more involved in school, enhancing the relations both with their peers, as with teachers and other members of the university. Similarly it is intended to increase student participation in their community and be able to understand the reality of their environment. It aims to encourage a range of skills in the student, which in time lead him to become a better professional, but also a better citizen and a better teammate. It is promoting a range of skills that can be divided into two groups: the specific and the general or transversal. Thus we can speak of specific competences when referring to the skills related to a particular profession. And we mean transversal competences when the skills may be common to several professions and to many situations that we can find throughout our lives. Based on the methodology of problem-based learning, we see that besides being a good way to work the specific competences of the subject, is presented as an excellent tool when it comes to enhance transversal competences. The experience presented is part of the subject market research techniques during the past academic year 2008/2009. This course is an optional, part of the training program's final year of Bachelor of Business Administration and Management, University Jaume I of Castellon. Therefore, the final project is to develop the organization of the First Conference of Bank Marketing: Crisis, what now?, addressed to an audience composed mainly of banking professionals and college students.