Internacionalização da educação superior: O Programa Ciência sem Fronteiras no Curso Engenharia Elétrica da UFPB

Abstract

The present study had as object of investigation the Science without Frontiers Program, with focus on the technological area, in the Electrical Engineering course, that belongs to the Center of Alternative and Renewable Energies of the UFPB. The theme is in the process of internationalization of higher education, a current phenomenon in several countries around the world, in which the student flow between the central and peripheral nations is growing with prospects of being expanded in the future. The international student mobility in Brazil that materialized through a public exchange policy, in which the Brazilian government faced with the need to improve the training of our professionals at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of Brazil, created in 2011 the Science Program without Frontiers with the objective of improving Brazil's position on science and technology internationally, for this purpose, prioritized the strengthening of industry and research through the training of qualified human resources, specifically in the strategic areas aimed at industry, aiming at to the country's economic growth. In this perspective, the general objective of the research was to analyze the contribution of the Science without Frontiers Program for the academic and professional training of undergraduate students of the Electrical Engineering course of the UFPB. In the methodological course we made the option of a qualitative approach, of a descriptive and interpretative character, and as a procedure of the adopted research, the bibliographical survey and the documentary analysis. The case study applied to the research had as subjects the 21 students graduated from the Science without Borders Program of the Electrical Engineering course of the UFPB. The results of the research were consistent with the objectives outlined, it was possible to observe the following contributions: In the personal field, the learning of new language in level of fluency and experience with another culture; in the academic sphere, to be in contact with new teaching methodologies, to study subjects not offered in their course of origin and to access laboratories with technological resources; and, on the professional side, the opportunity of internships in foreign companies during the exchange. The Science without Borders Program within the scope of this study fulfilled the objectives planned by the federal government in improving the level of training of Brazilian students.