Prior studies have highlighted the importance of adopting problem-based learning methods in online technical courses and engaging learners in problem-based learning tasks. However, it is difficult to design and apply problem-based learning courses in collaborations between universities and industry. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the IC-PBL (Industry-Coupled Problem-Based Learning) method, which aims to help learners actively solve real business problems that are then evaluated by firms. This paper reports the best practice of an exploratory case study of an online IC-PBL course conducted with a global-leading home appliance company (LG Electronics) in Korea. The procedure of IC-PBL proceeds as follows. First, the corporate leader and mentors present the specific problem facing the company and provide the class with relevant internal and external data. In this case, the problem was the development of a new smart home service employing a design-thinking approach and using data analytics. In the class, learners gained relevant knowledge in creative thinking, the design-thinking process, and some technical skills such as web-crawling, python programming, and text mining. Integrating IC-PBL into the technical online course with a design-thinking approach made the course more collaborative, creative, and efficient. Moreover, with the participation of mentors from the company, learners were able to actively determine what to learn and how to apply it to business problems by maintaining a close relationship with the mentors. This study suggests key strategies for the application of IC-PBL in blended technical courses and concludes with a discussion of how design-thinking approaches could be applied to PBL courses.

Application of a data-driven design-thinking approach to an industry-coupled problem-based learning course: The case of LG Electronics-Hanyang University in Korea