Learning and teaching thermodynamics is one of the core competencies for industrial engineering education. Traditionally, the thermodynamics course is developed through lectures, and it is assessed through written exams that include complex abstractions. Because of the COVID-19 health emergency, the Thermodynamics classroom course for Industrial Engineering at the Buga Regional Center of Uniminuto had to switch to the technology-assisted classroom methodology. This article presents a methodological strategy aimed at achieving a significant learning experience in the course, by means of the collaborative work of the students and the permanent assistance of the teacher. For this purpose, two projects for the development of the course were established: the first one seeks to relate the knowledge gained by the students with the reality of the industry, and the second one builds an approximate picture of the most recent advances in thermal sciences, taking advantage of the resources that are available in the databases of the institutional library. Finally, the results of the methodology are listed according to the main learning and teaching experiences in the course, in order to demonstrate the need in contemporary engineering curricula for a connection between the rigorous and correct teaching of the principles of science, and the creation of new knowledge through the use of ICTs.
