This paper deals with the results of our Masters research, presented to the Graduation Program of the Education Department at the Federal University of Uberlandia. There we investigated how experiences with the pedagogical program "Trabalho de Projetos e Educacao Estatistica na Universidade" could improve the development of students' academic and professional skills. The project was conducted during five semesters from 2004 to 2006. Its dynamics were based on the projects carried out in the Statistics and Probability courses in the Mathematics Department at the Federal University of Uberlandia that the students were involved in. In addition, a qualitative and interpretative investigation was done in accordance with participatory research. Data gathering was done through observations, questionnaires, interviews and document research. We tried to establish a connection between these data, the aims of the project, and our Masters research.2439413429