Abstract:

The pedagogical model known as Flipped Classroom has gained importance in recent years, a tool that has been developed in response to the need to change the traditional teaching model. This methodology has been applied to three groups of engineering students of the subject Thermal Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering of Gipuzkoa (UPV/EHU). In particular, the methodology tries to free class time by means of watching video tutorials, at the moment 21 video tutorials are available in YouTube in each language, Basque and Spanish. The lecturer indicates to the students when they have to watch each video tutorial, in order to coordinate the autonomous work outside the classroom and the active learning activities developed in the classroom. These activities consist on continuous and formative assessment, including just-in-time feedback, and guided problem solving related to the specific parts of the subject. Based on the results of the assessment process, these activities are complemented by additional explanations and activities that are prepared ad hoc just-in-time.

The continuous and formative assessment is carried out using online test by Socrative tool. The tests correspond to specific parts of the course syllabus and consist on 4-5 multiple choice questions, each test should be completed in 5-10 minutes using the mobile phone, one test per week on average during 15 weeks. The results of the test of each student and the entire class are available for the lecturer, so it is possible to detect deficiencies in the learning process of the student group or in the case of each student in particular.

The objective of this work is to present the results of the analysis of the tests conducted by Socrative tool. This analysis indicates the parts of the subject that are most difficult for students, and shows the evolution of the students' use of the tool and how this affects the performance of the teaching team. Due to the characteristics of the subject, the comprehension of the last topics are affected by the comprehension of the first ones; the results of the tests reflect this situation, but allow the lecturers to identify specific aspects on which to focus. It is observed that students' commitment to completion the tests drops significantly when they are asked to complete them outside the class time, this is related to the proximity of mid-term and final exams. Furthermore, the students who drop out of the tests first are the students who have the most difficulties with the subject, and only the most dedicated students continue, around 10% of the students. This makes the test results non-representative and affects the feedback process.

Keywords:

Flipped classroom, teaching model, active learning, digital tools, higher education.