Abstract:

Introduction:
The European Higher Education Area promotes the development of methodologies based on active learning with an educational model based on the work of the students. Thus, different teaching techniques are integrated within the theoretical classes to facilitate learning, achieving a more dynamic and participatory class.

Aim:
To implement a graphic and attractive tool mixing infographics design with Social Media Networking for active learning to enable a better understanding of a topic or theme.

Methodology:
To carry out InstaGRAF, 8 steps were followed: Step 1. Students formed small working groups (4-6) and chose roles (spokesman, secretary…); Step 2. The professor assigned a topic to the group; Step 3. The group designed an infography using free web platforms (Infogram, Piktochart, Easel, Canva,…); Step 4. The infography was submitted for review by the professor; Step 5. The group wrotea scientific-health message about the infography to include in a social network (less than 280 characters and using hashtags); Step 6. The message was submitted for review by the professor; Step 7. The final infography and message versions were uploaded to a social network (Twitter/Instagram) by the professor and hosted on the VALORNUT Research Group´s website (https://www.ucm.es/idinutricion/material-educativo); Step 8. The group deliver to the professor a signed report detailing the activities carried out. All the steps were uploaded in the virtual campus and were detailed to the students in the first day of class by the professor. Students satisfaction was measured using a 5 points Likert Scale questionnaire of 11 items ranging from 'strongly agree' (1) to 'strongly disagree' (5).

Results:
The activity was offered to 351 students of different subjects from two Degrees from the Complutense University of Madrid (Pharmacy and Human Nutrition and Dietetics): Finally, 135 students participated (38,5%): 51 from “Nutrition”; 20 from “Analytical Chemistry 2”, 29 from “Toxicology” and 35 from “Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics”. Thirty Infographics with messages were created. Among students who participated in the InstaGRAF tool, 93,3% (n=126) approved the subject. Meanwhile the percentage among students who did not participate was lower (87,04%). Moreover, the final mark was significantly higher among students who participated (7,5±1,6 vs 6,8±1,8, p<0,001). On the other hand, 84 participants (62.2%) completed the satisfaction tool questionnaire and the items “InstaGRAF has been helpful to me to understand better the topic on which I have worked”, “InstaGRAF is original and novel” and “The use of Twitter or Instagram are useful in learning the subjects“, was evaluated very satisfactorily (4,21, 4,55 and 4,35 respectively).

Conclusions:
Mixing the creation of infographics and its dissemination on social networks with InstaGRAF is an original and creative didactic method well accepted by students to promote the active learning. The tool allowed to learn better the concepts explained in class and contributed to promoting better academic marks.

Acknowledgements:
Grants for educational Innovation projects and improvement of the Teaching Quality for the academic year 2020/21 (project nº 279) (Complutense University of Madrid).

Keywords:

Infographic, Social Media Networks, Active learning, Group work.