Abstract:

When students are engaged in class, learning and achievement rises. Therefore, it is vital that instructors create a positive classroom climate for learning: setting high expectations, building rapport with students, developing routines, challenging students to participate and take risks. Active learning methods involve students in their own learning process, making them the protagonists rather than merely being passive receivers of information. Current evidence shows that active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate`s abilities to learn fundamental concepts and skills. Nevertheless, the adoption of active methods is still low.

This work draws on the impact of active learning methods adopted in a graduate course of Technology Innovation at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). It examines the experiences from the perspectives of both educators and students, the benefits and challenges of implementing active learning methods, and suggests future recommendations to academics for integrating active learning based methods in the curriculum design. The findings may be helpful for lecturers who teach innovation management related topics and seek alternative active learning strategies that would inspire, motivate and engage students towards studying innovation subjects, allowing them to enjoy their learning journey.

Keywords:

Active and experiential learning, creativity and design thinking, STEM education experiences.