Abstract:

The growth of the virtual learning at universities over the past decade is one of the most widely used examples to understand how the recent evolution of computing in all manner of devices has caused the creation of the Digital Education, which in turn demands changes in teaching practice and theory. For this reason, the effectiveness of didactic strategies in the classroom requires the ability to analyze and measure the most relevant attributes in virtual teaching environments in order to improve the happiness and satisfaction of the students in the classroom.

The recent approach of Positive Psychology points out that assessments of hapiness are related to satisfaction and significant researchers have addressed overall satisfaction in several domains and dimensions, including teaching and learning in face-to-face and virtual contexts. Based on literature and practices regarding of teaching improvement methodologies in Higher Education, this work describes the application of a transformational teaching style in a recent real project in terms of the objectives, contents and achievements in three different countries during the 2017 academic year. This international project was implemented at universities in Chile, Mexico and Spain between October 2017 and March 2018, within the context of an international project of educational innovation.

The importance of this paper is to appreciate the implications of happiness in the classroom as a tool for improving educational processes at universities. The experience of the diverse didactic techniques and methodologies is important for designing the academic and professional curriculum of the pupils, and of course it can be of relevance to leaders of educational institutions and teachers for the improvement of their own pedagogical performance. Systematic, accurate and timely indicators are critical for an educational institution to assess whether they are achieving their aims, that is, the selected strategy is appropriate to achieve their several pedagogical objectives.

The description of this research is the following. First, we reviewed the literature on strategies and approaches to student perceptions, leadership styles in teaching and happiness in virtual contexts in the classroom. Second, a parsimonious and systematic tool to evaluate happiness in the classroom is described. Third, an integrative analysis of the results in terms of gender of students is carried out. The fourth section is focused to the conclusions, management implications in the classroom and research in the future.

Keywords:

Teaching style, scale development, happiness, educational processes, university.