Abstract:

The situation resulting from the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has forced many universities around the world to interrupt their face-to-face classes, in many cases having to urgently adapt their teaching to a virtual environment. Subjects that use active learning methodologies, including role-playing, group work and student-led talks, have been severely affected, as face-to-face teaching and the teacher-student and student-student relationship is fundamental to this type of activities.

The final year of the Bachelor Degree of Civil Engineering in the University of Granada includes a subject of Maritime Works Design where a PBL methodology was implemented some years ago. In March 2020, face-to-face classes were interrupted and an urgent adaptation to the virtual environment was necessary. In these circumstances, two main measures were taken:
(1) creation of a group in the social network (in this special case, Telegram) for quick, easy and close interaction between teachers and students,
(2) reinforcement of active learning activities as opposed to face-to-face classes, increasing the number of sessions dedicated to guided discussions and role-play debates.

Participation in the debates and discussions was not imposed, but each group or student volunteered according to their availability and interest in the proposed topic. Thanks to the social network group, the organisation of groups and participation in the different activities was quick and easy. Discussions and debates were conducted through the Google Meet platform, where the different groups shared the information gathered, expressed their views and debated with the other participants.

Participation in the social network group was optional, but all students chose to participate. Thus, it could be seen that through the use of the social network group, the active participation of students in the subject was maintained at a very adequate level, even above what was expected. On the other hand, motivation remained high and, although participating in the activities was voluntary, a high number of students ask to participate in the different active learning activities proposed. Finally, the evaluation given by the students at the end of the course to the adaptation of the subject to online format was high, achieving even a higher degree of satisfaction than in previous (not-online) courses.

Keywords:

Distance learning, social network, guided discussions, role-playing debates.