Abstract:

Blended learning is a pedagogic approach that combines e-learning (asynchronous meetings) with face-to-face (synchronous) teaching. This type of training implies using information and communication technologies (ICT) to provide pedagogical tools such as virtual learning environments, multimedia resources, virtual communication and webinars, to cite just a few. Moreover, all these resources can be complemented with “flipped classroom”, a model in which students acquire a first-exposure learning before attending the live class, which allows them to focus on the processing part of the learning (that is, analyzing, solving problems, synthesizing, etc.).

In this communication, we present the results of applying blended learning to the course Physics II (Electromagnetism and Optics), which is part of the first year of different degrees in Engineering at Universitat Jaume I (UJI), in Spain. The developed tools included video tutorials, interactive websites and online self-assessment questionnaires, integrated into the Virtual Classrooms (the Moodle academic platform) of UJI. Also, in accordance to the flipped classroom model, the core of these seminars consisted of interactive tasks to focus on an active and autonomous participation by the students, with the goal of stimulating their initiative not only from an individual point of view, but also from a collective level. In the latter case, by proposing exercises and challenges to be solved collectively, highlighting the benefits of collaborative and teamwork activities.

The study presented here was initially boosted by the health crisis caused by COVID-19, which forced the university to "virtualize" a large part of its activities (especially teaching) during the course 2020/2021. However, this virtualization has demonstrated to be beneficial beyond the exceptional pandemic situation. In particular, the development of blended learning for the course “Physics II” has been especially beneficial for those students with deficiencies in the field of Physics during the last year of study in the high school.

All the information produced is now part of the set of illustrative demonstrations that the professors of Physics II use in outreach activities and in actions for secondary school students. The objective of multilingualism has also been integrated into the proposal of this project, since the materials and activities has been developed in different languages: Valencian, Spanish and also, in a high performance group of the Degree of Industrial Engineering, in English.

Keywords:

Teaching physics, blended learning, flipped classroom.