Abstract:

In the last years, several authors have reported the potential of social media platforms as teaching and learning tools for enhancing students' active learning. It has been seen that social networks allow teachers to interact with their students in a more natural way; this is, in a similar way as students interact in activities outside the classroom. Facebook is one of the most widely used social networking site in the world, however, its use for academic and learning purposes is still very limited.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a teaching innovation project in increasing students' motivation and academic performance. 56 pre-graduate students enrolled in the degree of nursery education participated in this project (control group, without intervention, n=22; experimental group, n=34). We measured students’ motivation towards one of their subjects before (pre-test T0) and after the teaching innovation project (post-test T1). Academic performance was registered with an objective examination comprised of 30 multiple-choice test questions and a time limit of 75 min. for completion at the end of the project. In addition to examining students´ motivation and academic performance, the study aimed to identify aspects of their Facebook experience that may influence their perception about their learning process.

In order to enhance the active engagement of students in the project, all the activities were supported by Facebook. Videos and practical activities were posted on Facebook to cover the key competencies to be acquired by the students. Students were asked to provide comments on Facebook that were related to the subject. Our results show statistically significant increases in students’ intrinsic motivation from before and to after participating in the program. In addition, the experimental group had a significantly better academic performance than the control group. Finally, Facebook was highly valued by students, they considered that Facebook activities helped them to better understand the subject and they would recommend using Facebook in other subjects. In addition, they also considered as a positive aspect the feedback received from the professor and their peers when they posted on Facebook.

Acknowledgement:
This work has been supported by University of Zaragoza: This work has been supported by University of Zaragoza: PIIDUZ_2_2, PIIDUZ_19_177 and PIIDUZ_21_167.

Keywords:

Facebook, motivation, academic performance, Educational intervention, TIC.