Abstract:

In this paper we present the results of two complementary Teaching Innovation Projects aimed at designing and developing multimedia didactic materials to help first-year students acquire the background in Physics taught at some of the University of Cadiz technical BSc degrees. The most common educational needs observed among such students include an insufficient background knowledge in physics and mathematics which result in a high number of students failing to learn the subject of Physics and pass the exams. A collaborative effort has been made among various lecturers to create didactic materials using different technologies (interactive whiteboard, digital tablet, video camera). More specifically, 16 videos lasting 4 to 8 minutes were developed focusing on explaining basic aspects such as the use of vectors in space to represent physical magnitudes, vector analysis, algebra, trigonometry, and geometry. The idea behind was to create virtual introductory and reinforcement lessons that could be consulted anytime by the students. The videos were made available online to the students, which were also asked to fill a simple online questioner about them. Results from the questionnaire show a high degree of acceptance among the students, which stated that the explanations were easy to follow (100%), that the themes covered were very useful (100%), or that they helped them to better understand the subject of Physics (83%).

Keywords:

Educational Innovation, Technical Education, Physics, Virtual Classrooms, Multimedia, Pedagogy, self-directed learning.