Abstract:

Active learning transfers the ownership of learning from the lecturer to the students. Students need to be encouraged to participate in self-study, avoiding gathering knowledge by just sitting back.

During the last years, it has been observed that the attitude of the students in the higher education is very passive and they are not enough motivated to participate in activities and fact-based discussions. In order to change this situation it is necessary to adjust the teaching to the needs and way of working of the students. Therefore, as a first step lecturers should be aware of students' concerns and points of view regarding the way of teaching.

This paper reports the opinion of second and fourth year undergraduate students coursing different Engineering degrees in the School of Engineering of Bilbao in the Materials Engineering department about the methodologies used in lecturing. It is necessary to know the opinion of the students to improve and boost the active learning and improve the relationship between lecturers and students. In this study, we gathered the information and opinion regarding theoretical lectures, laboratory practices and seminars by analyzing a simple questionnaire filled by students.

It is observed that the students opinion about teaching varies according to the course grade. It seems that in the last year of the degree they are more motivated to participate and to learn than in the second year. Therefore, they are more willing to make oral presentations and participate in group-working.

Keywords:

Materials Science, active learning, self-study.