Abstract:

There is currently a gap between the way in which students interact, the digital world (mobiles, tablets, etc.), and the majority way in which we teach the subjects, that is, through traditional classes in which the student pays attention to the explanations and then performs a set of problems, tasks or projects assigned, either individually or in groups. Together with this technological gap, the lack of motivation of the average student that makes the so-called strategic student emerge can be clearly identified. In order to solve or minimize these problems and improve the learning system in recent years, a hybrid model has been implemented in the subject of Business Statistics, combining traditional methodology with teaching innovation methods. In the field of teaching innovation both the use of multimedia tools (video lessons, screencasts, etc.) and some concepts related to neuroeducation (gamification, collaborative learning, flipped classroom, etc.) have been incorporated. All this, in order to increase motivation and, therefore, improve the student's learning process. In this line, the last incorporation has been the design of a totally online course where the theoretical concepts explained in class are applied through the statistical software R. The course consists of the following elements:
1) A set of guides or units explaining, step by step, the different theoretical concepts,
2) A set of tasks to be performed by the student corresponding to each of the guides or units of the course carried out with real data,
3) A forum of the course where all doubts can be asked,
4) Some videos or screencasts explaining each of the guides or units and
5) A type test exam (with four possible answers) consisting of 20 questions on basic issues of both R management and basic statistical issues.

The student has deadlines for delivering each of the tasks but has enough flexibility to perform the different tasks whenever it considers it appropriate. Each of the guides or units is self-guided, that is, by following the basic script of each of the units the student can correctly perform the assigned tasks. The course is implemented in the CANVAS learning management platform. CANVAS is a powerful and very flexible platform that allows you to incorporate a set of traditional and e-learning tools into a course. The preliminary results indicate that although at the beginning of the course the use of R is unfriendly for the student, the grades obtained in the different tasks have a clear positive tendency. There is also a positive correlation between the grade obtained during the online course and the final grade obtained making the course more effective and efficient. Finally, note that the main disadvantage is that the evaluation system, being online, does not guarantee 100% authorship of the work done. The advantage is that since R is not as friendly or usual as other software, for example Excel, it is more complicated for the student to use illegal means to carry out both the tasks and the final exam. In any case, the weighting of the online course in the final grade should not be very high, between 15% or 20% at most.

Keywords:

Online-course, motivation, flexibility, CANVAS.