Abstract:

The subject of physical geodesy covers high-level physical and mathematical concepts related to the terrestrial gravity field necessary for the modeling of the shape of the earth (geoid), as well as for the definition of the vertical systems, which are subjects that present a high level of specialization in university studies. But at the same time, the learning of such advanced physical and mathematical concepts requires an important capacity of abstraction for the students of engineering degrees in geomatics and topography, an aspect that can hardly be achieved through classical teaching methodologies such as lecture sessions.

Consequently, the present experience of teaching innovation is proposed to solve the problem of acquisition of specific competences, motivation and active participation of students in the teaching of more theoretical aspects, through the development of a methodology of flipped classroom that allows to replace the modality of lecture sessions.

To this end, the teaching activity is designed and structured according to the indications established in the specialized literature for the engineering field, as well as previous experiences in topographic subjects, planning the generation of 8 flipped classroom activities to replace the lecture teaching, with an estimated duration of 12 hours in the classroom. Together with the preparation of the flipped classroom, students are proposed to carry out two types of micro-activities: short questions related to the main concepts addressed in the activity (to reinforce the student's capacity for analysis and synthesis), and presentation and exposition of the key theoretical contents indicated in the activity guidelines.

After the completion, each activity is evaluated and graded with an evaluation rubric, based on 4 different levels of achievement. And finally, as an internal measure of monitoring the effectiveness of the activities in the flipped classroom, a 22-question post-subject questionnaire is carried out.
The results of this first pilot experience, although not allowing a generalization, allow identifying trends on the specific casuistry of this subject and the challenges to implement this active teaching methodology. Although the flipped classroom methodology has proven to be effective in promoting more active learning in university students, and has been beneficial in terms of academic performance and knowledge acquisition; the proposed methodology requires refinement since it has required a lot of time from the students, making it impossible to consult all the resources before the face-to-face classes as indicated in the guidelines of the activities due to lack of time to conciliate with other subjects. In addition, another aspect identified for improvement was the inclusion in the activities of a practical case in a scenario that involves the application of knowledge to reinforce it by relating it to a tangible case.

As a side benefit, the inverted classroom methodology developed within the context of the degree in engineering in geomatics and topography will allow its transfer within the subjects of the degree itself, such as geometric geodesy, spatial geodesy... where also appear, although to a lesser extent, challenging abstract concepts for the students.

Keywords:

Flipped Classroom, Geomatics, Physical Geodesy, Engineering Education.