Abstract:

In the early courses of engineering degrees, many students encounter difficulties with fundamental subjects (e.g., chemistry). Due to the high number of students, the predominant teaching method is usually lectures accompanied by some practical laboratory classes. For a subject with a high experimental content, laboratory classes are an indispensable tool for consolidating theoretical concepts and putting them into practice. They also provide a comprehensive approach to the subject and the opportunity to work with real world measurement data. However, the importance of these classes is often underestimated by students, whose goal is to complete them in order to avoid repeating them the following year in the case of failing the subject. The result is that some students attend these classes during their first year but do not pass the subject until after four years. Most of these students end up skipping the theoretical classes and become demotivated. For teachers of the early courses, the challenge lies in creating activities that spark students' interest and improve their performance.

In this context, the educational innovation project (PIE) "LabMotiv" aimed to increase students' interest in the subject of Applied Chemistry (QAIA) in the Agricultural Engineering Degree at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). The objectives of the project were to reduce absenteeism rates and improve success rates through challenge-based learning using "Design Thinking", converting the laboratory into a learning tool for the curriculum. In the QAIA subject, students are required to complete five laboratory classes, where they learn to apply and recognize the analysis methods discussed in theoretical classes to analyze different components of soil, water, and fertilizers.

The "LabMotiv" PIE was used in the academic 2022-23 year, in which a group of students were given the opportunity to analyze their own soil and irrigation water. The students took on the role of Agricultural Engineers and prepared a final report to evaluate the feasibility of cultivating corn in a specific agricultural system. The project consisted of three parts:
1. Literature research on the climatic, nutritional, and soil water conditions for corn cultivation;
2. Data collection through laboratory analysis, recording the data on a soil diagnostic and irrigation water information sheet;
3. Final report: identifying soil problems, characterizing the water, and indicating the viability of developing a corn crop under those conditions, suggesting solutions to the detected problems by applying the theory learned in class.
The implementation of the project had a significant impact on success rates and absenteeism rates (75.7% and 5.7%, respectively) for students who participated in the PIE, compared with students who did not participate (32.3% and 56.4%, respectively). The success rate for students who participated in the PIE was also higher than the previous year's rate (53%), and the absenteeism rate decreased by 10%. There were also differences in the evaluation grades for the laboratory classes, with an average grade of 6.5 for students who participated in the PIE, compared with an average grade of 3.9 for the other students.
The results of this work demonstrate the effectiveness of the challenge-based learning approach and the use of the laboratory as a learning tool.

Acknowledgements:
This work has been financed by UPM under the educational innovation project IE23-2002.

Keywords:

Motivation, laboratory, Design Thinking, solving real problems.