Abstract:

Student engagement and classroom attendance are ongoing challenges in higher education, particularly in courses perceived as theoretical or scheduled at demanding time slots. This paper presents the implementation of the Reactive Active Learning Class (RALC) methodology in the course Enterprise Organisation and Production Systems, taught in the third year of the Chemical Engineering degree. The methodology combines voluntary preparatory activities completed before class with interactive classroom sessions based on discussion, feedback, and collaborative problem-solving. Small academic incentives are used to recognise student effort while maintaining traditional evaluation structures. Results show improvements in attendance, participation, and academic performance compared with previous academic years. Students who participated in the RALC activities obtained significantly higher final grades, and survey responses indicate a positive perception of the methodology, particularly regarding motivation and clarity of learning objectives. The experience demonstrates that structured active-learning sequences, even when simple to implement, can enhance student involvement and learning outcomes. Future work will explore the extension of the methodology to additional courses and the analysis of its long-term impact on student engagement and learning continuity.

Keywords:

Active learning, higher education innovation, student engagement, attendance, engineering education.