Abstract:

Within the new learning paradigm that universities have entered, learning must be conceived as a meaning-construction process. In order to achieve such significative learning, the process must, firstly, be an active one, and secondly, it must be a constructive process; in other words, the basic activities in the knowledge creation process must be oriented towards the construction of meanings for the subjects themselves. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new teaching strategies providing students with the tools to build their own learning and contributing towards their integral development. More specifically, we believe that teaching methodologies must: (1) make it possible to adequately develop those competences pertaining to the module the student has enrolled in; (2) promote active participation by students in the teaching-learning process; (3) reinforce the autonomous component in learning; (4) facilitate the integration of theoretical contents which can later be applied to the professional field; and (5) promote teamwork and collaborative learning.
This paper presents the empirical results obtained from a questionnaire handed out to the students who took the subject “Organizational Design”, which in the new curricula will become a full-fledged, independent subject in second year. This subject is scheduled to start in the new degree in Business Management at the University of Alicante in the second semester of the 2011-2012 academic year.
This paper aims to validate the efficacy of a number of teaching strategies (including participative lectures, autonomous work, group work, virtual debates and case studies) used in this academic year. An attempt has been made to obtain student feedback on the influence of these strategies on issues such as concept understanding, motivation towards the subject, responsibility towards learning, critical capacity, decision-making, teamwork and critical thinking, amongst others. From the conclusions obtained, we shall consider if next year, when this subject starts in the new study programme, the tools listed will suffice for our purposes or, on the contrary, corrective measures must be introduced.
The results obtained lead to two types of conclusions:
1. The teaching strategies used as part of an active, significative learning context for the students, have been conducive to integral learning, since they have enabled cognoscitive learning (regarding the theoretical content), affective learning (respecting others’ opinions, taking responsibility for individual performance and becoming integrated in a team) and also capabilities (learning by themselves, identifying and solving problems, taking decisions, expressing themselves orally, working in teams and interacting with others).
2. The teaching methods introduced have led to an increase in the students’ academic performance.

Keywords:

Significative learning, teaching strategies, academic performance.