Cooperative learning and embedded active learning methodologies for improving students’ motivation and academic results

Abstract

In recent years, a number of teaching strategies have been applied in higher education to improve students’ academic results and motivation, with a focus on active methodologies. These techniques highlight the student learning process at the forefront of the classroom. Embedded Methodologies, defined as a mixture of learning strategies which are combined in a single educational environment, have a potential for boosting their impact. Few studies have addressed what impact may be involved by applying them in the learning process. An Embedded Methodology in Engineering higher education with Cooperative Learning, Just-In-Time Teaching and active informal methodologies is proposed. The authors present a ten-year longitudinal study in which academic results and student satisfaction reported by a standardized survey among 294 students attending a “Telecommunications and Internet” subject at EEBE Engineering School from UPC-BarcelonaTech (Spain). The results show that Embedded Methodologies significantly improved students’ motivation and their final marks; in particular, for those students at risk of failing the subject but not with the lowest grades. The applied learning methodology was found to be the best predictor of their grades in the subject, among other factors such as their performance in the University Entrance exam. Students’ perception of the quality of teaching and their academic results were significantly better when compared with those student groups that were exposed to only one active methodology or none at all, suggesting that a mixture of motivational learning techniques boost their impact on the students’ learning process and on their motivation.