The engagement of students using the virtual platform tools. A successful case in a required subject of 1st year in mathematics in engineering (UPC)

Abstract

Fonaments matemàtics is a required 1st year subject in engineering career at the university EPSEVG (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) with approximately 270 students enrolled each semestre that traditionally it had a medium pass rate. Over the last 6 years we have introduced gradual changes in the teaching planning of it with the idea of achieving: 1) that students work throughout the course, 2) leveling knowledge and 3) reduce the number of students not presented to any exam. The changes have been implemented and corrected based on our feedback from students (engagement, grades, acceptance and survey assessments). The introduction of the calculator, laptops and tablets in everyday life and the use of the tools of the UPC virtual platform have been key. In this contribution, we present the strategies used and the good results obtained.