Engineering students' preferences for active and non-active learning strategies in the classroom

Abstract

Instructors employ different teaching and learning strategies in the classroom. Although they traditionally give lectures to teach a topic, some of them also use active learning strategies. The literature shows the advantages of using active learning strategies compared to traditional teaching; however, there could be some resistance in their application between students and teachers. This paper shows part of the results of a study that focuses on investigating factors that can influence the adoption of active learning in the classroom in computing and engineering undergraduate programs. A questionnaire was applied to engineering students at a Peruvian university to determine their preferences in the teaching-learning strategies used by lecturers in the classroom. In general, it was observed that students positively value active and non-active (or traditional) learning strategies.