Experiences in education innovation: developing tools in support of active learning

Abstract

The paper focuses on educational projects developed in the ETSII (Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid during the past few years. These projects were developed as new tools for enhancing the active role of students, for improving practical teaching, especially by means of virtual laboratories and different sets of problems and exercises, and for promoting self-learning. The paper analyses the use of ICT in teaching, with the case of a developed e-learning platform as a tracking system for subjects. The paper concludes by discussing the new educational trends in the Centre, devoted to develop an active role of students by activities such as peer mentoring and laboratory monitors programs, and competitions for achieving multidisciplinary engineering challenges.

Keywords:

• Education innovation
• Active learning
• E-learning platform
• Internet

Acknowledgements

The projects presented in this paper have been supported in part by the Sociedad de Amigos de la ETSII-UPM, the Fundación para el Fomento de la Innovación Industrial and the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The authors are also grateful to the referees for valuable suggestions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carlos Vera

Passed away suddenly, November 2005