Didactic units in physics as learning enhancers for engineering students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to design and implement teaching units in classical physics and to measure their impact on the learning processes of engineering students. The design of the didactic units was based on knowledge of previous ideas and on the identification of student learning styles. The objectives, the contents, and the learning and evaluation activities were defined to enhance preferences for different learning styles. This was implemented with engineering students from four Colombian cities. The results show that using didactic units favoured the development of reflexive and pragmatic learning styles, and not exclusively theoretical learning styles, which were identified as preferred. The use of this methodology favoured student participation, knowledge and empowerment of student learning styles, teamwork, communication skills development, and autonomous and responsible work.