APPLYING ACTIVE LEARNING IN THE ELECTROMAGNETISM CLASS: A FIVE-YEAR ASSESSMENT

The intrinsic difficulty of studying electromagnetism added to the ignorance of its implications and applications in our daily life has reduced the number of students who would probably work in this area at the end of their careers. Although it is an opportunity for them to learn and strengthen their professional profile, students usually perceive the electromagnetism class only as a degree requirement. To increase the interest of students in the study of electromagnetism and the utility value of its applications, as well as to improve the general perception and positive attitude of students towards this course, we have implemented and tested an active learning approach (Project-based learning –PBL-) since 2014. These changes were motivated by the adoption of a new CDIO-based curriculum in the electronic engineering program at the Javeriana University in Colombia. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the results obtained by five years of direct and indirect evaluation of students in electromagnetism classes, in terms of their learning graduality of key topics in the field, difficulty perception about learning them, and the general perception of the class. This evaluation was conducted over five years, comparing two different class sections each semester. A class section adopted PBL and active learning within the CDIO framework and the other section (which functioned as a control group) was taught using traditional methodology. In the class section taught with PBL and active learning, the results showed significant improvements in the general perception of the Electromagnetism class, in the learning of complex subjects, and the knowledge of the applications of electromagnetism. Likewise, the results show an increase in the interest of students to get involved in more projects related to electromagnetism later in their undergraduate studies.