The promotion of active learning has been demonstrated to be an effective method for students to construct their knowledge and develop higher-level competencies. However, it does require a certain amount of teaching preparation and an understanding of its benefits by the students. As it implies more work in class, students tend to resist it. This work presents a didactic approach in a physics course in a civil engineering major, over two years. A continuous assessment was set up to support a flipped classroom approach in the theoretical classes. The results demonstrated that students who perceived the benefits of the active learning tasks and engaged in the weekly study and performance of the proposed tasks achieved significantly higher academic results. Overall, 72

The phenomenon of student dropout in higher education presents significant challenges for students, higher education institutions, governments, and society. The present study focuses on the dropout rates within the engineering programmes at one school of engineering in Mexico. This study uses a quantitative approach with a non-experimental cross-sectional design. Exploratory, descriptive, and correlational analyses of historical data from the University Information and Administration Integral System were performed. A logistic regression model was applied to assess the influence of various demographic, academic, and socioeconomic factors on the likelihood of student dropout. The results show some predictive variables, namely, Gender, Displaced students from home, High school GPA, and Mathematical skills. In conclusion, the group of students identified as the most likely to drop out comprised males who were studying very far away from home, who studied in a private high school in a general programme (not technological), and who presented lower grades in math. Since most dropouts were identified in the first two semesters, students who perform poorly in these semesters and have the former characteristics could benefit from special attention.

With the substantial expansion of technology in education during the COVID-19 pandemic, with certain practices even demonstrating a positive impact on environmental sustainability, five years later, it has become pertinent to examine the current perceptions of teachers and students regarding its utilization. This work explores how students and teachers from different countries and academic cultures perceive and incorporate sustainable habits into their daily lives. The focus is on transportation choices, food consumption, and the use of resources. The results of an adapted questionnaire, which was distributed to 855 students and 124 teachers, reveal meaningful differences: students tend to adopt more sustainable transport habits. In contrast, teachers demonstrate a greater commitment to reducing food waste and conserving resources. Cross-country comparisons also highlight differences. When focusing on the major samples (Portugal and Mexico), Portuguese participants scored higher in terms of food and resource sustainability, whereas Mexican participants relied more on public transport. These insights shed light on how sustainability is shaped not only by individual awareness but also by context and educational culture. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the ongoing role of higher education institutions in inspiring meaningful change and fostering a mindset of sustainability in future generations.

This document presents the Tacks summary of Trends on Gamification, Generative AI, Multidisciplinary Technological Resources, Engineering Education, New Trends in Mechatronics, Diversity Gap in STEM, Laboratories in STEM Education at TEEM 2023, which was held in Bragança (Portugal) from October 25–27. These sessions were held as tracks of the International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM’23).

The use of AI tools, particularly ChatGPT, has been widespread in recent years. Its application in education has been criticized by some and supported by others. In this article we present the case of a work carried out as part of a course unit in a computer science degree program in which the use of ChatGPT was not only encouraged but required. Students were asked to use this tool ethically and critically, comparing the results with bibliographical references. A questionnaire addressing students’ perceptions about the work and ChatGPT usage was performed after delivering the task. Results showed that students were motivated to carry out the work and understood that its widespread use requires critical thinking and compliance with ethical principles. The teacher acknowledge that some students developed these competences while performing this task and were able to deliver a quality, well supported essay. The development of this competences was also identified by some students.

The 10th edition of the Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM 2022) brings together researchers and postgraduate students interested in combining different aspects of the technology applied to knowledge society development, with particular attention to educational and learning issues. This volume includes contributions related to computational thinking, engineering education, technology in medicine, qualitative and mixed methods, diversity in STEM, lab-based education, technology and education, gamification and games for learning and smart learning.

- This full paper addresses an innovative practice in the experimental teaching/learning in Engineering courses. Engineering is a practical profession where doing is the key. Experimental work and the immersing in the lab environment (hands-on, simulations, remote labs) helps students to construct and strengthen their knowledge. The VISIR+ Project (ERASMUS+), launched in November 2015 and concluded in Abril 2018, intended to disseminate VISIR - Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (the most used remote lab in electric and electronics area of expertise) in Latin American countries (Argentina and Brazil) by installing a system in five Higher Educational Institutions. It involved 13 educational institutions, 25 different courses, several of them with successive didactical implementations. It comprised 49 teachers and 1,595 students. During the project about 27 research papers were published disseminating the projects' results. At the end of the project, the expectations were that the impact could remain in the long-term promoting VISIR remote lab and the dissemination of good practices. The project ended four years ago, and each installed VISIR system continued to promote teaching diversification using different experimental resources (including VISIR) then contributing to student learning. The aim of this work is to understand the impact of these didactical practices while using VISIR in these last years. This study was based on a questionnaire complemented with an interview with each person of contact. The results point to an increase of VISIR's usage in almost all institutions, particularly during the pandemic period. Overall, the educational impact involved more than 23 different institutions, 45 courses (most of them with several editions), 118 teachers and 4,866 students. The impact in the scientific community implied additional 31 publications with VISIR as its main core. These numbers support the sustainability of the VISIR+ project over the years, positively contributing to a more diversified engineering education of these students and their experimental competences development.

During 2020 and 2021, the world experienced a global change in everyone's daily lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were confined in their homes but, luckily, had access to online classes. This study aims to assess the changes in self-efficacy perceived by engineering students in a school in Portugal. By helping to understand how students have changed their learning capacities, developed new strategies, and/or need more (or different) support to learn, teachers can target their teaching methods accordingly and contribute to a more sustainable education. A questionnaire was constructed and validated to assess students' perceptions before and after the associated lockdowns. Five theoretically supported factors emerged from a statistical factor analysis: Communication and Empathy; Focus and Personal Organization; Teamwork and Individual Work Capacity; Technical and Cognitive Resources Management; and Emotional Resources Management. This work shows students' percept that they improved their teamwork and individual work capacity and their technical and cognitive resources management. In general, students seem to have been able to be more autonomous as they managed to work and develop their cognitive resources; however, their emotional state and ability to focus decreased. Perceived self-efficacy was less affected in older students than in younger ones, suggesting that this group may have adapted better to the pandemic restrictions. Students who were already at university showed less impact than those moving from high school to university. There was also a difference between those who endured these changes at only one level of education and those who endured them at both levels (high school and university), with this last group being the most negatively affected.

Teachers, students and schools were put to test and changed overnight the way they taught and learned due to the COVID19 pandemic. In general, schools adopted a remote or hybrid regime of synchronous classes and continued to try to develop the outlined learning objectives. Based on active learning methodologies, this chapter shows how the curricular design of 4 courses adapted over 3 semesters. It analyses the iterative modifications carried out by 2 head-teachers, based on their reflections. The results about the learning, engagement and perception of 416 students were analyzed. Several factors that teachers and students felt were productive, regarding their engagement and learning in demanding remote/hybrid environments, were identified: diversification of resources and assessment moments during the semester; remote classes with moments of contextualization, discussions and questioning, prior dissemination of lecturing videos; regular completion of quick online assignments; use of project or experimental work with timely and regular feedback. Most students considered these factors very important in keeping their involvement in the course and developing the pursued competences.

Remote Labs allows students a complementary way to learn. While working upon their experimental skills, they can practice their autonomy. VISIR is one of the remote labs more used in the field of Electricity and Electronics. This study was conducted in three countries and 14 educational institutions and gathered 952 students' opinions while using VISIR along with other experimental resources. Its goal was to perceive students' opinion about VISIR. Several advantages and disadvantages were identified, regardless the focus of the course or students' level of usage. Positively: "the potential of the equipment", "access from anywhere/anytime" and "better/more complete understanding"; Negatively: "operating issues", "problems in understanding" and "poor interface/old fashionable/too simple".

This document reflects the contribution of a group of experts in the VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality) remote lab, regarding recent advances, initiatives, federation, limitations and future. The methodology for gathering their opinion consisted of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis on VISIR, following three categories: Technical, Pedagogical and Educational. Major conclusions point to: (1) a need for new technical developments taking advantage of collaborative work; (2) a window of opportunity for expanding VISIR to other institutions, namely in developing countries; and (3) improving the interface for a better pedagogical experience, namely with better error feedback or the inclusion of a virtual tutor.

Practical activities are an effective way to contextualize concepts and motivate students. This article reports on an innovative use of hands-on and remote labs in a theoretical course of Statistics for engineering undergraduates. The lecturer used an inquiry-based approach to center learning around students. The problems proposed revolved around basic concepts of circuit theory: how reliable are resistance values and how does a resistor behave in an electric circuit. Students collected data and learned statistics while attempted to address the problems. We report on two implementations done in 2017, at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil), where 68 students concluded the course. We investigated the effects of such strategy, analyzing assessment results, attendance and accesses to the remote lab. We also surveyed the lecturer and students on the methodology and the use of the remote lab. Our results show that students and lecturer had positive views on the experience and suggest that students felt motivated to collaborate and learn statistics. We also found correlation among grades in lab activities and final grades, which shows the hands-on activities had a positive impact on students' academic performance.

Teachers must aid students develop 21st century skills providing them with rich learning experiences, as related as possible to their future professional practices. The sudden transition to an e-learning environment due to the COVID19 pandemic is the focus of the works presented. A good diversification of teaching approaches such as PBL, teamwork, gamification or the integration of complementary resources is tackled. Teachers’ concern about students’ perception, and development of professional competences is present in all works. Some works not only describe experiences that were useful to students learning but also in developing solutions, engendering a bridge between academia and the professional world.

The use of technology in Education helped teaching plans reach students almost anywhere during the COVID Pandemic and some positive effects regarding the planet sustainability were also reported during this phase. A questionnaire was conducted in order to assess if students felt any resource productive in their learning and would like to keep it, contributing to lesser their ecological footprint. The more advantages to sustainability they recognize, the more educational resources they would like to keep using and the more favorable they are for a hybrid educational regime.

This work describes the teacher reflections about a didactical implementation using a remote laboratory and their impact on his practice. These reflections are analyzed from three different perspectives: how the literature review influenced the design of the didactical implementation (namely the first); how his reflection upon his practice influenced its modifications; how his research activity impacted and affected his teaching practices in the subsequent implementations and guided the modifications made. The remote lab was introduced in a Physics Course in an Engineering degree and was intended to be a learning space where students had the opportunity to practice before the lab class, supporting the development of experimental competences, fundamental in an engineer profile. After the first implementation in 2016/17 academic year it has undergone two subsequent editions with adjustments and modifications. Some features previously reported in literature such as: teacher's experience with VISIR, the importance of an introductory activity and defining VISIR tasks objectives, were corroborated by the teacher during his practice and research. Others, such as the difficulty some students have in understanding the difference between simulation and remote labs appeared directly from his practice and were pursued in his research in order to deeply understand its implications.

Sustainability is currently a general concern in society and in particular in the use of laboratories for educational purposes. Although laboratories are unavoidable facilities for education, they often produce waste resulting from students' experiments. To contribute for sustainable solutions in education, the use of remote laboratories instead of the traditional hands-on laboratories should be considered in every engineering course. It is precisely this aspect that is discussed in the current paper. Some comments about the importance of sustainability in education are made. Later, it is described the use of a remote laboratory named VISIR in a course held at the Polytechnic of Porto -- School of Engineering, for the conduction of an electronic experiment named Schmitt Trigger. At the end, some comments about the contribution of this remote lab for sustainability in education, are provided.

Conducting laboratory experiments is of vital importance in science and engineering education, independently the level of education. Nowadays, teachers have different ways of allowing students to develop these competences other than hands-on labs, such as simulations and remote labs. This study is focused on the combined use of the three resources, carried out by 51 teachers, in 25 different courses. In total, 39 didactical implementations in the electric and electronics area were performed in several Higher Educational Institutions and Secondary Schools, in Argentina and Brazil. This occurred during 2016 and 2017 academic years, under the scope of the VISIR+ project and VISIR was the implemented remote lab and reached 1569 students. Teachers’ perception about student acceptance and performance with VISIR as well as teachers’ satisfaction with VISIR, were cross analysed with course characteristics as well as didactical implementation design factors and several interesting correlations stood out: Teachers extra care in designing VISIR tasks accordingly to the learning outcomes/ competences they want their students to develop revealed as a crucial factor; Teacher experience with VISIR plays an important role in students’ satisfaction with the tool; Teacher introduction and support to VISIR along the semester is also an important factor.

EnglishThe present paper focus on the use of remote laboratories in higher education from a sustainability viewpoint. The particular case of engineering education, and, within it, the more specific subject of experiments with electrical and electronic circuits is presented first, to then discuss the benefits of using remote labs, while considering the three dimensions of sustainable development, i.e.: economic practice, environmental protection, and social integration. The paper debates how remote labs address each dimension. portuguesEste capitulo aborda a utilizacao de laboratorios remotos no Ensino Superior sob o ponto de vista da sustentabilidade. Apresenta-se inicialmente o caso particular do Ensino de Engenharia, e dentro deste o assunto especifico de experimentos com circuitos eletricos e eletronicos, para em seguida discutir os beneficios da utilizacao de laboratorios remotos, considerando as tres dimensoes do desenvolvimento sustentavel, i.e.: pratica economica, protecao ambiental e integracao social. O capitulo discute ainda a forma como os laboratorios remotos enderecam cada dimensao.