Remote laboratories give students the opportunity of experimenting in STEM by using the Internet to control and measure an experimental setting. Remote laboratories are increasingly used in the classroom to complement, or substitute for, hands-on laboratories, so it is important to know its learning value. While many authors approach this question through qualitative analyses, this paper reports a replicated quantitative study that evaluates the teaching performance of one of these resources, the virtual instrument systems in reality (VISIR) remote laboratory. VISIR, described here, is the most popular remote laboratory for basic analog electronics. This paper hypothesizes that use of a remote laboratory has a positive effect on students' learning process. This report analyzes the effect of the use of VISIR in five different groups of students from two different academic years (2013-2014 and 2014-2015), with three teachers and at two educational levels. The empirical experience focuses on Ohm's Law. The results obtained are reported using a pretest and post-test design. The tests were carefully designed and analyzed, and their reliability and validity were assessed. The analysis of knowledge test question results shows that the post-test scores are higher that the pretest. The difference is significant according to Wilcoxon test (p < 0.001), and produces a Cohen effect size of 1.0. The VISIR remote laboratory's positive effect on students' learning processes indicates that remote laboratories can produce a positive effect in students' learning if an appropriate activity is used.

At the UN Summit in New York 2015 it was agreed that a sustainable development of the planet is essential to strengthen universal peace in a broader capacity. On that basis, a call was made to all nations to achieve this through the 2030 Agenda. The issue is a complex one, as is evident from its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their interwoven interaction. Engineering plays a leading role in achieving the great majority of the SDGs. For this reason, engineering education should focus its efforts on training engineers to be active agents of sustainability in the world. Our research question is, in fact, how the engineering higher education institutions around the world are deploying the 2030 Agenda. To answer it, we carried out a systematic review of the literature regarding SDGs and engineering schools in the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases. We applied PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology and, as a result, 22 papers were thoroughly studied. The results showed a consensus on the need for collaboration among the different stakeholders to achieve the desired degree profile of responsible engineers. Proposals to ensure this are diverse. They range from changes in curricula and competencies to a variety of teaching–learning strategies. Finally, future lines of research are identified from this study.

The dropout rate in universities is a widely studied issue that concerns both universities and public organizations. Most studies focus on quantifying the phenomenon and identifying the variables involved. This paper uses a multidisciplinary approach to parameterize the factors that define the entry profile of undergraduates at the national level in Spain in collaboration with three universities in different regions and with different disciplines. The aim is to reduce the dropout rate in the first year of study towards a degree. The research questions focus on the weighting of personal variables about students by tutors and whether there are differences in the weighting systems for the main variables as differentiated by discipline, university and/or region. The document is organized to describe the method and context of the study, present the main results, show the application of the survey instrument in a case study, and provide conclusions. The method is based on the two fundamental factors, including the influence of certain student characteristics at matriculation and the importance of a positive experience in the first year of the degree. The study is focused on two elements that inspire the current proposal: the need to identify and rapidly detect students who, due to their entry characteristics, are at a greater risk of dropout and the importance of guaranteeing a good start in the first year of the degree. The study uses a multidisciplinary approach and combines qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. The study also uses a survey instrument that measures the risk of student dropout based on the weighting of personal variables by tutors. The results of the study have allowed us to categorize the main variables of the student profile that affect the risk of dropout and establish them as aspects to be monitored by the tutors in the first weeks. Furthermore, it has been shown that although there are no significant differences in the averages of dropout risk calculated with either global or specific weighting systems (by centre or studies), there is a tendency observed by the tutors that the weighted averages generated by disciplinary focus are closer to identifying the student's real risk of dropping out.

Previous research has shown a significant percentage of dropouts in university studies, particularly in the first years. Furthermore, evidence links higher motivation and curricular improvement in students when they enhance their self-regulated learning (SRL). A systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA method to identify and analyze interventions to improve SRL in first-year undergraduate students. The interventions analyzed addressed student learning, classroom management by teachers, evaluation processes, and administrative management. Additionally, the need for a holistic and continuous approach was identified, covering cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, behavioral, and affective dimensions. The combination of self-perception questionnaires and academic grades was the most used strategy to measure intervention effectiveness. These findings emphasize the importance of adapting interventions to specific contexts and ensuring their continuity to maximize the impact on the development of students’ self-regulated learning. The results reveal a high heterogeneity in the approaches applied, highlighting the most effective techniques as follows: specialized workshops, the use of virtual tools, and group and individual tutoring. Intracurricular interventions, integrated within course content and led by the faculty, demonstrated greater success by embedding SRL strategies into the teaching–learning process. In contrast, extracurricular interventions, conducted by tutors or academic advisors, faced challenges related to student motivation and participation.

The evaluation of the quality of university teaching has become for the last decade a topic of maximum relevance due to the impact it has on the new approach proposed in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and due to the change in the role that teachers must play. This article presents a pioneering system in the way the quality of teaching is evaluated through a double quality Label: I Design and Planning and II Implementation. The analyses and results presented refer exclusively to the label I applied for ten years. During this time, a total of 1930 teacher reports have been issued and 379 of them have been analysed through a stratified probabilistic sample. The method used was basically quantitative with a qualitative complement. The results show that there has been an improvement in teacher quality linked to a decrease in errors throughout the process analysed. This leads to a debate on the relevance of evaluation as a means of improvement and not exclusively as a summative function. La evaluación de la calidad de la docencia universitaria se ha convertido desde hace una década en un tópico de máxima relevancia por el impacto que tiene en el nuevo enfoque propuesto en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) y por el cambio de papel que el profesorado debe desempeñar. Este artículo presenta un sistema pionero en la forma que se evalúa la calidad de la docencia a través de un doble Label de calidad: I Diseño y Planificación y II Puesta en práctica. Los análisis y resultados presentados se refieren exclusivamente al Label I, aplicado durante diez años. Se han generado 1930 informes del profesorado y a través de una muestra probabilística estratificada se han analizado 379. El método empleado ha sido fundamentalmente cuantitativo con un complemento cualitativo. Los resultados permiten concluir que se percibe una mejora de la calidad docente vinculada con una disminución de los errores a lo largo del proceso analizado. Esto nos lleva a debatir la relevancia de la evaluación como función de mejora y no exclusivamente sumativa.

Every student of industrial technology engineering must develop and acquire specific electronic competencies and skills, such as those pertaining to the design, analysis, and assembly of basic circuits in the context of both analogue and digital electronics, including the corresponding instrumentation. Additionally, as is the case for practically all university degrees but has not always been addressed adequately in the field of engineering, generic competencies such as oral communication and teamwork must be acquired. The experience discussed in the article focuses on the design, implementation, and assessment of a hybrid (face-to-face and virtual) educational activity that facilitates the acquisition of specific engineering skills through a teamwork-based approach and enhances communication among students in the context of experimentation. The students, who are divided into teams, must develop a series of embedded systems with the aim of providing a solution to a problem derived from Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. This approach entails the challenge of working with a heterogeneous sample of students studying for a dual degree in design and mechanics, whose motivations are also highly varied. The innovative objective of the educational proposal focuses on adapting the practice to the roles and profiles of the students and tailoring project phases to the competency needs of each student. The results highlight the need to design real practices that foster the motivation of engineering students; they also emphasize the fact that in the context of teamwork, roles pertaining to the specific competencies required by dual-degree students should be defined. The evaluation of such an experiment using the Bipolar Laddering Assessment has exhibited utility and reliability regarding small samples of users and has been shown to be valid regarding identifying the strengths and weaknesses of educational experiments.