Revolutionizing electrical engineering education: a new active learning method based on student-generated multimedia content

Abstract

A novel active and collaborative learning approach that uses videos to enhance student participation and motivation in Electrical Engineering courses at the University of Málaga, is implemented. This work arises in response to the decline in student participation and motivation, which was exacerbated by virtual teaching during the COVID-19 emergency. This new approach leveraged students’ inclination towards online video consumption, encouraging them to create educational videos. This not only fostered participation and motivation, but also improved the overall quality of learning. At the same time, by generating specific multimedia content related to the course, students were able to undoubtedly develop and strengthen essential transversal skills such as teamwork, oral communication, and critical and creative thinking. The experiment included a total of 50 students that were distributed between Circuits Analysis and Multimedia Information Transmission courses. Students were tasked with creating short videos using their creativity and ingenuity, and open-access software packages, focusing on course related content proposed by the professor. The evaluation of this learning method was conducted through two surveys: one before the activity and another upon its completion. The experiment results revealed a high level of satisfaction with this methodology and high success in achieving the main objective, concluding the grade of maturity and responsibility of involved students present a remarkably impact. These results also allow us to conclude that the strategic integration of videos as an educational tool in Electrical Engineering Degrees can increase student participation and motivation by providing a more attractive, interactive, and contextually relevant learning experience.