Learning-oriented assessment in action: impact on students of physics for engineering

Abstract

Aligned with the constructivist paradigm and catalyzed by the irruption of information technologies in the teaching–learning process, interactive teaching techniques such as Flipped Learning and Self and Peer Assessment are increasingly relevant in higher education. Both strategies share the quality of empowering students with responsibility for their own learning process, which depends on the development of strategic and autonomous learning. Although each one has evolved through separate trajectories in professional practice and in research; however, in this work, their paths meet under the framework of the Learning Oriented Assessment. The convergence of these interactive techniques came to reality as an instructional design with the main objective being to enhance the students’ performance in applying concepts to solve Physics problems. To evaluate the impact of combining these techniques versus applying them separately, a research-action project was executed. A total of 157 students from Physics II courses at the Puebla campus of Tecnologico de Monterrey participated in this project. The empirical investigation showed that the group undergoing the combined techniques experienced a superior development of disciplinary competencies compared to the group where the techniques were applied individually. It was possible to verify that the best students (those with better academic performance) were better adapted to the method of Learning Oriented Assessment. The results did not show that the lower level academic students had differences in performance or level of achievement. Also, the lower achieving group perceived the method as unsuitable for their style of studying.