Performance In Course Research Articles

Factors Associated With Economics Course Performance at a Large Associate Degree-Granting Institution

Economics courses are often offered at community colleges and other institutions that primarily confer associate degrees. Despite this, little research has been conducted on performance in economics courses focusing on students attending these institutions. I use multinomial logistic models to determine which factors are related to performance in both introductory macroeconomics and introductory microeconomics at a large institution that primarily confers associate degrees and finds several factors associated with performance in these courses. Among the findings are that citizenship status, foreign-born status, and gender are associated with academic performance in economics courses as noncitizens, foreign-born, and male students outperform their citizen, U.S.-born, and female counterparts in certain circumstances. Additional results show that in-person classes are associated with higher pass rates and lower withdrawal rates.

Engineering Students’ Performance in Communication Skills Courses: Does Attendance Really Matter?

Compulsory attendance in communication skills courses offered at colleges of engineering seems to be a problematic issue for many students because it prevents them from performing well in such courses. Many students believe that time spent on these courses comes at the expense of focusing on core courses and worsens their overall performance in these courses. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between attendance and students’ overall performance in communication skills courses for the sake of providing suggestions that would enhance students’ performance as well as allowing them to allocate more time to the core courses they are enrolled in. Making students’ life easier would not only improve their status at the educational level but would also create a feeling of comfort and satisfaction in their surroundings, particularly among family members and friends. Participants in the study are university students enrolled in the college of engineering at a Middle Eastern university. The study yields significant results showing that compulsory attendance has no significant relationship with students’ overall performance in communication skills courses. Relaxing attendance regulations might provide some margin of freedom for students to focus more on the engineering core courses without compromising their success in communication skills courses. The study provides significant recommendations that stakeholders can utilize to motivate students to perform well in communication skills courses while addressing any concerns they might have regarding the core courses they are enrolled in.

An Evaluation of Factors Affecting Architecture Students Performance in Building Structure in Southwestern Nigerian Public Universities

Building structure courses are compulsory courses in the study of Architecture as application of the knowledge obtained is necessary for building design stability. As important as these courses is, the performance of the students is observed to be generally low. There are many factors that are responsible for this low performance in the courses and this has not been adequately investigated. This study therefore evaluates the factors affecting academic performance of Architecture students in Building structure courses in Southwestern Nigerian public Universities, with a view to proffer solution to this problem and improving on students’ performance in the courses. Quantitative research approach was adopted. Five factors were selected namely: Students background characteristics, teaching style, learning style, classroom environment and structure curriculum. The study employed multistage sampling procedure. Five public universities approved by the National Universities Commission and Architects Registration Council of Nigeria namely: FUTA, LAUTECH, OAU, UNILAG and OOU were purposively selected and sampled. A total of 702 questionnaires were administered to all the pre-final and final year students in the Department of Architecture of the sampled universities, while only 541 questionnaires were adequately completed and considered fit for analysis. Cross tabulation with chi-square was used to summarize the data. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the itemize factors on students’ performances. The study revealed that there was a strong relationship between the level of students’ performance in the courses and the five selected factors combined. It was also revealed that the factor that affected students most was teaching styles. The study concluded that the performance in Building structure courses rests on teaching and learning styles, therefore, when a better performance in courses is desired, a strong priority should be given to the quality of teaching and learning, the two are inseparable.

A Study on the Pre- and Post-Pandemic Media of Instruction and Learning Effectiveness in Information Systems Courses

The objective of this study is to understand the effectiveness of medium of instruction based on student performance in courses offered face-to-face prior to the pandemic and virtual hybrid mode after the onset of the pandemic from a media richness theoretical perspective. This study analyzed data from 1157 students from 43 Information Systems courses over a 6-year pre- and post-pandemic period. This study analyzed student performance data from face to face and virtual hybrid courses across medium of instruction, type of course, course level, and gender. Overall, students performed better in face-to-face classes prior to the pandemic than the virtual hybrid courses. Across gender, and type of course, and course levels, face-to-face medium of instruction was found to be best for student performance. The post-hoc interviews with students and faculty indicated that face-to-face was the choice of instruction medium for technical courses and virtual hybrid mode was preferred for theory intensive conceptual courses, confirming the results from the data analysis.

The Relationship between Continuous Assessment Scores and Examination Scores of Students Motivated to Attend Lectures

A prominent feature in the pursuance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the learning process in education is the evaluation and assessment of students. As part of the process of evaluating students’ learning outcomes, effective practice of cont inuous assessment is considered capable of influencing other factors that affect the improvement of teaching and learning. We used a strategy of continuous assessment to teach four Basic Science and Technology courses to minimize observed absenteeism to lectures, improve the active participation of students, and enhance learning during lectures. This study aims to find the relationship between the continuous assessment scores and the examination scores of students in the courses using a descriptive/correlational research design. The sample consists of all the students totaling 2,214 who were examined in the courses for three sessions 2010/2011, 2011/2012, and 2012/2013 in the College of Education, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria. Their examination scores were correlated with the corresponding continuous assessment scores using Pearson’s product-moment correlation procedure for each of the courses in each academic session. All the correlation coefficients obtained are positive and statistically significant at .05% level, indicating a consistent and significant positive relationship between the continuous assessment scores and the examination scores for each of the courses, each academic session, and the overall sample. Based on this result, we encourage the use of continuous assessment in more pragmatic ways to enhance both the cognitive and non- cognitive correlates of students’ performance in courses in tertiary institutions.

Examining the Impact of Experiential Learning Activities on Student Performance in an Introductory Animal Science Course

The use of experiential learning in agricultural courses within postsecondary institutions has become increasingly important as educators seek to provide students with a meaningful education that increases knowledge acquisition and achievement. Hands-on, experiential learning activities within agricultural sciences, and more directly animal sciences, have previously been used to provide students with experiences that increase performance in courses and overall development throughout a student’s education. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence that experiential learning laboratory lessons had on students enrolled in an introduction to animal science lecture course at [University]. Researchers utilized a quasi-experimental study, in which students were placed into one of three groups, depending on the experiential learning lessons that were taught throughout the semester. This was done to determine if students who participated in specific hands-on, experiential learning lessons retained more content knowledge than those who did not receive these lessons, on summative assessments given throughout the semester. Researchers utilized the first quiz scores to examine prior knowledge between groups, and determined that there was no difference. While researchers were unable to determine significance between groups and student content acquisition due to unequal group sizes, researchers determined that students who received experiential learning lessons performed better on average, than those who did not. Researchers identified recommendations for future studies, which include replicating the study with modifications, and repeating the study with two introductory courses simultaneously, in which one course entirely utilizes experiential learning lessons and the other course utilizes traditional review sessions. Additionally, researchers recommended practitioners integrate blending experiential learning opportunities and traditional lecture and review when teaching introductory courses.

Predicting academic performance in a course by universal features of LMS Moodle digital footprint

Student retention prediction is one of the most important problems of learning analytics. In the global scope research on the topic for higher education is rather extensive, there are cases of successful implementation of education support services in universities. The literature analysis shows of the growing interest in this problem in the Russian scientific and pedagogical community. At the same time, the specifics of Russian education does not allow direct transfer of foreign experience into the domestic educational system.The study reveals that a significant contribution to predicting student retention can be made by models for predicting academic performance in educational courses of the curriculum. The authors propose a structural model of a system for predicting academic performance, which includes a universal model based on generalized indicators of the digital footprint, a course-based model that takes into account the specifics of learning in a particular discipline, and a model based on the student’s educational profile.In the empirical study we trained 5 models for early prediction of interim assessment grades based on the universal indicators of the LMS Moodle student digital footprint. The most accurate model, especially in the first half of the semester, turned out to be ensemble-averaging models of logistic regression, random forest and gradient boosting. It was found that universal models are effective for detection of at-risk students in the discipline, the directions for further improvement of the universal model of performance prediction were determined and conditions for scaling the proposed approach to create a prognostic system for student retention to other educational institutions were formulated.

Does exposure to research experiences have different learning outcomes than prior exposure to lab techniques in non-research settings?

A large body of literature has established the benefits of undergraduate research experiences via the traditional apprenticeship model. More recently, several studies have shown that many of these benefits can be recapitulated in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that are more scalable and easier for students to participate in, compared to the apprenticeship-based research experiences. Many Biology curricula also incorporate more traditional laboratory courses, where students learn to use common laboratory techniques through guided exercises with known outcomes. Indeed, many programs across the nation provide such programs or courses for students early in their careers, with a view toward increasing student interest and engagement in Biology. While there is general consensus that all lab experiences have some benefits for students, very few studies have examined whether either research experiences or learning biological techniques in more traditional lab courses directly impacts student performance in lecture courses. Here, we show that prior familiarity with laboratory techniques does not improve student performance in a lecture course, even if these techniques are directly related to content being taught in the course. However, having prior research experience improves performance in the course, irrespective of whether the research experience included the use of course-related laboratory techniques.

Classification and prediction of student performance data using various machine learning algorithms

In today's competitive world, it is critical for an institute to forecast student performance, classify individuals based on their talents, and attempt to enhance their performance in future tests. Students should be advised well in advance to concentrate their efforts in a specific area in order to improve their academic achievement. This type of analysis assists an institute in lowering its failure rates. Based on their prior performance in comparable courses, this study predicts students' performance in a course. Data mining is a collection of techniques used to uncover hidden patterns in massive amounts of existing data. These patterns may be valuable for analysis and prediction. Education data mining refers to the collection of data mining applications in the field of education. These applications are concerned with the analysis of data from students and teachers. The analysis might be used for categorization or prediction. Machine learning such as Nave Bayes, ID3, C4.5, and SVM are investigated. UCI machinery student performance data set is used in experimental study. Algorithms are analysed on certain parameters like- accuracy, error rate.

Open Educational Resources Adoption Reduces Textbook Costs without Sacrificing Student Performance in Business and Economics Courses at a Community College

This study analyzed the possibility of saving on textbook costs without sacrificing student performance by using Open Educational Resources (OER) at no cost to students as a replacement for high-priced commercially printed books. Approximately two hundred students enrolled in business and economics courses at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York from Fall 2016 to Fall 2018 were assessed in this study. Using summative assessments and course grades as a measure of students' performance, the findings showed that students in courses using OER as compared to students in the same subject area using traditional textbooks perform equally well. Therefore, OER materials that are available to students at no cost alleviate the higher costs that students incur for the purchase of traditional textbooks without a sacrifice or loss of student performance. These findings suggest that adopting open educational resources, even if no positive effect can be detected, can be used because they save students money on textbook costs, especially financially struggling students, without negatively affecting their learning and performance in the course.

MODEL DEVELOPMENT IN DECISION MAKING ON VILLAGE APPARATUS PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AFTER WORKING FROM HOME USING WEIGHTED PRODUCT METHOD

These changes in the performance of course affect the effectiveness of public services and the performance of the village apparatus, starting from the service system of the apparatus, the productivity of the apparatus, and the accountability of the apparatus in carrying out government affairs delegated by the Regent. Given the pandemic situation which is gradually easing, the government has again changed the work system for personal public services while still adhering to health protocols. The return of the old model of public administration performance system certainly affects the productivity and accountability of the village apparatus. This research was conducted to measure the Performance of Village Apparatus in Kalirejo Village, Central Lampung using the Weighted Product Method which is a decision-making method using multiplication that connects the value of the criteria, where the value for each criterion must be raised to the power of the weight of the criteria concerned. The Weighted Product Method was chosen because it could complete every existing alternative. The function of the Weighted Product Method determines the weight value for each alternative and the assessment criteria which have been determined. There are seven criteria used in this study. Those criteria are Education, Productivity, Public Service, Quality of Human Resources, Accountability, Facilities, and Income per Per-capita. The results of this study are the development of a model which can be used as a benchmark for assessing village officials in Kalirejo village, Central Lampung as a trial object of research. This decision-making model can also be implemented with a mobile web application for a broader range of measurements with larger data.

Developing Medical Student Competencies, Clinical Skills, and Self-Efficacy With an Emergency Medical Responder Certification Course

IntroductionPrevious studies have claimed gap year clinical experiences before medical school matriculation increase student self-efficacy and clinical confidence. At the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, 41 first-year medical students participated in a new certification course to become emergency medical responders before beginning their coursework. This study describes the results of a follow-up study that aims to investigate the impact the course had on student competency, self-efficacy, and clinical efficacy and if the course would prepare students similarly to previous clinical experience.MethodsFirst-year medical students completed a 30-question survey consisting of a Likert scale and free-response questions. Questions were based on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies: medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, systems-based practice, patient care, professionalism, and interpersonal and communication skills. Questions on the perceived benefit of the emergency medical responder course and previous clinical experiences were also included. Responses were separated based on participation in the emergency medical responder course and prior clinical experience. Two-tail Welch’s t-tests were performed on the data to determine significance.ResultsOf 98 responses: 20.4% (20/98) of participants of the emergency medical responder course had previous clinical experience, 21.5% (21/98) of participants of the course had no clinical experience, 26.5% (26/98) did not participate in the course but had previous clinical experience, and 31.6% (31/98) did not participate in the course nor had previous clinical experience. Students with previous clinical experience reported the emergency medical responder course improved both their patient care skills and performance in courses that emphasized patient interviewing and physical exams. Students with clinical experience had significantly higher medical knowledge (p < 0.1) and professionalism (p < 0.1) Likert scores. Eighty-seven percent of students agreed the course had a positive impact on their patient care skills.ConclusionLarger sample size is needed to make stronger conclusions; however, the responses show the emergency medical responder course had a positive subjective impact on students with previous medical experience. Previous clinical experience leads to the most positive subjective reporting of competencies such as medical knowledge and professionalism. Early clinical exposure, such as an emergency medical responder certification course, may improve self-efficacy and patient care skills for medical students with no previous clinical experience.

Extended Exam Time Has a Minimal Impact on Disparities in Student Outcomes in Introductory Physics

Disparities in student outcomes, including gendered performance differences, are widespread in introductory physics and other STEM courses. STEM education researchers have investigated many course and student factors that could contribute to these inequities, including class size, test formats, assignment weightings, and students’ sense of belonging. These inequities are often largest in the timed, multiple-choice, high-stakes exams that characterize so many traditional introductory STEM courses. Time pressure is widely believed to influence student outcomes on these exams, reducing overall performance and perhaps exaggerating widespread group performance disparities. Reducing time pressure for students by providing more test-taking time is a small, structural change that could have large impacts on student performance and could differentially affect students. To explore this possibility, we offered all 596 students in our introductory physics course a 50% extension in test-taking time and collected data on exam performance, student demographics, and the time each student took to complete each exam. We made careful comparisons of student performance to historical data, across demographic groups, and across time usage on the exams using both raw exam scores and a “Better Than Expected” measure that compares student performance in the course under study to their own performance in other courses. While students overall scored slightly higher with extended exam time, we found that extended time did not reduce the well-established disparities in student outcomes categorized by sex, race/ethnicity, or college generation status present in our introductory physics course. These findings both indicate that extending exam time is not a simple fix for disparities in student outcomes and reinforce that systemic changes towards more authentic assessments of STEM knowledge and capabilities are imperative.

The Impact of Implementing Full E-learning During Covid-19 on the Students’ Academic Performance in the Courses of Accounting and English Language (A Case Study: Students of the Department of Administrative Sciences - Community College in Khamis Mushait- King Khalid University- KSA)

This study aimed at figuring out the effect of full e-learning on the students’ academic performance in accounting courses, which include multiple mathematical calculations compared with the English Language courses, which are free of mathematical calculations. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among a random sample of students during the second semester of the academic year 2019-2020, during which full e-learning was implemented due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The sample included (302) out of (1411) male and female students at the Department of Administrative Sciences, whose major is accounting and business administration. Besides, they study English language as part of the general courses at the Community College in Khamis Mushait. The study found that, there is a statistically significant effect regarding the features of full e-learning on the students’ academic performance with respect to the accounting and English Language courses. The problems related to e-learning did not affect the students' academic performance in accounting courses, while it impacted negatively on the students' academic performance in the English language courses. The study recommended that, the educational institutions should continuously develop the e-learning atmosphere in order to become conducive, attractive and creative.

P548 External validation and consistency in time of patient segmentation based on disease acceptance and perceived control in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract Background The patient segmentation model based on disease acceptance and perceived control may guide personalized inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care. A first single-centre evaluation of the model showed its validity and found that disease acceptance and perceived control are important determinants of health-related quality (HRQoL) in IBD patients. We aimed to investigate the external validity of the segmentation model and its performance in course of time. Methods This is a longitudinal study of adult IBD patients guided at three secondary care centres with questionnaires on HRQoL (10-item Short IBDQ, range 10–70) and disease acceptance and control (3-items each, 7-point Likert scale). Two cohorts were created: 1) external validation cohort excluding participants of initial validation study and 2) follow-up cohort of patients with questionnaires after one year. Segments were formed based on mean acceptance and control (cut-off high score&amp;gt;5). Results The external validation cohort included 921 patients that were divided in four segments (Figure 1). The acceptance and control scale were unidimensional (85% and 83% of variability explained by the first factor) and internally consistent (Crohnbach’s alpha 0.92 and 0.90). The segments differed significantly in gender, disease duration, IBD medication and clinical disease activity (p&amp;lt;0.05). In multiple regression analysis, high acceptance and high control were significantly associated with a higher HRQoL compared with low acceptance and low control (Beta (95%CI) segment I=11.8 (10.5–13.2), segment II=9.4 (7.8–11.0) and segment III=3.8 (1.6–6.1), p&amp;lt;0.01). The follow-up cohort included 783 patients: 58% remained in the same segment while 42% differed in segment over time (Figure 2). HRQoL differed significantly between patients with positive, negative or no change in segment (p&amp;lt;0.001)(Figure 3). The change in HRQoL over time correlated positively with changes in segment (Spearman rho 0.38, p&amp;lt;0.001) (Figure 4). Conclusion This study demonstrated the patient segmentation model based on disease acceptance and perceived control is externally valid and shows consistency over time. The independent association between the different segments and HRQoL was confirmed. In many patients disease acceptance and perceived control remained low after one year. Future research and interventions should aim at improving disease acceptance and perceived control of IBD patients.

Appearance, insults, allegations, blame and threats: an analysis of anonymous non-constructive student evaluation of teaching in Australia

Within higher education student evaluations of teaching (SET) are used to inform evaluations of performance of courses and teachers. An anonymous online survey was constructed and implemented using Qualtrics. This study was situated within a more extensive study investigating the impact of narrative SET comments on teaching quality and the health and wellbeing of academic staff. This paper reports specifically on two open questions that were designed to elicit examples of non-constructive and offensive anonymous narrative feedback. Five themes were identified: allegations; insults; comments about appearance, attire and accent; projections and blame; and threats and punishment. These are represented in non-redacted form. Personally destructive, defamatory, abusive and hurtful comments were commonly reported. These kinds of comments may have adverse consequences for the well-being of teaching staff, could contribute to occupational stress and in some cases could be considered libellous. The high prevalence of offensive comments accessible to and shared by teachers may be a reflection of the anonymity afforded to respondents using internet surveys, resulting in de-individuation and enabling some respondents to give voice to ‘hate speech’ which has no place in evaluations of teaching.

Explainable AI for Data-Driven Feedback and Intelligent Action Recommendations to Support Students Self-Regulation.

Formative feedback has long been recognised as an effective tool for student learning, and researchers have investigated the subject for decades. However, the actual implementation of formative feedback practices is associated with significant challenges because it is highly time-consuming for teachers to analyse students’ behaviours and to formulate and deliver effective feedback and action recommendations to support students’ regulation of learning. This paper proposes a novel approach that employs learning analytics techniques combined with explainable machine learning to provide automatic and intelligent feedback and action recommendations that support student’s self-regulation in a data-driven manner, aiming to improve their performance in courses. Prior studies within the field of learning analytics have predicted students’ performance and have used the prediction status as feedback without explaining the reasons behind the prediction. Our proposed method, which has been developed based on LMS data from a university course, extends this approach by explaining the root causes of the predictions and by automatically providing data-driven intelligent recommendations for action. Based on the proposed explainable machine learning-based approach, a dashboard that provides data-driven feedback and intelligent course action recommendations to students is developed, tested and evaluated. Based on such an evaluation, we identify and discuss the utility and limitations of the developed dashboard. According to the findings of the conducted evaluation, the dashboard improved students’ learning outcomes, assisted them in self-regulation and had a positive effect on their motivation.

A nonhuman primate model of early effects of irradiation with high-energy protons on operator activity

During long-term space missions irradiation with Galactic Cosmic Rays may result in acute damage to human central nervous system (CNS) and, possibly, lead to disturbances of operator activity. Three monkeys (Macacamulatta) were trained to perform a visuomotor task consisting of saccade and manual responses to visual stimuli, thus constituting a model of operator activity. Upon training completion two animals (M1 and M2) were exposed to cranial irradiation with high-energy protons (170 MeV, 3 Gy), while the third (M3) underwent selective irradiation of parietal lobe in Bragg peak (155 MeV, 3 Gy). We noticed no change in instrumental task performance in course of three months after irradiation (a.i.). Both cranially irradiated animals demonstrated a highly correlated increase in both saccade and manual response latencies one month a.i. M3 experienced earlier and stronger increase in these parameters starting on the 20th day a.i. Our results suggest that systemic behavioural mechanisms are resistant to proton irradiation while visual motor integration and executive control systems might be affected, resulting in reaction time increase.

A Method to Determine Baseline Anatomy Knowledge Among Matriculating Professional Allied Health Students

Introduction Most professional programs, including those in the allied health fields, require undergraduate anatomy coursework as a prerequisite for admission. However, these courses are often variable in course objectives, content, and difficulty. Despite anatomy serving as a foundational discipline within professional school, there has been little research to determine anatomy preparedness among matriculating professional students. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to determine whether student performance on a quiz given prior to the start of a professional anatomy course, as a measure of students’ incoming anatomy knowledge, correlated with performance in the course. Methods In an IRB-approved study, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and physician assistant (PA) students (n=128) enrolled in an anatomy course were administered a 20-question pre-quiz prior to the start. It consisted of general anatomy questions that instructors felt students should be able to answer based on knowledge obtained in undergraduate coursework. Kendall's tau correlation analyses were performed correlating student pre-quiz performance with written and practical exam scores (n=4 each) and cumulative course score. Students were asked to complete a post-course survey asking them to indicate what knowledge they felt they needed prior to the course from pre-determined topic choices (e.g. anatomy terminology, neuroanatomy, etc.) or open responses if desired topics were not listed. Results The pre-quiz scores significantly and positively correlated with all four written and practical exam scores (p<0.05), except for the second written exam (p=0.06). Pre-quiz scores also significantly and positively correlated with the cumulative course score (p=0.005). We received 59 viable responses (46%) to the post-course survey. The top four topics that students wanted to review included: central vs. peripheral nervous systems (49%, n=29); anatomy terminology (41%, n=24); basic imaging (41%, n=24); and bones (overall structure, classifications, landmarks; 39%, n=23). Responses differed by program, such as study techniques being the second highest choice for PT students, but not a top choice overall in the cohort. Conclusion This study found that pre-professional anatomy knowledge significantly correlates with performance in a professional gross anatomy course throughout the duration. This study expands on our previous work, which used a 6-question pre-quiz. With the pre-quiz expanded to 20 questions in the current study, the number of significant correlations with exam performance increased dramatically. Using survey data, we will create videos that review the most requested topics and make them available to students at the beginning of the course. The intention is to increase students’ foundational anatomy knowledge, thereby easing their transition into professional school. We are also expanding this study to professional physiology courses, which also serve as a foundational course. Significance These data identify a correlation between students’ incoming anatomy knowledge and performance in a professional allied health course and could allow instructors to identify early on those students with a weak anatomy foundation to guide them to successful course performance.

Assessing the Impact of Attendance Modality on the Learning Performance of a Course on Machines and Mechanisms Theory

University education approaches related to the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), have generally particularized on teaching activity and learning programs which are commonly understood as reoriented lessons that fuse theoretic concepts interweaved with practical activities. In this context, team work has been widely acknowledged as a means to conduct practical and hands-on lessons, and has been revealed to be successful in the achievement of exercise resolution and design tasks. Besides this, methodologies sustained by ICT resources such as online or blended approaches, have also reported numerous benefits for students’ active learning. However, such benefits have to be fully validated within the particular teaching context, which may facilitate student achievement to a greater or lesser extent. In this work, we analyze the impact of attendance modalities on the learning performance of a STEM-related course on “Machines and Mechanisms Theory”, in which practical lessons are tackled through a team work approach. The validity of the results is reinforced by group testing and statistical tests with a sample of 128 participants. Students were arranged in a test group (online attendance) and in a control group (face-to-face attendance) to proceed with team work during the practical lessons. Thus, the efficacy of distance and in situ methodologies is compared. Moreover, additional variables have also been compared according to the historical record of the course, in regards to previous academic years. Finally, students’ insights about the collaborative side of this program, self-knowledge and satisfaction with the proposal have also been reported by a custom questionnaire. The results demonstrate greater performance and satisfaction amongst participants in the face-to-face modality. Such a modality is prooven to be statistically significant for the final achievement of students in detriment to online attendance.