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The construction of the European Higher Education Area has been an adaptation challenge for Spanish universities. New methodologies require a more active role on the students'' part and come into conflict with the previous educational model characterised by a high student/professor ratio, a lecture-based teaching methodology and a summative assessment. The use of computers is a key factor to face this situation. In previous works, the authors found that e-assessment was a helpful tool for the diagnostic and formative assessment of mechanics in engineering when working with large groups. The aim of this work was to put forward a global proposal for the assessment of mechanics in engineering with overcrowded groups based on the use of e-assessment in all the diagnostic, formative and summative stages of the assessment process and, in particular, to analyse the extent to which e-assessment could successfully replace the traditional assessment of mechanics in engineering. Sixty students participated in an experiment by answering both a computer multiple-choice e-test and a traditional paper-based problem-solving examination. The results obtained by comparing the two assessment methodologies highlight the idea that both can be considered alternatives from a global perspective, as a significant correlation was observed between the global grades obtained through both tests. However, no equivalent assessment of specific competences was observed, which could be attributed to the fact that the tests evaluated different aspects of the same learning outcome. This work proposes a new assessment approach that considers a combination of traditional and computer-based online activities to achieve a more complete and fair students'' evaluation. Furthermore, the new proposal implies a considerably lighter workload for lecturers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports on the design, implementation and assessment of a new approach course structure based on the combination of three cooperative methodologies. The main goal is to reduce the percentage of non-passed students focusing the learning process on students by offering different alternatives and motivational activities based on working in small groups on a robotic project and changing the course assessment. The microprocessor course is a subject in the undergraduate program of telecommunication engineering at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) in Spain. Its traditional teaching methodology was based on Lecture sessions, Problem sessions and Practical activities in the lab (L/P/P). This methodology was changed to comply with the Bologna requirements, where new skills must be addressed and learned during the educational process. Self-Directed Learning activities (SDLA) for lecture sessions and Project based learning (PjBL) for Laboratory sessions were implemented in combination with a final competition activity between groups (CnBL). This paper describes the design, implementation and results; showing the benefits of these new teaching methods, improving student’s motivation including a robotic buggy project and allowing new learning strategies based on a practical point of view and adaptability to students’ previous skills. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes an exploratory study of 225 management students in a medium-sized university in southern Spain. The influences of gender and previous experience as determinants of technology use were analysed. Furthermore, a modified Technology Acceptance Model, using SEM, was applied to explain the influence of perceived computer self-efficacy on the intention to use Internet-based e-collaboration technologies in the learning–teaching process. This was completed with qualitative data from unstructured interviews with ten students. Our results suggest that the management student cannot be considered an advanced user of the Internet. Computer self-efficacy has a positive influence on intention to use the system. This intention is also influenced by attitude towards the system, but not directly by perceived usefulness. These and other contradictory findings are analysed in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The teaching of Chemical Oceanography in the Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences of the University of Ca´diz (Spain) has been improved since 1994 by the employment of a device for the laboratory simulation of estuarine mixing processes and the characterisation of the chemical behaviour of many substances that pass through an estuary. The equipment comprising the simulator is controlled by a computer system running the program OLE (Oceanography and LEarning), which was developed originally as a research tool in Chemical Oceanography (under Windows® environment). Later, on the initiative of several teachers, the handling of the simulator was simplified to allow its use as a didactic resource for teaching the various processes that take place in littoral systems.Since its initial development, many different natural environmental conditions have been simulated, and the behaviour of many chemical pollutants has been studied. On the basis of this favourable experience, the simulator designed appears to be a versatile tool that can be usefully employed in both academic learning and research work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]