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Times have changed, and with them the profile of students in the classroom, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic.. As several studies show, the educational methods implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic –based exclusively on online learning– have had a negative impact on students’ motivation and attention. Therefore, it is imperative to find ways to adapt to students with greater difficulties in offline learning. Particularly in subjects such as mathematics, which require students to possess a series of attitudes and aptitudes, this adaptation to the new times is essential. To address this issue, the Business Mathematics 2 course, offered as part of the Business Administration and Management degree at UIC Barcelona, applied a teaching methodology during the 2022/23 academic year that incorporates both online and offline elements. This approach seeks to facilitate students’ learning of mathematics while simultaneously promotes their acquisition of soft skills and improve their attitude in the classroom. This study presents the outcomes arising from the implementation of this methodology., Los tiempos han cambiado, y con ellos el perfil de los estudiantes en las aulas, y este cambio ha sido especialmente significativo post pandemia. Como varios estudios muestran, los métodos educativos implementados durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 –basados exclusivamente en el aprendizaje en línea– han tenido un impacto negativo en la motivación y atención de los estudiantes. Ante esta realidad, resulta más imperioso que nunca buscar fórmulas que se adapten a unos estudiantes con mayores dificultades para el aprendizaje off-line. En asignaturas de matemáticas, las cuales requieren per se una serie de actitudes y aptitudes del estudiantado, esta adaptación a los nuevos tiempos resulta fundamental. Dando respuesta a esta problemática, durante el curso 2022/23 en la asignatura de Matemáticas Empresariales 2 del Grado de Administración y Dirección de Empresas de UIC Barcelona se ha aplicado una metodología docente que, combinando elementos on- y off-line, busca facilitar a los estudiantes el aprendizaje de las matemáticas y, a la vez, fomentar su adquisición de competencias transversales y mejorar su actitud en el aula. En el presente trabajo se muestran los resultados derivados de la implementación de esta metodología.

In the educational context, motivation is a psychological process that determines the performance of tasks, contributes to active and persistent participation, and enables the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Taking into account these advantages, the present work aims to measure the motivation derived from the realization of an active learning activity that seeks to provide economic meaning to mathematical content. This activity has been implemented since the 2015/16 academic course in the subject of Mathematics 1, taught in the degree of Business Administration at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain). The main objective is to help students of a non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) degree recognize the relevance of mathematics and the possibilities they offer in their discipline, and thus increase their motivation to study this subject. Results obtained from the implementation of the activity are reported and discussed, in terms of the effects on motivation as well as the acquisition of technical and transversal skills., En el contexto educativo, la motivación es un proceso psicológico que determina la realización de tareas, contribuye a la participación activa y persistente, y posibilita la adquisición de conocimientos y competencias. Teniendo en cuenta estas ventajas, el presente trabajo pretende medir la motivación derivada de la realización de una actividad de aprendizaje activo que busca dotar de significado económico el contenido matemático. Esta actividad se ha implementado desde el curso 2015/16 en la asignatura de Matemáticas 1 cursada en el grado de Administración y Dirección de Empresas de la Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona, España). El objetivo principal que se persigue es el de ayudar a que estudiantes de un grado no STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) reconozcan la relevancia de las matemáticas y las posibilidades que ofrece en su disciplina, y así incremente su motivación para estudiar esta asignatura. Se reportan y discuten los resultados obtenidos de la implementación de la actividad, tanto en lo que se refiere a los efectos en la motivación como a la adquisición de competencias técnicas y transversales.

Universities are highly dependent on regulatory frameworks, the geographical setting as well as on requirements for the creation of the different outputs they pursue. As a result, universities are heterogeneous organizations. This study analyses universities’ heterogeneity in Spain. By using a dataset from the Spanish higher education system, we model the objective function of universities and investigate which factors help explain universities’ performance, in terms of the three missions that they mostly perform (teaching, research and technology transfer). Also, a cluster analysis is performed to categorise Spanish universities. The findings contribute to better understand the different behaviours shown by universities. The findings underline the heterogeneity of Spanish universities: while some universities focus more on formation (teaching) goals, other universities excel at disseminating knowledge through different scientific outputs. The study concludes with a detailed inter- and intra- group analysis., Las universidades dependen en gran medida de los marcos regulatorios, la visión estratégica y del contexto geográfico. Consecuencia de esto, las universidades son claramente organizaciones heterogéneas. Este estudio analiza la heterogeneidad de las universidades en España. Utilizando datos del sistema universitario español se propone la formulación de la función objetivo de las universidades y se investiga qué factores ayudan a explicar el desempeño de las universidades en términos de las tres misiones que realizan principalmente (enseñanza, investigación y transferencia de tecnología). El estudio se acompaña de un análisis de clústeres en el que se caracterizan distintas tipologías de universidades. Los resultados obtenidos ayudan a comprender mejor los diferentes comportamientos mostrados por las universidades. En concreto, los resultados subrayan la heterogeneidad del sistema universitario español: mientras que algunas universidades se centran más en los objetivos de formación (enseñanza), otras universidades destacan por sus actividades de investigación y transferencia. El estudio concluye con un análisis detallado inter- e intra-grupo.

[EN] The present work aims at presenting a teaching innovation project, the B-SMART, which has been implemented at UIC Barcelona in the academic year 2018/19. Conceived as a project to respond to social demands, the B-SMART project aims at creating a collaborative environment and at strengthening the ties between companies (mainly targeted to SMEs, start-ups and NGOs) and the university. To do so, students work on real challenges or projects posed by companies. This approach helps students to better understand the theoretical concepts taught in class as well as to boost soft skills that will be required in their daily practice. In turn, companies gain access to new talent (students), fresh ideas, and the knowledge and infrastructures available at the university. In this study we explain the project and pay special attention to the first two projects solved through the B-SMART project. We use design thinking as the teaching method. Preliminary results show that both students and companies benefit from this experience.

[EN] The increasingly dynamic, competitive and volatile business environment that characterizes today’s marketplace demands for rapid delivery of high-quality outcomes, aligning development with customer needs and company goals. Agile methodologies have gained widespread popularity due to their easy implementation and adaptability to different industrial contexts. Although these methodologies originally emerged in the software and computer science field, they have been rapidly imported to other disciplines such as management and business. This paper describes an activity developed in a Project Management course during the academic year 2016/17. The activity is designed with the objective of not only teaching students agile methodologies (and scrum in particular), but also to allow them understand the basis of such methodologies by implementing a class project. The activity details as well as students’ perceptions are analyzed and discussed. The feedback collected indicates that students positively valued the activity and that they believe that through this activity they have been able to learn the fundamentals of agile methodologies.

[EN] This paper describes the experience of a cross-curricular activity that combines mathematical knowledge with several soft skills, namely the use of new technologies, teamwork and critical thinking. Two different subjects are involved, Mathematics 2 and Information Systems, both part of the Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Administration, taught at Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. 42 students participated in this pilot activity during the second semester of the academic year 2015/2016. Results indicate that students considered the activity useful and that it helped improve their knowledge on information systems and the fundamental concepts covered in Mathematics. Data gathered also reveal that students positively valued the idea of applying concepts of one subject into other subjects. As for the development of soft skills, students converge in that the activity helped them developing interpersonal skills and being more critical with one’s work.