Instructing mathematics to engineering freshmen is a challenge not only because of their diverse backgrounds but also because of their high skills in digital technology. For this reason, a new approach has been considered in Aerospace Engineering at Technical University of Valencia (UPV) which, in addition to master classes, includes assignments specially designed to achieve mathematical competencies in the first year. These assignments reinforce the learning process of students and increase their competencies before each assessment test. On the other hand PoliformaT, an educational platform developed by UPV, and based on the Sakai project, has facilitated to develop a flipped teaching methodology in the one hour lab sessions in the first year of Aerospace Engineering. Thus a blended learning methodology, a combination of computer technologies and face-to-face classes, has provided very good learning outcomes results for Spanish standards. We present some results concerning our first year Mathematics course in Aerospace Engineering and the opinion of the students about this blended learning methodology.

The NSF has recently issued the report on “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering” which provides statistical information about the participation of these three groups in science, engineering education and employment. The percentages in Spain, and particularly in the Technical University of Valencia where almost all degrees are technologically related, are not very different even though there is a general feeling in Spanish society to consider engineering studies to be appealing and with high employability possibilities. In this paper we analyze how they perform inside the university in a highly technological degree as Aerospace Engineering. We present their results corresponding to competencies achievement in each gender group and each topic of these Mathematics subjects.

We present a simple diffraction experiment with Fibonacci gratings as a motivational strategy for students of physics and engineering to learn the potential applications of aperiodic systems. The Fraunhofer diffraction patterns were obtained with the standard equipment present in most undergraduate physics labs and compared with that obtained with conventional periodic gratings. It is shown that Fibonacci gratings produce a splitting of the diffraction orders which positions are related to the Golden mean involved in the Fibonacci sequence. A very good accuracy is obtained between experimental and numerical results.

Smartphone' acceleration sensors have got useful applications in standard physical situations. We have taken advantage of its capabilities in a number of Physics experiments and perform them in a series of examples within classical mechanical and kinematic situations such as free and damped oscillations due to Earth's gravity. By properly connecting the smartphones other data may be collected and situations studied such as rotational motion. These experiences have been carried out at the Higher Technical School of Design Engineering (ETSID in Spanish) of the Universität Politècnica of Valencia (Spain) and through these examples students learn amenable applications of the capabilities of their smartphones, that facilitate their interest and motivation in introductory and first-year university Physics courses.

Mathematics background of Engineering students changes drastically between freshmen and sophomore students. This brings out the way in which lab sessions are incorporated must be taken into account as well in the continuous assessment of the subject being a key issue how to incorporate the assessment of lab sessions. At the Higher Technical School of Design Engineering of the Universität Politècnica of Valencia (UPV) we started using CAS almost 20 years ago and have evolved from the initial lab sessions and their corresponding evaluation. Our learning tells us that the final approach depends on the content of the subject and how relevant are the methods used as well as the capabilities of the CAS used. In addition, the standard use of assignments to reinforce the learning process of each student has also shown to be a keystone to increase the Engineering students competences before each assessment test. Results will be presented concerning a second year Mathematics course in Aerospace Engineering where 100% students attendance was achieved at the end of the third semester, all of them taking all exams, and where we experienced a success rate above 91% which is far of being standard at Spanish Engineering studies.

During the 2010/2011 academic year, the Universities of the Valencia region (Spain) started up a pioneer experience in Spanish Higher Education: the High Academic Performance Groups (in Spanish, the so-called ARA groups “Grupos de Alto Rendimiento Académico”) aiming to support and attract the brightest students with the best skills, so that they can achieve a high academic performance. The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), as a result of its commitment to promote its quality and internationalization, has taken part in this project from the dawn of its implementation. Since then, ARA groups have been set up in five of the UPV Bachelor Degrees, two of them being offered at the School of Design Engineering (ETSID). In this work, we analyse the implementation process of the ARA groups at ETSID since 2010/2011, outlining some of the future strategies that should be taken into account for their consolidation.

Photovoltaic solar energy has recently enjoyed a technical and economic progression achieving a high level of reliability. With the aim of obtaining a better knowledge of this type of energy by part of the students from the Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Degrees of the School of Design Engineering ETSID in Valencia, Spain, they are offered an elective subject in which they are asked to conduct a “field practice” in which they design an isolated installation that will fully supply the house in which they live including. In addition they perform a photovoltaic installation connected to the electrical network. In both cases students must obtain market prices and find out the supply equipment commonly used. With this data they should develop a proposal similar to the one supplied to a customer requesting an installation of this kind. Hence this is a field project where factual data is required and enables students to talk to companies supplying the electrical and photovoltaic materials. These assignments include the final assessment of the cost of the power generated, so that students can identify if the final price in photovoltaic is higher or lower than the cost of electricity supplied by the electricity distribution companies.

The arising of European Higher Education Area (EHEA) brought up the implementation of new degrees throughout most of European Universities. In the realm of this upcoming environment, during 2009–2010 the School of Design Engineering (ETSID) at Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain, developed a pioneer experience in the first year of the Bachelor Engineering (BEng) degree in Mechanical Engineering, the guidelines of this innovative experience being defined in accordance with the EHEA approaches. Thus, this pioneer experience co-existed with non-Bologna teaching-learning methodology followed in the rest of groups of this BEng degree. Positive academic outcomes found in this first pioneer group encouraged to extend this experience to the second year of this degree during 2010–2011, in order to ease the upcoming full Bologna implementation. In this line, classroom activities were established so that collaborative work was promoted, autonomous tasks were developed and an assessment that took into account both classroom and autonomous activities was implemented. In this paper, we present a statistical analysis of the achieved academic outcomes of the pioneer group in the second year of the BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering, relating them to the rest of non-pioneer groups of the same year and degree.

European Universities have been exposed to major changes in order to implement the so called Bologna process. Many facets have had to be addressed in the teaching-learning system, moving from a teacher-centered model to a student-centered one, where a competence-based structure had to be facilitated, and so that the basic competences related to the integral formation of engineers should be accomplished along specific competences, making possible a professional profile and enabling the graduates to get integrated into the job market. Hence, this change has provided the opportunity to create a more active and dynamic teaching-learning model, with more personalized methods and the integration of new technologies. In the midst of this situation, a case study has been undertaken to analyze the consequences of such change in the academic results of the BEng Industrial Design Engineering degree of the School of Design Engineering ETSID (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain) along the first course of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) adapted program and those obtained by the corresponding pre-EHEA course at ETSID. This paper aims to become an instrument to monitor the development and effectiveness of the teaching-learning policies adopted, thus contributing to the continuous process of educational improvement at ETSID by comparing various performance and success rates.

The fact of placing competences and outcomes learning at the heart of the academic activity means overhauling the curricular architecture of higher education in Europe. Some universities have undergone important transformations moving toward a competence-based learning environment, while others maintain traditional curriculum packaged formats. In the realm of the European Higher Education Area, this paper examines the use of competence-based initiatives in curricular development for engineering degrees with special focus to the Spanish case. Although the concept of competence and competence-based learning has a long history in education and training research, these terms are still very diffuse and demand a clear conceptualization. In the first part of this paper, we provide a conceptual overview and a critical reflection of competences as implemented in a wide range of settings, including its origins, key concepts, and definitions. Next, we discuss the purposes, principles, pitfalls, and processes that enable defining a map of competences within engineering education. Lastly, we present a pilot project involving curriculum development and faculty enhancement within a competence-based learning initiative in electronic engineering.